Brûlée paced nervously around Katakuri. "Katakuri, are you okay?"
"I'm fine… or maybe not fine," he said seriously. "Everything that happened was planned by the Straw Hat crew."
Forget about his heart — even Big Mom's heart was now in that man's hands.
From this moment on, the Big Mom Pirates were in the hands of Straw Hat Luffy.
"What?" Brûlée asked, frowning. "What happened, Katakuri?"
Charlotte Cracker spoke with clear disgust. "Our hearts were all taken…" He then briefly explained the situation.
At once, the Charlotte family members burst into anger.
"How dare that bastard do something like that?!"
Big Mom raised her hand, silencing the useless outburst of emotions from her children.
"This matter is over," she said firmly. "No point in whining about it."
What mattered now was figuring out how to retrieve their hearts.
Brute force was out of the question — not when the enemy had such an advantage.
The beauty trap was also rejected, at least for the time being.
She thought back to the daughters she had once suggested to him. When Straw Hat Luffy heard the name Pudding, his expression had shifted slightly.
It was obvious — Straw Hat knew Pudding, or at least had heard of her.
"Where's Pudding now?" Big Mom asked, smiling slyly.
"Pudding's in Chocolate Town, where she opened a café," Flampe muttered, pouting.
She didn't care much about her other sisters being rejected — but knowing she herself had been turned down as well filled her with anger.
She never wanted to be sent off for marriage, but still — she was the cutest of all the Charlotte sisters!
Her pride was wounded!
"Tell Pudding to come see me later," Big Mom ordered.
That daughter held a special place in her heart.
The Straw Hats had Nico Robin… and she had Pudding.
At that moment, Charlotte Smoothie entered, looking slightly injured.
"Mother."
"Smoothie, what happened to you?" Big Mom asked, narrowing her eyes.
Smoothie's tone was serious. "I fought the captain of the Straw Hats' second division — the Princess Vivi of Alabasta — and another woman named Nami."
Big Mom frowned. "What's going on?"
"Both of them ate Logia-type Devil Fruits, and their Haki is very strong. But they lack combat experience. Otherwise…"
Smoothie's expression darkened.
In her first fight with Vivi, she'd had an overwhelming advantage — even though her opponent's Haki was stronger and could glimpse the future.
Unfortunately, Nami, the user of the Thunder Fruit, appeared afterward — and that power was overwhelming.
Facing the two of them together, Smoothie had no chance of winning.
"They left after taking a copy of the Poneglyph," she added bitterly.
"Poneglyph?"
Big Mom was intrigued.
She had already given Straw Hat Luffy a copy of the Road Poneglyph as a bargaining chip.
If they deliberately took another one… then perhaps that straw-hatted boy was planning something bigger.
Now that she regarded Luffy as an equal, Big Mom had to consider that possibility seriously.
Could there be some hidden information in the ordinary Poneglyphs?
While she pondered this, another family member entered — Charlotte Praline.
"Mother, what do you need from me?"
"This is your future husband. The wedding will be in one month."
Big Mom handed her a photo of Aladdin.
Praline stared at it, dumbfounded.
It was so sudden…
But out of loyalty to her mother, she didn't show any resistance or displeasure.
"I understand. Since it's my mother's decision, I'll obey."
---
Elegia — Grand Banquet Hall
Vivi and Nami had returned, and Perona's spirit floated through the wall soon after.
"Luffy, this is the second Poneglyph," Nami said, handing the paper to Robin. "Robin, what does it say?"
"Give me a moment," Robin replied, spreading the copy across the table. She studied it intently, her expression gradually turning to one of surprise.
"Luffy," she said softly, "this one talks about the Great Flood."
"The Great Flood?" Luffy raised an eyebrow.
"Over 800 years ago, the sea level of this world wasn't as high as it is now. Then, a massive flood submerged nearly the entire world, drowning countless islands."
"By the way," Robin continued, "the land of Wano is also mentioned. It says there was a person with the power of a Devil Fruit who built an enormous wall around Wano — saving it from the flood."
Robin rested her chin on her hand, frowning thoughtfully. "What kind of flood could affect the entire world? It's… hard to even imagine."
The others were stunned.
Usopp turned pale with fear. "The entire world? That's terrifying!"
The image was so grand it felt mythical — like something straight out of legend.
Luffy, however, didn't seem particularly shocked.
He suspected the record didn't refer to the current Wano, but to an ancient version of the country.
The great wall around ancient Wano might have been built to contain water — from constant rainfall or something else — that kept the whole land submerged.
The modern Wano walls were likely rebuilt on the mountain slopes afterward.
Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about the Great Flood for now.
Luffy grinned. "Anyway, the wedding's settled. Time to send out invitations! Oh — and by the way, who should I send the invitation to among the Five Elders?"
His eyes swept across the room and stopped on Moria, smiling warmly.
"Moria… do you have any subordinates who ate the Invisibility Fruit?"
Far away in the rebuilt city of Elegia, Absalom froze mid-construction.
A terrible sense of dread ran down his spine.
(End of Chapter)
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter!