# Chapter 658: BIG MOM's Friend
After the two chatted with Ian for a while, Reiju finally found an opportunity to ask: "Is my father... also among those invited to this tea party?"
"Of course!" Katakuri nodded, a strange glint flickering in his eyes as he spread his hands to explain: "About ten minutes or so before you arrived, Germa's ship also docked at the northern shore port. However, the one welcoming him was our eldest sister, Charlotte Compote. After all, the Germa family is also an important guest at this tea party."
Charlotte Compote, BIG MOM's eldest daughter, one of the thirty-four ministers known as the [Fruits Minister], was the child who resembled BIG MOM the most in appearance.
After hearing this, Ian couldn't help but glance at Katakuri and Perospero. He was well aware that the BIG MOM Pirates had long coveted the technological power of the Germa Group. When Gaji sought cooperation with BIG MOM, it was a case of mutual interest—a perfect match from the start. He just didn't know whether the two sides had already entered their honeymoon period and begun discussing the possibility of a marriage alliance...
After asking that one question, Reiju fell silent again. She only needed to know whether her father had arrived or not.
But at this moment, Katakuri noticed Caesar following behind Ian and the others. He naturally knew who Caesar was, but he was simply curious why Caesar was riding in their carriage. He couldn't help pointing at Caesar and asking Ian: "What's this about?"
"Oh!" Ian immediately grinned and said: "He's a new friend I met on the road. He wanted to come and experience BIG MOM's tea party, so I brought him along. No problem, right?"
Caesar also rubbed his hands together and said to Katakuri: "Please forgive me, Lord Katakuri. I didn't have an invitation, so I had to resort to this method."
"..." Katakuri looked at Caesar, utterly speechless at the man's thick skin. In truth, Katakuri knew full well what Caesar's real purpose was. Among all of Charlotte's children, he was the most perceptive—how could he not see that this guy was trying to find an opportunity to ask Mama for more research funding?
However, money was hardly a big deal for the BIG MOM Pirates. Since Ian had spoken up on his behalf, Katakuri was willing to give him this face. After all, their cooperation back in Gran Tesoro had been quite pleasant. So he nodded and tacitly approved the matter.
As for whether Caesar could actually get money from Mama, that would depend on his own skill—as long as he didn't make Mama unhappy.
"Let's go. The welcome banquet is about to start. Mama has invited quite a few guests this time, and I'll introduce you to them later!" Katakuri gestured forward. The singing flowers lining both sides of the path began swaying again, escorting them into the castle.
Just as Katakuri was receiving Ian and his group, inside the castle, the island's owner, BIG MOM, was meeting with a very special guest...
"Mamamama!"
In the room, BIG MOM sat like a small mountain on her specially made giant sofa chair, letting out cheerful laughter.
Dressed in a pink polka-dot wide dress, with thick lipstick and light purple eyeshadow, her large mouth looked like a bottomless black hole when she laughed. The immensely fat BIG MOM's appearance was hardly pleasant, even when laughing.
After laughing, BIG MOM leaned down and looked at the man in a white priest's robe sitting on the sofa across from her, speaking: "Father Arest, I didn't expect you to come to Whole Cake Island at this time. It just so happens that my tea party is about to begin. There will be delicious wedding cake at the tea party—stay and enjoy it together!"
The White Wolf Arest, having shed his Marine coat and changed back into his original attire, still held his iconic book, the Bible, in his hands. He grinned and said: "That's exactly what I was thinking! Linlin, I hope you don't mind my intrusion!"
Hearing this, BIG MOM laughed happily again, raising her hand and saying: "Wonderful! I was just thinking about how to find a witness for my daughter Chiffon's wedding. Now that Father Arest has arrived, you can be their witness. This will become a very beautiful and grand wedding!"
The two floating entities on either side of BIG MOM's hat—a flame and a thundercloud with human faces—chimed in upon seeing her happiness: "Wonderful, Mama!"
These flame and thundercloud were elemental energies that BIG MOM had infused with souls, granting them personality and intelligence. The flame was Prometheus, and the thundercloud was Zeus—powerful assistants in BIG MOM's battles.
When BIG MOM was happy, all the objects in the room that had simulated personalities also began to cheer noisily.
Arest watched all of this quietly, a smile on his face, but he said nothing.
After BIG MOM finished laughing, she suddenly remembered something and leaned down to ask Arest: "By the way, Father Arest, have you come to see me because you've found news about Sister Carmel?"
Sister Carmel, codename "Mountain Hag," was a human trafficker who used the guise of a nun to adopt orphans, raising them only to sell them to the World Government or other underground organizations. On the surface, this nun hid her true nature well, always presenting herself to the world as a saintly figure.
Of course, BIG MOM had no idea about Sister Carmel's true identity, and she never had.
In her memory, Sister Carmel was the kindest person in the world to her. It was Sister Carmel who had taken her in at the "Sheep's House" after her parents abandoned her, where she met so many friends and grew up happily.
But one day, decades ago, during BIG MOM's birthday tea party, Sister Carmel and all the children from the Sheep's House suddenly disappeared—vanished without a trace.
Since then, BIG MOM had been searching for Sister Carmel, never giving up over all these years.
In the process of becoming one of the Four Emperors, she had amassed vast territories and influence, naturally making many acquaintances. Arest was one of them.
This was evident from how Arest addressed her...
Arest was about the same age as BIG MOM, and he directly called her by her given name. Only her friends could address her this way.
Because of BIG MOM's enduring fondness for Sister Carmel, she had a very strong affinity for anyone associated with nuns or priests, always believing they were the same kind of people as Sister Carmel.
In fact, it was no secret throughout the New World that BIG MOM was friendly toward church figures. This had once led to many audacious fraudsters disguising themselves as priests or nuns, coming to Whole Cake Island to swindle BIG MOM. Without exception, these fraudsters easily obtained money from BIG MOM...
Of course, although they got the money, not a single one managed to take it away. BIG MOM's many children were no fools—BIG MOM might be gullible, but they certainly weren't. So these fraudsters were all secretly dealt with afterward.
As for Arest, he hailed from the Church Kingdom, a monk of the Holy Garment Order—a legitimate church figure.
Although Arest hated pirates, he made an exception for the BIG MOM Pirates. The reason was simple: the BIG MOM Pirates had helped the Church Kingdom.
There were no shortage of believers in this world, so the Church Kingdom received large donations from its followers every year. The country was actually quite wealthy, but this also made it a frequent target of pirate raids and plunder. Countless innocent people died in pirate attacks every year.
Growing up in such an environment in the Church Kingdom, it was easy to imagine how much Arest hated these faithless pirates.
Interestingly, during several pirate invasions, the BIG MOM Pirates had stepped in to help drive them away.
It was under these circumstances that Arest had happened to meet BIG MOM.
However, the BIG MOM Pirates were still pirates, and one of the Four Emperors at that. Due to its position, the Church Kingdom couldn't use her flag to protect the entire nation. So ordinarily, Arest didn't associate too closely with the BIG MOM Pirates. Their relationship had a certain "gentleman's friendship, light as water" quality to it.
It was precisely for this reason that Arest had been recruited during the World Government's civilian conscription plan. After all, the World Government couldn't very well appoint someone with ties to a Four Emperors pirate crew as a Marine Admiral, could they?
But precisely because their interactions were so ordinary, Arest's appearance this time was all the more remarkable. After all, Arest had never voluntarily come to Whole Cake Island before. For BIG MOM to set aside so many other guests and meet with Arest specially showed just how happy she was.
"Linlin, I'm sorry," Arest said, shaking his head after hearing her question. "I still haven't found any leads on Sister Carmel."
BIG MOM had once asked Arest to search for traces of Sister Carmel within the Church Kingdom, since Sister Carmel had originally come from there. Although Arest didn't know exactly what connection existed between this Sister Carmel and BIG MOM, out of gratitude for BIG MOM's multiple acts of assistance to the Church Kingdom, he had done his best to help.
"Oh... is that so..." BIG MOM's face showed a trace of disappointment. But perhaps after so many years of such reports, she had grown accustomed to it. Her mood didn't remain low for long, and soon she was happily chatting with Arest again.
Arest patiently kept her company in conversation. As a priest, patience was the one thing Arest never lacked.
As they talked, Arest finally found an opportunity to ask BIG MOM: "Linlin, you mentioned earlier that among the guests you've invited this time is the former Seven Warlord, Black Dragon Ian, correct?"
"Yes!" BIG MOM nodded.
"What made you think of inviting him?" Arest asked casually. "If I remember correctly, he's on the Whitebeard Pirates' side, isn't he?"
...