"AHHH! Why does everything have to turn into a fight the moment we get here?! My world isn't some kind of dueling arena!"
Inside Uta World, Uta had Cain trapped in a crushing embrace, pressing his head so tightly against her chest that she seemed determined to suffocate him.
"Mmph! S-Sorry!"
Cain desperately apologized, only for Uta to tighten her hold even further.
Not far away, Loki lazily stretched his enormous body and looked down at the couple with an expression of utter contempt.
"Seriously? You were bragging about how strong you are a minute ago, and now you're getting completely overpowered by a woman? How pathetic!"
"YOU'RE ONE TO TALK!"
Uta immediately turned her anger toward Loki without loosening her grip on Cain.
"If it weren't for you, Cain wouldn't be trying to start another fight!"
"So what if you're a giant? Who cares how big you are? Inside this world, I'm invincible!"
She extended her free hand angrily, and a tiny hammer appeared out of thin air above her palm.
Loki stared at the little thing, which was smaller than his fingernail, before throwing back his head and bursting into laughter.
"What, are you planning to give me a massage with that tiny hammer? Dogyahahaha!"
Then he watched the hammer begin to grow.
With a soft pop, the weapon erupted in colorful sparks and musical notes. Within seconds, it had transformed into an enormous, mountain-sized hammer, easily a hundred times larger than Loki himself.
"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"
BOOOOOOM!
The colossal hammer came crashing down.
Loki desperately raised both hands and caught it, but the ground beneath his feet immediately fractured as the tremendous weight pressed against him.
"Is that all you've got? Child's play!"
He continued boasting even as his arms strained and both legs began trembling uncontrollably.
Uta snorted.
"Then how about a second one?"
"…Huh?"
Another hammer materialized overhead.
This one was several dozen times larger than the first.
Surrounded by a storm of colorful musical notes, it descended directly toward Loki.
He didn't even have time to scream before the second hammer struck, completely crushing his resistance.
"Chiu! Chiu!"
Iron Thunder immediately became agitated.
Its master had only just regained his freedom, and there was absolutely no way the squirrel wanted to watch him get flattened moments later.
It was preparing to rush over when Uta quickly waved a hand, reassuring it that Loki was perfectly fine.
Only then did Iron Thunder reluctantly settle down.
Meanwhile, Cain finally managed to lift his head away from Uta's chest.
He looked at her with genuine curiosity.
"You had a technique like that hidden away? How come I never knew about it?"
"Well, I'm the one who controls the rules of this world. Of course I can do things like that."
Uta looked thoroughly pleased with herself.
"In the real world, unless I deployed my Music Domain, the sheer weight of that hammer would crush me before I could do anything with it."
As she finished explaining, Uta lowered her head and suddenly found herself staring directly into Cain's eyes.
His face was still practically buried against her chest.
She could even feel the warmth of his breathing through the thin fabric of her clothes.
Only then did Uta properly register just how intimately they were positioned.
Her face immediately turned bright red.
Flustered and embarrassed, she hurriedly pulled Cain's head away.
Fortunately, the two of them were currently sitting on Iron Thunder's head, while Loki was still buried beneath an enormous hammer. Nobody else had noticed the rather intimate scene.
Bella, meanwhile, had long since become accustomed to her parents behaving like this and didn't think anything of it.
Just then—
"HEY! LET ME OUT!"
Loki's furious voice emerged from beneath the hammer.
"THAT HURTS, DAMN IT!"
Uta's attack had clearly been no joke. Even someone as monstrously durable as an Ancient Giant had suffered considerably under its weight.
Uta snapped her fingers.
The enormous hammer immediately dissolved into countless colorful musical notes, which scattered and disappeared into the air.
Loki was left sprawled at the bottom of an enormous, human-shaped crater.
He struggled for a moment before slowly pushing himself upright.
"What the hell kind of ability is that? It's completely ridiculous!"
He rubbed his shoulders and stretched his muscles, only to discover that he hadn't suffered so much as a scratch.
Then he looked down at the two tiny people standing in front of him, whose combined size was barely comparable to one of his palms.
He could understand Cain.
After witnessing that battle in the Underworld, Loki already knew the brat was an exceptionally powerful Mythical Zoan user.
But what the hell was going on with this woman?
They had explained that this wasn't the real world, but Loki had finally been given an opportunity to escape his chains, stand upright, stretch his body, and enjoy a few precious moments of freedom.
And she'd defeated him in a single attack.
How was he supposed to accept something that humiliating?!
Unfortunately, the two people responsible weren't paying him the slightest attention.
Uta simply turned toward Cain and smiled, though there was still a faint trace of dissatisfaction in her expression.
"I'm still a little annoyed that you're insisting on fighting again."
Then she softened.
"But if you're going to fight, don't you dare lose."
With that, Uta leaned forward and kissed him.
Cain hadn't expected her to forgive him quite so easily. He happily returned the kiss, though he couldn't resist shooting Loki a smug glance in the middle of it.
He didn't know exactly what had happened between Loki and Lola.
Besides, Jarul had specifically warned him that mentioning members of the Charlotte family was forbidden in Elbaf, so he couldn't exactly ask about it.
But there was one thing Cain was absolutely certain of.
That bastard was definitely still single.
Loki stood motionless, staring at the couple as his teeth ground together.
"Damn it…"
His expression grew increasingly resentful.
"Those two are doing this on purpose!"
…
A fierce battle between Cain and Loki soon erupted inside Uta World.
Meanwhile, in the real world, beneath Treasure Tree Adam, Uta continued singing softly.
Although most of her attention was focused on events inside Uta World, she still needed to remain conscious in reality to maintain the world's operation.
And it was precisely then that she noticed something unusual.
Someone was listening.
It wasn't Observation Haki that alerted her. Whoever was hiding nearby had concealed their presence extraordinarily well, and Uta couldn't detect even the slightest trace of their aura.
But her singing provided her with another means of sensing people.
She could feel the presence of those who heard her voice.
And right now, someone was concealed nearby, quietly listening to her song without having been drawn into Uta World.
Uta raised her eyes toward the shadows beneath the surrounding trees.
"Come out."
Her voice remained perfectly calm.
"Whoever's hiding over there, I know you're listening."
She wasn't particularly worried.
Before entering Uta World, Cain had already instructed her to release him and Loki immediately if anything dangerous happened. He would return to reality and help her without hesitation.
Uta therefore had no reason to panic.
Shamrock, on the other hand, was genuinely surprised.
'She actually detected me?'
He glanced toward the others.
Cain, Loki, and everyone else within range of Uta's ability were fast asleep.
Recalling the intelligence he had received about the Sing-Sing Fruit, Shamrock immediately understood what was happening.
And that meant—
wasn't this the perfect opportunity?
He stepped out of the shadows with an enormous grin, doing his best to imitate his twin brother's familiar smile.
His left arm remained carefully concealed beneath the folds of his cloak, while he deliberately raised the pitch of his voice to make it sound less naturally hoarse.
"LONG TIME NO SEE, UTA!"
"Shanks?"
Uta tilted her head in surprise.
"What are you doing here? Didn't you say you had something to take care of?"
Then her expression became curious.
"And… what happened to your voice?"
Shamrock froze internally.
His supposedly perfect disguise had been questioned almost immediately.
Of course, Uta was a professional singer. There was absolutely no chance that someone with her ears would overlook something as obvious as an unfamiliar voice.
Shamrock's heart suddenly began pounding.
Never mind the details about his mechanical heart. At that moment, it was definitely beating faster!
Despite all his training and his years of experience maintaining an expressionless, cold exterior, this was still his first time speaking directly to his niece.
Even Shamrock couldn't completely suppress his nervousness.
He desperately forced himself to remain composed, scratched the back of his head, and attempted to imitate Shanks' carefree personality.
"Ahahaha! I've caught a bit of a cold recently."
He laughed awkwardly.
"That's why my throat's a little hoarse."
…
"ACHOO!"
"Ugh… a cold?"
At that very moment, the real Shanks was sitting on the edge of his bed, wrapped tightly in blankets with his nose running.
He had only recently returned from sparring with Mihawk.
Shanks sniffled miserably.
"With my constitution, I really shouldn't be getting sick like this."
Hongo, who was examining him nearby, gave him an thoroughly unimpressed look.
"Well, the evidence says otherwise."
"Your throat's already affected. Just listen to yourself! Your voice is so hoarse you practically sound like a completely different person."
He sighed irritably.
"And honestly, what were you two thinking? You were so busy fighting that you both ended up falling into the ocean. Then you spent all that time getting blasted by the sea wind without taking any precautions."
Hongo shook his head.
"I'll prescribe some medicine so you can recover from the cold more quickly. As for when your voice will return to normal, I honestly can't say."
"Fine. Just give me the medicine."
Shanks rubbed his nose before suddenly adopting an unusually serious expression.
"Oh, right. We need to hurry back to Elbaf."
He looked toward the distance.
"I don't know why, but I've suddenly got this overwhelming urge to get back there as quickly as possible."
Hongo raised an eyebrow.
"Are you sure that's not just because you're desperate to get back and chop Cain up?"
"…No."
For once, Shanks didn't laugh.
He simply continued staring in Elbaf's direction, his expression troubled.
"I just feel uneasy."
He frowned.
"I don't even know why."
Perhaps it was that mysterious connection sometimes said to exist between twins.
Somehow, Shamrock's nervousness seemed to have crossed the vast ocean, faintly reaching his brother as well.