Night had fallen in the castle corridors.
After Charlotte Linlin summoned Katakuri to guard the massive book containing Lillilu in the Treasure Room, she had his sixth, seventh, and eighth sons—the 22-year-old triplets—assigned to monitor the 11 members of the Sky Pirates, who were staying across three separate rooms.
After 22 years since the story began, most of Charlotte Linlin's children had been born, but few were truly capable of taking on major responsibilities. At this point, the Big Mom pirate crew relied almost entirely on Charlotte Linlin herself.
Still, compared to Kaidou of the Beasts, the Big Mom crew had Charlotte Linlin. Back in the Rocks Pirates, she had been on the same level as Whitebeard and Shiki, and now she had grown even stronger.
Unlike Kaidou, who was mostly tough and resilient—perhaps slightly stronger than the Vice Admirals—but still fell short against the true top-tier leaders, with only King and Queen-sama able to uphold the front. Among Charlotte Linlin's children, these three were already capable of holding their own.
They possessed formidable Armament Haki, mastery of martial arts, and each had bounties of 80 million Berries.
The 11 members of the Sky Pirates were split across three rooms. Three girls shared one room, navigator Tiger, swordsman Erik, and the Kuro siblings shared another, and Captain Yemu, First Mate Enel, and the Kuro siblings shared the third.
Naturally, the Big Mom crew found this arrangement puzzling. They had originally planned to give Captain Yemu and First Mate Enel their own separate rooms, but that plan had been denied. The layout—two rooms in a row and one across—made separate rooms impossible.
After the triplets led a squad of Chess Soldiers pulling a dessert cart to the door, they exchanged glances and knocked simultaneously.
"Members of the Sky Pirates, Mama has sent us to bring you your midnight snack!"
Shortly after the knock, the door opened.
Appearing before the trio were a sky-blue dinosaur-like creature, a golden dinosaur-like creature, and a little girl named BABY-5.
Seeing this, the triplets breathed a sigh of relief. Katakuri had specifically instructed that the sky-blue Space-type Devil Fruit user appear in their sight.
"Wow, cake!"
Baby-5's eyes lit up as she reached to pull the cart inside herself.
The seventh son, Cadenza, naturally didn't allow it. He wanted to send someone in first to confirm everyone was present. With a good-natured smile, he said,
"No need to trouble yourself. Have the pawns take it in."
Baby-5 pouted.
"This is a girl's room, and we're about to sleep. What do you, you stinky man, want to come in for...?"
"Huh!?"
Cadenza was left speechless. That excuse was airtight.
The other two rooms also refused entry, citing the late hour and the need to rest. While reasonable, the triplets remembered Katakuri's instructions: unless they were certain everyone was inside, they couldn't feel at ease.
Just as the stalemate was causing unease, a familiar voice called from one of the rooms.
"Let them in!"
It was Captain Yemu.
Charlotte Counter, the sixth son, seized the opportunity and sent the pawns inside, following behind.
Inside, however, Yemu was nowhere to be seen. Only the trickling water from the bathroom could be heard.
Just as he wondered about this, the sound of water softened, and Yemu's somewhat displeased voice came from the bathroom.
"Although I know you were sent by Charlotte Linlin to keep an eye on us, disturbing us every hour seems a bit impolite, doesn't it?"
Charlotte Captain relaxed and replied casually,
"It can't be helped. These are Mama and Katakuri nii‑san's orders. We have no choice but to obey!"
"Alright, just drop it off and leave!"
"Understood. Captain Yemu, I'll be back later!"
The same scenario unfolded in another room.
After leaving and closing the doors, the triplets exchanged glances and let out long sighs of relief, wearing smug expressions.
Charlotte Cavarette, the eighth child, grinned,
"Looks like the Sky Pirates aren't all that. I can report back to Katakuri nii‑san!"
After the three left, the bathroom was quiet. Yemu's voice was absent. Only Enel sat boredly, yawning, holding a strange shell—a Tone Dial from Skypiea capable of recording and playback.
...
Under the bright moonlight, the dark library of Whole Cake Island's castle remained silent.
Suddenly, a disturbance rippled through the air, and an air gate appeared. Yemu stepped out.
He looked around, then called back,
"You can come out now. It's safe here!"
From the air gate emerged Kuromi, now in disguise, transformed from a sky-blue dinosaur into a silvery-white Kuromu, followed by Tiger, Flare, and Ayala.
Each pulled out a Lamp Dial, casting a faint glow across the dark library.
Flare glanced at Yemu, her expression curious.
"You're full of tricks. That woman, Big Mom, will definitely regret messing with you. She worried we'd go to her Treasure Room, but we ended up in the library instead."
Tiger looked around the vast library and sighed at the collection of treasures inside.
"With so many books, I doubt Big Mom would even notice if anything were missing."
Yemu smiled.
"We're doing a good deed here. Alright, everyone, follow the plan. Tiger, Flare, Ayala, you three, scout around and mark anything interesting. I'll take Kuromu and see if we can rescue them without damaging the books. Once we're sure, we'll release them. Be careful—everything inside is alive."
"Mm-hmm!"
Ayala nodded obediently. For safety, the three moved together, exploring the library.
Meanwhile, Yemu led Kuromu to a book at random.
After pulling it from the shelf, he turned to Kuromu.
"It's your turn, Kuromu!"
"Leave it to me, Boss!"
For a well-behaved kid, doing something this sneaky for the first time was thrilling.
Guilt was absent; as the boss said, this was rescuing creatures imprisoned by Big Mom.
"Then let's begin!"
"Mm!"
Kuromu extended his claw, pressing it onto the massive book's cover, and activated the powers of the Doa Doa no Mi.