Chapter 699: The Unfathomable Heart
"Mom... Mother!?"
The moment they saw Big Mom's corpse in the large crater, Amande and the other daughters of Big Mom covered their faces and screamed in disbelief.
Then, like madwomen, they jumped into the pit to confirm Big Mom's condition...
Many people began wailing loudly at that moment, but likewise, there were also those who did not cry.
For instance, Charlotte Chiffon, hiding beside Capone Bege, had a look of sadness on her face, but for some reason, there was a sense of relief in her heart, as if a heavy stone had been lifted.
She and Capone Bege had fallen for each other and were deeply in love, so she had always worried that her husband, Capone Bege, participating in this rebellion might ultimately be executed by Big Mom. But now, seeing Big Mom's corpse, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Admittedly, Big Mom was her biological mother, but she had never felt any maternal love from her. In fact, even for her wedding with Capone Bege, she had never truly received Big Mom's blessing.
Big Mom attended her wedding for two reasons: first, to use the marriage alliance to absorb the Fire Tank Pirates into her crew, and second, purely to eat a wedding cake.
In other words, in Big Mom's eyes, Chiffon was nothing more than a tool.
There were many other children like her, treated as mere tools. Big Mom had over a hundred offspring, and not all of them were as powerful as Katakuri or Smoothie. As a result, their status within the Big Mom Pirates was very low. Big Mom was naturally rough-tempered, so these weaker children had a pretty bad lot in life.
In short, domestic violence was rampant within the Charlotte family. These children had thought about escaping Whole Cake Island and the pirate crew before. Sometimes, when they were bullied and beaten, they even thought about their biological fathers, whose whereabouts were unknown...
If Big Mom were still alive, her intimidation would have maintained a unique kind of harmony within the Charlotte family. But now that she had been killed in battle against Ian, many different thoughts began to emerge.
"Mom is dead. What do we do? Should we avenge her?"
"Don't be ridiculous. If even Mom couldn't beat Ian, how can we avenge her?"
"Brother Katakuri is dead too. Brother Perospero is missing... The Big Mom Pirates are finished!"
"This battle is over. The Dragon Hunter Pirates have won. Should we find a way to escape? What if the Dragon Hunter Pirates decide to wipe us all out? I don't want to die here..."
"But where can we go?"
"Maybe we should find our father. I've never met him since I was born. I don't even know if he's still alive..."
The lower-ranked and younger children of Big Mom were watching from a distance, their faces showing some sorrow, but compared to the eldest daughter, Compote, Cracker, Galette, or Amande and Mont-d'Or—who were usually more valued by Big Mom—their grief was far less intense.
This was what they called the difference between close and distant relatives...
Leaving aside the mixed feelings within the Big Mom Pirates, the guests who had come for the tea party were equally stunned.
To be honest, earlier, due to Katakuri's orders, the Big Mom Pirates had even attacked these guests. But Ferudo, Drago, and Morgans had only fought back in self-defense. They didn't really want to become enemies of the Big Mom Pirates. In their eyes, the Big Mom Pirates had dominated the New World for so many years—how could a newly risen crew like the Dragon Hunter Pirates replace them? They just wanted to survive and find a way to explain things to Big Mom after the rebellion ended.
However, Big Mom's corpse falling from the sky shocked them senseless. None of them had expected that Big Mom would be killed in her battle with Ian!
With Big Mom gone, it meant the banner of the Big Mom Pirates was about to fall!
Among these underworld big shots, the quickest to react was Morgans. That guy, true to his role as the president of the World Economy News Paper, had an unparalleled instinct for big news. Realizing that the Big Mom Pirates would collapse after today, he threw caution to the wind, pulled out a camera Den Den Mushi from his pocket, and frantically snapped photos of Big Mom's corpse.
As he took pictures, the big bird trembled with excitement.
"Big news! Super big news! The Big Mom Pirates have been defeated by the Dragon Hunter Pirates, and Big Mom, one of the Four Emperors, has been killed! Add to that the involvement of Marine Admiral White Wolf Arest and World Government intelligence agent Stussy of CP0! If I can report this story in full, the entire world will be shocked by my newspaper!"
As always, if Big Mom were still alive, Morgans might not have dared to take photos so openly. But now that she was dead, all the fear that had gripped everyone's hearts vanished. Morgans had made up his mind: even if the World Government pressured the newspaper, he would stand firm and report the entire event as it happened!
Morgans' actions got the other big shots thinking. The funeral parlor magnate, Drago, was already calculating that if Big Mom's children wanted to bury her, he could gouge them for a hefty coffin fee. The shipping king, Umit, was thinking that his shipping routes would no longer need to pay protection fees to the Big Mom Pirates...
It wasn't surprising that the guests had such thoughts. Big Mom, who ruled "Totto Land" through fear and force, had never earned anyone's respect. The only reason they had become "friends" with her was pure self-interest...
As for the remaining guest, Vinsmoke Judge of the Germa family, he stared at Big Mom's corpse in silence.
Right now, he wanted to say: I need a moment alone...
He had been representing the Vinsmoke family, currying favor with the Big Mom Pirates, hoping to use their power to restore Germa's dominance over the North Blue. But this tea party had thrown all his plans into chaos.
Because of Reiju, the Vinsmoke family had also been attacked by the Big Mom Pirates. At that time, Judge's thoughts were similar to those of the other underworld big shots—just survive first.
But no one had expected Big Mom to die at Ian's hands! Now that she was dead, the Big Mom Pirates were finished. What was the Vinsmoke family, which had pinned all its hopes on Big Mom, supposed to do now?
Could they turn around and ally with Ian's Dragon Hunter Pirates?
At that thought, Judge couldn't help but glance at Reiju, who was not far away. When he had arrived at Whole Cake Island and seen Ian and Reiju being affectionate through his telescope, he had been furious, jumping up and down. The feeling of having his daughter taken away by another man was something only a father could understand. And now, if he had to ally with the Dragon Hunter Pirates, it would mean truly handing Reiju over...
At that thought, Judge's heart ached...
And to make matters worse, his idiot son, Yonji, chose that moment to snicker inappropriately, "Wow, Big Mom's clothes are all torn off. What did Ian do to her? That's way too over-the-top!"
Hearing this, Judge's face went black. Damn it! How could he trust his daughter to a guy like that!?
While Judge was agonizing, someone in the distance was sneering at Big Mom's corpse.
That person was, of course, the hidden Caesar. After a string of bad luck, Caesar felt that his fortune had finally turned!
Big Mom had been killed by Ian, which meant no one would hold him accountable for accidentally blowing up the cake, nor would he have to worry about squandering the research funds Big Mom had sponsored. And most importantly, he had now latched onto an even bigger thigh—Ian!
Could this be the legendary "when misfortune reaches its peak, good fortune arrives"? Was he finally about to reach the pinnacle of life?
Before Caesar could finish daydreaming, a voice came from behind him, whispering, "What are you laughing at?"
Caesar's expression froze. Turning around with a headache, he saw Charlotte Brulee tightly clutching his coat. Annoyed, he said, "Why are you still following me!? Your mother is dead! Aren't you going to take a look!?"
But Brulee said gloomily, "You're right. Now my biological mother is dead, and I don't know where my biological father is. I'm all alone now. If you don't take responsibility, I'll have nowhere to go!"
Caesar grabbed his head in frustration and shouted, "I've told you, what exactly do you want me to take responsibility for!? Don't you have your brothers and sisters!? What do you mean 'all alone'? I'm a scientist! You can't fool me!"
"You... you're not going to take responsibility after using me!?" Brulee looked at Caesar like he was a scumbag. "I never thought you were this kind of person..."
Caesar felt like he was about to vomit blood. He roared, "Take responsibility for what!? Weren't you the one who reported me to Katakuri earlier!? Why didn't you think about me taking responsibility then!?"
"I... I just thought I'd have you arrested first, and then later we could get married!" Brulee blushed as she defended herself.
Caesar fell to his knees, pounding the ground with his fists. He couldn't understand how he had ended up entangled with someone like Brulee...