During this period, he had already been deceived by Pudding’s fake act, and started seeing himself as Pudding’s fiancé. He thought that, given Pudding’s kind nature, she would definitely be heartbroken to see Whole Cake Island destroyed, which is why he went to help out in the kitchen and made food.
After eating the food she liked, Charlotte Linlin was very satisfied. With a smile blossoming on her face, she stopped her destruction against the food in front of her. However, when she saw that it was Sanji who brought the food, her expression darkened again.
She didn’t say anything after that and just turned around, heading back toward the castle.
“Where are Whole Cake Island’s chefs? Why is it that the food was delivered by that Vinsmoke brat?!”
“Mama, the chefs were also cooking at the time, but they were just a little slower… He helped out a lot in the kitchen. Actually, that’s a good thing, isn’t it?”
“A good thing? Then how am I supposed to kill him! I’d already decided to wipe out the Vinsmoke family!”
Charlotte Linlin was in a foul mood. In her heart, she held her own set of moral principles, and a crucial one among them was that even pirates must uphold righteousness and honor.
In Charlotte Linlin’s view, anything related to food was of utmost importance. The food Sanji personally made had relieved her eating disorder, which could be considered a small favor.
Killing him at the wedding after that would make her feel a bit uncomfortable.
“Mama, that’s easy to solve. Just don’t kill him, kill the others instead.”
“Hmm?”
“We’ve already figured it out. Before you decided on the marriage alliance with Germa, Black Leg Sanji had never taken part in Germa’s activities. He was only brought back temporarily to fill the numbers.
It looks like Judge never really intended to give you his child.”
Within the Big Mom Pirates, the rule was that when a son married or a daughter took a husband, as long as the marriage happened, that person became part of the Big Mom Pirates.
“Sanji is different from Judge’s other children. If you want, you can just keep him. Anyway, he’s not familiar with Germa’s technology, and he’s not even really an official member of Germa.
Even without him, you can still make an example out of the others.”
“Mamamama Mamamama Katakuri, what you said is absolutely right. That’s a wonderful idea. If he doesn’t resist, then just let him go. Call Pudding over, some actions need to be rearranged.”
Katakuri’s suggestion made Charlotte Linlin very happy. Like a child, she clapped her hands and immediately changed part of her plan.
Aside from Charlotte Linlin’s sudden eating disorder episode, everything else on the island was proceeding in an orderly fashion. The areas that had been damaged were quickly repaired by the Big Mom Pirates’ Devil Fruit users, and soon everything was restored to its original state.
On the day before the wedding, Charlotte Linlin met with some important guests, and then all that was left was the final wait.
The Straw Hats, meanwhile, encountered a new development. They hadn’t entered the Seducing Woods, but instead accidentally bumped into Bege. The reason for this was Zoro.
At present, the Straw Hats weren’t acting separately but were all present on Whole Cake Island, Zoro included.
Wherever Zoro was, the route would take on a metaphysical quality.
Zoro didn’t lead the way, but because the others had to fetch the lost Zoro, things turned out like this in the end.
Now, the Straw Hats were playing around with Bege’s body.
In the literal sense.
“You lot, show some respect when you’re inside someone else’s body!”
Bege’s eyes and his castle’s gate were pushed open, and the shrunken Luffy was excitedly bouncing around inside.
It all started when Bege and Luffy’s group crossed paths.
Unlike other members of the Big Mom Pirates, he didn’t report the discovery of intruders, because he himself was a mole.
From the day he joined the Big Mom Pirates, he had never truly submitted to Big Mom, but had always intended to take her head.
When he realized that Luffy and the others were Sanji’s crewmates and wanted to take Sanji away, Bege understood that he had found a temporary partner.
Aside from them, another collaborator was Caesar. Caesar actually didn’t want to get involved in this sort of thing, but if he didn’t, his death was certain when the time came, so in the end, he had no choice but to get on Bege’s shady bandwagon.
Bege explained Charlotte Linlin’s plan to Luffy and the others, so they temporarily formed an alliance.
To prevent them from being discovered, he hid everyone inside his own body. He even found an opportunity to bring Sanji in, kicking off a new round of information sharing and scheming.
This was also the moment Bege regretted most. At first, Luffy was still mindful of the situation, but as Luffy began to feel that both sides had grown familiar, Bege’s disaster arrived.
He was the user of the Castle-Castle Fruit. His body was a castle, and others could enter and become miniature people inside it.
For those inside him, Bege’s body was a castle, with doors and windows that could be opened and closed, turning him into Luffy’s toy.
At this moment, only Law could understand Bege’s feelings. Joining forces with this kind of group was definitely not easy.
Here, Nami met Lola’s sister, Chiffon, and brought up the matter of the Vivre Card.
After hearing Nami’s words, Chiffon could only sigh helplessly.
“Lola is still so naive. Does she really think Mama doesn’t hold a grudge against her anymore?”
“Hold a grudge? Aren’t they mother and daughter?”
“They are, but because Lola ran away from her arranged marriage, the relationship between the Giants and Mama got even worse, and Mama’s hatred for Lola has only grown. Now, in this country, Lola is no different from a criminal.
If she comes back, she’ll definitely be killed.
If you show up in front of Mama with Lola’s Vivre Card, you’ll experience firsthand what an enraged Mama is like.
Because of this face, even I get beaten up by Mama every time she sees me. For years now, I’ve never stopped getting injuries, and several times it felt like I was going to be killed.
Even when Bege says he wants to kill Mama, I don’t feel anything at all.
I don’t care even if others think that’s excessive; it’s just the truth. We’ve long since become strangers, with only a nominal mother-daughter relationship left to maintain the political marriage.”
While Chiffon was explaining Lola’s situation to Nami, Bege also told Sanji the truth, which dealt a heavy blow to Sanji, who had been planning to propose that night.
But he still decided to go check things out that evening.
Bege wanted to assassinate Big Mom, the Straw Hats wanted to take Sanji away, and they also needed the Poneglyph in Big Mom’s possession. With their interests aligned, the alliance quickly reached an agreement, and then it was time to discuss tactics.
“First, we need to understand one thing: if it comes down to direct combat, we don’t stand a chance against Big Mom and her subordinates led by the Sweet Commanders.”
Bege made it clear from the start that their side was at a disadvantage. Law wholeheartedly agreed. Without Oden’s buff, even he couldn’t realistically hurt Big Mom.
“I have been preparing this plan for a long time. From the moment I saw Caesar, I had a new plan. This is a weapon he developed: deadly poison gas shells, KX Launcher.”
“Alright, let me explain. This rocket contains organophosphate toxic gas. Once hit, the gas is directly injected into the body. For an ordinary human, just getting it on their skin would be disastrous. If it is injected into the body, the fatality rate would definitely reach 200%!”
Caesar excitedly took over the topic, brimming with confidence in his weapon, but Bege immediately threw cold water on him.
“Unfortunately, this kind of rocket can’t harm Big Mom. She’s known as the Iron Balloon. Even without Haki, her tough skin alone can block most attacks. But only if she’s in peak condition.
For the plan to succeed, we need five seconds of distraction, and for Mama to be in a weakened state.”
“So how do we do that? Hey, Gang-ya, you do have a plan, right?”
“You’re asking the right question, but I’m curious. What the hell was going on in your head that you chose to ally with this bunch?”
Looking at the calm Law and the Straw Hats who were busy playing around inside his body, Bege let out a heartfelt question.
“Don’t ask. Right now, you’re doing the same thing as me. Besides, I actually have a few reliable people around.”
“You mean that beetle?”
“…”
Being able to demonstrate this kind of difference in just a day or two is a unique ability in itself.
“I was just joking to lighten the mood. I’ve been in this pirate crew for over a year now, and Mama has basically been in an unscathed state, with only one exception.
During a previous tea party, a servant accidentally knocked over Sister Carmel’s photo, and Mama then entered a strange state. That’s the opportunity.”
To carry out their plan, the key was to break Carmel’s photo. At that time, Charlotte Linlin would even let out bizarre roars. Just those roars alone were enough to incapacitate ordinary people and freeze the Homies.
This, in Bege’s eyes, was the best chance. Of course, doing this would definitely attract Charlotte Linlin’s wrath, so he assigned this task to Luffy and his group.
The Big Mom Pirates were planning to join forces with the Beasts Pirates to completely rule the Underworld and wipe out the Vinsmoke family, with a few possible exceptions.
Germa planned to freeload off the Big Mom Pirates, simply making use of their abilities.
Stussy was acting under orders from the World Government.
The Straw Hats also had new schemes after teaming up with Bege.
Almost all the participants had their own agendas, and thus a wedding full of plotting and scheming was set into motion.
Guests from all sides were on their way to the venue. But before Zeraora and the others could leave their room, an extra person appeared inside.
A shadowy black figure had silently shown up. Seeing this unfamiliar figure, Carrot and the others were already ready to fight, and Meowna and the others started shouting.
“Dad! There’s a weirdo at the door!”
“Relax, he’s not an enemy.”
Looking at the figure before him, Zeraora appeared very relaxed. That black figure was Darkrai. They hadn’t met many times, but they were fairly familiar with each other.
“Your kids are pretty cute.”
“Thanks for the compliment. What brings you here? Does Lord Arceus have new orders?”
“No, I just happened to pass by while following that aura, so I dropped in to take a look. Why are you giving me that look?”
Noticing Zeraora’s skeptical gaze, Darkrai found it odd. He didn’t think there was anything wrong with what he’d just said.
“You said you were just passing by?”
“That’s right.”
“Are you sure you’re not lost?”
Some things had already become common knowledge. To put it nicely, Darkrai is elusive; to put it bluntly, he gets lost easily, frequently jumping around the map and repeatedly turning up in weird places.
In Zeraora’s view, “just passing by” from Darkrai didn’t sound convincing at all.
“You know, just for saying that, I can say for sure those two kids definitely didn’t inherit your personality…”
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