# Chapter 687: The Ups and Downs of the Whole Cake Island Incident
On the other side, BIG MOM, who had personally witnessed the wedding cake being blown up, was now completely out of sorts.
"C-cake... Gone!?"
BIG MOM's entire body trembled as she stared in disbelief at the cream residue scattered across the ground.
Katakuri, Perospero, and the other children had been huddled together, discussing what to do next.
Unsurprisingly, when it came to the bomb in the cake, their first thought was that Stussy and Arest had planted it. After all, those two had been causing trouble on Whole Cake Island, making them the prime suspects. But now both Stussy and Arest were dead, so there was no way to investigate them. Though furious, Katakuri and the others had no choice but to figure out how to clean up the mess.
They still hadn't determined whether the bomb was timed or remote-detonated. If it was timed, that would be manageable. But if it was remote-controlled, it meant there were still remnants of Stussy and Arest's faction among the guests, and they had to be rooted out.
However, the most urgent issue now was how to salvage the wedding cake situation. Head Chef Longbread was already old, and since he had been closest to the explosion, the blast wave had knocked him unconscious. Even if he were fine, there was no way he could remake a wedding cake in such a short time.
So Perospero and the others were sweating profusely in panic.
When they noticed BIG MOM's deteriorating state, they immediately realized that the thing they feared most was about to happen.
That's right—BIG MOM's food cravings! This was what Katakuri and the others dreaded most. The long-awaited wedding cake had suddenly exploded and been destroyed, completely crushing BIG MOM's hopes. Knowing her temper, her children immediately understood the disaster that was about to unfold.
"Mama! Mama! Don't get upset! Maybe there's still a way to fix this!"
"That's right, Mama! Please don't get worked up!"
Cracker and Amande rushed in front of BIG MOM, desperately trying to calm her down.
The other children anxiously gathered around Katakuri, waiting for him to make a decision.
"What do we do now? Brother Katakuri, once Mama's food cravings kick in, no one can stop her! Whole Cake Island will really be destroyed!"
"...No, maybe there's still a way to stop her!" Katakuri, true to his reputation as the perfect representative of the BIG MOM Pirates, managed to stay calm even now. After thinking for a moment, he spoke up.
"Stop her? How!?" Smoothie asked urgently. "Have you forgotten? Once Mama's food cravings start, the only way to truly stop her is for her to eat what she wants. Even if we could remake the wedding cake, we wouldn't have the time!"
"No choice. We'll have to use force!" Katakuri shook his head slightly. "You all go immediately and gather every remaining chef on the island. Step up the work on a new wedding cake. Ian and I will do our best to hold Mama back and buy you time!"
"You... you and Ian!?" Smoothie and Perospero were stunned for a moment, then realized what he meant and exclaimed, "You're planning to attack Mama!?"
"Do you have a better idea?" Katakuri glanced at them and asked.
Perospero and Smoothie fell silent. They had no better plan, so they immediately realized that Katakuri's approach was the only option.
Once BIG MOM's food cravings kicked in, she would indiscriminately go on a rampage, killing and destroying everything in her path. With her power, no one could stop her—that was why everyone feared her food cravings so much.
But now, things were different. There was one more person on the island: Ian. The power Ian had displayed while taking down Marine Admiral Arest had been confirmed by Katakuri and the others to be at the level of a Yonko. If Katakuri and Ian joined forces, they might be able to stop BIG MOM's rampage. With both of their strength combined, they could limit BIG MOM's destructive capabilities and buy time for the wedding cake to be remade.
"It's settled. I'll go find Ian right away. You all evacuate the guests immediately, then gather everyone to remake the cake!" Katakuri commanded.
"Got it!" Perospero and the others acknowledged and prepared to set off.
However, at that very moment, Katakuri suddenly froze!
"What... what's wrong?" Perospero and Smoothie followed Katakuri's gaze and saw the Fire Tank Pirates, who had been knocked down by the explosion earlier, lying on the ground.
"No... not good!" Katakuri's face turned ashen as he stared at Capone Bege, his expression terrifying.
Seeing Katakuri like this, Perospero, who knew him well, immediately understood that Katakuri must have "seen" something bad!
Meanwhile, Capone Bege, covered in soot from the bomb blast, was struggling to get up. His expression was equally grim.
The remote control had been lost by Vito, but who had actually pressed the button and detonated the bomb? Bege was deeply puzzled by this.
When he looked up and saw Katakuri's terrifying expression, his heart skipped a beat!
Having been on Whole Cake Island for a while, Bege had naturally figured out what Katakuri's ability was like. Seeing his expression turn sour, he immediately sensed something was wrong.
But Bege still didn't know what Katakuri had "seen," so he wasn't sure how to react to him.
Just then, something strange happened. The area around Bege's right eye suddenly popped open like a cork, and a tiny figure jumped out!
A bizarre scene unfolded. The tiny figure, after leaping out from Bege's eye, rapidly expanded, growing larger and larger until it returned to its original size.
When Bege saw who had jumped out of his castle body, cold sweat poured out of him in a torrent. The figure was none other than Charlotte Pudding, whom he had locked inside his body!
Pudding's sudden appearance immediately drew everyone's attention. Her hands were still tied behind her back as she lay on the ground, panting heavily, her third eye wide open.
"You... you!" Perospero stared at Pudding in disbelief, asking in terror, "Pu... Pudding!? How are you here!?"
Everyone's minds were in chaos at that moment. One shocking event after another had overwhelmed their thoughts.
"D...damn it! These idiots..." Bege was the only one who understood what had happened. Seeing Pudding appear, he immediately realized that when the bomb blast had hit him, the subordinates guarding her inside his castle body must have been distracted by the commotion, allowing Pudding to seize the opportunity and break out through the window at the eye!
The Castle-Castle Fruit had a peculiar trait: people locked inside Bege's castle body could escape even without his permission!
If it weren't for that, Bege wouldn't have specifically assigned people to guard Pudding.
But with the unexpected incident, the guards had let their attention slip, and Pudding, still with her hands tied, had charged straight out.
Had Katakuri's terrifying expression earlier been because he had foreseen this!?
Realizing the situation was about to go south, Bege immediately whispered to his Fire Tank Pirates subordinates, "Get ready. We're about to be exposed..."
Sure enough, after Perospero's question, Pudding lifted her head. At this moment, she was in her dark personality, her face twisted with rage as she shouted at everyone present, "Brother Peros, Brother Katakuri! We've all been deceived! Capone Bege and Ian are in cahoots! The bomb was planted in the cake by them! They're planning to strike at Mama!"
Boom! When Pudding shouted this, the members of the BIG MOM Pirates, the Vinsmoke Family, and the guests like Ferudo all felt their minds go blank with shock!
This news was even more shocking than when Arest had revealed his identity earlier. Everyone present was stunned, unable to process such explosive information.
"S...so you're saying your mission was never completed!?" Katakuri's voice trembled as he asked in disbelief, "Ian's memories were never modified by you, were they!?"
"No!" Pudding bit her lip hard, her voice filled with resentment. "He saw through me! When I tried to act, he knocked me out and locked me inside Capone Bege's body!"
"No wonder I was wondering why I hadn't seen you around..." Katakuri clenched his fists, veins bulging on his arms, his entire body radiating a fierce killing intent. He turned his head and fixed his gaze on Capone Bege.
"Well done. You've done very well, Bege!" Katakuri's voice carried a deadly danger as he spoke to Bege word by word. "Using Stussy and Arest's incident, you even managed to fool me completely..."
Behind Katakuri, Smoothie was completely dazed. Her mind kept replaying Pudding's words. She had thought she could happily fall in love with Ian and get married, only to suddenly discover that it had all been a lie. Smoothie felt as if her faith had crumbled...
Capone Bege looked at Katakuri with a grim expression. Though sweat kept dripping from his forehead, he remained silent.
When he had decided to make his move, he had anticipated this moment. It had just come more suddenly than he had imagined.
Taking large strides, Katakuri silently walked toward Capone Bege. This silence signified the most dangerous killing intent. Katakuri was clearly furious and ready to eliminate the traitor Bege.
But just then, an even more dangerous sensation came from behind Katakuri. He spun his head sharply and saw a massive figure swinging a fist toward him!
"W...ED...DING...CAKE!!!!!"
Accompanied by this chilling voice, what Katakuri saw was BIG MOM's eyes rolled back, completely white!
Her food cravings had finally and unavoidably set in!