"No way!!!"
Seeing Lillilu appear before her, Charlotte Linlin's expression shifted from disbelief to shock, and finally to a furious scream.
"Katakuri!!!"
Charlotte Linlin's shriek echoed across the entire Whole Cake Island.
In the Treasure Room, Katakuri, still waiting for his Mama's orders, heard her scream and felt an immediate unease. After giving a quick command, he swiftly left the Treasure Room and raced toward the banquet venue.
Within seconds, Katakuri arrived at the hall and immediately spotted the fox on Yemu's shoulder.
"Impossible..."
Katakuri landed beside his Mama, his expression grim.
"Katakuri, tell me, what on earth is going on!?"
Charlotte Linlin glared at her son with fury.
Katakuri looked completely incredulous.
"Impossible. I've been watching her the whole time. She never left my sight. Could it have been yesterday morning? Impossible. How on earth did you do this?"
Katakuri demanded angrily of Yemu.
At that moment, a feeling of unprecedented regret hit Katakuri. Perhaps when he sensed something was wrong yesterday morning, he should have shown it to Mama. But worried about upsetting her while she was happily preparing for the wedding, and confident in his Observation Haki, he had not acted, leading to this outcome.
"Do you think I would tell you?"
Yemu sat calmly, appearing completely unaffected by their anger.
There was no way he would reveal his intelligence. The Doa Doa no Mi was as powerful as Enel's Observation Haki and functioned like a bug-level ability.
"Get out of my sight!"
Charlotte Linlin, deeply disappointed in her son, slapped Katakuri, sending him flying, blood visibly spurting from his mouth.
The scene shocked all of Charlotte Linlin's children present, their faces filled with terror.
"Katakuri nii-san, what is going on?"
Meanwhile, the high-ranking figures surrounding Charlotte Linlin and Yemu were completely baffled.
Doflamingo, however, stared at the fox perched on Yemu's shoulder.
"A Mythical Zoan? Fufufufu, even BIGMOM has been toyed with by this guy?"
In the past, Doflamingo would have surely made a boastful remark. But now, feeling the terrifying aura emanating from BIGMOM, he broke out in cold sweat.
"You little brat, you've really made me angry!"
"Boom..."
Charlotte Linlin unleashed her Conqueror's Haki, surging toward Yemu with a roaring wave of fury.
All the banquet attendees rolled their eyes and fainted.
Doflamingo, Morgans, Feld, Umit, and Stussy remained standing, though the beads of sweat on their foreheads showed their unease.
"How terrifying. Is this Conqueror's Haki?"
Doflamingo possessed Conqueror's Haki, but compared to BIGMOM's display, his seemed like a child facing an adult.
Even worse, Yemu, the primary target of BIGMOM's Haki, sat calmly as if nothing were wrong.
Yemu then picked up the hot tea in front of him, took a slow sip, and extended his hand.
"Charlotte Linlin, are you planning to fight me right here? I have no interest in ruining someone else's wedding. And if we are going to fight, shouldn't you put away the things you cherish first?"
Instantly, Charlotte Linlin's Conqueror's Haki dissipated.
Under its impact, the nun's photo teetered and would have fallen off the table if Yemu had not caught it.
"The nun..."
Charlotte Linlin instantly seemed to shrink into a little girl, her bloodshot eyes filled with anxiety as she stared at the photo frame in Yemu's hand.
Yemu carefully set the frame back on the table.
Charlotte Linlin held the nun's photo tightly to her chest, treating it as a precious treasure. After a moment, her gaze returned to normal as she looked at Yemu.
"Perospero..."
"Hey, Mama, I'm right here."
"Put the nun's photo away safely, and then the party can continue. As for you..."
Charlotte Linlin's massive frame moved.
"Follow me."
She headed toward the Cake Castle. Seeing this, Yemu, with Lillilu by his side, followed.
...
As they walked down the long corridor, the doors to the Treasure Chamber appeared.
"Get out of here. Don't come near this place without my orders."
Charlotte Linlin barked at the guards, then led Yemu inside.
"Thud, thud, thud..."
Massive footsteps echoed through the Treasure Chamber. Yemu's eyes immediately fell upon the Poneglyph on the second floor.
"Zeus!"
At Charlotte Linlin's roar, Zeus the Thundercloud appeared, instinctively forming a cloud-based throne. Charlotte Linlin tore off her wedding dress and plopped onto it, her bloodshot eyes fixed on Yemu as she roared furiously.
"A brat like you who makes me angry. I should have just finished you off immediately. But you have a point. The banquet must not be disrupted. And since you protected the nun's photo, I've decided to ask you one more time."
"Brat, are you willing to marry my daughter and join my ranks?"
Yemu, growing impatient, drew Tengoku from his waist.
"Let's not waste time. Are you planning to answer after we fight, or shall we discuss this calmly right now?"
"Hmm."
Charlotte Linlin fixed her gaze on Yemu but showed no intention of attacking.
"You really are a kid I cannot like, but I have kept this secret hidden for so many years. I must reveal it. Let me think. Shall I start from back then?"
"Let's start 22 years ago."
Lillilu's voice sounded from Yemu's shoulder.
"22 years ago?"
Charlotte Linlin laughed.
"Mamamama, then let's start 22 years ago. Back then, I was still on that man Rocks' ship with Whitebeard, Shiki, Kaidou, and the others. We fought Marines and World Government forces everywhere in pursuit of our dream to rule the seas. Until one night, Rocks D. Xebec suddenly came to see me alone..."
She laughed even more heartily.
"Mamamama, back then, I thought he had finally come to his senses and wanted to spend the night with me. But instead, he asked me a question. Linlin, do you believe in fate?"