Chapter 661: Dark Flame Chrysanthemum
Although his face was cold, Ian was cursing like crazy in his heart!
His earlier bad premonition had indeed come true. He had thought, when would the Big Mom Pirates ever be so warm-hearted as to help an outsider? They had even specially sent a tea party invitation, hinting that they could help him seize Kaido's position as one of the Four Emperors. There was no way something that good would happen...
Ian figured that his earlier bad feeling was tied to the Vinsmoke Family. The Vinsmokes wanted to use Big Mom's power to restore their family's glory in the North Blue, even willing to offer Germa's technology. Yet Big Mom still hadn't given up on the idea of a marriage alliance. It seemed she was always used to cooperating with outsiders through such marriages, because in her eyes, there was probably no more solid foundation for cooperation than becoming family.
Ian could understand this line of thinking. Everyone had their own principles. But what infuriated him was that Katakuri and the others had never mentioned this to him before!
If he had known that Big Mom wanted to marry her daughter to him, he would never have come to this tea party!
Are you kidding me? Did Ian not know what kind of people Big Mom's children were? To sum it up in one sentence: "A bunch of weirdos!"
Leaving aside the question of whether he liked it or not, Ian had always believed that even without relying on others' power, he could still ascend to the position of an Emperor. It was just a matter of time. Once the gains from the Golden City instance were fully converted into his own combat strength, Ian was confident he could take on any of the Four Emperors!
With such confidence in his heart, Ian naturally wouldn't grovel and beg Big Mom. That was also why he could act so tough.
So he stared straight at Katakuri. You bastards tricked me into coming to Whole Cake Island; you'd better give me an explanation, right?
Katakuri, at this moment, also felt a headache coming on. Back in the Golden City, he had taken it upon himself not to mention the marriage to Ian. But after returning, when he tried to persuade his mother, he unexpectedly didn't get her permission.
It was simple, just as Ian thought: Big Mom didn't trust outsiders. She firmly believed that only by becoming family could there be no suspicion between both sides. So even though Katakuri was usually favored by Big Mom, his suggestion wasn't adopted this time.
However, while his head ached, Katakuri also breathed a slight sigh of relief. Having this matter brought up now might not be a bad thing. What he feared most was that at tomorrow's tea party, in front of so many guests, Ian would refuse, and then his mother would lose face. That would make things even worse.
"Ian!" After thinking for a moment, Katakuri spoke up. "I admit, my mother does want you to marry my sister Smoothie. But what I don't understand is, why are you unwilling?"
He spread his hands and said, "Which of my lovely sisters isn't both powerful and peerlessly beautiful? Especially Smoothie. She's one of the thirty-four ministers governing Totto Land, and her bounty is as high as 932 million Berries. She's definitely worthy of you. This is a well-matched union. Once you marry her, the entire Big Mom Pirates, with hundreds of thousands of powerful pirates, will become your strong backing. Whether you want to become an Emperor or start a war with the World Government, we'll support you. So I can't think of any reason for you to oppose..."
Powerful? Well, Ian admitted that. But peerlessly beautiful?
Ian looked at the eighth daughter of the Charlotte family, Brûlée, who was sitting across the table. She was the Mirror-Mirror Fruit user. It seemed that because of Katakuri's praise of his "lovely" younger siblings, Brûlée, whose face was like an old witch's, was now squirming uncomfortably in her seat, looking at Katakuri with eyes full of admiration and worship.
Ian almost spat out on the spot because of her squirming posture!
His forehead was covered in black lines. He thought, Is this guy Katakuri blind? He actually calls a sister like that peerlessly beautiful!?
But then Ian suddenly thought of his own sister, Kuina. Well, in his own eyes, Kuina was the most beautiful, even surpassing Boa Hancock... So he could somewhat understand why Katakuri would say that.
It seemed that older brothers all had a bit of a sister complex...
Ian glanced at Reiju sitting beside him. He noticed that although her face was expressionless, her body was trembling slightly, and deep in her eyes, there was a barely suppressed urge to laugh. She was clearly holding back, also because of Katakuri's words.
This made Ian roll his eyes. He tapped the table and said to Katakuri, "Don't change the subject! Even if I want to get married, who I marry is my own freedom. The Big Mom Pirates don't need to worry about that. What I'm asking you now is, why did you hide this matter and trick me into coming here?"
When Ian's words reached this point, anyone could hear the hidden anger in his voice.
"Then what kind of explanation do you want?" Katakuri's forehead also showed faint veins. His hands hung by his sides, clenched into fists, as he coldly said to Ian, "Don't forget, you're on Whole Cake Island. This is the territory of the Big Mom Pirates!"
Big Mom's other guests didn't dare to interrupt at this moment. Caesar, sitting nearby, was trembling like a leaf. Ian and Katakuri stared at each other, and the tense, sword-drawn atmosphere between them had already appeared. This made Caesar want to wail in despair. Although he desperately didn't want to be involved in this matter, the problem was that he had followed Ian into this castle...
Ian stood up without a word, wiped his mouth, and casually tossed his napkin onto the table. "Fine, then. I'll take my leave! Reiju, let's go!"
Seeing Ian turn to leave, Perospero panicked and shouted, "Stop right there!"
"What?" Ian turned back and said coldly, "Are you planning to tie me up?"
Perospero's face darkened. "Without Mama's permission, no one is allowed to miss the tea party, let alone come and go as they please!"
With his words, Cracker and the others beside the table also stood up. The sound of weapons being drawn rang out as the children of the Charlotte family subtly surrounded Ian.
Seeing this formation, Ian laughed heartily. "Want to fight? I'm game!"
As soon as he finished speaking, golden flames suddenly erupted from Ian's body, blazing and surging, while countless sparks of electricity crackled and flashed around him.
Super Saiyan transformation complete!
Raising his right hand, amidst a jingling of bells, black demonic flames surged up from Ian's right hand, and he lightly swung it in front of him.
"Not good!" Katakuri's pupils contracted, and he quickly moved.
"Three Hundred and Sixteen Style: Dark Flame Chrysanthemum!"
No one expected that Ian would be the first to strike! And he started with a big move!
The black, sky-scraping flames suddenly erupted in this banquet hall. The raging fire waves instantly swept through the entire hall, then shot diagonally upward, blasting open the roof of the banquet hall, vaporizing all the bricks and stones they encountered, breaking through the cage and soaring into the sky!
Even from several miles away, one could see this sudden black pillar of fire rising from the castle...
Ian's Dark Flame Chrysanthemum was more powerful than ever before. In almost an instant, it reduced the entire banquet hall to nothing.
Reiju had hidden behind Ian the moment he moved. She knew that only behind Ian was the safest place.
As for Katakuri, before the flames erupted, he seemed to have foreseen some scenes through his Observation Haki. So when the flames just rose from Ian's hand, his arms had already stretched out, scooping up everyone in the hall and crashing through the wall to escape.
The flames of the Dark Flame Chrysanthemum came and went quickly. When the flames disappeared, the original banquet hall was gone. All the metal utensils and stone floors had been completely vaporized during the eruption, leaving only a huge, circular black pit on the ground, still radiating intense heat.
"Ah! Ah!" The tenth son, Cracker, although carried out of the hall by Katakuri, had his foot grazed by Ian's black flames as they erupted. Cracker was a Biscuit-Biscuit Fruit user, and he usually wore armor made of biscuits. This habit saved him this time. The leg armor that was touched by the black flames was incinerated, leaving only a minor injury on his leg. But it still caused him piercing pain, as a piece of flesh on his calf had been burned away.
Katakuri was drenched in cold sweat. Although he had anticipated that Ian's flame ability would greatly restrain them, only when facing Ian directly could one truly feel the terror of his flames. If he had reacted even a little slower, the younger siblings and guests present would have suffered massive casualties under the eruption of those black flames.
This kid Ian wasn't just bluffing. He really dared to kill people on the territory of the Big Mom Pirates...