"Don't move now."
The petite Ghost Princess, Perona, crouched low to the ground, tilting her head as her black, pearl-like eyes blinked curiously.
Before the war with the Big Mom Pirates, she had changed her look.
Her twin pink ponytails were let down and curled into wavy locks—similar to Alvida's—but where Alvida's style exuded mature allure, Perona's carried a playful, doll-like charm.
She wore a wide-brimmed black hat, carried a frilly parasol in her hand, donned a black-and-white pleated dress, hugged a grotesque stuffed bear, and wore glossy red knee-high boots.
Her words were directed at the Mirror-Mirror Fruit user—Charlotte Brûlée.
Moments earlier, Perona had slipped through a mirror at the base of the tower, entering the Mirror World, where she subdued Brûlée using her Horo Horo no Mi powers.
At first, Brûlée screamed and cursed in fury—but after being pierced through, again and again, by Perona's Negative Ghosts, as if her very spirit were being dipped in boiling broth, her will collapsed.
She eventually lay sprawled on the ground, eyes hollow, completely giving up resistance.
Perona even overheard her muttering words like "cut wrists" and "hang myself."
Her mind had broken, her spirit shattered—she was now consumed by despair, even to the point of craving death.
"What should we do with her?" Perona turned her head toward the man beside her, making a little hand gesture across her neck.
After capturing Brûlée, Perona had used a Den Den Mushi to inform the Davy Jones Pirates that the area was secure.
Soon after, the main forces of the crew began flooding into the Mirror World.
"Wait," Kuro said, raising a hand to stop her. Habitually, he pushed up his round spectacles with his palm.
"Killing her recklessly could destabilize the Mirror World itself. Our top priority right now is keeping these passages stable."
Perona blinked innocently and nodded.
"I get it… I won't give her the chance to regain consciousness or use her power."
Her Negative Ghosts were, without question, a potent form of soft control—for those who faced them for the first time, they were practically a death sentence.
"Good. That's sufficient."
Just then, Kuro heard a faint sound above and lifted his head, eyes narrowing as if he had already predicted what was coming.
"So… before you took control of her, she managed to make a call with her Den Den Mushi after all."
"Eh?"
Perona tilted her head again, adorably confused—but as she followed Kuro's gaze, she understood.
On the far side of the mirror—the one connected to Whole Cake Island—a group of figures was emerging.
Katakuri, Smoothie, Daifuku, Oven, and several other elite members of the Charlotte Family appeared one after another.
Only the eldest son, Perospero, remained behind, guarding their mother, Big Mom—Charlotte Linlin, at the family's headquarters.
"Brûlée…"
Seeing his sister lying curled on the ground, Katakuri instantly understood what had happened.
Cracker's surprise assault had failed—and Cracker himself was, in all likelihood, already dead.
Katakuri forced himself to remain calm.
They won't hurt Brûlée—they need her alive to maintain the mirror network.
Then my task is clear. Two objectives:
First, destroy the Davy Jones Pirates in front of us.
Second, recover Brûlée.
Having refocused, his erratic breathing and pounding heart gradually steadied.
He raised his black trident, Mogura, and pointed it straight at Kuro and Perona.
"Kill them. Retrieve Brûlée. Ensure her safety—and avenge our fallen brothers and sisters!"
Smoothie, Daifuku, Oven, and the other Charlotte family members nodded grimly in unison—only for their expressions to change in shock.
Behind Kuro and Perona, the mirror that led to Silent Isle began to ripple—and more Davy Jones Pirates began stepping through.
Katakuri and Smoothie's brows furrowed deeply.
They recognized them immediately: Crocodile the "Sand Crocodile," Trafalgar Law the "Surgeon of Death," IronMace Alvida, and several other top members of the Davy Jones Pirates.
And among them—Marco the Phoenix?!
Why was the right hand of the Whitebeard remnants here?!
Katakuri's heart sank. Their intelligence on this enemy was far too incomplete.
They didn't even know when Davy Jones and the remnants of Whitebeard's crew had made contact—or why they were now allied.
Marco's presence was surprising—but what truly filled Katakuri with dread was the man standing at their head:
Captain Davy Jones—the Deep Sea King.
Wearing a tattered black coat that seemed soaked forever in the ocean's depths, covered in barnacles, a weathered tricorne upon his head—the moment he appeared, an almost tangible pressure blanketed the battlefield.
Katakuri's Observation Haki screamed warnings—wild, dangerous, incomprehensible signals that made his heart pound.
Now he understood—why Davy Jones was counted among the Four Emperors.
He was a monster of the same breed as Big Mom and Kaido.
"Hold the line!"
Katakuri's voice snapped the stunned Big Mom Pirates back to their senses.
"I'll handle him!"
The resolve in his tone—the sound of a man ready to die—startled even his comrades.
The undefeated First Sweet Commander, Katakuri, was shaken to his core.
But his stance was firm, Haki flaring around him—he would not allow himself a moment's weakness.
The instant Davy Jones appeared, Katakuri knew—only he stood any chance of buying time against the Deep Sea King.
His mission had changed.
It was no longer two objectives—only one:
Weaken Davy Jones as much as possible before he reaches Mother. Give her the edge in the coming fight.
If Big Mom prevailed—then Brûlée, Cracker, and the entire Charlotte Family might still have a future.
Meanwhile, on the opposite side, Alvida stood beside her captain, carefully surveying the Big Mom Pirates across the mirror world.
"Captain Davy Jones," she said evenly, "most of the targets on our 'must-eliminate' list are present."
She began reading, her tone cold and deliberate:
"Minister of Cheese—Mondot-dor, Book-Book Fruit user.
Minister of Nuts—Amande, swordswoman wielding the famed blade Shiro-Uo.
Minister of Butter—Galette, Butter-Butter Fruit user.
Minister of Cream—Opera, Cream-Cream Fruit user.
Minister of Baking—Oven, Heat-Heat Fruit user.
Minister of Beans—Daifuku, Puff-Puff Fruit user.
Minister of Juice—Smoothie, Wring-Wring Fruit user.
Minister of Flour—Katakuri, Mochi-Mochi Fruit user."
"Only two are absent from the list," she concluded. "Minister of Candy—Perospero, Lick-Lick Fruit user—and the chief cook, Streusen, the Eat-Eat Fruit user. All others are here."
In Alvida's meticulously prepared list, these names carried the highest priority.
Among them, Katakuri and Streusen had been circled and underlined—marked as top-tier targets.
Eliminating Katakuri would be like cutting off one of Big Mom's arms.
Killing Streusen—the chef who birthed Totto Land itself—would be like slitting open her belly.
Davy Jones inclined his head slightly, though his gaze was already elsewhere—past the assembled Big Mom pirates, toward the mirror behind them.
She knows I'm here. She feels it.
Hum—
From within the mirror emanated a wave of malice.
Big Mom's Conqueror's Haki surged through the Mirror World, shaking its very fabric.
Hum—
Davy Jones responded in kind. His own Conqueror's Haki roared forth, colliding with hers.
The impact was cataclysmic—everyone present felt their souls jolt as if torn from their bodies.
Even titans like Marco, Katakuri, and Crocodile staggered, caught in the unseen clash.
For that brief, dreadful instant, every soul in the Mirror World seemed to no longer belong to themselves.
They were pieces on a board, wagers in a game played by two titans—Davy Jones and Charlotte Linlin.
All around them, the weaker pirates began to collapse one by one, foaming at the mouth—bodies shutting down to protect themselves from the overwhelming spiritual pressure.
At last, the confrontation of wills ended.
Neither side had won.
Their Conqueror's Haki had clashed—equal, unyielding.
But to the Charlotte Family, that parity was no comfort.
For it meant that Davy Jones stood on the same level as their mother—an opponent far beyond imagination.
The realization left them drenched in sweat, trembling with a fear they could no longer conceal.
Their earlier arrogance and eagerness for glory now seemed laughably childish.
Then—
Whoosh.
In an instant, Davy Jones vanished.
His speed was so absolute that even Katakuri—whose Observation Haki could glimpse the future—failed to foresee it.
Impossible!
He turned sharply—only to see Davy Jones already slipping into another mirror… the one leading directly to Whole Cake Island—their stronghold.
He's going straight for Mother—and I couldn't stop him…!
Katakuri gritted his teeth, poised to give chase—but one look around told him the truth.
If he left, his family would be slaughtered by Marco, Crocodile, and the rest.
Meanwhile, the Davy Jones Pirates, realizing their captain had gone to face Big Mom herself, roared with newfound fury—each of them surging forward like beasts unchained.
Crocodile, stepping up as acting commander, raised his golden hook and pointed toward the Big Mom Pirates.
"Attack!"
The war horns blared.
The Davy Jones Pirates charged like a tidal wave, crashing upon the Big Mom Pirates in the twisted, shimmering depths of the Mirror World—
their battle erupting into chaos, blood, and shattering glass.
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