Chapter 692: Uproot the Grass and Dig Up the Roots
After being shot through the chest, Katakuri did not die immediately. His robust body still sustained him, allowing him to linger on the brink of death.
So when his younger brothers and sisters surrounded him, a group of them frantically tried to plug the hole in his chest with clumsy, desperate hands.
It was purely an instinctive move, but none of their Devil Fruit abilities had anything remotely connected to healing, so it was practically a chaotic mess.
Cracker tried to create biscuits to seal Katakuri's wound, Charlotte Oven wanted to use his Heat-Heat Fruit to cauterize it, and Charlotte Opera attempted to use cream...
If they had actually gone through with it, Katakuri would have been killed on the spot by their well-meaning but disastrous efforts!
There was no helping it; this was the first time they had ever seen Katakuri suffer such a severe injury, and for a moment, all of them lost the ability to think clearly.
Fortunately, although Katakuri was coughing up blood in great gushes, he remained the calmest of them all. He raised a hand to stop Oven and the others' impulsive actions and called out, "Mon... Mont-d'Or..."
But as he spoke, his mouth was filled with surging blood, so his words came out unclear.
The eighteenth daughter, Charlotte Galette, was impatient. Not understanding what he said, she instinctively reached out and pulled down Katakuri's scarf. This fluffy scarf, now stained red by the blood gushing from his mouth, naturally seemed to be in the way.
At that moment, Katakuri was extremely weak and never expected Galette to make such a move. As a result, when his scarf was yanked away, his enormous, fang-filled mouth was immediately exposed!
And so, Big Mom's children suddenly froze, and the air fell silent in an instant.
For as long as they could remember, Katakuri had always been the epitome of a cool and handsome man in the eyes of his younger siblings. From their earliest memories, this older brother's chin and lips had always been hidden beneath his scarf. Since they could see a bit of the stitched scars on the sides of his face from certain angles, they all assumed that Katakuri's chin might have been injured, and that was why he concealed the scars.
Katakuri never dined with them. Every time he ate, he did so alone, forbidding anyone from disturbing him. As a result, although they often speculated about what kind of injury Katakuri might have, none of them had ever actually seen his chin...
Galette's pull caught everyone off guard, and likewise, when they saw Katakuri's beast-like, fanged mouth, Big Mom's children were completely dumbfounded!
How terrifying! That was their first thought. This blood-soaked, gaping maw looked just like a monster's!
In that instant, the image of Katakuri as the perfect older brother in the minds of Big Mom's children shattered completely!
It was a feeling as if their entire worldview had been destroyed!
In particular, the twenty-ninth daughter of the Charlotte family, Charlotte Joscarpone, and the thirty-fourth son, Charlotte Mascarpone—both children of the long-necked tribe—were so frightened by Katakuri's appearance that they screamed and stumbled back two steps...
Those two screams of terror snapped Katakuri back to reality. Feeling the cool air on his chin where the scarf had been, he immediately realized that his true face had been seen!
In that instant, Katakuri's killing intent erupted. His fierce gaze locked onto Galette, who had pulled off his scarf!
Stared at by her most beloved brother with such a predatory look, Galette was so terrified that she fell to the ground, trembling all over in fear.
She understood that she might have caused a huge disaster...
This monstrous mouth, so different from a normal human's, was Katakuri's eternal pain. The reason he always kept it so tightly covered was to prevent others from seeing it. But because of Galette's reckless act, it was now exposed in front of everyone. How could Katakuri not radiate killing intent?
According to Katakuri's temperament, at a time like this, to cover up the incident, he would have killed everyone present. However, he was also well aware that the current situation simply wouldn't allow it. He could feel his life force rapidly draining away. If he dwelled on these issues any longer, he would truly be done for!
So he had no choice but to set that aside and spoke, "Mon... Mont-d'Or! Use your Devil Fruit ability..."
This time, everyone finally heard Katakuri's words clearly, and Mont-d'Or finally understood. He was being asked to use his Book-Book Fruit ability to seal the severely injured Katakuri into a book!
Charlotte Mont-d'Or's Devil Fruit was the Book-Book Fruit, which allowed him to create a world within a book. Any living being preserved in a book would not only continue to live but would also never age!
This principle wasn't related to time; rather, it meant that within Mont-d'Or's book world, the moment a living being was preserved, it was like a photograph, completely capturing the current state of the being. This was based on the characteristic that "the content of a book is always the same every time it's opened."
Katakuri understood clearly that if he continued to stay in the "outside world," as time passed, he would surely die. Ian's attack, like a laser, had pierced through his chest. Although it hadn't hit his heart, his chest cavity was destroyed. With such a severe injury, no one could survive. Now, he had to take advantage of the fact that he still had a breath left to enter Mont-d'Or's book world and preserve his current state. That way, he wouldn't die for the time being!
Afterward, as long as he could find something or an ability to heal his wounds, he could be released and treated immediately, and perhaps he might still save his life.
In other words, Katakuri felt that he could still be saved...
Once Mont-d'Or understood, he hurriedly spread his hands. With a soft *pop*, a thick book materialized from his palms. He quickly flipped through it to find a blank page and aimed it at Katakuri, ready to use it.
The scene was somewhat reminiscent of "I call your name—do you dare to answer?"
However, just as he raised the book, a streak of black flame flew straight toward it, striking the book in Mont-d'Or's hands. In the next second, the book burst into flames and instantly burned into a pile of drifting ash...
Big Mom's children stared blankly as the book in Mont-d'Or's hands disappeared, then slowly turned their heads to look in the direction from which the flame had come.
Needless to say, this black flame was shot by Ian using his "Flick Finger Technique." The gesture, like flicking away a booger, was accompanied by Ian's strange expression as he said, "Hey, are you all pretending I don't exist!?"
To be honest, Ian hadn't expected Katakuri to think of having Mont-d'Or seal him into a book. He had originally thought Katakuri was beyond saving, so letting him and his siblings play out a tearful scene wouldn't have been a bad idea—it would make him seem more humane...
But things didn't unfold as Ian had imagined in that cliché opening. First, Katakuri's big mouth was exposed, making him look like he wanted to kill his own siblings. Then, struggling to save himself, he called for Mont-d'Or to bring out the book...
At that point, Ian refused to let it slide. He directly destroyed Mont-d'Or's book, making them fully aware of his presence as an enemy...
Since he had already made his move, there was no turning back for Ian. To take down the Big Mom Pirates, he had to wipe out all their main members. After all, a Yonko crew wasn't comparable to small pirate groups. A weak crew, even if destroyed, couldn't retaliate. But try letting members of a Yonko crew escape!
For Ian, even if he could ultimately kill Big Mom, if any of her high-bounty, powerful children managed to flee, he would face endless trouble in the future.
Ian wasn't afraid of retaliation, but it would still be a headache, wouldn't it?
So, to settle things once and for all, Ian naturally intended to uproot the grass and dig up the roots. How could he just watch Katakuri be saved? Since both sides had become enemies, they had to have that awareness.
Similarly, Big Mom's children snapped out of it. Gritting their teeth, they all charged at Ian!
They now understood Ian's intent to kill them. In such a situation, they had no choice but to fight back with all their might.
As for Mont-d'Or, while the others attacked Ian to buy him time, he frantically summoned another book, trying to seal Katakuri inside.
But this time, he failed again. Two hands that suddenly "grew" from his wrists grabbed the book instead and tore it apart with force! With a *rip*, this book was also ruined!
This time, it was Robin who acted...
At the same time, Enel and Crocodile, along with the Dragon Hunter Pirates, charged out from Ian's sides and engaged Big Mom's children in battle...