The Girl and Her Song

Kuranos didn't care. As a demon, what was so strange about eating people and then spitting them out?

Besides, he didn't actually eat the Aokiji; he just temporarily stored it in his stomach.

To be fair, even Dimon, who was looking in their direction, was somewhat speechless.

Orochimaru... oh wait, no, Kuranos not only looks like Orochimaru, but he also acts like him.

Um?

Does Orochimaru eat people and keep them in his stomach?

Oh well, that's just how demons are.

Dimon quietly observed the unconscious Aokiji, Observation Haki to assess his condition.

If the "voice" of Admiral at his peak is like the whistle of a train, then at this moment, Aokiji's voice is reduced to the flapping of a fly's wings.

If left unattended, it will probably take three days... no, five days.

Yes, he'll definitely die within ten days to two weeks at most.

"Send him to jail first, lock him up for a few days, then we'll talk."

Upon hearing his master's voice, Kuranos immediately stopped smiling and asked solemnly:

"Are we going to go with that Shichibukai?"

"Random."

"Understood!"

Kuranos immediately picked up the unconscious Aokiji and turned to leave the palace hall.

The castle's underground contains not only tombs but also prisons, Hanafuda, who had previously been imprisoned on the Wave-Breaking Warrior, has now been moved to one of the prisons.

The royal palace's dining room.

Dimon is having lunch, and unlike before, a girl is having lunch with him today.

Uta had little appetite and looked dejected.

"My benefactor, don't you find it a little boring? I thought I could finally leave this place. Ah, I really want to see the outside world."

Nobody stopped you from leaving.

But I don't know how to sail!

Uta opened her eyes wide and angrily gnawed on her apple.

Dimon smiled slightly and said, "If you don't know how, then learn."

Uta slumped his chin on the table, looking like a salted fish that had lost its dreams, muttering something like "heartless boss."

Dimon rolled his eyes at her and immediately ordered, "Ain, show her the footage of Hachinosu."

"Yes, Master."

Uta blinked curiously, and then saw a light screen appear out of thin air above her head.

The light screen projected onto the restaurant wall, creating a chaotic scene.

The reason it's described as chaotic is because there's too much information in the image, Uta didn't know where to focus her attention for a moment.

It resembled a battlefield, but one could vaguely discern that it was also a city.

However, the city was almost completely razed to the ground, with ruins and scorched earth everywhere.

On the yellowish-brown earth, amidst the billowing dust, three figures could be vaguely seen.

One of them was holding a naginata and was shirtless, while the other was half-human and half-dragon with a blue face and fangs.

The two men surrounded the Red-Haired man in the center, one in front and one behind.

The man knelt on one knee, gripping a sword with one arm, breathing rapidly.

"Shanks--?!"

Uta stood up in astonishment.

Chapter 226 The Girl and the Song

"Shanks..."

Uta's eyes were fixed on the Red-Haired projected onto the screen.

"Oh, someone you know?" Dimon feigned ignorance. "Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Pirate Emperors of the New World."

"Pirate Emperor?"

Uta was stunned upon hearing this.

She understood what the Pirate Emperor was even when she was a child; it was someone who stood at the pinnacle of piracy.

Before coming to this island, she was the musician of the Red Hair Pirates.

But why?

Why hasn't Shanks come looking for her even after becoming the Pirate Emperor?

Uta felt as if she had returned to that night seven years ago.

She followed the Red Hair Pirates to Elegia and attended a grand concert.

After the concert, she happened to see a sheet music. At only 9 years old, she had no idea that it was a trap set by the Demon King of Songs.

As soon as the first note was hummed, she was controlled by the Demon King and lost consciousness.

When she regained consciousness, the entire island had been transformed into a hellish inferno, Red Hair Pirates chose to leave her.

She ran desperately to the port, crying and begging the Red-Haired to take her away, but those guys were resolute and didn't leave a single word.

At nine years old, she didn't know what happened, but now at sixteen, Uta has pieced together the events of that night from the clues.

It was she... or rather, it was she, controlled by the Demon King of Songs, who destroyed Elegia.

Even after learning the truth, she still couldn't understand Shanks' actions—why did he abandon her?

Seven years later, Shanks has become the Pirate Emperor, yet he still refuses to come looking for her.

Why?!

"I don't know him!"

Uta's eyes were clouded with a shadow as she silently sat down and began to bite into her apple.

Is this girl going to turn evil?

Dimon glanced at her and chuckled, "That place is a pirate's Paradise."

Uta, who was sulking, heard this and her rabbit-ear-like hair stood on end. Curious, she whispered, "..."

"Hachinosu?"

"Huh, you even know about Hachinosu?"

"Of course, I used to be..."

Uta was speechless, swallowing the rest of his sentence.

I used to travel the world with the Red Hair Pirates. Although I never went to the famous Hachinosu, I often heard about it.

At this moment, staring at the three people in the projection, Uta frowned slightly:

"The other two are Whitebeard and Kaido, right? Why are they fighting?"

Moreover, judging from the situation, it's a two-on-one fight, Shanks looks to be in a very bad state.

"You really want to know?" Dimon smiled slightly. "Why don't you just ask them directly?"

Hearing this, Uta tilted her head in confusion, "It's so far from Hachinosu, how... Ah, Ain!?"

She suddenly realized.

Ain's ability allows him to project images of Hachinosu here, and naturally, he can also project images of this place onto Hachinosu.

"There's an even simpler way. Don't forget, you're Devil Fruit User."

Dimon kindly offered a reminder.

Uta's previous dejection vanished, and her beautiful Big Eyes sparkled.

"Yes, we can use singing..."

Dimon gestured that she could do as she pleased.

He deliberately showed Uta the footage of Hachinosu, taking the opportunity to witness the power of the Sing-Sing Fruit.

Can the three Four Emperors break the seal on the World of Songs?

Hachinosu.

Shanks knelt on one knee, breathing rapidly.

As expected, fighting two against one was still too much of a stretch... He calmly analyzed the situation. Kaido was actually alright, the key was Whitebeard.

Having regained his youthful appearance, Whitebeard's strength had returned to its peak. Even in a one-on-one fight, he wasn't confident he could win, let alone facing two opponents simultaneously.

"Oh ho ho ho... Is it too late? Stand up, Red-Haired!"

Kaido slung his spiked club over his shoulder, while his dragon tail slammed against the ground behind him.

"No way? I didn't expect you to be joking."

Red-Haired Shanks took a deep breath and slowly stood up. "My will remains unchanged. Your meeting with Rocks, whatever its outcome, will ultimately shatter the balance of the world!"

"Gurararara, if you want to stop me, just talking won't do, you brat from Roger's ship." Whitebeard said with a smile.

Unlike Kaido, he lost to Rocks in the game and made a vow to Davy Jones.

Whitebeard came here because of the oath he made.

Charlotte Linlin is in the same situation.

Before Rocks Pirates, that woman had already created her own pirate crew.

Rocks only sought out Charlotte Linlin after hearing about the "Big Mom Pirates" and initiated a pirate game with her.

Besides those two, there are many others, such as the Golden Lion's Flying Pirates.

It can be said that the Rocks Pirates were a huge Pirate Alliance back then.

Red-Haired doesn't know much about what happened back then, and in the current situation, verbal communication is meaningless, and force can't stop things from developing.

While pondering what to do next...

The three people in the standoff were all taken aback and looked up at the sky one after another.

A gust of wind whistled past, followed by the sound of singing.

Where does this gentle breeze come from?

Even with such a question, the sky remained silent.

Where will this song ultimately end up?

I want to find my own answer.

The gentle singing conveyed a subtle sense of parting, as if it were telling a blessing.

"This is...!!"

Whitebeard and Kaido were simply puzzled by the sudden song, but Red-Haired' pupils constricted involuntarily.

The song seemed to transport the three of them to another world.

In that world, a gentle evening breeze blows across the sea, and on the twilight horizon, a lone sail sways with the waves.

The girl stood on the shore, softly reciting her monologue to the ethereal and vast world, expressing her faint melancholy and her hope for it.

Where is the singing coming from?

Kaido was momentarily dazed, as if he were seeing another world; the song possessed a strange magic.