"Calm down. None of us believe Brother could have lost, but the most important thing right now is to find Brother and Cracker, then deal with the sweets situation," Daifuku said in a low voice.
He was not only trying to calm Brulee—he was also restraining Oven, who was on the verge of flying into a rage.
Oven's trust in Katakuri was no less than Brulee's. Asking him to accept that Katakuri had been defeated was simply too much.
"I am going to find Brother Katakuri!" Oven shouted. His entire body had flushed red from the surge of emotion, radiating heat waves like a furnace.
He did not want to believe that Katakuri had been defeated, but Katakuri's Vivre Card was weakening. The once crisp, flat slip of paper was now curling and shriveling, as if affected by intense heat.
This indicated that Katakuri's condition was far from optimistic. Honestly, if not for the Vivre Card, they might still be unaware that Katakuri was missing.
Daifuku feared Oven would only make things worse—or worse still, take his anger out on whoever had captured Katakuri. He decided not to let him go, and instead relayed the matter to Perospero.
Poor Perospero had barely returned from Inazuma and had not even had a chance to drink a hot cup of tea before being dispatched on another urgent mission.
But he could not refuse. Katakuri's disappearance was a major crisis, and Cracker was with him. Cracker's potential was enormous—Big Mom had been planning to elevate him to Sweet Commander in a few years. Both of them had gone missing, and at the worst possible time.
"It seems the cargo is intact. Send someone to bring the sweets back first. Then Daifuku, Oven, and I will go find Katakuri. And—do not let Mama know about this for now," Perospero ordered swiftly.
Brulee nodded vigorously. With Brother Katakuri absent, if Mama flew into a rage, who could protect them? This had to be kept from her.
Perospero gathered a full force before setting out. In his estimation, very few people were capable of capturing both Katakuri and Cracker simultaneously. He was even starting to wonder if Inazuma or Whitebeard's side had acted covertly.
Otherwise, who could possibly defeat the Charlotte Family's undefeated legend?
Could it really have been those rookie pirates who had been in the New World for less than a year? If so, Perospero would have to tell Katakuri to stop calling himself the Charlotte Family's greatest masterwork.
There was simply no other explanation—Perospero was that confident in his little brother.
"Pick up the pace! That group is moving across the open sea with Katakuri and Cracker!" Killing intent blazed in Perospero's eyes. Whether it was Inazuma's people or Whitebeard's, anyone who dared strike the Big Mom Pirates needed to be prepared for war.
Katakuri and Cracker were not two insignificant pawns.
Although the sea was vast, Perospero was not without direction. Enel and Crocodile had taken Katakuri, believing they could rest easy—but they had overlooked one thing. As long as Katakuri was alive, his Vivre Card could guide others straight to him.
Perospero was already en route with Daifuku and Oven toward the island where they were resting.
Fortunately, Enel had not taken Katakuri to Buggy's position. He had abandoned him at a halfway point instead. That brat and Crocodile had feasted on the ship—though their injuries were not yet healed, they had recovered a considerable amount of stamina.
Katakuri and Cracker, on the other hand, had barely consumed any water. Under the suppressive effect of the Sea-Prism Stone, their conditions had actually worsened.
Even if Perospero found them now, Katakuri's body would struggle to make a full recovery within just a few days.
…
After the two returned to the island where Buggy and the others were stationed, Filacese and the ship's doctor from Shanks' crew immediately helped dress their wounds.
Filacese wrapped Enel's bandages with a less-than-proficient technique, but he was so blissful about it that the pain from his wounds seemed to vanish entirely.
"You actually defeated that Katakuri—impressive," Shanks remarked with genuine admiration. Of course, he believed that he would have won too if he had been the one to fight.
"Was that not obvious? If we could not even beat a guy like him, we would have no business challenging Big Mom!" Buggy puffed out his chest with undisguised pride, his red nose practically pointing at the sky.
In his mind, his crew's vice captain had knocked out the Big Mom Pirates' vice captain. Did that not mean he, as captain, was already stronger than Big Mom herself?
This hollow comparison intoxicated him completely. He forgot entirely that his own combat strength was roughly on par with Enel's.
Enel was well aware of what Buggy was thinking, but he was too busy basking in Filacese's care to care. His mood was so good that he did not even mind when Filacese accidentally stabbed the scissors into his flesh. He could not be bothered to entertain Buggy's boasting.
Kawamatsu, on the other hand, was panicked by Filacese's major medical blunder, running around in circles.
"Sc-scissors…"
"Sorry—I was trying to cut the bandage!" Filacese yanked the scissors out in alarm and rushed to stop Enel's bleeding. She had been trying to imitate Shanks' ship doctor's bandaging technique and had simply lost focus.
"It is nothing—just a small wound," Enel said without the slightest concern.
"Love really does make people crazy," Nekomamushi sighed from a distance.
"Now we need to go see the other person who is going crazy for love." Underneath his sunglasses, Inuarashi rolled his eyes, then called out loudly: "Stop dawdling! Doflamingo is still waiting for us—do not forget, we need to infiltrate Totto Land alongside him."
The Tea Party was only days away. They needed to reach Doflamingo as quickly as possible.
"It looks like that flamingo can hardly wait to attend his own wedding. Let us move out too," Buggy quipped without missing a beat.
Sometimes two people simply rubbed each other the wrong way. Even standing on the same side, they could not help but clash. It was much like how Hyogoro had despised Kurozumi Orochi in the past.
Doflamingo had not been sitting idle during these days either. He had been using his abilities to secure invitations for his "partners"—but it was no simple task.
The Tea Party's entry screening was extraordinarily strict. He had paid a heavy price to obtain items that could alter one's aura and presence. Only by using these could his allies slip inside undetected.
"If this plan fails, I suppose I will have no choice but to go into hiding under a new name and seek refuge with Lord Ren," Doflamingo sighed.
Crashing Big Mom's Tea Party and failing would mean facing her relentless pursuit without mercy. When that woman went on a rampage, she would not care whether he carried the blood of the Celestial Dragons.
[
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