Chapter 655: Let Me Off This Car!
Why is this guy here!?
The moment he saw Caesar, Ian even thought he was hallucinating! Because in his memory, Caesar should have been at Punk Hazard, right!?
But then, Ian suddenly realized that Caesar did indeed have a cooperative relationship with the Big Mom Pirates.
Because Big Mom had apparently been funding Caesar's research on human gigantification all along!
From the intelligence Ian had gathered so far, human gigantification was a research subject the World Government had been pursuing for centuries. Through this research, they could obtain immense combat power, but it had made little progress for hundreds of years—until Vegapunk appeared.
After Vegapunk was taken away by the World Government, he took over the Punk Hazard research facility, and the human gigantification research was naturally included. With Vegapunk's genius intellect, the study finally saw some breakthroughs.
And Caesar, as his assistant, should have had access to some of the data on human gigantification. However, this guy seemed to look down on that kind of research, focusing more on his poison gas weapon experiments. As a result, when he forcibly conducted his tests and blew up Punk Hazard, he was arrested—though he later escaped from prison.
Once he escaped, he was naturally wanted. Under such circumstances, if he still wanted to continue his research, he had to find another benefactor to fund him.
And coincidentally, Big Mom was not only an Emperor with plenty of money but also happened to be very interested in human gigantification.
Because of her childhood experiences, Big Mom wanted others to be as huge as she was, so everyone could have fun together. This wish had strangely persisted to this day, which made Caesar see her as a perfect target.
He probably used the excuse of being able to make people gigantic, and might have even shown Big Mom some of Vegapunk's earlier research data on human gigantification, successfully convincing her to fund him.
But this research project wasn't his responsibility in the first place; he only knew the basics. So even though he did conduct human gigantification research at Punk Hazard, he couldn't achieve the success Big Mom wanted.
More importantly, most of the huge funds he swindled from Big Mom were spent on eating, drinking, and having fun, with very little actually invested in the research.
Now that this guy was here, wasn't he probably trying to ask Big Mom for more money again!?
Sure enough, Baron Tamago also spotted Caesar and walked over to him.
"Why are you still here!?" Baron Tamago said displeasedly. "Didn't I tell you? Mama didn't invite you to this tea party. Although Mama allows you to stay on the island, that doesn't mean you can attend this tea party!"
"Shurororororo!" Caesar turned around and, seeing it was Baron Tamago, couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, it's Baron Tamago! Don't say that. Big Mom's tea party is a famous gathering in the New World, so naturally, I want to see it too!"
That's what he said, but Caesar had his own plans. His visit to Whole Cake Island this time was indeed to ask Big Mom for additional funding.
It had to be said, this was another mess Ian had caused. By driving Doflamingo out of Dressrosa, he had ruined the Artificial Devil Fruit project. Without the Tontatta Tribe's help, Artificial Devil Fruits couldn't be grown.
So even though Caesar wasn't affected at Punk Hazard, he had to suspend the production of SAD. Only after Doflamingo and Kaido figured out a better plan for manufacturing Artificial Fruits might he resume production.
As a result, Caesar's value to Doflamingo had diminished significantly, and the research funds Doflamingo provided him naturally had to be cut accordingly...
With much less funding, Caesar still had to continue his Death Country weapon research, so he had to find another way to get money. Fortunately, he still had the human gigantification research, and Big Mom was generous with her money. So he came here hoping to get more funds.
However, although Big Mom was quick to give money this time, it was less than Caesar had expected, which made him unwilling to give up. While staying on the island, he happened to learn that at this tea party, Big Mom would announce the wedding of her daughter, Charlotte Chiffon, and the Supernova "Gang" Capone Bege of the Fire Tank Pirates.
Big Mom marrying off her daughter was certainly a happy occasion, and she would be in a great mood. Knowing this, Caesar immediately started scheming. He thought that if he could sneak into the tea party as a guest, he might take advantage of Big Mom's good spirits to ask for even more funding.
Now, with the tea party starting tomorrow, the invited guests were gradually arriving at Whole Cake Island and being taken to the castle in the city. If Caesar wanted to attend the tea party, he had to sneak into the castle quickly. Otherwise, once the tea party began, to prevent disruptions, the Big Mom Pirates would seal off the island, and the castle would no longer allow entry or exit.
But what he didn't expect was that when he tried to hitch a ride on a pig-drawn carriage, he was rejected!
Caesar had come to Whole Cake Island on his own and wasn't among the invited guests, so Baron Tamago was very annoyed, thinking Caesar was being unreasonable.
Normally, he could have just driven Caesar away, but considering that Big Mom trusted Caesar a lot, Baron Tamago didn't want to have a falling out with him. In the end, the two started arguing loudly.
"Damn it!" Caesar was getting angry too. He felt that Big Mom hadn't stopped him, yet these small fries were doing everything to block him. A great genius scientist being shut out was simply intolerable. He pointed at Baron Tamago and shouted, "Then tell me, what do I have to do to get in!?"
Baron Tamago snorted coldly and said, "I told you, without an invitation, you can't enter the castle! Unless an invited guest is willing to take you in, otherwise, you'd better leave Whole Cake Island obediently!"
Hearing this, Caesar was stunned for a moment, then looked toward the pig-drawn carriage where Ian and the others were.
Because the carriage door was blocking his view, he couldn't see who was getting on. So he said to Baron Tamago, "If the guest in that carriage is willing to take me in, you can't stop me, right!?"
Without waiting for Baron Tamago's reply, his body turned into a cloud of gas and flew toward Ian's carriage.
However, when he reached the carriage and was about to speak, he suddenly froze!
Because he saw Ian looking at him with a half-smile...
The moment he recognized Ian, Caesar stared at him in shock, his eyes nearly bulging out!
"You... why are you here..." Caesar pointed at Ian with a trembling hand, speaking in terror.
How could he not know who Ian was? The cooperative plan between him and Doflamingo had been ruined by Ian. Even Doflamingo had been driven out of Dressrosa by Ian, leading to a cut in his funding. Naturally, he hated Ian to the bone.
But he also knew he could only fantasize about revenge. If he actually tried to retaliate against Ian, he wouldn't dare!
Are you kidding? He had watched the Battle of New Edd War. How could he possibly defeat someone like Ian, who could go toe-to-toe with Kaido?
But... he absolutely never expected that Big Mom's tea party this time would also invite Ian!
If he had known that, he would have fled as far as possible and never wanted to run into Ian...
"Oh? You know me?" Ian smiled warmly at Caesar and asked him.
Caesar finally snapped out of it and quickly waved his hands, saying, "No, no! I don't know you! Sorry, I mistook you for someone else!"
With that, he turned around sheepishly, intending to escape, hoping to leave Whole Cake Island before Ian learned his identity.
But just as he turned, a hand wrapped in Armament Haki suddenly reached out and firmly grabbed his shoulder, holding him in place.
The one who reached out was naturally Ian. He pulled Caesar back and said with a smile, "Sir, since you want to attend the tea party, I can take you in. Arguing with the Big Mom Pirates here is unbecoming, don't you think?"
"Y-yes..." Caesar forced an ugly smile onto his face, almost letting snot drip down. He forced a laugh and said, "But since it's inconvenient, forget it. I don't have to go..."
But Ian put on a friendly expression and said, "No, no, no! I'm always happy to help others! It's no trouble at all! Please!"
With that, Ian moved aside and gestured for Caesar to get on the carriage first.
Reiju, who had already entered the carriage, didn't know what Ian was up to, but she cooperated with a smile and waved at Caesar, saying, "Come on in, sir!"
Caesar looked to Baron Tamago for help, hoping he would stop this, but after Ian glanced at him, Baron Tamago wisely kept his mouth shut, tacitly agreeing.
Seeing Baron Tamago's silence, Caesar almost cried. He felt that the hand on his shoulder was getting heavier, whether it was an illusion or not.
In the end, he could only climb into the carriage with a mournful face.
Ian also got in, slamming the door shut. He sat next to Reiju, while Caesar sat across from them.
The carriage shook as the pig-drawn vehicle started moving. Caesar forced a smile, trying to say something to Ian, but found that Ian and Reiju were both sitting with their arms crossed, just staring at him.
Watching the scenery outside the window recede, Caesar felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. Inside, he was already crying rivers.
He really wanted to lean out the window and shout: Let me off this car! This isn't the car to kindergarten!