Chapter 671: Poneglyph Rubbings
Later that same day, Katakuri and Perospero indeed failed to find Caesar in his room.
It was proven that Caesar was involved in the theft of the treasure room, and now that he was missing, it was possible he had either escaped or been silenced.
Combined with the guards' eyewitness reports, and with no further leads, Katakuri, despite his lingering doubts, was forced to deepen his suspicion of Ian once again.
However, when he encountered Capone Bege near the cake workshop warehouse, the situation suddenly changed.
Capone Bege had just finished his own crime, planting a bomb inside the wedding cake. As soon as he came out, he ran into Katakuri. The man showed no sign of panic, puffing on a cigar and adjusting his suit collar as he approached, asking, "What happened just now? Why all the commotion?"
"Did you just come out of your room?" Katakuri asked him.
Capone Bege was to marry Katakuri's sister the next day, and Katakuri was about to become his brother-in-law, so his tone was relatively polite.
Capone Bege shook his head and said, "No, I just came from Chiffon's place!"
"It's this late, what were you doing at Chiffon's?" Katakuri asked with a frown.
Capone Bege shrugged and spread his hands. "No choice. Chiffon's mood wasn't too good. Luckily, I ran into Pudding when I came out, so I asked her to keep Chiffon company!"
"Pudding?" Katakuri was stunned for a moment, then quickly asked, "She's at Chiffon's?"
"Yeah, why?" Capone Bege pretended to know nothing, then added, "Oh, right. Chiffon wanted Pudding to stay with her, but Pudding said it was too late to bother Mama. So she asked me to come tell you that her mission is complete... Did Mama assign her something?"
Hearing Capone Bege's words, Katakuri breathed a sigh of relief. But he wouldn't tell Capone Bege what Pudding's mission was, so he said coldly, "That's none of your business. You'd better get some rest. Tomorrow is your wedding to Chiffon!"
"Alright, since you don't need my help, I'll leave it alone!" Capone Bege shrugged and turned back toward the castle.
Not a single flaw...
Watching Capone Bege leave, Katakuri pondered to himself. Since Pudding had returned and her mission was complete, it could be confirmed that Ian was indeed not the real culprit, because he had no time to commit the crime.
Pudding's Memo-Memo Fruit, after altering a person's memory, would leave them in a brief state of unconsciousness. At that time, Ian should still be lying in his room. So his guess was correct: the person who broke into the treasure room was an impostor, aiming to frame Ian and sow discord between the Big Mom Pirates and Ian.
"Too bad for you, the hidden culprit. You never imagined that Mama would send Pudding to Ian's room tonight, did you?" Katakuri sneered to himself.
But who could it be? Katakuri's mind flashed through every guest on Whole Cake Island today, recalling their every move.
It was precisely because this incident consumed so much of Katakuri's energy that he never once considered that Capone Bege might be lying to him!
It wasn't just Capone Bege's excellent acting; it was also because Katakuri always took good care of his younger siblings. He had never thought to doubt his own family. So when he heard Capone Bege say that Pudding had gone to Chiffon's, he never even thought to verify the truth...
Thus, Capone Bege completed the most crucial piece of his and Ian's plan. Katakuri had already suspected Ian wasn't the culprit, and Capone Bege's testimony only solidified that suspicion.
So next, the Big Mom Pirates continued their search for Caesar, but no one bothered Ian...
Meanwhile, Arest and Stussy, unaware they had been set up, were still puzzled in their respective rooms, wondering why the Big Mom Pirates hadn't come to cause trouble for Ian...
As time passed, the sky began to lighten. Perospero met up with Katakuri again.
"We've searched the entire island and couldn't find Caesar!" Perospero told Katakuri. "According to the 'watchers' on the island, no one has been seen leaving."
"So that means only the guest rooms in the castle remain unsearched?" Katakuri looked toward the Whole Cake Island castle, a sharp glint in his eyes.
"Should we search directly?" Perospero asked, licking his cane.
"No, they are Mama's invited guests. Searching their rooms directly would be rude! Without solid evidence, Mama would blame us!" Katakuri said, crossing his arms. "The wedding is about to start. They'll leave their rooms eventually. Brother Peros, inform Brulee. Once the guests have arrived, have her take some people through the mirror space to search the guest rooms. As long as Caesar isn't dead, we'll find him eventually..."
"That's the only way," Perospero nodded. "Let's prepare for the wedding now..."
In fact, every guest room in the castle had at least one mirror in the bathroom. And Brulee's Mirror-Mirror Fruit allowed her to connect to all mirrors in the castle through the mirror space.
However, since standing in front of a mirror in the mirror space would also be seen by someone standing in front of the same mirror in the real world—face to face—Brulee usually avoided entering guest rooms through their mirrors. Now, to search for Caesar, Katakuri had no choice but to have Brulee step in.
Katakuri and Perospero split up to take action...
The sun rose. It was a beautiful day.
In the castle, in the bedroom named "The Queen's Room," Big Mom woke up from her deep sleep, stretching lazily as she awoke contentedly.
"Good morning, Mama!"
"Morning, Mama!"
All sorts of strange, soul-infused objects in the room greeted Big Mom.
"Ma-ma-ma-ma!" Big Mom laughed heartily. "Who's going to tell me what happy thing is happening today?"
"Mama, today is the wedding tea party!" the soul objects chimed in.
Big Mom, who already knew this, became even more delighted when the soul objects reminded her. She clasped her hands under her chin, looking expectant, and asked, "So, is the delicious wedding cake ready too?"
"It was finished three days ago!" the soul objects replied in a singsong voice, as if reflecting Big Mom's joyful mood. "It's the most delicious wedding cake in the world!"
"Haha, then let's get started!" Big Mom put on her captain's hat, Napoleon, with Zeus and Prometheus floating above her head. Fully dressed, she left the Queen's Room.
At the same time, the castle was bustling with activity. Members of the Big Mom Pirates were busy preparing for the wedding tea party that was about to begin.
The invited guests' doors were also knocked on. Including Ian, everyone received the notification that the wedding tea party was about to start.
Ian sat up from his bed, stretched, and went to the bathroom to freshen up. Soon, he was full of energy. But when he looked up and saw the mirror hanging on the wall, he froze for a moment, then broke out in a cold sweat.
Yesterday, while discussing things with Capone Bege in his room, he had completely forgotten that the old witch Brulee was a Mirror-Mirror Fruit user! Luckily, Brulee hadn't been present. If she had accidentally overheard his and Capone Bege's plans, it would have been a disaster...
Reaching out, Ian tentatively tried to push his hand into the mirror, but was blocked by the glass surface. He knew Brulee's mirror space existed, but he had no idea about the conditions for entering it.
"Forget it, never mind. As long as I'm sure Brulee didn't show up last night, it's fine," Ian thought to himself. He left the bathroom, opened the room door, and stepped out.
Meanwhile, Arest and Stussy, in their respective rooms, were also notified by the knocking servants to head to the wedding venue.
Stussy's expression was uncertain. Last night, after Arest had stolen the Poneglyph rubbing from the treasure room, they had unexpectedly found that Ian hadn't been troubled as a result. Now, Stussy had no idea what had happened. She fingered the Poneglyph rubbing in her hand, feeling hesitant.
In truth, if Arest's Blood Puppet had successfully led the Big Mom Pirates to search Ian, Stussy wouldn't have bothered to secretly place this Poneglyph rubbing in Ian's room.
She was a member of CP0. The World Government would also be very interested in this Poneglyph rubbing...
But now, it seemed she had no choice but to find a way to put it in Ian's room after all...