The storm had not weakened when the Red Force appeared beyond the rain.
Its red hull cut through the waves with far greater ease than the fleeing pirate ship Mihawk had passed, the dragon figurehead at its bow rising and falling over swells that would have buried a smaller vessel.
The flag of the Red-Haired Pirates snapped above the mast, three scars marked across the skull's left eye.
Mihawk's raft approached without changing course.
The deck of the Red Force was warmer than the sea around it, lanterns burning beneath canvas awnings while the crew continued a feast that the storm had failed to interrupt.
Barrels served as tables, meat roasted over covered braziers, and laughter rolled between thunderclaps.
Benn Beckman noticed the raft first.
"Boss," he said, cigarette held between two fingers. "We have company."
Shanks turned toward the sea with a bottle in one hand. His smile widened when he recognized the solitary figure approaching through the rain.
"Hawkeye! You crossed a storm just to drink with us? I'm touched."
Mihawk stepped from the raft and landed on the deck without disturbing the nearest puddle.
"If I wanted your liquor, I would have brought something worth drinking."
Shanks looked down at the bottle in his hand.
"That hurts more than the weather."
Lucky Roux laughed around a mouthful of meat. Yasopp gave Mihawk a brief nod, while the rest of the senior crew watched with relaxed curiosity rather than reaching for weapons.
Mihawk's visits were rare, but no one aboard mistook his arrival for an ambush.
Shanks handed the bottle to Lucky Roux and studied Mihawk more carefully.
"You didn't come for a duel."
"No."
"And you didn't come to insult my taste in alcohol. That was only a bonus."
"Correct."
Shanks's smile thinned.
"Then this is serious."
Mihawk removed the sealed notice from beneath his coat and tossed it toward Beckman.
The first mate caught it, opened the paper, and read in silence while Shanks looked over his shoulder.
The header carried the authority of the Five Elders.
The contents did not.
"Report any contact with Zaraki," Shanks read. "Do not interfere with the Government's response. His survival is classified."
He looked up.
"So the rumors after Kaido's battle were wrong."
"I knew they were wrong before the rumors began," Mihawk said.
The deck became quieter.
Beckman's eyes sharpened.
"You saw him."
"He reached Kuraigana after leaving the New World. Trafalgar Law had treated him well enough to keep him alive, though not well enough to keep him from demanding a duel."
Shanks gave a short laugh.
"That sounds like the Marine everyone has been talking about."
"He was injured, impatient, and wasteful with his strength," Mihawk continued. "By the time he left, he had begun correcting the last problem."
Shanks watched him.
"You trained him."
"I showed him why strength without placement is merely noise."
"And now he killed Weevil."
"The Government notice confirms the death. It avoids describing Weevil as a Warlord because he was never appointed, but it also avoids admitting that he attacked a Marine training vessel and murdered recruits during the evaluation."
Beckman finished reading and handed the notice to Shanks.
"They want the Warlords to watch Zaraki without publicly declaring him an enemy."
"Which means they want deniability," Shanks said. "If he dies, they blame whoever killed him. If he survives, they still call him a Marine."
Mihawk's gaze remained steady.
"There is more. The notice lists Paradise routes under surveillance and specifically warns against approaching Little Garden."
Shanks's expression changed.
"That is where he is going?"
"He intends to collect Dorry and Brogy as candidates for the vacant seat."
Lucky Roux stopped chewing.
"The captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates are alive?"
"So it appears."
Beckman lit a fresh cigarette.
"And the Government warned you away from the island because someone else is being sent there."
Mihawk looked toward Shanks.
"Has Kaido moved?"
The Emperor did not answer immediately. He turned toward Beckman instead.
"Our eastern observers reported unusual traffic leaving Wano two days ago. Government patrol routes near the Red Line changed at the same time."
Beckman exhaled smoke.
"We did not have a destination."
"You do now," Mihawk said.
The warmth of the feast no longer reached the center of the deck.
Shanks walked to the railing and looked into the storm. He already knew Zaraki's name.
The Marine had captured Crocodile, killed Jack, destroyed Doflamingo's organization, and fought Kaido before the world.
What Mihawk brought was not news of a new man appearing on the sea.
It was proof that Zaraki had survived, continued growing, and become dangerous enough for the Five Elders to guide an Emperor toward him while pretending no conflict existed.
"You crossed all this way to warn me," Shanks said.
"I crossed because the Government's actions affect the balance of the sea, and because Kaido entering Paradise with a cleared route will not remain a private matter."
"That sounds almost responsible."
"Do not make me regret coming."
Shanks's grin returned faintly, but his eyes remained serious.
"You also want Zaraki alive."
Mihawk did not deny it.
"He has not yet shown me the cut he believes he can make."
Beckman glanced between them.
"That may be the closest Hawkeye comes to admitting he found someone interesting."
Shanks rested one hand on the hilt at his waist.
"You once told me the new era would be decided by people we hadn't met yet."
"I told you that your wager was incomplete, not wrong," Mihawk said. "The boy you trusted may still shape the future. Zaraki is simply another force the future will have to survive."
That answer pleased Shanks more than the grand declaration Mihawk had refused to make.
He turned toward his crew.
"Beckman, confirm the Government route changes and calculate how quickly Kaido can reach Little Garden. Yasopp, contact our observers near the Red Line. No public signals."
Lucky Roux swallowed the last of his meat.
"Are we going to Paradise?"
"Maybe." Shanks looked toward Mihawk. "First I want to know whether Kaido is chasing a target or walking into a trap those old men prepared for both of them."
Mihawk stepped toward the covered table and selected an unopened bottle.
Shanks stared.
"I thought my liquor wasn't worth drinking."
"It isn't."
"Then why are you taking that?"
"The journey back will be unpleasant."
Shanks laughed, the sound breaking some of the tension across the deck.
"You could stay for the feast."
"I would rather cross the storm again."
"That hurts even more than the first insult."
Around them, the Red-Haired Pirates returned to motion, though the carefree mood did not fully recover.
Maps replaced several platters, Den Den Mushi were carried beneath the awnings, and Beckman began marking routes through the Grand Line.
Outside, the storm continued raging around the Red Force.
Far away in Paradise, Zaraki and the Heart Pirates prepared to leave Little Garden with two giant captains aboard a rebuilt longship, unaware that Kaido was crossing the world toward them and that Shanks had just begun deciding whether to move.