"What a bold move."
Reddy watched as Smoker fled into the castle and casually popped a piece of dessert into his mouth.
The Memo Memo Fruit might seem useless at first glance, but its ability to gather intelligence was god-tier.
Earlier, after failing to find Brulee, he had hidden in the alternate space created by the Door-Door Fruit, temporarily lifted the effects of the Hobi Hobi no Mi on Pudding, collected her genetic sample, and then turned her back into a doll.
His brief presence had gone unnoticed by the Big Mom Pirates.
Not to mention, Smoker had been drawing plenty of attention for him.
Door-Door Fruit + Hobi Hobi no Mi + Memo Memo no Mi… Reddy quickly extracted memories from a Big Mom Pirates officer whose name he had forgotten and learned that Brulee had hidden inside the Mirror World.
Left with no choice, he had to temporarily halt his hunting plan and openly enter the castle to wait for another opportunity.
Though he was waiting, he had also made a new discovery—one that completely opened his eyes.
Desserts contained even more energy than Sea Kings!
"A single bite gives over fifty energy points."
After confirming Smoker had escaped into the castle, Reddy turned his attention back to the dessert in his hand, made of cream, chocolate, and other ingredients, savoring it with delight.
On Whole Cake Island, there might not be much else, but desserts were definitely abundant.
As a VIP guest of Big Mom, Reddy's sweet tooth was more than satisfied.
A dessert the size of his palm could provide him with over two hundred energy points.
"Is it the ingredients or the skill?"
Reddy finished the last bite and fell into thought.
Desserts were high-calorie foods, no doubt.
But he had eaten desserts before, yet only those on Whole Cake Island contained such high energy.
This was worth pondering.
"I need to add a few more hunting targets."
Reddy brushed off the crumbs from his clothes, avoided the mirrors in the room, and summoned a clone with the Hobi Hobi no Mi ability.
A door silently opened in the air.
Reddy effortlessly pulled off a body-switch, leaving the clone to impersonate him in the room while he traveled through the alternate space to monitor Smoker, who had infiltrated the castle.
Soon, he found Smoker wreaking havoc in the corridors.
"What's over here?"
Reddy ignored Smoker and Montd'or, who was guarding the kitchen entrance, and entered the kitchen directly.
The kitchen was bustling with activity.
The head chef, Streusen, was energetically directing the chefs as they put the final touches on a massive multi-layered cream cake.
"Smoker wants to destroy the cake?"
Reddy quickly guessed Smoker's intentions and was genuinely surprised.
Since when did Smoker's brain come up with such a brilliant idea?
In the original story, Big Mom's cake being destroyed had triggered her eating rampage, making her lose all rationality and even attack her own children.
"Impressive."
At this thought, Reddy couldn't help but praise.
A Big Mom in the throes of her eating rampage would lose all reason. If someone manipulated the situation, he might just become her target.
No—he would definitely become her target!
Reddy stared thoughtfully at the nearly finished giant cream cake, then suddenly smiled and returned to the corridor.
By now, Smoker was already fighting Montd'or at the door.
Montd'or, a user of the Book-Book Fruit, was a natural counter to Smoker's Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
Montd'or was also very composed, not rushing to defeat Smoker but instead focusing on trapping him inside a book.
Smoker, though desperate to escape, remained cautious, using his abilities to fill the corridor with smoke to obscure Montd'or's vision while quietly waiting for the right moment to break into the room behind him.
"White Hunter, surrender!"
While Smoker was cautious, Montd'or was even more level-headed. After failing to trap Smoker several times, he stopped wasting energy and focused solely on guarding the door, waiting for reinforcements from his siblings.
Once backup arrived, Smoker would have no chance of escaping the Big Mom Pirates' pursuit.
Unfortunately, someone was determined to stir up trouble.
Montd'or kept taunting Smoker, completely unaware that a door had silently opened in the air behind him.
A fist coated in Armament Haki shot out and slammed into the back of his head.
Montd'or's eyes rolled back, and he lost consciousness.
Before he could collapse, a large hand reached out from the door and dragged him inside.
The door vanished.
The entire fight had taken less than a second.
Smoker soon noticed that Montd'or, who had been stubbornly guarding the door, had mysteriously disappeared. But he had no time to dwell on it and immediately barged into the kitchen.
The kitchen fell silent.
Everyone, from Streusen to the chefs and helpers, was momentarily stunned by Smoker's sudden intrusion.
No one had expected someone to actually break in here.
"The cake?"
Seeing the enormous multi-layered cream cake, Smoker instantly thought of a way to escape—and even complete his mission.
"Don't you dare ruin my masterpiece!"
Streusen snapped out of it and swiftly drew his sword, blocking the cake.
As the head chef of the Big Mom Pirates, he was also a swordsman of considerable skill.
Smoker smirked and activated his ability, filling the entire kitchen with smoke.
Logia-type Devil Fruit users were just that overpowered.
Smoker might not be able to defeat Streusen, but avoiding him to destroy the cake was child's play.
Soon, the smoke cleared.
Streusen stared at the cake, now reduced to crumbs, and nearly fainted from rage.
"Where is he?!"
When he finally caught his breath, Streusen roared furiously.
But no one knew how Smoker had escaped the kitchen.
"What happened…"
Katakuri strode into the kitchen, his face darkening the moment he saw the ruined cake.
The worst-case scenario had come to pass.
"Don't worry…"
Streusen had already regained his composure, shaking his head in relief. "Luckily, this was just the backup cake."
Katakuri's expression eased slightly. "The other one?"
Streusen nodded.
Big Mom's obsession with the tea party was no secret. Having been by her side since the founding of the Big Mom Pirates, Streusen knew how serious this was.
So he had already prepared the non-poisoned version. The destroyed cake had been the one laced with poison.
"The cake is in your hands."
Katakuri's eyes flashed with ruthlessness as he turned and strode out of the kitchen.
Streusen watched him leave before bellowing, "Clean this up! We still have time to make another one."
The chefs and helpers scrambled into action.
Streusen then headed to the next room.
He was worried Smoker hadn't just destroyed the unfinished cake—he wouldn't rest easy until he saw the other one with his own eyes.
Soon, Streusen stood before an identical multi-layered cream cake and finally relaxed.
At that moment, a door silently opened behind him.
A fist struck the back of his head, and another hand reached out, yanking him inside before he could lose consciousness.
Reddy smirked, quickly collected Streusen's genetic sample, and began creating a clone based on him.
While waiting for the clone to finish, he stepped out of the door and stood before the cake.
"How many energy points can this cake give me?"
...
"Useless fools!"
Streusen stormed into the kitchen, berating the chefs still cleaning up the ruined cake.
No one dared to speak.
Every single one of them wished they could bury their heads in their laps to avoid his wrath.
None of them noticed that while Streusen's tone was furious, his face showed no emotion.
Reddy, observing from the alternate space, saw that the clone had the situation under control and turned to head back to his room.
"By the time they realize something's wrong, Big Mom should already be in her eating rampage."