"Come on, don't be so cruel, En-chan!"
Ace would never have had the nerve to say something this shameless if he hadn't been desperate to hear his imaginary little sister call him Onii-chan just once.
"Look, I already told you the most embarrassing thing imaginable. Can't you at least give me a little—"
He stopped halfway through the sentence.
Cain and Uta were already approaching with dark expressions, Haki beginning to coil around them as they closed in step by step.
A chill ran down Ace's spine. He immediately turned toward Sabo, throwing his last hope at him.
"Hey, Sabo! Help me out here! Don't tell me you don't want to hear En-chan call you Onii-chan too?"
"Ahem."
Sabo coughed lightly and turned his face away.
On the surface, it looked like he was simply refusing to participate in something so ridiculous. Unfortunately, the faint twitch at the corner of his mouth and the way his expression tightened as though he were desperately suppressing something betrayed him completely.
After all, this might be the only chance in his entire life to hear Cain say Onii-chan.
That was dangerously tempting.
But getting involved now meant almost certainly being dragged into the beating as well.
Sabo weighed the matter for perhaps half a second before folding his arms and decisively choosing self-preservation.
Seeing that Sabo had no intention of helping, Cain exchanged a glance with Uta. The two nodded in perfect agreement.
Cain casually tossed his weapon to one of the musical soldiers Uta had created.
Then he called,
"Bella."
"Yes, Mama!"
Quantity amplification—tenfold.
The instant Bella activated the More-More Fruit, Cain's weapon split into ten identical copies, one landing neatly in the hands of each musical soldier.
There was no denying it—the More-More Fruit was absurdly overpowered.
In theory, practically any known physical quantity could be multiplied: speed, volume, mass, and even far more abstract properties depending on how the ability was interpreted.
Byrnndi World had simply lacked the knowledge necessary to truly explore what the fruit could do, so despite possessing such a ridiculous power, he had ultimately used only a fraction of its potential.
Cain was different.
His understanding of physics and other concepts gave him a massive advantage over World when it came to imagining possible applications.
Unfortunately, none of that was what Cain cared about right now.
He was far more bothered by what Bella had just called him.
Cain rubbed his forehead.
"Bella, I'm Papa right now. Remember?"
"Okay, Mama. Bella remembers, Mama."
Bella beamed at him with the unmistakable expression of someone who understood perfectly and had absolutely no intention of correcting herself.
One look was enough to tell Cain exactly who had taught her that.
Beside him, Uta pursed her lips and looked away as though the entire matter had nothing whatsoever to do with her.
Ace, meanwhile, relaxed considerably when he saw the musical soldiers.
They couldn't even use Haki.
How were a bunch of constructs like that supposed to hurt a Logia user?
He had already begun thinking about the coolest possible way to escape when all ten soldiers suddenly flicked their weapons.
A hidden component slid out from inside each shaft.
Ace's eyes widened.
"What?!"
He recognized the material immediately.
Seastone.
The original piece was the Seastone attachment Yamato had once handed over to Yasopp. After changing hands repeatedly over the course of an entire year, it had eventually ended up with Cain.
Normally, a Devil Fruit user couldn't apply their ability directly to Seastone because contact with it drained their strength. That was such a basic rule of the sea that practically everyone knew it.
But what if the user never touched the Seastone itself?
The More-More Fruit normally required physical contact with an object before amplifying it. Cain's weapon, however, had been constructed with the Seastone piece built directly into it, much like the Seastone tip on Smoker's jitte. The weapon and the embedded Seastone therefore counted as one complete object.
So when Bella multiplied the weapon, the Seastone component was duplicated along with it.
Cain had theorized that this should work a long time ago.
And Bella had one more advantage over an ordinary Devil Fruit user.
She didn't possess "stamina" in the conventional biological sense.
That meant the draining effect of Seastone didn't interfere with her ability in the same way it would with a human.
So she could multiply Seastone without any difficulty.
Exactly like this.
Ten Seastone weapons were now pointed directly at Ace.
The confidence on his face vanished.
"…You've got to be kidding me."
He unconsciously took half a step backward and suddenly regretted not managing to drag Sabo down with him earlier.
At least then he would have had someone else getting beaten beside him.
Unfortunately, it was too late for that now.
Realizing that the situation had become genuinely dangerous, Ace's expression suddenly turned solemn.
He lifted his head and met Cain's eyes. For once, there was a rare gentleness in his face—the sort of warmth one might actually expect from an older brother.
"I know I haven't always been the best big brother."
His voice was low and sincere.
"But the bond between us is real."
Ace continued with surprising seriousness.
"I also know I went too far just now, and I'm sorry. If you need to hit me to vent, then go ahead."
Cain blinked.
Even Uta instinctively raised a hand to stop the musical soldiers.
Everyone stared at Ace in surprise.
Had he suddenly come to his senses?
Then Ace glanced sideways at Sabo.
Sabo caught his gaze and looked equally shocked.
For one miraculous instant, the two brothers seemed to communicate perfectly without speaking.
'You're really going through with this?'
'Yeah. It's a necessary sacrifice.'
The exchange lasted less than a second.
Then Ace raised his head and shouted with absolute conviction,
"So after you beat the hell out of me—could you please call me Onii-chan once?! Just once! My precious little sister!"
Cain's expression went blank.
Uta's face became completely emotionless.
"…Yeah. You should die after all."
She snapped her fingers.
All ten Seastone weapons lunged forward at once and stabbed Ace without the slightest hesitation.
…
"Ah. He didn't say it."
Outside the room, one of Katakuri's ears had transformed into mochi and flattened itself tightly against the doorframe.
His face remained as serious and expressionless as ever as he listened to what was happening inside.
Once he confirmed that En-chan hadn't actually called Ace Onii-chan, however, he still couldn't suppress a quiet sigh of disappointment.
Katakuri had come here to keep an eye on Ace and Sabo.
There was no chance the two of them had appeared in Totto Land solely because of Cain. The Charlotte family was fully aware of how carefully the outside world had been watching Totto Land lately, and their sudden arrival was far too suspicious to ignore.
Inside the room, both Ace and Sabo had already noticed Katakuri listening.
Neither cared.
Ace, for one, had only been cautious at first because he didn't want to create trouble for Cain. He had also worried that Totto Land might use his identity against him later, perhaps even ordering his arrest once the tournament ended.
But looking at the current situation, there was barely any hostility at all.
No one seemed ready to start a war.
So Ace had stopped worrying about it.
As for Sabo, the situation was even simpler.
The moment he stepped onto the island, his enhanced perception had already allowed him to understand most of the surrounding layout, and he had confirmed the location of the thing he came to investigate.
At this point, continuing to obsess over concealing his identity was hardly necessary.
Katakuri, of course, knew none of that.
What stayed in his mind instead was the brief clash he had witnessed between the two men earlier.
Their strength had been heavier than he expected.
If he had been the one forced to receive that attack without the benefit of future sight, even he couldn't guarantee he would have come through safely.
Katakuri looked down at his own arm and slowly clenched his fist.
Ace…
Only a year ago, that brat had still been someone Katakuri could suppress.
How had he become this strong so quickly?
The question bothered him more than he expected.
Then another thought followed close behind.
As an older brother, what right did he have to let his younger sister protect him?
His jaw tightened.
He hated that idea.
No.
He needed to become stronger.
Much stronger.
With that decision made, Katakuri handed the surveillance duty over to Perospero and left alone, heading straight toward Big Mom's palace.