"Straw Hat crew! What are you trying to do?!"
At that moment, three figures suddenly leaped up from the venue below and landed squarely on the main table.
These three were none other than the Sweet Commanders of the Big Mom Pirates.
Because Snack had not yet been defeated by the Supernovas at this point, Big Mom naturally had not stripped him of his position as a Sweet Commander.
With a bounty of only 600 million Beli, he nonetheless stepped forward—somewhat inexplicably—on the strength of his title alone.
Swish!
A massive cleaver slashed through the air, flashing with cold light as waves of pressure surged outward.
With a grim expression, Snack spoke coldly:
"No matter what your goal is, your ending is already decided!"
"To dare disrupt Mama's tea party—your future holds only death!!!"
"..."
"..."
Hearing Snack's unwavering declaration, Smoothie and Cracker, who had been about to speak, froze awkwardly on the spot.
Come on, you idiot little brother.
Did you not see Big Brother Katakuri lying unconscious on the ground?!
Sure, we came here to talk tough to the Straw Hats, but was it really necessary to leave them zero room to back down?!
Even if Mama can easily crush them, did you think about what happens to us afterward?!
At that moment, Smoothie and Cracker exchanged a look, each seeing helplessness reflected in the other's eyes.
But since Snack had already raised the stakes so high, and since their status within the Big Mom Pirates was clearly above his, the two of them could hardly afford to fall behind.
Clang!
Cold metal gleamed sharply under the sunlight.
Smoothie and Cracker both drew their great swords, pointing their blades toward the Straw Hat crew—
Especially toward Red, who had appeared out of nowhere carrying the heavily injured and unconscious Katakuri.
They said nothing, but their actions spoke volumes.
Don't think that defeating Katakuri meant they had lost the courage to draw their blades…
That would be gravely underestimating the Big Mom Pirates!!!
Yet what the Sweet Commanders failed to anticipate was—
Faced with their challenge, Red merely smiled calmly, his gaze passing straight over them to the rest of those seated around the round table.
"What do we want?"
Red spoke softly, yet an unmistakable smile flickered in his eyes, impossible for anyone present to ignore.
"There's a saying you should be familiar with…"
"The strong enjoy the world."
"But what's strange is that even though we're already this strong, we've never once been allowed to enjoy this world!"
"Even when we quietly hide away in some forgotten corner of the world, people still dare to threaten us with the lives of our friends…"
"So tell me—what exactly is the reason for all of this?!"
Red suddenly stepped forward, walking toward the three Sweet Commanders.
With each step, the pressure radiating from his body intensified.
At the same time, a strange, divine pink light burst from his eyes.
When he extended his arm again, his palm had somehow transformed into three thick, rounded fingers made of flesh.
Mewtwo Template—Activated!
Whoooosh—
A vast surge of Psychic Power erupted from Red's body, instantly forming chain-like bindings that completely restrained the three Sweet Commanders.
"W-What's going on?!" Smoothie cried out in shock as the massive sword in her hands—longer than her own body—clattered to the ground with a deafening clang.
Cracker and Snack, bound at her sides, wore identical expressions of disbelief.
Red stepped up before them, his feet lifting off the ground as he hovered at eye level with the three.
"So… who exactly gave you the guts to come provoke us?"
"Psychic · Tsukuyomi!!!"
Perhaps because his crewmates had been wronged, even Red couldn't suppress the anger rising in his heart.
Though he had no intention of killing any major members of the Big Mom Pirates, he still entered his strongest state and unleashed a full-powered Psychic-type attack.
In an instant, three violent mental shocks tore straight into their minds.
Under Red's control, Smoothie and the others found their vision spinning as they were dragged into a mental world—
A sinister realm drenched entirely in blood-red hues.
Their bodies were tightly bound to wooden stakes.
The next moment, three crimson figures appeared before them, each holding one of their own long swords.
"Now… savor the pain."
The three Reds spoke in unison, their voices cold and merciless.
Slash!!!
The massive blades lunged forward, plunging violently into the bodies of the Sweet Commanders, eliciting agonized screams.
Bathed in blood-red light, Red showed no emotion, like a machine without feelings. He allowed their blood to spill across his body as he coldly withdrew the swords—only to thrust them in again.
"Why… why can't I use Armament Haki?! Aaaaah!!!"
Impaled once more by a blade longer than her own body, Smoothie struggled desperately, yet no matter how she twisted, she couldn't evade Red's attacks.
"It's useless~"
The Red responsible for stabbing her spoke calmly:
"This is a special world created by my psychic power."
"In this world, I am the god who controls everything."
"Unless you possess the power to break through my mind, you'd best stay here and endure the pain."
"Don't worry—I won't kill any of you."
"Because torment of the mind is ten thousand times worse than death!"
Slash!
The blade pierced again, accompanied by heart-rending screams that made the blood-soaked world even more horrifying.
...
...
Meanwhile, in the real world—
To the kings of the underworld watching, Red had merely snapped his fingers lightly.
The next instant, the three Sweet Commanders began sweating profusely, as though they'd just endured a long sauna, and collapsed unsteadily to the ground before Red.
"Not bad~"
Red dismissed the Mewtwo Template and reverted to his human form.
Honestly, aside from Katakuri, the so-called top officers of the Big Mom Pirates were all disappointingly weak.
Even Smoothie, whose strength was second only to Katakuri, ranked at the very bottom among true top-tier fighters.
As for Cracker, who had been toyed with by Van Augur, and Snack, who had lost to Urouge—there was even less to say.
Under Red's overwhelming psychic power, only Smoothie managed to force herself back to her feet.
And Red's praise was meant for her alone.
"Damn it!!!"
Supporting herself on one arm, Smoothie staggered upright and reached for her sword.
Suppressing the fear she felt toward the blade that had accompanied her for decades, and fully aware of the vast gap between their strengths, she abandoned all hesitation and charged at Red with a furious roar, swinging her massive sword with unstoppable momentum.
"Die!!! You Straw Hat scum!!!"
Whoooosh—
A gigantic crescent-shaped slash tore through the air, racing straight toward Red.
But at that moment—
"How could we let you hit our vice-captain so easily?!"
Clang!!!
Silver light flashed!
Amid a clash that rang across the skies of Whole Cake Island, Roronoa Zoro appeared in front of Red as if he'd teleported.
Realizing that the long-legged woman before him was a swordsman like himself, Zoro grinned, flashing a row of white teeth.
"Red, leave this one to me!"
"I just happen to need a good whetstone to test my brand-new sword intent!"
"No problem."
Red smiled softly, then reminded him seriously:
"Just be careful—don't break her."
"Heh~ Don't worry, Red!"
A sharp glint of pride flashed through Zoro's eyes.
The next instant, with Red's approval, Zoro shot forward like a straight beam of light toward Smoothie.
"One Sword Style Secret Technique—Iaijutsu—Extreme—Lion's Song!!!"
"Damn it! Don't look down on me!!!"
Hearing every word exchanged between Zoro and Red, Smoothie's face flushed with humiliated fury.
She swung her sword and stabbed it straight into a nearby juice Homie.
"L-Lady Smoothie?!"
The Homie in charge of the main table's drinks clearly hadn't expected her blade to pierce him instead of the enemy.
A massive amount of juice surged through the sword and into Smoothie's body.
Her figure began swelling rapidly—just like Luffy when inflated.
In the blink of an eye, she towered over even Big Mom and Luffy below, reaching a height of over ten meters.
At that moment, Zoro—gripping Wado Ichimonji—arrived before her.
His sword intent reached its peak, completely merging him with his blade and radiating a presence that could not be ignored.
Smoothie, enlarged along with her great sword, swung it down like a warship, whipping up a violent storm as she slashed toward Zoro.
BOOM!!!
A terrifying shockwave exploded outward from the clash, sweeping across the area.
Zoro and the giant Smoothie remained locked in midair.
Though their blades differed enormously in size, they rang out evenly matched in the sky.
"Not a bad whetstone at all!"
Feeling the endless power surging through his arms, Zoro smiled confidently.
At that moment, his physique suddenly grew even more muscular, his arm muscles bulging in a way that defied all scientific logic.
But—
This was piracy.
BOOM!!!
A sudden surge of power blasted into Smoothie's giant sword, knocking it violently aside and smashing it into the outer wall of Big Mom's castle, shattering an entire corner.
Seizing the advantage, Zoro clenched Wado Ichimonji between his teeth, drew the other two swords from his waist, and assumed his Three Sword Style, charging straight at Smoothie.
Seeing this, Red snapped his fingers and opened two Hyperspace Holes, sending the unconscious Cracker and Snack over to Buggy's side.
Though he hadn't spoken much with Buggy, things over at the dungeon seemed to be going extremely well.
Who knew what kind of sweet talk Buggy had fed them?
A group that had originally wanted nothing more than escape or revenge against Big Mom had, after Buggy's speech, completely abandoned those goals and decided to follow Captain Buggy to pull off something big!
Even Red couldn't help but sigh inwardly at the sight…
If you shaved off Buggy's red nose, gave him a little mustache, and had him fail out of an art academy…
The World Government might've ceased to exist long ago.
After Red finished handling all that, the entire venue fell silent once more.
The kings of the underworld didn't even dare breathe loudly, each one holding their breath and blending into the surroundings.
Unfortunately—
Red's attention was now firmly fixed on them.
"Next… it's your turn!!!"
"W-Wait!"
Du Feld, the so-called King of Loan Sharks, frantically waved his arms.
"Don't misunderstand! I'm not a member of the Big Mom Pirates!"
"They force me to attend every tea party—if I don't, they'll kill us!"
"Y-Yeah! Big Mom threatened us the same way!"
Better you than me.
The other underworld kings quickly echoed his words.
With the Sweet Commanders defeated and Big Mom herself being driven further into rage by Luffy's bizarre powers, distancing themselves from her now would save them a lot of trouble.
But the next instant—
"Enough noise!!!"
Red's eyes turned vicious as he glared at Stussy and the others.
An unmistakable look of irritation crossed his face.
"Du Feld… a parasite who got rich through usury, huh?"
"The world is full of broken families precisely because of scum like you."
"This world needs a blood transfusion."
"You've squatted in the underworld for far too long."
"Perfect timing…"
"You'll serve as the sacrifices for the birth of the New World!!!"
"Nami, leave that loan shark to you!"
"Make sure you get his bank passwords out of him—someone that slippery definitely has more than one hideout!"
"Leave it to me!"
Hearing her name called, Nami licked her lips greedily.
She snapped open the Clima-Tact at her wrist and swung it like a circus baton, whipping up a dense storm that swept Du Feld's body straight out of the venue.
Red didn't stop there.
He continued calling out the names of the underworld kings one by one, assigning each to his crewmates.
That's right!
This trip to Whole Cake Island wasn't just about defeating Big Mom.
Red intended to completely overhaul the underworld as well.
After all, in the New World, the Straw Hat Pirates would eventually need industries of their own.
And what's faster—building them by hand, or looting them outright?
By sheer coincidence, these kings of the dark world became the Straw Hat Pirates' chosen targets!
This world has slept for far too long.
It's time to begin a new cycle!!!
(End of Chapter)