Several days later, on the Marines' front line in the New World.
Cleveland, carrying an image Den Den Mushi and a pair of headphones, found Kuma, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, who had just withdrawn from the battlefield.
"Marine? What do you want from me?"
Kuma looked at the Marine Vice Admiral before him in confusion.
Cleveland barely reached his waist, yet the aura he gave off was extremely powerful.
"Fleet Admiral Raleigh has issued a mission. Once you complete it, you will be permitted to leave this place."
Cleveland's expression remained calm.
A trace of surprise flashed through Kuma's eyes, but he quickly hid it.
"Tell me the conditions."
Cleveland smiled and took out the image Den Den Mushi and the headphones.
"Right now, you are the only one who can get close to the Red Hair Pirates and retreat unharmed. Just hand these things to Shanks."
Kuma accepted the items Cleveland handed over, his face full of doubt.
A task this simple should have been something anyone could complete.
Why had the Marines come specifically to him?
Cleveland did not bother explaining. Once he saw Kuma take the items, he turned and left without the slightest hesitation.
Kuma gripped the things in his hand and thought for a moment before deciding to do as Cleveland said and look for Shanks.
Because if he stayed here too long, he did not know what kind of unexpected changes might occur.
No matter what, he still wanted to return to the Sorbet Kingdom.
...
Among the Red Hair Pirates, Shanks had been weighed down with worry for several days.
Benn Beckman and the other crew members had also begun worrying about Shanks' condition, especially now that they were about to join forces with the Revolutionary Army against the Marines.
"Shanks, what has you so troubled?"
Beckman walked over with a cigar between his lips.
"I still don't know. But I keep feeling that it is something closely related to me."
Shanks shook his head.
He decided to ignore it for the time being and focus all his energy on the alliance with the Revolutionary Army.
Just as Shanks was still studying how to force the Marines to abandon their offensive in the New World, Kuma arrived outside Red Hair territory.
The pirate underlings responsible for guarding against the Marines were the first to discover Kuma's figure.
"It's Bartholomew Kuma, one of the Seven Warlords! Everyone, stay alert!"
"Hurry and notify the officers!"
The pirate underlings raised their guns and cannons one after another, ready to attack Kuma at any moment.
However, Kuma had not come to fight this time, so he made no move at all.
"Hm? He is not attacking? Boss, do we open fire?"
One foolish pirate underling asked.
Smack.
An older pirate slapped the back of his head and cursed, "Open fire my ass! Other than the officers, who can beat a terrifying guy like that?"
"Since he came here without attacking, it means he has something more important to do. Leave the rest to the officers."
Time passed bit by bit in silence between the two sides until Yasopp appeared.
"Kuma? Why would he come again?"
Yasopp felt that something was strange.
As a core member of the Red Hair Pirates, he knew about the relationship between Shanks and Kuma.
Kuma, who should have returned to the Marines, had suddenly appeared here.
It was hard not to wonder if something had happened inside the Revolutionary Army.
"Kuma, is there something you need to tell me?"
Yasopp stepped forward from the crowd. He was not afraid that Kuma would attack him.
Kuma nodded.
Then the two of them stepped into the air with Geppo and flew into the sky.
Up there, Kuma took out the items Cleveland had given him.
An image Den Den Mushi and a pair of headphones.
Looking at the headphones, Yasopp felt that they were very familiar, but for a moment, he could not remember where he had seen them before.
"What is this?"
Kuma handed the items to Yasopp, then shook his head and said in a low voice, "The Marines gave them to me and told me to pass them to Shanks."
"Now that I have met you, my mission can be considered complete."
"Did the Marines say anything else?"
Yasopp took the items from Kuma and asked.
Kuma shook his head, indicating that the Marines had said nothing more.
Then he turned and vanished into the air.
Yasopp returned to the ship with the things Kuma had given him.
As he walked, he said curiously, "Shanks, Kuma brought two things over. He said the Marines gave them to you."
"Hm? What things?"
Shanks lifted his head blankly.
But the moment he saw the headphones in Yasopp's hand, his Conqueror's Haki suddenly burst out uncontrollably.
Boom!
A terrifying wave of Conqueror's Haki swept across the world.
Aside from the officers aboard the ship, every pirate near the vessel was knocked unconscious.
In the blink of an eye, Shanks appeared beside Yasopp, his eyes bloodshot as he stared fixedly at the headphones in Yasopp's hand.
Beckman reacted first.
He quickly approached Shanks while telling Lucky Roux and the others to carry away the unconscious pirates.
"Uta!"
"Those are Uta's headphones!"
"The Marines captured Uta!"
Shanks tightly gripped the headphones and held them up for Beckman to see.
When Beckman heard Shanks' words, his heart tightened as well.
Because he also recognized them.
They were Uta's headphones.
"That is impossible. Why would the Marines capture Uta?"
They could not understand it.
Ever since the Red Hair Pirates left the Grand Line, their contact with Uta had always been extremely secretive.
Aside from the Red Hair Pirates themselves, almost no one knew about the relationship between Shanks and Uta.
Red Hair clutched his head in pain.
"Uta… I have to save Uta!"
At that moment, Beckman delivered a heavy chop to the back of Shanks' neck, striking the completely unguarded Shanks and forcibly knocking him unconscious.
"Shanks is too furious right now. Even if we are going to save Uta, we absolutely cannot let him charge into Marine Headquarters in this state and throw his life away."
...
In a small Western-style building in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.
The Five Elders were once again seated face-to-face in a circle. On the chair between them were two Den Den Mushi.
One of the Den Den Mushi had already been connected, but no sound came from it.
The short, stout member of the Five Elders took out another Den Den Mushi from his pocket and made a call.
"Hello, Raleigh. Has the Marines recently captured any important person?"
On the other end of the Den Den Mushi, Raleigh's tone was calm.
"The Marines have been taking many actions recently. I am not certain whether we have captured any important figures, but I can confirm that, at present, we have not captured any particularly important officers from either the Revolutionary Army or the pirates."
"Perhaps there has been some oversight. Lord Five Elders, you may as well speak plainly. I will arrange for my subordinates to investigate."
The Five Elders' expressions froze.
They had not expected Raleigh to answer like that.
However, considering that the Marines had indeed been handling a huge amount of work recently, it was normal even if Raleigh did not know about such a matter.
"Have you captured an ability user whose fruit is the Sing-Sing Fruit? According to the World Government's Devil Fruit Encyclopedia, the Sing-Sing Fruit possesses extremely destructive power. If—"
"There is such an ability user on this sea?"
Raleigh's tone sounded somewhat surprised.