Coco Island, Chocolate Town. The two-story pink residential buildings were mostly constructed from various foods, and the same applied to most of the furniture inside.
Sephiroth sat on a stool made of biscuits, its backrest a sugar board woven from red and white striped candy.
He surveyed the furnishings in the room and couldn't help but ask curiously, "You in Totto Land use so much food to make buildings? Aren't you worried about the quality of the houses? And... things made from food should also have a shelf life, right? Could it be that these things need to be replaced frequently...?"
"Those foods are processed with special techniques. The quality is guaranteed, and the shelf life is actually very long..."
Is it all technology and ruthlessness? Sephiroth muttered to himself.
Pudding stood in the open kitchen, picking up a teapot to make black tea. She asked, "Since just now, I've noticed something. Sephiroth, you came into Totto Land from outside, right? After all, you seem curious about many things in Totto Land."
Sephiroth nodded, admitting directly, "Yes! I was invited to attend Big Mom's tea party."
Totto Land has a large number of Homies for surveillance. Once someone illegally invades, they will issue a warning, thus attracting a large number of troops to carry out a siege. Even the Big Mom Pirates cadres scattered across the thirty-five islands, and Big Mom Charlotte Linlin, can instantly reach any island through special methods... Therefore, illegal invasion is actually a very dangerous thing in Totto Land, and few people dare to break in rashly.
"So that's it, were you invited by Mama to attend Daifuku Brother's wedding?" Pudding suddenly realized.
As she spoke, the girl walked to the table with a tray in her hands. She placed a cup of black tea and a chocolate mille-feuille cake on a plate in front of him.
Upon hearing this, Sephiroth immediately pretended to be surprised, "Mama, Daifuku Brother...? Could you be...?"
Pudding picked up the tray and held it in front of her. She bowed slightly and said with a nervous voice, somewhat apologetically, "I'm very sorry! Let me reintroduce myself. My full name is Charlotte Pudding, the 35th daughter of the Charlotte Family."
"I see! That is a bit unexpected. However, why didn't you mention Big Mom Charlotte Linlin's name when you were being bullied by those people? That way they shouldn't dare to bully you, right?"
Pudding lowered her eyelids and whispered softly, "Because Mama dislikes me very much, and Mama also doesn't like her children doing things casually under her name..."
Seeing that the girl's mood had become a little low, Sephiroth immediately picked up the fork on the plate, scooped a piece of cake into his mouth, tasted it, and praised, "Hmm! The chocolate mille-feuille cake is really delicious!"
"Really?"
"This is how I learned to make it from Lola Sister."
Hearing that something she made was praised, Pudding's somewhat low mood immediately improved, and a smile returned to her face.
"Sephiroth, can you tell me about the outside world? I haven't left Totto Land since I was little..."
"Although life in the outside world is not as rich as it is here in Totto Land, there are all sorts of strange and wonderful things..." Sephiroth ate and chatted, telling the girl about the various strange islands on the Grand Line.
The Boeing Archipelago, which is full of delicious food, and Weatheria Island, which floats ten thousand meters in the sky and specializes in meteorology...
Hearing about things she had never heard of before, Pudding's eyes sparkled, and her heart was filled with curiosity and longing.
Suddenly, ripples appeared on the mirror surface of a full-length mirror in the room.
Immediately, a man five meters tall, with a sturdy build, wearing a black leather jacket and black leather pants, holding a small wooden box in his hand, with amaranth short hair, and a white scarf around his neck, walked out from the mirror.
Seeing this scene, both of them stopped talking in unison and looked at the red-haired man.
"Katakuri Brother, why are you here?"
"Daifuku's wedding is about to start. I saw that you hadn't appeared on Cake Island, so I specifically came to check."
Pudding stood up in a hurry and bowed slightly towards Katakuri. "Ah! Oh no, I'm very sorry! I was having such a pleasant chat with Sephiroth just now that I accidentally forgot the time."
Sephiroth smiled, and after glancing at Katakuri who had come out of the mirror, he stood up, stretched, and said softly, "It seems I should take my leave now!"
"Sephiroth, you're also here for the wedding... Why don't you come with us using Brulee Sister's mirror space!" Pudding suggested.
Charlotte Brulee, the 8th daughter of the Charlotte Family, is a Mirror-Mirror Fruit user. Not only can she use her ability to make designated creatures replicate the appearance and abilities of enemies through mirrors, but she also possesses an extremely vast Mirror World. This Mirror World, in addition to being able to monitor others through mirrors, can also connect to the entire Totto Land through mirrors, allowing a designated number of people to be freely transported to places with mirrors. Just now, Katakuri came out of the mirror through Brulee's Mirror-Mirror Fruit ability and arrived directly at Pudding's house.
It can be said that as long as the Big Mom Pirates have Brulee, this strategic tool, they can launch a surprise attack on a certain place with the entire pirate crew at any time.
"No! I have other things to do, so I won't trouble you..." Saying that, Sephiroth waved his hand at Pudding, turned around, walked to the door of the room, opened it, and walked out.
If you were to ask why Sephiroth was unwilling to enter the Mirror World and go to Cake Island...? Are you kidding me!
Given the Big Mom Pirates' penchant for murder at wedding banquets, it was entirely possible a full Four Emperors crew had already ambushed him in the Mirror World. They might be waiting for him to enter before swarming him and taking him down!
Sephiroth didn't understand Brulee's Mirror World. He didn't know if he could return to the real world through the door after entering, or if he would be trapped, wandering the Mirror World, unable to leave. Therefore, he didn't want to rashly do things on the enemy's territory, especially when he couldn't predict the outcome.
After leaving the pink two-story residential building, Sephiroth drew his butcher knife, opened a spatial folding door, and went to Cake Island. On the other side, Pudding had changed into a pink dress. She followed Katakuri, and using Brulee's ability, passed through the mirror and arrived in a distorted and vast space of red and black squares. Mirrors of different sizes were embedded in the walls, ceiling, and even the ground of this Mirror World. They were ordinary mirrors, the kind used in every household in Totto Land.
They were just affected by Brulee's ability, allowing people to observe the outside world from the Mirror World and travel freely between reality and the Mirror World. Katakuri and Pudding walked one after another on the stone ground covered with black and red squares, heading towards the mirror of Cake Island.
"Pudding, that man... How did you meet him?" Katakuri asked.
"I was being bullied by a group of children who said they were going to poke my eyes out. Sephiroth saved me at the crucial moment..." Pudding didn't hide anything from Katakuri, and told him the entire story of how she'd met Sephiroth, down to the last detail.
"Is that so?" Katakuri turned his head to look at Pudding. His eyes were filled with complex emotions. Being discriminated against and bullied because of his peculiar appearance... He had experienced this as a child as well, and it created a sense of empathy within him for Pudding. Because he loved eating donuts when he was a child, he once ate so happily that his mouth split open, all the way to his earlobes.
Although his mouth was later stitched up, it still left two obvious scars, and he was ridiculed by the people around him for this, and was given the nickname "Gulper Eel". Some people even disliked him and wanted to bully him. But... Unlike Pudding, Katakuri had been strong from a young age, so he retaliated and dealt with all those who came looking for trouble! However... His strength did not mean that his siblings were equally strong.
When he was ten years old, those he'd taught a lesson to, unable to beat him, turned on his sister Brulee. They slashed her face with a knife, disfiguring her. Upon learning this, he put on his scarf to cover his split and stitched mouth. He resolved to become a man without flaws from that day forward, and he swore to take revenge on those who dared to harm his sister! For years, he had held onto this belief, striving to be perfect, hoping to protect his siblings... "Eat this!"
Katakuri squatted down and handed the small wooden box he'd been holding to Pudding.
"What is this?" Pudding opened the small wooden box and found a gray fruit covered with spiral patterns inside.
"This is a Devil Fruit, a treasure of the sea. If you eat it, you'll gain superhuman power."
Pudding's eyes widened. "Wow! Will it be an ability like Katakuri Brother and Perospero Brother?"
"I don't know," Katakuri replied. "I haven't seen a description of this fruit in the 'Devil Fruit Encyclopedia'. Therefore, it has a strong degree of uncertainty."
He'd snatched this Devil Fruit from a pirate crew not long ago... Originally, he'd planned to give it to Mama Charlotte Linlin at this tea party. However, Katakuri now felt that instead of giving it to his Mama to bestow upon her favorite children, it would be better to give it to Pudding, who needed power... This way, his sister would have the strength to protect herself and prevent what happened to Brulee from happening again.
"Katakuri Brother, I seem to have heard that this thing is very valuable... Are you sure you can give it to me now?"
Hearing this, Katakuri immediately raised his right hand and touched the top of Pudding's head. "Of course. Because you are my sister... After you eat the Devil Fruit and gain power, perform well in front of Mama, show your abilities, and she will no longer dislike you... When you become strong, you can even retaliate against those who dared to bully you!"
"Those who bullied me..." A gloomy expression appeared on Pudding's face. Negative emotions like humiliation and pain quickly filled her heart...
She never wanted to experience the despair of being bullied again! For some reason, the image of a silver-haired young man appeared in Pudding's mind, making her feel as if she saw a warm light dispelling the gloom that enveloped her heart. If I become more excellent, can I appear in front of him with more confidence and composure...
Thinking of this, Pudding immediately picked up the gray Devil Fruit, tore off the skin, and took a small bite. "Ugh~! It's so unappetizing!" Pudding groaned, and then understanding dawned in her mind.
Having eaten the Devil Fruit, she gained an ability to manipulate memories...