Chapter 161: Alliance (No), Lusting for Their Bodies (Yes)
Although Louis's gaze held no malice or killing intent, his undisguised stare was the greatest threat to the group.
With just one glance, Charlotte Daifuku and Oven's pupils trembled violently. They subconsciously took two steps back, and by the time they had steadied themselves, they discovered they were drenched in sweat.
Katakuri saw this and frowned slightly, but since they were on someone else's territory and his younger siblings were in the wrong first, he said nothing. His gaze was firmly locked on Louis, waiting for his answer.
And Louis didn't keep the Charlotte Family members in suspense, but gave his response very directly.
"A wedding banquet? Not interested."
Besides his lack of interest, Louis was also on good terms with many of the giants and might even fight alongside the entire giant race in the future. And Big Mom, who had destroyed a giant village and killed a giant hero, was the most hated human by the giant race, bar none. Louis would have to be out of his mind to ruin the friendship he had painstakingly cultivated with the giant race for the sake of a mere Big Mom.
At these words, the faces of Hajrudin, Yelena, and the others did not change in the slightest. They knew Louis well and knew he would not agree to go to Totto Land.
Katakuri, after hearing this, also seemed to have anticipated it and said coolly, "Is that so?"
For an existence of Louis's level, if he said he wasn't going, there was nothing the Charlotte Family could do about it. The methods they used on ordinary people, like wiping out clans and destroying countries, were impossible to use on someone like him. Those methods could only scare the weak. To a top-tier fighter, they were merely a joke.
Just as Katakuri was about to bring up the second matter, Louis's voice sounded first. "Katakuri, have you ever thought about leaving the Charlotte Family and coming over to our side?"
At these words, everyone subconsciously held their breath, and the air became silent.
A black line appeared on the foreheads of the Charlotte Family members. They were at a loss.
But the members of the Archangel Pirates looked as if they had expected it. Uta, who was sitting on the steps to the side, complained in her heart, "I knew this would happen—"
And Katakuri himself was also in a daze. It was clear that he, too, was caught off guard by Louis's invitation. He hadn't expected Louis to, right off the bat, invite the second-in-command of a major power to switch sides.
Soon, Katakuri's expression returned to normal, and a deep, powerful voice came from under his scarf. "Lord Archangel is joking."
"No, I'm serious," Louis replied with a smile. Anyone could see the seriousness on his face.
Meeting someone and immediately trying to poach their second-in-command had already become a tradition on the sea. Roger had poached Oden Kozuki, the second-in-command of the Whitebeard Pirates. When Big Mom went to the Land of Wano, the first thing she did was invite King to join her. Red-Hair had also invited Marco the Phoenix to join his crew more than once. Kaido of the Beasts had even invited every supernova who had become his enemy.
And as an existence who was no less than any of them, Louis naturally had to follow this custom of the sea and swing his pickaxe at the corner of Big Mom's wall.
This time, a subtle change came over Katakuri's face. His chestnut-colored eyes stared intently at Louis's serious expression, and for a long time, he did not speak.
"He's actually—serious?" A series of doubts rose in Katakuri's heart.
Soon, his reason gradually returned, and he refused sternly, "I apologize, but it is impossible for me to betray Mama."
To this, Louis, who had long anticipated it, did not have much of a reaction. Or rather, since entering the New World, he had gotten used to being rejected. From Jinbe on Fish-Man Island, to Kyros not long ago, and now to Katakuri, every single person had refused his invitation. Louis had now been rejected three times in a row. Of course, he didn't care much about it.
Seeing that Louis's idea of poaching him had faded, Katakuri spoke again, formally bringing up the second purpose of his visit today.
"Lord Archangel. Currently, the situation in the New World is unpredictable. The world is showing a trend of once again falling into turmoil. Although you possess the same level of power as Mama, Kaido, and Whitebeard, and are slightly ahead of Red-Hair, the giant prince Loki, and Ochoku in terms of top-tier military might, the overall strength of the Archangel Pirates is the weakest among the four powers. It must be said that if the Archangel Pirates were to engage in a direct confrontation with the other three parties, you would suffer heavy losses."
Katakuri's words, which seemed to have been carefully selected for a targeted intimidation, made the faces of Hajrudin, Daz Bonez, and the others change. Road subconsciously lowered his head. Kuina tightened her grip on her Wado Ichimonji.
Indeed, Louis's strength was publicly recognized as being no less than that of any top-tier monster, but among them, as crew members, there were very few who were presentable. There was Yelena, Uta, and Hajrudin, whose strength had greatly increased after obtaining the artificial Azure Dragon fruit. The rest of them still needed more time to become stronger.
At this moment, they subconsciously thought of Louis's frequent invitations to others, and their hearts felt even worse.
To this, Uta, who had heard his words, had a subtle change in her expression. She looked at her partners' expressions, and for a moment, didn't know what to say. She really wanted to ask them if they had forgotten that the giant race didn't listen to Loki, and that the Red Hair Pirates were also on their side. Why had one sentence from Katakuri made them so dejected?
Uta didn't understand. Then, she frowned and retorted without showing any weakness, "Stop with the alarmist talk! The relationship between the giant race and Loki is not good. He's the one who is the most isolated! The one most likely to be eliminated is not us, but that Loki!"
Katakuri heard her and glanced at Uta, but did not refute. He was here on Mama's mission to win over Louis, not to argue. However, Uta's words only slightly eased the somewhat dejected expressions of the others; it did not completely restore them to normal. Because Katakuri's words, while alarmist, were also true regarding their weakness, and it had hit them where it hurt.
The thought that Louis clearly had great power, but was forced to go around inviting strong people to join because they, as his partners, were not strong enough, made them feel terrible.
To this, Louis took in everyone's reactions and understood the pain in their hearts. But he didn't say things like "don't worry, I've got this." They were all still in their golden years of growth; their futures were promising. They did indeed need some pressure to grow quickly.
Louis's gaze fell on Katakuri, his eyes deep. "So?" he said casually. "You've laid so much groundwork. What is it you want to say to me? Does Big Mom want to ally with me, or does she want to support me in ascending to the fourth pinnacle power in the New World?"
To this, Katakuri had not yet answered, but the subtle change in the expressions of the several people behind him told Louis that his guess was not wrong.
"No. Mama hopes to be able to form an alliance with you." Seeing that Louis had guessed most of it, Katakuri didn't beat around the bush and quickly brought up the content that should have been discussed at Mama's wedding banquet. If Louis had agreed to go to Totto Land for the banquet, this would have been discussed there. If Louis refused, then he would bring it up here. This was the true purpose of Katakuri's trip.
"An alliance?" Louis asked with a frown.
"That's right," Katakuri nodded, and then explained, "Mama believes that if you form an alliance with her, then with your and Mama's military might, the numerous powerhouses of the Charlotte Family, and the massive military force of Totto Land, it would be enough to sweep through the entire New World and ascend to the one and only throne."
At these words, Hajrudin and the others all frowned. And Yelena, the face under her gas mask, showed a look of reminiscence. If she remembered correctly, near the entrance to the New World, Kaido of the Beasts had said something similar at the time. Then, she looked at Louis again, a look of disbelief in her eyes.
What's so special about Louis? Why is everyone trying to win him over? Yelena felt a little confused.
After hearing Katakuri's words, Louis was not moved by the temptation in his words, because his goal was not this at all. "An alliance?" Louis laughed as if he had heard something funny. "Isn't an alliance between pirates just a prerequisite for backstabbing and annexing the other party?" he said meaningfully. To this, Louis indicated that Big Mom's move was nothing more than an attempt to swallow him whole. All this talk about ascending to the one and only throne was fake.
However, Katakuri met Louis's interested gaze and added, "No. Mama's meaning is not to have the two pirate crews merge into one, but to fight separately on a normal basis, and to wholeheartedly help our allies at critical times, thereby sweeping through the entire New World."
"A non-binding alliance," Louis said concisely. Louis indicated that he did not think highly of this kind of alliance. If it weren't for the fact that Louis wanted to get a Vivre Card leading to Zou from the Mink tribe in Totto Land, he would have already sent them away.
"But what if the two pirate crews were to be joined by marriage?" Katakuri said with a strange expression.
"?" Louis gradually realized something was wrong.
Meeting Louis's puzzled gaze, Katakuri continued, "Mama knows that this kind of alliance is not reliable, so she proposed using a political marriage, using marriage and blood ties to strengthen the connection between the two sides."
Louis: "..."
"Whether it's the members of the giant race, or Mr. Snow-Fiend, or Lord Archangel himself, Mama can find a suitable partner for you to marry—"
"..."
Hearing this, Louis already understood. So all that talk before was just a prelude; this was the real purpose.
What alliance? She's just lusting after their bodies.
Look at the people Big Mom had chosen.
The Giant race.
Himself, a Lunarian.
And Kaido's "son."
She didn't even want to suffer the slightest loss.
And Louis had already figured it out. If he had really gone to attend Big Mom's wedding banquet, with her mindset and methods, Louis might very well have become the one getting married.
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