A chilling aura instantly enveloped the entire round table.
All the attending guests fell silent at once, eyes wide, not daring to even breathe too loudly.
Because they knew very well—when Big Mom said those words, it meant that someone was about to suffer!
Although they didn't believe Big Mom would actually kill Straw Hat Luffy, who had only just joined her ranks, draining a bit of his lifespan and giving him a harsh lesson was still entirely possible.
However, what happened next completely shattered everyone's expectations…
Just as they thought Luffy would show fear under Big Mom's overwhelming Haki and have his soul ripped away—
That stretched rubber arm suddenly snapped back, along with the precious chocolate croissant!
"Ahm~"
"So delicious!!!"
Under the stunned gazes of everyone present, Luffy brazenly stuffed the croissant into his mouth in one bite. It was as if he had eaten a glowing delicacy—his face broke into a blissful, sweet smile.
Clearly, the furious Big Mom standing right in front of him hadn't affected his appetite in the slightest.
After licking the chocolate from the corner of his mouth, he even grinned at Big Mom and laughed cheerfully.
"Hehehe~ I win!!!"
"!!!"
H-He actually dared to do that!?
Seeing Luffy's carefree, idiotic grin, the same thought flashed through everyone's mind simultaneously.
Watching Luffy eat the croissant she had been craving most, Big Mom's mind went blank. Her eyes turned hazy, unfocused.
"Oh no!"
Seeing this, the Big Mom Pirates below instantly panicked.
"Mom's hunger pangs are acting up!"
"Croissant~!!!"
"My croissant~!!!!"
BOOM!!!
A terrifying pressure like a raging storm erupted from Big Mom's body, sweeping across the entire venue.
"AAAAHHH!!!—My croissant~!!!"
At this moment, Big Mom displayed the true power of a Yonko.
Under her roaring fury, even the clouds in the sky shattered apart.
Pitch-black lightning blanketed the skies over Whole Cake Island.
"H-Hey, Linlin…"
Stussy abruptly stood up, her smooth legs knocking her chair aside as she retreated instinctively.
As she backed away, she tried to soothe her.
"Calm down, Linlin!"
"Today is supposed to be your big day."
Though she had no idea what there was to celebrate anymore, she knew that if she didn't say something now, everyone here would be doomed.
But when she lowered her gaze toward the true culprit—
She suddenly realized that the Straw Hat Pirates were completely unaffected by Big Mom's Haki.
Not a single one of them showed fear. No one had their soul stolen.
And in that instant, Stussy understood everything.
The Straw Hat Pirates joining Big Mom's crew…
Had been a lie from the very beginning.
It wasn't that they lacked the courage to challenge a Yonko.
It was that they had already set their target from the start.
"..."
Realizing this, Stussy shut her mouth and quickly retreated, trying to escape this place of imminent disaster.
But at that moment—
A figure suddenly appeared behind her out of thin air, so close that she could clearly smell his striking fragrance as warm breath brushed her ear.
"Where do you think you're going, Miss Stussy?"
Gasp!
"Who!?"
The sudden voice made terror flash across Stussy's face. She immediately stomped the ground repeatedly.
"Shave!"
In the blink of an eye, she vanished from her spot and reappeared at what she thought was a safe distance, then turned to look back.
Instantly, a man wearing a red-and-white baseball cap came into her view.
But upon seeing him, her expression changed again.
"What!? How is it you!?"
Stussy snapped her head toward the round table, staring at Red, who stood there like a wax figure, wearing the same unchanging smile.
"Two vice-captains of the Straw Hat Pirates!?"
"Nope~"
The Red who had suddenly returned to the main hall pressed a hand to his baseball cap to keep it from being blown away by Big Mom's pressure. He then casually waved toward the round table.
"That's enough, little Nika~ The mission is over. You did great!"
"Nii~"
As if a switch had been flipped, the once-expressionless "Red" suddenly made an adorably mismatched cute expression.
In the next second, the fake Red burst into a soft pink glow.
Within the light, little Nika reverted to her true form and excitedly rushed toward Red.
Noticing her movement, the Straw Hat crew immediately spotted Red as well.
"Red! You're back!"
Luffy, who had been lost in the croissant-induced bliss just moments ago, instantly snapped back to his senses and asked excitedly,
"So that means Buggy and Bartolomeo… they're safe now!?"
"Would I ever mess that up?"
Red smiled faintly, then suddenly snapped his fingers.
The next moment, a pitch-black dimensional vortex opened behind him, and a heavily injured, unconscious Katakuri dropped straight out of it.
It had to be said—
Katakuri's Observation Haki and instincts were terrifyingly sharp.
Even after the Straw Hat Pirates had appeared at the venue, he had already been guarding the dungeon entrance in advance.
Unfortunately for him, Red had been just as cautious this time and chose to act personally.
While Jinbe and Law were rescuing the Twinbeard Pirates, and Buggy was dazzling everyone with his "charisma" and recruiting subordinates, Red had already encountered Katakuri at the dungeon entrance.
Originally, Red planned to ambush him and use Hyperspace Hole to drag him out to sea beyond Whole Cake Island, where a Devil Fruit user like Katakuri would be at a huge disadvantage.
But Katakuri's future sight allowed him to foresee that move.
With no other choice, Red stopped worrying about energy consumption and entered Mega Mewtwo Y form. With overwhelming stat superiority, he crushed Katakuri effortlessly using psychic power.
Don't be fooled by Mewtwo's level being only 70.
With the boost from Mega Evolution, even a typical level 90 Legendary Pokémon wouldn't necessarily be his match.
Before level 50, levels determine strength.
After level 50, talent decides everything.
Katakuri was undeniably powerful—arguably among the strongest beneath the Yonko.
But even so, he was at most comparable to a level 80 Zapdos.
Against Red, who had both attribute advantage and absurdly broken moves, Katakuri didn't even get the chance to warn Whole Cake Island before being defeated.
"Big Brother Katakuri!!!"
Seeing Katakuri lying unconscious on the ground, the Big Mom Pirates cried out in panic once more.
After all—
That was Katakuri, the undefeated Sweet Commander who never let his back touch the ground, second only to Big Mom herself!!!
"Impossible! When did this happen!?"
The other three Sweet Commanders stood up immediately, staring in disbelief at the figure by Red's feet.
Because if someone could defeat Katakuri—
That meant they could defeat any one of them as well.
"Mom!"
The Sweet Commanders and ministers turned their gazes back toward Big Mom.
Upon seeing Katakuri, Big Mom's reason finally overcame her instincts, forcibly suppressing the madness brought on by her hunger pangs.
Her eyes flickered as realization dawned, and she roared in fury,
"So that's how it is!"
"So you were never truly loyal from the start!"
"What a bunch of despicable, shameless wretches!!!"
Big Mom let out a thunderous roar of rage.
But in the face of her fury, not a single member of the Straw Hat crew showed even the slightest fear.
Even Usopp—normally a coward—stood firm.
Perhaps under Red's leadership, he had simply seen too many grand scenes.
At the very least, with powerful companions at his side, he no longer felt fear toward a mere Yonko.
"The shameless one here is you, you old hag!"
Luffy grinned fiercely, clenching his fists until his bones cracked.
"You attacked our friends and tried to force us into becoming your subordinates!?"
"We'll never submit to someone like you!!!"
"Gear Fifth!!!"
With Buggy and Bartolomeo already rescued by Red, Luffy had nothing left to worry about!
He and Big Mom were competitors for the One Piece to begin with—and now they were enemies on top of that.
So why waste any more words!?
WHOOSH!!!
A strange, eerie aura burst forth from Luffy's body.
White flames erupted across his skin, and under their scorching heat, his body rapidly inflated like a balloon.
In the blink of an eye, he grew even taller than Big Mom herself.
Before anyone could even marvel at his new form, Luffy was already swinging his fists into a whirling blur.
"Gum-Gum—Taotie Storm!!!"
WHOOSH!!!
Luffy's spinning arms suddenly stopped, suspended midair.
At the same moment, his body began spinning violently in the opposite direction, as if propelled by recoil.
A massive white hurricane appeared out of nowhere at the tea party and began rampaging wildly.
The terrifying gale first flipped the main round table, then swept toward the lower venue under the horrified gazes of the Underworld Emperors.
In mere moments, the entire tea party venue was completely destroyed.
Though Luffy hadn't attacked a single person, the banquet itself was reduced to nothing but an empty field.
BOOM!!!
Suddenly, an explosion rang out from within the spinning hurricane.
Countless fragments of tables and chairs shot out like bullets, embedding themselves into the ground.
When Luffy's figure reappeared before everyone, he was sitting lazily on the ground, belly bulging.
"Yahoo~ I'm full, I'm full!!!"
"That felt amazing!!!"
"..."
"..."
Wait—
You caused all that chaos just to eat all the food!?
Is this really the Fifth Emperor of the New World?!
What an unfathomable man…
The Underworld Emperors' minds were in turmoil.
But at that moment, Big Mom looked at the now-vanished desserts, her eyes instantly turning bloodshot like a feral beast.
"Bastard!!!"
"Unforgivable!!! Absolutely unforgivable!!!"
"AAAAAAHHHH—!!!"
Engulfed in flames of fury, Big Mom threw her head back and screamed.
Combined with the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit, her shrill shriek pierced directly into the souls of everyone present.
In an instant, most of the people at the tea party collapsed as if struck by Conqueror's Haki—eyes rolling back, foam spilling from their mouths.
Some ordinary guests even bled from their ears and fell unconscious.
This proved one thing—
Never, ever provoke a foodie's bottom line.
In her extreme rage, Big Mom's scream unleashed power even more terrifying than Conqueror's Haki, instantly clearing out the weak.
Even the Straw Hats had to cover their ears.
Fortunately, Red acted in time, erecting a psychic barrier that shielded everyone from Big Mom's soul-piercing howl.
"Unforgivable!"
Big Mom, now completely unhinged, looked like a demon king incarnate, hair wild and eyes blazing.
"Zeus!!!"
"Prometheus!!!"
"Napoleon!!!"
She shouted three names in succession.
In an instant, the skies over Whole Cake Island darkened.
Thunderclouds gathered, lightning crackled—just like her raging emotions.
Within the dense clouds, a thunder-wreathed grinning face and a blazing, vicious flame face appeared, shouting in unison,
"Yes, Mama!"
At the same time, the captain's hat atop Big Mom's head flew into the air, transforming into a massive blade. Together with the two Homies, they formed a three-pronged formation.
"Kill them all!!!"
Big Mom roared, raising both arms high.
Lightning in one hand! Flames in the other!
Napoleon transformed fully into a gigantic sword, swinging through the air.
"Thunder Drum!!!"
"Heavenly Fire!!!"
"Emperor Sword · Ruin Blade!!!"
BOOM!!!
Three attacks powerful enough to obliterate entire castles descended upon the tea party grounds.
Big Mom had completely forgotten that many of her invited guests and children were still present.
She unleashed her full power straight at Luffy!
Flames raged. Lightning crashed. Blade energy tore through the air.
BOOM—!!!
With a deafening explosion, the entire Whole Cake Island shook violently.
The freshly stuffed Luffy was hit square in the stomach by Big Mom's all-out attack.
Before he could even cry out in pain, Luffy clamped a hand over his mouth.
But Big Mom's strike was simply too powerful.
Before he could fully hold it back, an enormous amount of sweets erupted from his mouth like a fountain.
What was utterly absurd was—
Although Luffy had eaten all kinds of desserts,
The "rainbow" spewing out followed a bizarrely precise order: bread base, then jam, cheese, fruit, cream, chocolate decorations…
In an instant, a massive, luxurious multi-layer cake appeared beside Big Mom and Luffy.
"…What?"
"Is this also Nika's power!?"
Even Red couldn't help but raise an eyebrow in amazement.
As everyone stared at the cake—larger even than Big Mom herself—silence fell over the scene.
Big Mom hesitated, staring at the exquisite cake, unsure whether she should take a bite.
But no matter how sweet it smelled—
It had come out of that Straw Hat brat's mouth!!!
Her brain completely short-circuited. Lightning crackled in one hand, flames burned in the other, as she stood there frozen.
After a long pause, Red finally broke the awkward stalemate.
Scratching his cheek, he chuckled lightly.
"Well… this is a bit weird, but everyone…"
"The real party begins now~!!!"
(End of Chapter)