In the castle on Cake Isnd, a massive and intimidating figure sat on a throne made entirely of desserts. The woman wore a pink dress, but rather than looking charming, her appearance was grotesque and terrifying.

  Cudius had never actually seen Charlotte Linlin in person before, but the woman before him was slightly different from what he'd imagined. She looked youhan expected.

  It was said that Charlotte Linlin had been quite beautiful in her youth, despite her siderable size. Perhaps her peak was during the Battle of the Gods Valley? But years of stant childbirth, as well as excessive eating and drinking, had quickly takeoll on her appearance, leaving her as the notorious "Big Mom" of today.

  At the moment, Charlotte Linlin was dev a massive doughnut, her expression fierce. Between bites, she asked, "Katakuri, is everyone here?"

  "Tesoro has arrived, Mother, but there's still someone missing," Katakuri replied softly.

  Charlotte Linlin frow this. She stuffed the rest of the doughnut into her mouth, chewing twice before swallowing it whole. Then, in a displeased tone, she asked, "If I remember correctly, today marks the final deadline for my tea party invitations, doesn't it?"

  "Yes, Mother," Katakuri answered calmly.

  Charlotte Linlin's fury was a terrifying thing, but Katakuri remained posed. He was fident in his position as her most valued child and the head of her Sweet anders—sed only to her in the Big Mom Pirates.

  Charlotte Linlin's expression darkened. She had her own rules, after all. If someone received an invitation to her tea party, they were given ample time to prepare and attend. But ohe invitation ted, they had to show up.

  There had been instances in the past where guests had failed to attend, and the sequences were dire. Families had been wiped out, lives taken. No one who crossed Charlotte Linlin had ever met a good end.

  Still, this did not mean that no one dared to defy her in the vast seas. In truth, she picked her battles wisely.

  Traditionally, invitations to her tea parties were carefully sed by the Big Mom Pirates. They ehat only those who had a favorable retionship with Charlotte Linlin—or those they could easily crush were ihis careful curatioed the impression that refusing to atteea party was tantamount to a death sentence.

  But if Charlotte Linlin had dared to send suvitations to figures like Kaido or Whitebeard, she would be pletely ignored and powerless to do anything about it. Could she realistically destroy Whitebeard's entire crew ialiation? It was ughable.

  Simirly, the Marines never received suvitations. It wasn't as if Fleet Admiral Sengoku had ever been asked to attend one of her tea parties. Charlotte Linlin knew better than to court humiliation by inviting those who would iably refuse her.

  In short, her tea party invitations were nothing more than a form of selective intimidation, targeted bullying disguised as formality.

  Because of this, Charlotte Linlin was certain that anyone she invited was someone who couldn't afford to ignore her. Yet now, someone had dared to disregard her? Who would insult her like this?

  "Who is it?" she demanded sharply. "Who dares to disrespect me, Charlotte Linlin, ale my tea party?!"

  Katakuri remained calm as ever. "It's someone you know, Mother—Umit, the shipping magnate."

  "Umit?" Charlotte Linlin's eyes widened slightly. She did have some history with Umit, and even with Stussy. They were all orphans who had grown up uhe same nun's care.

  This revetio her somewhat surprised. In her mind, she had always sidered Umit a close ally. Every year on her birthday, Umit would send a vish gift, and iurn, she allowed him to duct his shipping business withierritory. There was also the bond of their shared past.

  It didn't make sense. Why would someone like Umit, with their longstandiionship, fail to atteea party without so much as a word of expnation?

  In truth, Umit had dared to be dismissive of Cudius previously because he believed he still had options, he could always rely on the Big Mom Pirates for support in the New World.

  "What's he doing? Why hasn't he e?" Charlotte Linlin asked.

  Katakuri shook his head. "I've already sent someoo iigate. We should have an answer soon."

  As if ohe image of a figure appeared in the mirror within the room. It was Br?lée, Katakuri's younger sister and someone he held dear. She bore a terrible scar across her face, giving her a witch-like appearance. Yet in truth, Br?lée was a gentle aiculous individual.

  "Mother, Brother Katakuri," Br?lée greeted softly. "We've uncovered the details about Umit."

  The Big Mom Pirates prided themselves on having the best intelligework in the pirate world and that reputation was well-earned, even if it only applied within the pirate sphere.

  Katakuri g her and asked calmly, "What's the reason? Why would Umit dare to miss the tea party?"

  Charlotte Linlin's gaze was inquisitive, but Br?lée seemed hesitant, looking slightly awkward before she spoke. "I don't think he didn't want to e. In fact, he probably inteo. It's just that…"

  "Just what?" Charlotte Linlin pressed.

  "Just three days ago, while he was traveling in our territory in the New World, Umit was captured by a mysterious agender the Wover," Br?lée expined. "He was accused of smuggling traband in massive quantities and was executed i this m."

  Charlotte Linlin and Katakuri froze for a moment. What?! Wasn't Umit supposed to be the "King of Shipping"? Didn't he have es in Mariejois? How could he have been taken down by the Wover so suddenly? And for smuggling of all things?

  Umit's entire empire had been built on smuggling. If the Wover had wao take a, they could have done so years ago. Why now?

  Katakuri frowned and asked, "What kind of agency was it?"

  "We're not certain, but we suspect it was one of the Cipher Pol units," Br?lée replied thoughtfully.

  "Suspect?" Katakuri murmured. He seemed to sider something before adding, "Could it have been the legendary CP-X?"

  "There's a possibility," Br?lée agreed.

  Charlotte Linlin's fusion only deepened. "What's this all about?" she asked.

  "Mother, CP-X is aremely secretive agency," Katakuri expined. "While their lower-level operatives occasionally surface, their true core remains hidden. Whenever CP-X takes signifit a, it often leads to major upheaval in the seas. Umit's exeight just be the prelude to something much rger."

  Br?lée, ever perceptive, chimed in with a sly smile. "Perhaps something's happened in Mariejois? Maybe Umit's 'beor' lost power, and he was caught in the fallout."

  It wasn't impossible. CP-X operated uhe Wover, and if there was instability in Mariejois, they would undoubtedly act to address it. For them, such matters would be of utmost importance.

  Katakuri sidered this and rexed slightly. "Perhaps you're right."

  Regardless, it seemed to have no immediate impa them. Charlotte Linlin quickly lost i iter and waved her hand dismissively. "Fet it. If Umit's already dead, there's no point in pursuing this."

  Had Umit missed the tea party for any other reason, Charlotte Linlin would have been pelled to retaliate. But sihe man was already dead, she saw no value in dwelling on it further.

  ***

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