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77.19% One Piece: Dream of Immortality / Chapter 396: Deal with the Don

章 396: Deal with the Don

Bege laid out the entire plan.

After destroying the portrait of a woman called Mother Carmel, Big Mom would become so distraught that her unconscious protective haki would be compromised. There would then be a small window in which they could use the poison launchers to pierce her skin.

"We'll be the ones to do the killing, so you're going to be the distraction, Straw Hat. You just need to break the picture and we'll make our move, then you can save the Vinsmokes," Bege explained. "Nobody will be able to stop us, because Big Mom's scream will paralyze them, and we'll have the invisible symphonia system here."

Bege produced a pair of normal ear plugs, getting skeptical looks in return.

"Hold on a minute! Why does it have to be Luffy? You just want to use him as bait!" Nami complained.

"No, I'll do it. I thought up the perfect way to make an entrance, shishishishi!" Luffy laughed.

"Oh oh, what are you going to do? Will it be fun?" Chopper asked him.

"I don't want to spoil the surprise," Luffy smiled widely at him.

"After the job is done come the tricky part; the getaway. Fortunately, you've brought us just the people to make it possible. Cheapshot there can carry Brulee and let us escape into the Mirro-world without any chance of pursuit," Bege smiled. That part in particular had been troublesome, so he was glad to have a solution handed to him on a silver platter.

"Wait wait wait, I'M the escape plan? How's that fair?!" Cherry complained this time.

"Sounds perfect to me. It's the most important part of the plan and there's no one more reliable than you," Nami said.

"I know that, but what if these goobers fuck it all up! For all we know, they couldn't hit the broad side of a barn. Which is important since their target is the size of a barn," Cherry said.

"My men could thread a needle with a cannonball. Their competency isn't in question here," Bege defended, causing his men to go misty eyed from the praise.

"Whatever. The point is, what's plan B when things go horribly wrong?" Cherry asked.

"You think plans to kill an emperor of the sea grow on trees? This is our one shot and I'm taking it. Fortune favors the bold," Bege spoke confidently.

"..." Cherry thought that this guy was nuts, then she smiled. "I suppose that it does, doesn't it? Alright, I'll make sure that everyone gets out."

'And I'll make sure to get a shot or two in at Big Mom while I'm at it, hehehe~' Cherry chuckled to herself, which unnerved Bege.

"In any case, once this is over we'll escape to your ship via mirror and once we have parted ways this alliance is over and you're on your own to escape Big Mom's territory," Bege said. "There are ten hours left until the wedding begins, so you had best prepare yourselves and not get my men killed because you were tired."

"And I need to get back to my room before they suspect anything," Sanji stood up and straightened his shirt.

"That would be for the best. My men and I have to make a show of our security duties as well," Bege said. "Good luck, gentlemen."

"And ladies," Cherry corrected.

"Of course," Bege said. "Feel free to rest here, no one will find you in my compound."

Everyone started to clear out of the room, Chiffon offering to show the Straw Hats and friends to a place that they could sleep.

Cherry picked Brulee up by the rope bindings and took her along with her. When they eventually arrived in the room and settled in, Brulee spoke up from her place on a couch.

"This won't end well for you, you know. Going against Mama like this," Brulee said. It wasn't clear if she said it out of some sense of concern or a threat.

"You don't want to live your whole life under her thumb do you? Don't you want to be free?" Cherry asked.

"Given the choice between freedom and security, most people will choose the latter. I'm no different. Mama protects us," Brulee said.

"Does she?" Cherry retorted. "She seems to be as much a threat to her children as she is to anyone else when she gets into one of those moods of hers."

"Mama's hunger pangs are manageable. Mama's enemies, though, are kept in check by their fear of her. If Mama dies, then they'll come out of the woodwork like rats, ready to feast on us," Brulee said.

Cherry gave her an incredulous look. "Even without her, you'll still be one of the most formidable crews in the world. Bege isn't planning to kill anyone else, he just wants to see a headless snake writhe around until the nerves stop firing and I'll bet that Chiffon isn't nearly as upset with her siblings as she is with her mother, so I doubt she'd allow it either."

"THIS crew isn't the same as other pirate crews, though. You have bonds that are stronger than those between common pirates, AND you have a new head waiting to take the current head's place if it comes down to it," Cherry finished.

"Katakuri-onii-chan?" Brulee had certainly imagined it before, her precious big brother taking over the family. "He wouldn't want to…"

"All the more reason then. Few people who desire positions of power are worthy of them," Cherry said. "I wouldn't overthink it if I were you, though. Personally, I think Bege is going to fail. Too many things can go wrong with such a narrow window for success."

"Huh? Really? Why are we teaming up with Bege then?" Chopper asked, overhearing the conversation.

"Because we don't actually care about the assassination, we just need to save Sanji's rotten family and book it," Cherry explained to him.

Brulee briefly considered trying to convince them to betray Bege in exchange for her helping them extract the Vinsmokes, but Mama wanted Germa's tech too much to forgive her for letting them go.

Not that Cherry would have accepted the offer. She was fully capable of getting the Vinsmokes out of danger all by herself. She was just letting her young friends take their own shot at it first. The experience would be invaluable to them and she believed that they understood that point as well.

"Well, best get to sleep, you two. We have a long day ahead of us and we have to look our best for the wedding," Cherry stood up and stretched.

"You fight every attempt to make you look your best," Nami said, walking into the room wearing silk pajamas. "I suppose that you're ucky you get to where whatever you want, since you'll be lying in wait with Brulee."

Carrot came out wearing pajamas of her own and handed Cherry's armor back to her in a bundle. Cherry equiped the armor with a touch and said, "This IS the best look for me, especially for crashing a wedding!"

"I guess I can't argue with that," Nami conceded.

Cherry saw Luffy watching her longingly from the corner of the room.

"Alright, fine, Luffy. I'll go find a blacksmith and make your armor tonight. Not like I meed the sleep anyways," Cherry shook her head exasperatedly.

"YEAH!!!" Luffy cheered.


章 397: Morning of the Wedding

Pudding had a plan.

Sanji had yet to run off with his little friends, which meant that she was likely to be forced to marry the complete loser. When she woke up this morning and the staff started her preparations and makeup for the wedding, she knew that he was still in the chateau and as such seemingly all hope of him running away was lost.

That was until a thought occurred to her. A part of her plan when she was still going to kill him during the ceremony could be used for a different purpose.

All she had to do was reveal her third eye to him at a critical moment, ideally when he lifted her wedding veil for the kiss. When he saw it, he would recoil in disgust and create a controversy as a result. With the right words in that moment of weakness, she would break his will to go through with the marriage!

"What's so funny, Pudding-sama?" her makeup artist asked curiously.

"Oh, I'm just giddy about the wedding, is all. Pay me no mind and continue," Pudding excused. She hadn't even realized that she had been laughing to herself maniacally.

'Pudding-sama is so cute~! I'll do my best!' the makeup artist thought, deciding then and there to do the best she had ever done!

Meanwhile Pudding was caught up imagining all the different ways that Sanji might react to her true appearance, none of them being very good. Her favorite was the one where he faints like a little bitch.

"Where did that woman go?" Bege asked in a whispered tone.

"She told one of the men that she was going to 'find a blacksmith' last night and hasn't returned since then, Godfather," one of Bege's men answered.

Bege frowned. There was no good reason for her to have run off to find a blacksmith in the middle of the night before a major operation.

Bege glanced at Katakuri who was perched atop the gate into the wedding venue. The man's presence here made him nervous, and with a missing member of his plot he was beginning to worry that the whole plan had been exposed.

Since Bege had arrived here about a year ago, Katakuri had never lost the look of distrust from his eyes when he looked Bege's way. Worse, Katakuri had always had a keen instinct and in combination with his monstrous observation haki, he was a force that couldn't be crossed.

Katakuri had killed one of the guests before they could even draw his weapon already this morning, so Bege reckoned he was in a bad mood on top of the other troublesome points about the man.

Katakuri perked up and Bege turned his attention back to his duties. Bege suppressed a frown when he saw who was coming.

"Oh, it's Budgie, right? Long time no see," Cherry strolled up to and right passed him.

"Oi! We have to check you for weapons before you can go inside!" Bege shouted at her.

Cherry shot a dirty look his way that said 'Do you have any idea who I am?' then ignored him. "Katakuri, you really got this idiot working security?"

Bege was caught between a feeling of anger and the necessity to maintain his cover. He wasn't supposed to have had contact with Cherry and had to play the part of a loyal dog. She really wasn't making his job easy, though.

"I'll handle this one, Bege," Katakuri commanded and hopped down from the top of the gate. Bege was simultaneously relieved and alarmed.

"The sword, the pistol, and the spear. Hand them over," Katakuri spoke succinctly, holding out his hand toward Cherry.

"Hehehe, you're well informed, I see. These hands of mine are just as dangerous as my weapons, you know?" Cherry chuckled, and handed over the three blood-bound weapons. It wasn't like she couldn't call them to her if she needed them.

"Irrelevant, rules are rules," Katakuri said curtly.

Cherry twirled her hair around a finger and fluttered her eyelashes. "So… are you going to accept the engagement?"

Katakuri nearly spat blood. "NEVER!!!"

Bege and his men were shocked to see the man get so worked up.

"Ah… I see…" Cherry looked so forlorn and despondent at the moment that every man within sight of her felt an instinctive desire to comfort her. Even Katakuri felt a stabbing sensation through his heart so profound that he briefly thought he was literally stabbed.

"I… er… um…" Katakuri didn't know what to say and was immensely glad to have Cherry's confiscated weapons in his hands because he wouldn't know what to do with his hands otherwise.

Bege and his men's jaws had dropped. There he was, the mountain of masculinity and greatest warrior under Big Mom's flag, flustered by a woman.

Meanwhile, Katakuri was having an internal crisis. Had he misjudged her? Was his image of her in his head a caricature of a troublesome woman and it was only natural for her to be more complex than that in reality?

Katakuri's eyes flashed and all his unease faded away. "You can't fool me, Cheapshot."

"Damn, I thought I'd get it passed you for sure…" Cherry stomped her foot frustratedly.

Bege and his men were confused by this very sudden change in atmosphere, like from a man and a woman experiencing the awkward beginnings of a dramatic romance to an adult scolding a child for a prank.

As for what that prank may have been, only Cherry and Katakuri would ever know because he had foreseen it before she could pull it off. Or that's how it would have been until Cherry handed over a dull-edged dagger dripping with fake blood to Katakuri, who accepted it without any sign of being surprised.

"One of these days you'll let your guard down again and I'll get you good!" Cherry pointed at Katakuri with her other hand on her hip as she made the declaration without an ounce of shame for the failure of her adolescent prank.

As Cherry swiveled on her feet and walked into the venue, one of Bege's men exclaimed, "Godfather! You're bleeding!"

"What?" Bege was startled. His subordinate was pointing at his back, right around where his left kidney would be.

He pulled off his coat and found a bloody red splotch with a small hole through it where his man had pointed at him. Given the fact that he hadn't actually been stabbed, it was immediately clear what had happened.

Bege shot a glare in Cherry's direction where he met her eyes as the gate closed behind her and she winked at him with a smirk.

Unbeknownst to Bege, Katakuri was sweating a bit. He hadn't seen her do that to Bege at all, hadn't even noticed after the fact. Did he catch her attempt on himself because attacks on oneself were easier to sense with observation haki or because she had wanted him to catch her?

'No, she can't have improved that much in such a short time. That kind of genius simply couldn't exist.' Katakuri assured himself, and he wasn't exactly wrong to believe so.

There existed a possibility that Katakuri was afraid to even consider; that Cherry could have learned enough about Katakuri himself to fool his haki specifically.


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