"Don't be ridiculous. We're not the Beasts. Mama and Kaido, that guy—…"
Smoothie retorted unhappily, but before she could finish her words, the temple in the distance suddenly shook violently.
A scorching hot wind surged from the temple's direction, as if they were standing at the mouth of an active volcano.
Then, to everyone's astonishment, the supposedly indestructible temple collapsed with a thunderous crash. Charlotte Linlin's massive body came hurtling toward them like a cannonball, sending the Beasts Pirates into a frantic scramble for their lives. Luckily, no one was crushed into paste.
Before King and Katakuri could react, they saw Kaido in his Azure Dragon form being swung around like a whip, flung through the air in a wide arc, and then slammed heavily into the ground.
Boom!
Even though the airship's interior had been built with the toughest materials and reinforced countless times afterward, Kaido's dragon body still smashed a massive crack into it.
Such a crushing blow left even Kaido rolling his eyes back. His defense and regenerative abilities might be immense, but that didn't mean he was immune to damage—especially since Boros had gradually figured out his limits and no longer held back like before.
"Big Bro Kaido!"
Even in a daze, King reacted faster than Katakuri. He moved swiftly to check Kaido's condition, his actions practiced and efficient.
After all, Kaido had been beaten down by Boros so many times that the Beasts Pirates had grown used to it.
In contrast, the Big Mom Pirates' Sweet Commanders were still frozen in shock, unable to process what they had just seen.
Smoothie and Cracker in particular were so stunned their jaws nearly fell off.
"Mama!"
Thankfully, Katakuri was there. Perhaps because of what King had said earlier, he had been somewhat mentally prepared.
Although he still found it hard to believe his own eyes, his body managed to react slightly ahead of his stunned mind.
Tap, tap, tap…
Accompanied by a series of approaching footsteps, the Beasts Pirates' Shinuchi had already lowered their heads in practiced unison, welcoming the arrival of their new boss—Boros.
The Beasts Pirates had always had a deep admiration for strength. Otherwise, they wouldn't have been so loyal to someone as brutal as Kaido in the first place.
Now that someone even stronger than Kaido had appeared, switching allegiance to Boros wasn't such a difficult choice.
Of course, Kaido still had plenty of die-hard supporters among the Beasts Pirates. But even those loyal to Kaido didn't object to serving Boros as well. Few dared to fully abandon Kaido and devote themselves entirely to Boros.
Not that Boros cared. In his eyes, loyalty was the most useless thing of all.
Emerging from the collapsed temple, Boros' armor was riddled with cracks, but his body remained completely unscathed. It was easy to see that, to him, this battle had been nothing more than a warm-up.
"This woman's strength isn't bad. From now on, she'll be the second 'Top Combatant' of the Dark Matter Pirates."
Boros was very satisfied with Charlotte Linlin's abilities. Though weaker than Kaido, whom he had already 'trained' for a while, her ability to endure punishment was in no way inferior.
...
"Mr. Morgans, we've received an invitation to BIG MOM's tea party!"
A new intern editor burst into the editor-in-chief's office, holding up an invitation.
There might be people in the world who didn't know about the Big Mom Pirates, but none of them worked at the World Economy News Paper.
"A tea party? Didn't she just hold one last month? Has BIG MOM already found herself another husband and decided to marry again?"
The albatross-like Morgans was selecting the headlines for tomorrow's paper when, upon hearing the intern editor's report, he instinctively touched his long beak.
Although Morgans was a genuine human, as the user of the Bird-Bird Fruit: Albatross Model, he had long grown accustomed to maintaining his animal form at all times. To this day, no one knew what Morgans truly looked like.
BIG MOM's tea party was well-known throughout the New World. On the surface, it was a banquet where Charlotte Linlin entertained her friends, but in reality, it was merely a way for her to extort benefits.
Everyone who received an invitation to the tea party had to prepare a gift for Charlotte Linlin. It could be a precious treasure, a Devil Fruit, or even a famed blade—anything that could increase the strength of the BIG MOM Pirates.
But if anyone dared refuse the invitation, or attended without bringing a gift that pleased Charlotte Linlin…
If they were lucky, they would merely have their lifespan stripped away as a warning. If they were unlucky, the recipient of the invitation—and their entire faction—would be completely annihilated by the BIG MOM Pirates after the tea party!
And even if Charlotte Linlin happened to be in a good mood, the lifespan she stole was never less than several decades. Those who lost their years of life at most clung to survival for a few short years before inevitably dying.
If BIG MOM's tea parties were held only once every few years—or even just annually—that might have been tolerable. But the timing of Charlotte Linlin's tea parties was entirely at her whim.
Whether it was her own wedding, a child's wedding, or simply because she was in a particularly good—or bad—mood, any occasion could be an excuse for a tea party.
For wealthy guests like "Big News" Morgans, this was at least manageable. But those who sought protection by aligning with the BIG MOM Pirates, or the unlucky nations and organizations that fell within her territory, were the ones truly doomed.
Every year, countless people who failed to satisfy Charlotte Linlin with their tea party offerings were wiped out along with their entire organizations by the BIG MOM Pirates.
"Could it be one of BIG MOM's children getting married?"
The intern editor asked curiously. Compared to many other eccentric bigshots, Morgans treated his subordinates rather well. Even a newly appointed intern editor could speak freely in front of him.
"Unlikely. If it were a child's wedding, the invitation would have specifically noted it—so the guests could prepare even more lavish gifts…"
Morgans snipped off the end of his cigar, lit it, and took a deep, satisfying drag. He could already smell a major scoop in the making. But before jumping in, to be safe, he figured he'd first check whether Kizaru had any intelligence on the matter.
When it came to Kizaru, his partner and shareholder, Morgans always had mixed feelings.
On the one hand, Morgans could rely on Kizaru for military protection and also receive a large amount of intelligence and first-hand news from him.
On the other hand, since Kizaru held shares in the World Economic News, Morgans had to give him dividends from his profits. That guy also frequently interfered with Morgans' reporting, leaving him torn between gratitude and resentment.
Morgans wasn't the only one puzzled. Many others who had received tea party invitations were also baffled. Some of them had even failed to present Big Mom with a satisfactory gift at the previous tea party—by all rights, their organizations should have been destroyed.
Yet when the Big Mom Pirates almost showed up at their doors and scared them half to death, instead of being eliminated by her children, they unexpectedly received another tea party invitation.
This was something that had practically never happened before.
Because of this, those people were desperately scraping together resources, hoping that by offering double the gifts, they might earn Big Mom's forgiveness.
But when they tried to pry information from the Big Mom Pirates' messengers who delivered the invitations, they found those individuals were just as clueless. All they knew was that Big Mom had met with Kaido, and afterward rushed back to Totto Land with members of the Beasts Pirates, immediately sending out tea party invitations to every organization within her sphere of influence.
Such an abnormal development naturally attracted the attention of the CP organizations. Unfortunately, even Big Mom's own children were in the dark—let alone the spies lurking in Totto Land.
Within the Big Mom Pirates, aside from Big Mom herself, only Katakuri, Smoothie, Cracker, and Mont-d'Or knew the truth.
Later, Perospero was added to that circle. But with Katakuri actively sealing information, even the CP organization's elite operatives couldn't uncover the true purpose of this tea party.
In theory, spies from various factions had infiltrated the Beasts Pirates as well. However, ever since the ship had arrived in Totto Land alongside Big Mom's grand fleet, no one had been seen coming out of that enormous airship.
The CP agents couldn't even confirm whether Kaido was still aboard. Helpless, they had no choice but to report the limited intelligence they had gathered.
As the newly appointed Fleet Admiral of the Marines, Kizaru was naturally among the first to receive these reports.
"Heh… Boros really did a decent job this time, quite efficient…"
Casually flipping through the documents submitted by CP, Kizaru let out a mocking chuckle before tossing them onto the pile of "already read" files.
The mighty Fleet Admiral had no reason to bother himself with such "minor" matters. By the time the Five Elders realized the surprise Kizaru had prepared for them, it would likely be too late for them to hold him accountable. In fact, if the Five Elders didn't end up kneeling and begging him when the time came, that alone would show they still had some spine. All Kizaru had to do was wait until the final moment to step in with the Navy, and he would naturally be able to seize everything he desired.
At that moment, the CP agents had no idea that the intelligence they had submitted had been conveniently intercepted by a certain unscrupulous Fleet Admiral.
Although the CP organization and Marine Headquarters were technically separate entities, Kizaru not only served as Fleet Admiral but also had an old lover thriving within CP0.
It was unrealistic to expect Stussy to rein in the entire CP organization, but simply delaying the handover of intelligence posed no risk at all.
°°°
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