Luffy couldn't help but let out a chuckle, and his laughter only served to deepen the students' scowls as they turned hostile gazes toward him.
This guy seemed to be unusually close to Uta. And, he was a boy.
They eyed Luffy with open hostility.
The palace guards, however, were in no mood to humor these students. Most of them had already sparred with Luffy and had, one by one, tasted defeat at the hands of this kid.
If even a kid among the pirates had such monstrous strength, how terrifying must the adult pirates be?
The guards could hardly fathom it. They had seen Luffy effortlessly lift and swing weights that weighed over a ton while training.
These pirates defied human norms—they were a league beyond comprehension. How could a group of music school students possibly hope to confront them without consequence?
The guards understood one thing well: the king had no desire to provoke the pirates. When even the king himself treated these pirates with the utmost respect, there was no chance they would entertain the students' complaints.
And so, the students were swiftly escorted out of the palace.
"My apologies, Miss Uta. With the recent opening of the palace to the public, our security resources have been stretched thin," the guard said, bowing to Uta.
"It's fine…" Uta forced a smile, though it was visibly strained.
The guard grew more nervous. "Please, don't let this minor incident affect your performance tonight. We'll increase security to prevent any further disruptions!"
The guard resolved to bar all music school students from the concert. These reckless kids with nothing but raw enthusiasm were the most troublesome—they wouldn't have dared confront the pirates directly.
Meanwhile, Luffy had already polished off the food on his plate. He set his empty plate atop the guard's helmet and reached over, mischievously grabbing a drumstick from Uta's plate.
The guard scrambled to catch the plate before it could fall and break.
"Luffy!" Uta, already in a foul mood, saw his greedy hand reaching for her food and felt her anger rise.
She lifted her plate high above her head and glared at him. "This is mine! You greedy little pig!"
"What's the big deal, Uta? You're practically full of anger anyway." Luffy casually reached out to pat her shoulder.
But Uta's attention was quickly caught by his greasy, meat-scented fingers, and she recoiled in horror. "Stay back! I'm wearing my new dress!"
This wasn't the dream world, where she could change outfits with ease. Today, she was in her performance gown, the one she'd be wearing on stage that evening.
She was genuinely panicking.
She didn't even notice the loose stone underfoot, and her high-heeled sandal wobbled. Her body tilted backward.
Luffy reached out, placing his hand behind her back to keep her from falling.
"Luffy!" she cried out, her voice hitting a higher pitch.
Feeling his arm supporting her, Uta's heart raced.
The guards watching nearby broke into a nervous sweat; they hadn't reacted quickly enough. Had she actually fallen, it could have been a disastrous accident for the performance.
But Uta's primary concern was her pristine dress. Leaning against Luffy's arm, she grew increasingly anxious.
If his greasy fingers so much as brushed her dress, it would leave a noticeable stain.
"I only used the back of my hand," Luffy grinned, reassuringly.
"I wouldn't ruin your performance, Uta."
Her mood lightened a bit. Startled and flustered, Uta let her earlier frustrations fade. She glared at the cheeky grin on Luffy's face, then moved to a nearby garden to finish her meal.
"I wish I could just hold the concert in a dream. Then, I wouldn't have to worry about any of this," Uta sighed.
The girl seemed hyper-aware of her attire, constantly fussing over it to make sure it stayed pristine.
"In the dream world, I can do anything. But here in reality…" Uta grumbled between bites.
The power of her Devil Fruit had granted Uta near-unlimited possibilities within the dream world, but it also starkly contrasted with her sense of helplessness in the real world.
"That's a nice idea, but you'd still need the stamina to pull it off," Luffy said, washing his hands in the garden fountain.
"If I were an ability user, it would be nice to have endless stamina."
Uta pouted. "If I could bring everyone into the dream world, then my vision of a new world would be complete," she said, imagining the scene with a dreamy smile.
"In my world, everyone could find happiness. Every person would live in perfect joy."
"Yeah, but that happiness would just be an illusion. A world based on fantasy wouldn't mean much," Luffy replied, growing serious. He could sense Uta's line of thought heading into dangerous territory.
With great power, there was always the risk of spiraling into madness. There were countless ability users driven by unshakable conviction, willing to defy reason to pursue their ideals. This world was full of such extremes.
Even he wasn't immune—ever since he began growing stronger, he'd found himself increasingly attracted to combat, his temper quickening, his instincts sharpened for the next challenge.
Uta frowned slightly, tilting her head thoughtfully.
"Who cares if it's imaginary? Aren't we happy when we're in that world?"
"There's no death there. Whatever someone wants, I can grant!" Uta declared, pressing her small hands to her chest, explaining her vision of a perfect world to Luffy.
"If I could pull everyone in, my world would be just as real as the one we live in!"
"Isn't that right, Luffy?"
Her violet eyes reflected Luffy's steady, contemplative gaze. She looked at him with hope.
Her dream, her vision of a new world, felt clearer than ever.
Luffy stared at this "Uchiha Uta."
Such an extreme idealistic vision was possible in this world of overwhelming strength. Twelve years from now, Uta would bring nearly seventy percent of the world's population into her dream realm, into a fantasy utopia of endless joy.
If she could truly upload all of humanity's consciousness into her realm, would that really be so wrong?
Luffy didn't know. All he knew was that Uta lacked the power to make a complete transition, and that was where her plan faltered.
"I don't know. I don't know about things that far ahead."
He reached out, grabbing her bunny-ear-shaped hair and giving it a shake.
"Agh! Luffy!" Uta squealed, startled. She raised her fist, clearly angry.
"First off, you can't put the whole world in there; second, not everyone would want to be there; and third, I think happiness needs a real body to experience it."
Luffy said this as he fiddled with her hair.
"Eventually, I'd have enough power to bring everyone in. And anyone who doesn't like the dream world could be secretly brought in, unaware. They'd live there without even realizing it," Uta countered, holding tightly to her vision.
"Anything you can do in the real world, I can recreate in my world!" She grabbed Luffy's hand, annoyed by his dismissal.
Uta was relentless, passionately explaining her vision of ascension.
To transcend the limits of flesh, to achieve a higher consciousness!
Seeing that she wouldn't back down, Luffy realized he had to seriously think about how to talk her down from this increasingly dangerous ideal.
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