At the top of the immense Totto Land castle, Smoothie received a direct call from the monitoring room.
The voice on the line sounded tense, almost trembling.
"Lady Smoothie! We've detected an intruder inside the inner perimeter!"
She raised an eyebrow, a cold, confident smile curving her lips.
"Hmph… so I was right. A rat really did sneak into the castle."
With a soft huff, she turned away from the window overlooking the horizon.
"Stay here and wait. I'll deal with this myself," she ordered, her tone calm yet filled with menace.
The moment she finished speaking, she stepped forward and vanished from the upper hall, descending gracefully through the marble corridors.
The rhythmic click of her heels echoed along the ornamented floor. The main corridor was vast and silent, lined with golden chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and a red carpet — not an ordinary one, but a luxurious rug made entirely of edible chocolate, an extravagance worthy of the Charlotte family.
Smoothie stopped in the middle of the hallway, her eyes narrowing.
Suddenly, the air seemed to change.
A dripping sound broke the silence.
Plop… plop…
A drop of water fell from the ceiling, spreading over the sweet carpet. Then more drops followed — faster, heavier — until the liquid began to swirl and gather before her, condensing until it took on a human form.
Smoothie narrowed her eyes.
"An Akuma no Mi…?" she murmured, intrigued.
When the liquid figure solidified into a clear outline, a calm, gentle voice filled the air.
It was Vivi, smiling softly, showing no sign of hostility.
"We didn't come here to fight," she said. "Our only goal is to confirm the authenticity of the copies."
Smoothie's smile vanished.
With a fluid motion, she drew the massive sword strapped to her back — the blade catching the flicker of the torches.
"I know you…" she said coldly. "Captain of the Straw Hat Second Division. Princess of Alabasta. Nefertari Vivi.
Bounty: one hundred million Berries."
---
Meanwhile, in an entirely different realm — the world of Uta's songs — Big Mom sat watching the empty seats before her.
"What's going on?" she asked, frowning.
The six figures behind her — Katakuri, Perospero, and the others — exchanged confused glances. None of them realized they had been pulled into an illusory dimension woven by the power of music.
Then, suddenly, everyone vanished. The grand banquet hall was now wrapped in an eerie silence.
Katakuri pressed a hand to his temple, trying to probe the surroundings with his Observation Haki — nothing. No detectable presence. No visible enemy.
Even so, his instincts screamed that something was terribly wrong.
"Mother, be careful," he warned in a low tone. "The Straw Hat crew is unpredictable."
Perospero also closed his eyes, using his own Haki.
"Strange… There's no one in the castle. Not a single soul. Do you know what's going on, Katakuri?"
"I don't know either…" Katakuri muttered tensely.
Big Mom's children gathered around her, forming a defensive circle. The air grew heavy — almost electric.
Then — something shimmered.
A sequence of colorful musical notes appeared above the banquet table, dancing in the air like fragments of light.
In the blink of an eye, a silhouette emerged from those notes — Luffy, the Straw Hat, materializing before them with his trademark grin.
"Straw Hat!" Big Mom roared, baring her teeth. "What's the meaning of this!?"
Luffy stepped forward, smiling calmly.
"I just wanted to enjoy the music somewhere else."
Before he could say more, two bursts of light erupted beside him — Uta and Zoro appeared at his side.
"Hi! I'm Uta~!" the singer greeted cheerfully, waving her hand. "The banquet hall isn't the right place to hear my songs. So, let me show you… the stage of your dreams."
She clapped her hands twice.
Clap. Clap.
The entire world changed.
The castle walls dissolved into beams of colored light.
The tables, chairs, and chandeliers — all disintegrated, turning into luminous particles.
Suddenly, they stood in an unreal scene:
a shallow ocean that barely covered their ankles, stretching endlessly to the horizon.
Above them, multicolored clouds floated across a sky without a sun.
And in the air — standing like a goddess — Uta hovered above a colossal stage of light.
With one hand on her hip and a confident smile, she declared:
"Now… enjoy Uta's show!
'New Genesis!'"
A headset appeared on her ear, and sound flooded the space.
Powerful notes vibrated in the air, filling the world with melody.
Big Mom's seven children exchanged sharp, irritated glances.
Luffy sighed with a grin.
"She's really going all out already… are we getting a soundtrack for the fight too?"
Zoro smirked, drawing two katanas.
"We're gonna fight anyway, Luffy. Just enjoy it. Let's get started!"
Before Luffy could reply, Zoro was already dashing forward like lightning.
"Nitoryu: Nigiri!"
Katakuri reacted instantly, crossing his trident to block the strike.
The clash of their weapons sent sparks of Haki through the air.
"What are you doing, Roronoa Zoro!?" Katakuri roared.
"Uta!" Zoro shouted.
At that moment, the sea beneath their feet rose like a living beast, forming two massive pillars of water that hurled Zoro and Big Mom high into the sky.
Dozens of meters above, the columns expanded and flattened, shaping themselves into floating platforms.
"Mother!" Katakuri shouted, ready to leap up.
But before he could act, an overwhelming surge of Haki crashed down upon him and the others.
The pressure was suffocating — as if the very air had turned solid.
Luffy smiled faintly.
"Don't move."
His Conqueror's Haki radiated outward like an invisible storm.
The pupils of Big Mom's children contracted; cold sweat ran down their temples.
Even a Vice Admiral would have fallen to his knees under that sheer force.
---
Atop the platforms, Big Mom narrowed her eyes, rage rumbling through her veins.
"Damn Straw Hat… how dare you deceive me!?"
Her mind raced as she analyzed everything around her. That world, those lights, the singing…
Yes — the source was obvious: that girl's power.
"That ability… the Uta Uta no Mi?" she muttered.
She remembered reading about it in an old encyclopedia of Devil Fruits —
a fruit said to possess the power to destroy the very world itself.
Luffy crossed his arms, floating calmly.
"I didn't lie or trick you, Big Mom," he said evenly. "This is just a little performance before the wedding.
Even if I'm not interested in alliances… I can still give you a chance."
He smiled.
"Let's see if you can destroy this world, Charlotte Linlin."
His words echoed like a challenge.
Zoro struck.
Conqueror's Haki enveloped his blades, sparking like black lightning.
"Hmph!" Big Mom roared, pulling back her fist. "Arrogant brat! You think you can trap me!?"
She smashed her fist against Zoro's blade with meteoric force.
BOOM!
Red and black lightning exploded through the air.
The collision of their Conqueror's Haki was so intense that the sea, miles below, rose into colossal pillars.
And as the world trembled—
Uta's song echoed.
The show of destruction had begun.
---
(End of Chapter)