Chapter 678: Dramatic Developments
“Th-this… what’s going on?”
Big Mom stared blankly at Caesar, who was being escorted over, and asked in a daze.
“Mom, you were asleep last night, so we didn’t dare disturb you!” Katakuri said. “But this is a serious matter, so we had to inform you. Someone broke into the treasure room last night and made a rubbing of the Poneglyph…”
“What!?”
An instant wave of terrifying aura spread across the wedding venue. Many weaker individuals immediately foamed at the mouth and collapsed unconscious!
Big Mom was furious. Her expression turned incredibly menacing in that moment. The Poneglyph in the treasure room was what she valued most, and now hearing that someone had “again” made a rubbing of it last night—her rage was unimaginable!
Back then, Pirate King Roger had made a rubbing of her Poneglyph and gone on to become the Pirate King. Big Mom had regretted it deeply ever since. And now, this situation was happening again!?
“Caesar! You have some nerve!” Big Mom snarled, glaring at Caesar with a twisted face.
Feeling the overwhelming Conqueror's Haki surging from Big Mom, Caesar was terrified out of his wits. Snot uncontrollably dripped from his nose as he screamed in panic, “Mom, listen to me… It really wasn’t me! I was framed! The real culprit is someone else! They kidnapped me and forced me to make the hypnosis gas bombs…”
“Is that so!?” Big Mom turned to look at Perospero and Brulee, who were behind Caesar.
Facing an enraged Big Mom, Perospero and the others were also shaken. They braced themselves and replied, “It’s… it’s true, Mom! We caught Caesar in the mirror world. When we grabbed him, he was already wearing those Seastone handcuffs. He probably isn’t lying…”
Caesar, tears and snot streaming down his face, nodded frantically like a chicken pecking at rice.
Ian watched this from behind, speechless. He now knew what had happened last night, but he never imagined that Caesar would be involved in this.
Just how unlucky are you? Don’t you check the calendar before going out!?
“Even if you were kidnapped, you must know who kidnapped you, right!?” Big Mom stared intently at Caesar. The terrifying aura made Caesar feel like he’d be devoured in the next second!
So, he didn’t hesitate and spilled everything. “It was two people! One tall, one short. I… I didn’t see their faces clearly because they were wearing masks, but I know they were definitely from the World Government! I’d never mistake that special smell!”
Boom! The entire venue erupted in uproar at Caesar’s words!
This was Whole Cake Island! How could World Government agents have infiltrated!? What was going on!?
Everyone in the Big Mom Pirates immediately drew their weapons, eyeing Ian and the other guests warily!
Even Big Mom and Katakuri did the same. The Big Mom Pirates’ crew members were all known quantities. If World Government agents had infiltrated, they could only be among the guests.
Ian stood shoulder to shoulder with Reiju, his expression calm, but his eyes glanced sideways at Stussy.
He knew Stussy’s identity. If Caesar was telling the truth, one of the kidnappers could only be Stussy! But Caesar mentioned two people, meaning Stussy had an accomplice!
Who could it be? Ian couldn’t help but glance in Arest’s direction…
At that moment, Big Mom suddenly reached out and grabbed one of the big shots standing beside her—the president of the World Economy News Paper, “Big News” Morgans. This guy was a bird from the Mink Tribe. Big Mom lifted him by the neck and roared, spittle flying, “Morgans, was it you!?”
“No! It wasn’t me, Mom!” Morgans flailed in panic, feathers flying everywhere, as he defended himself, “I do help the World Government publish news, but I’m definitely not on their side! Mom, you have to believe me!”
Big Mom casually threw Morgans to the ground, then grabbed the Shipping King, Umit, and interrogated him loudly again.
Just then, Stussy suddenly stepped forward, feigning indignation, “Alright, Linlin, I know you’re angry, but don’t lose your temper. We’ve all been old friends with you for years—how could we be World Government agents?”
“Besides, who knows if this guy is lying?” Stussy turned to look at Caesar. “If I remember correctly, he wasn’t even an invited guest for this tea party, was he? Who brought him in?”
As a World Government intelligence operative, Stussy had the necessary composure. Despite her inner anxiety, she didn’t panic and smoothly shifted the blame to Caesar.
So, Big Mom turned her gaze to Ian, realizing that Caesar had been brought in by him.
However, Ian looked completely clueless, shrugging and spreading his hands as if to say, “Awkward…”
Capone Bege sneered behind him. He didn’t yet know who had broken into the treasure room, but if Stussy thought she could redirect the target to Ian, she was sorely mistaken.
Sure enough, before Big Mom could speak, Smoothie stepped forward and whispered to her, “Mom, it can’t be Ian. Don’t you remember the task you gave Brulee yesterday?”
Right! Big Mom suddenly realized. Ian’s memories had been altered by Brulee. If Ian had broken into the treasure room, how could Brulee not have seen it in his memories?
So Big Mom immediately ruled out Ian.
Then who did it? Big Mom’s gaze swept around, and eventually… she landed on Vinsmoke Judge and his family!
Seeing Big Mom’s icy expression, Judge was utterly bewildered. He never expected to be caught in the crossfire!
He quickly waved his hands, “Mom, it can’t be us either! You know why I came to Whole Cake Island!”
But Big Mom ignored his protests, pointing at him viciously, “Hmph! Purpose? Who knows what the Vinsmoke Family’s real purpose is? Who’s to say you’re not using the alliance with the Big Mom Pirates as an excuse to steal from me? Isn’t the Vinsmoke Family a member of the World Government’s allied nations!?”
Judge nearly spat blood at this, a surge of frustration welling up inside him. Of course, he knew about last night’s commotion on Whole Cake Island, but he had pretended not to see it to avoid trouble, forbidding Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji from going out. Yet here he was, taking the blame anyway. And to make matters worse, he had no reasonable excuse to refute the World Government alliance issue.
“I… I…” Just as Judge was racking his brain for a way to prove his innocence, his youngest son, the hot-headed Yonji, piped up from behind, “Seriously, is this how the Big Mom Pirates treat their guests!?”
That did it! Big Mom instantly flew into a rage!
Who did she think she was? She was Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, the queen of the New World! Even if these people were her guests, who dared to defy her when she wanted to interrogate them? And a brat like him dared to talk back!?
The son’s mistake fell on the father’s shoulders. Since Judge was standing right next to her, Big Mom didn’t hesitate and threw a punch straight at Judge’s position!
“Father!?”
How powerful was Big Mom’s punch? No one who hadn’t taken one knew, but Reiju knew her father couldn’t withstand it. She cried out and tried to rush forward.
But Ian was faster. He pulled her hand back and dashed out himself.
“Clang!!!”
A deafening sound rang out. Big Mom’s punch came down, but Ian blocked it with the sheath of Thousand Cherry Blossoms!
The immense force traveled through Ian’s arm and was released into the ground beneath him, instantly cracking the floor into countless fissures.
“You… you…” Judge stared at Ian’s back, so close to him, at a loss for words.
Ian ignored him for the moment. Gritting his teeth, he pushed back with all his strength, deflecting Big Mom’s fist.
“Ian!!!” Big Mom roared in fury, “How dare you stop me!?”
Katakuri and the others watched in shock, surprised that Ian had dared to block Big Mom’s punch like that. They knew Big Mom hadn’t used her full strength, but the fact that Ian seemed completely unharmed was astonishing.
As for Smoothie, she watched Ian with a mix of admiration and worry…
Facing Big Mom’s anger, Ian just smiled and said, “Speaking of guests, besides the Vinsmoke Family, isn’t there someone else here?”
With that, Ian’s gaze shifted to Arest, who stood expressionless in the distance!
Big Mom and the others froze, following Ian’s gaze to Arest. Right! Arest was also a guest at this tea party, wasn’t he?
Though Katakuri and the others knew Arest was Big Mom’s friend, they honestly knew very little about him.
As everyone’s eyes turned to him, Arest smiled gently and shook his head, “Linlin, I am indeed a guest, but don’t forget, you asked me to stay as the witness for the wedding…”
Hearing this, Big Mom was taken aback.
She looked around, feeling that everyone was suspicious, but she couldn’t pinpoint who it was.
Just then, Arest continued, “I don’t know what you’ve lost, but all the guests are here now. The stolen item must be hidden somewhere. Why not have your people search?”
“Right! Search!” Judge immediately chimed in, “That’s a good idea!”
He was eager to clear his name, so he didn’t care about the consequences.
“…” Reiju glanced at Arest, surprised. She had expected Stussy to suggest the search…
“It’s already being done! Cracker and the others are searching everyone’s rooms right now!” Katakuri said, arms crossed, to Big Mom.
“Fine! We’ll wait for the results!” Big Mom roared, “Until then, no one leaves this place!”
With this interruption, Big Mom lost her appetite for the cake. Capone Bege hadn’t expected things to escalate like this. Caesar getting caught at any other time would have been bad enough, but right when the cake was about to be eaten…
With uneasy hearts, everyone sat back down. As Ian took his seat, he noticed Stussy glance at him.
Interesting. So she’s mad that I exposed her accomplice, Ian thought.
At this point, Ian still had no idea that Stussy and the others were actually after him. He assumed they were World Government agents trying to steal Big Mom’s Poneglyph.
Meanwhile, Stussy and Arest were secretly pleased. Even if Caesar had been caught, he couldn’t identify anyone. Once the rubbing was found in Ian’s room, he would never clear his name.
As for Reiju, she carefully and subtly pressed her chest, hiding the rubbing a bit deeper…
With all kinds of thoughts swirling in their minds, everyone waited in their seats. Before long, Cracker and the others in charge of the search returned…