No matter how unwilling Caesar was, survival ultimately won out. He slowly forced himself to nod, even though every part of him screamed against it.
The moment Big Mom left, however, he immediately grabbed a scraper and carefully began removing the marking hidden behind one section of the equipment.
It was Germa's insignia.
Caesar had hoped to scrape the entire thing away piece by piece, but the material was far too hard. No matter how much effort he put into it, the mark refused to budge.
With no other choice, he dismantled that section entirely and tossed it aside before turning his attention to the machine's internal structure.
Big Mom expected him to find a way to mass-produce these giants, but Caesar didn't possess another piece of specialized equipment like this. Everything available on the open market was ordinary laboratory hardware, nowhere near sophisticated enough for what he needed.
So while he still had time, Caesar intended to study every detail of the machine and figure out how it worked.
If Big Mom truly demanded mass production later and he still couldn't deliver, the resulting disaster would be far worse than anything he was dealing with now.
…
At the same time, in Cacao Island's Chocolat Town—
Pudding was completely hidden beneath her blankets, with the covers pulled over her head as she secretly spoke with Sanji through a Visual Den Den Mushi.
After more than a year of conversations, the two of them had already learned most of each other's interests, habits, and preferences.
For two people who both loved cooking, the connection between them had developed with almost effortless ease.
At this point, their relationship was practically a long-distance romance so sweet it could give someone a toothache.
Around Sanji, Pudding rarely showed that sharp, hostile second personality of hers anymore.
And Sanji himself had changed considerably.
After spending so long on Momoiro Island, he had been put through every kind of emotional and physical trial imaginable. These days, almost all of his attention was focused on Pudding.
Even if someone lined up a crowd of beautiful women directly in front of him, he no longer reacted with the same shameless, lovestruck expression he once would have.
"Pudding-chan, what's wrong? Are you tired?"
Sanji's worried face appeared through the projection.
Pudding gave a small nod beneath the blankets.
"Yeah… Mama has been making me use my ability lately to create completely pure combat memories—nothing unnecessary, no personality, no thoughts, just battle experience."
She sighed softly.
"It's really difficult."
"I can't help with that directly, but I recently learned a recipe that's supposed to be especially good for calming the nerves and helping with sleep."
Sanji paused and sighed.
"If I could, I really wish I could make it for you myself."
Pudding smiled softly.
"If Sanji made it, it would definitely taste ten thousand times better than anything I could make."
Sanji immediately laughed awkwardly.
"No, no! Anything Pudding-chan makes would definitely taste better than mine!"
After giving her the recipe, Sanji chatted with her about everyday things for a while before the conversation inevitably turned toward Cain's marriage tournament.
"That bastard Cain—what the hell is he doing over there?! Holding a marriage tournament this openly… damn it!"
Pudding hesitated.
"Sanji… are you jealous?"
"No! No, no, no!"
Sanji immediately denied it.
"I'm pissed because that bastard is sitting up there like some goddess while Miss Uta has to fight all those dangerous opponents by herself! That's completely shameless!"
"But I heard from my brothers and sisters that Uta-onee-san was the one who asked for it."
Pudding's fingers unconsciously twisted the edge of the blanket.
"Maybe… that's simply the way the two of them express their love."
The absolute trust Cain and Uta placed in one another stirred a strange feeling of envy inside her.
Pudding looked toward Sanji's projected face, and a faint blush slowly colored her cheeks.
Could the two of them ever reach that point too?
She remained silent for a few moments, gathering what little courage she had.
Then, with a faint tremble in her voice, she finally asked,
"Sanji-san… if—just hypothetically—"
"If I were the one standing on that stage…"
She swallowed.
"Would you come and save me too?"
The moment Sanji heard those words, his entire body locked up as if struck by lightning.
"P-P-P-Pudding-chan! D-D-Did you just… are you asking about m-m-m-m-marri—?!"
The emotional impact completely overloaded his brain.
His face turned bright red almost instantly, and steam actually began rising from the top of his head.
Heat rushed through his body as though every flame from Diable Jambe had suddenly been concentrated into his skull.
Then his entire body seemed to radiate heat.
He toppled backward.
Thud!
The Visual Den Den Mushi went down with him, its viewpoint tipping sideways until the projection showed nothing but the ceiling.
"Sanji?! Sanji-san?!"
Pudding called out anxiously.
There was no response.
From her perspective, Sanji had started flailing around in panic, the image had suddenly jerked sideways, and then everything had gone quiet.
She had no idea that Sanji had simply passed out from sheer happiness.
Instead, she assumed he had panicked, turned the Den Den Mushi away, and no longer wanted to look at her.
A heavy sense of disappointment sank into her chest.
Pudding didn't understand.
They had always gotten along so well. To anyone watching them from the outside, they were practically already a couple.
So why had Sanji reacted so strongly the moment she brought up anything resembling marriage?
The old insecurity buried deep inside her began clawing its way back to the surface.
That familiar fear of being rejected tightened painfully around her heart.
Her hand slowly rose to her forehead.
Hidden beneath her bangs—
was her third eye.
Pudding let out a quiet, bitter sigh.
"Of course…"
"Someone like me…"
"A monster who's been hiding something like this from you…"
Her voice became softer.
"Do I really have any right to ask for your love?"
"Maybe it's better if you reject me now."
At least this way, she told herself, it would hurt less than some future day when Sanji finally saw her third eye and looked at her with the disgust she had feared her whole life.
Being rejected then would hurt a thousand times more.
Pudding sighed again, placed the Den Den Mushi aside, pulled the blanket over herself, and went to sleep in a sulk.
What she didn't realize was that the call was still connected.
On the other end, Sanji was only just beginning to recover from passing out.
He had been so overwhelmed by emotion that he had completely lost consciousness and therefore hadn't heard any of Pudding's self-blaming whispers.
By the time he finally woke properly and rushed back toward the Den Den Mushi, ready to tell her exactly how he felt—
there was no voice coming from the other side.
Only soft, even breathing.
Pudding had fallen asleep.
…
The next morning—
Pudding slowly opened her eyes.
The very first thing she saw was Sanji's face projected by the Visual Den Den Mushi.
Huge dark circles hung beneath his eyes.
"AAAAH!"
Pudding screamed and nearly jumped out of bed.
After a moment, she realized who she was looking at.
"Oh… it's just you, Sanji."
Her expression immediately turned sulky.
"Why are you calling this early? Are you here to apologize for last night?"
Sanji nodded hard, guilt written all over his exhausted face.
"Yeah."
"Pudding-chan was waiting for my answer, and I was so pathetic that I actually passed out."
Pudding blinked.
"…Passed out?"
Sanji then explained exactly what had happened the previous night—how overwhelmed and happy he had been, and how the shock had literally knocked him unconscious.
As the misunderstanding slowly unraveled, the tension inside Pudding finally loosened.
The heavy knot that had been sitting in her chest all night disappeared almost at once.
Then she noticed something else.
"Wait, Sanji…"
Her eyes widened.
"Are you saying you've been sitting there since last night?!"
"Yeah."
Sanji scratched his cheek awkwardly.
"I know it was pretty shameless of me to spend the entire night staring at Pudding-chan's sleeping face…"
He smiled faintly.
"But I really wanted to tell you my answer."
Then his expression changed.
The nervousness remained, but beneath it was unmistakable seriousness.
"So…"
"I should properly answer the question you asked me last night."
Facing the projection, Sanji lowered himself onto one knee.
He extended one hand toward Pudding and looked directly at her.
"If it were you, Miss Pudding…"
His voice was steady.
"I would gladly risk my life for you."
Pudding stared at him.
At his face.
At the exhaustion in his eyes after staying awake the entire night just so he could give her an answer.
Something warm seemed to wrap around her heart.
The final layer of defensiveness she had kept around herself quietly fell away.
For the first time, she didn't want to hide anymore.
"Sanji…"
"There's actually something I've never told you."
Pudding faced the Den Den Mushi and slowly raised one trembling hand toward her forehead.
"Someone like me…"
Her voice became quiet, carrying both hope and fear.
"Am I really worth you doing all that?"
She gently lifted her bangs.
Her third eye was finally revealed.
Tears gathered almost immediately in Pudding's eyes as she stared at Sanji's face, desperately hoping he would accept her—
and terrified that he wouldn't.