On the Moby Dick.
Aside from their captain, Whitebeard, everyone else wore grave expressions.
After the battle on Whole Cake Island, more and more information had begun spreading, and the details of what had happened there were now being reported with increasing clarity.
Cyrus had fought one against four, facing four legendary great pirates alone, and had ended the battle in an extremely short amount of time.
The pressure brought by that kind of overwhelming combat power could not be ignored.
Even though they had not met Cyrus yet, that remained true.
Everyone understood that if their Pops faced Cyrus, his chances of victory were not high.
And if they could think of that, then Whitebeard could naturally think of it as well.
Although he had never had direct contact with Cyrus, Whitebeard had fought Big Mom and Kaido many times.
In the past, when he had clashed with Big Mom, he had been able to suppress her with ease.
But actually defeating that crazy woman had still been extremely difficult.
This time, however, Big Mom had lost very quickly.
That alone already explained everything.
The most rational choice would naturally be to avoid contact with Cyrus.
But the New World was only so large.
There was no avoiding him forever. Even if Whitebeard did not actively come here now, they would inevitably run into each other in the future.
"Pops, we're about to enter Totto Land's waters."
Marco walked back with a solemn expression.
"Pops, your body…"
Marco was clearly worried about Whitebeard's condition.
As the ship's doctor, he knew Whitebeard's physical state better than anyone.
The old wounds he had accumulated over the years had already begun worsening.
"Gurarararara!"
Seeing Marco's expression, Whitebeard threw his head back and laughed.
His laughter drew the attention of the others aboard the ship, and the division commanders all gathered around.
"If a battle really breaks out, then none of you are to interfere in the fight between me and that brat."
Whitebeard looked around and spoke.
"Pops!"
Hearing him say that, the commanders who had gathered immediately became restless.
Blackbeard, standing toward the back of the crowd, kept his eyes fixed on Whitebeard.
His mouth was stretched into a grin, as though that smile had been permanently carved onto his face.
Whitebeard looked at the sons gathered around him, and in truth, he felt somewhat gratified.
Seeing this scene before him, he could say that the purpose of his voyage had been fulfilled.
He had gained many family members.
He had achieved what he had set out for.
"Pops, we can help too," Diamond Jozu, commander of the Third Division, said.
"Yeah, Pops! We can all help!"
The other commanders and crew members immediately spoke up after hearing Jozu.
Seeing the situation around him, Whitebeard grinned and laughed.
"Gurarararara! This is the battle I want. Are you all planning to steal my opponent from me?"
The moment those words came out, the commanders and crew members who had been saying they wanted to join the fight fell silent.
How were they supposed to answer that?
Marco glanced at Whitebeard and sighed inwardly.
He understood what Whitebeard meant.
Cyrus's strength could already be seen from the newspaper reports about the battle on Whole Cake Island.
Cyrus was a Logia-type Flame-Flame Fruit user, and the scene when he made his move was terrifying.
Those without enough strength probably could not even get close to him.
Marco believed Whitebeard knew this clearly, which was why he had said what he did.
Of course, if Whitebeard simply told the truth, the people on this ship would most likely keep arguing.
After all, there were always people on the sea who were not afraid of death.
Marco did not point this out. After the crowd gradually dispersed again, he spoke once more.
"Pops, your body really isn't in good shape. You can't bring out all of your strength right now, so you need to be careful if you fight."
"Is there a way to suppress them?"
Whitebeard lowered his head and looked at Marco.
The "them" he was referring to were naturally the old injuries in his body that had been flaring up one after another.
No amount of caution was too much when facing an opponent like Cyrus.
"Well…"
Marco's expression became conflicted.
Suppressing them temporarily was possible, but once that suppression wore off, Whitebeard's hidden injuries would erupt all at once.
At that point, his condition might become even worse than it was now.
"If only we'd managed to find the Op-Op Fruit back then," Marco said, his face full of frustration.
The Whitebeard Pirates had also received news about the Op-Op Fruit years ago.
Unfortunately, the fruit had been in the West Blue at the time, and there had been no way for them to make it there in time to seize it.
Now the fruit that might have been able to heal Whitebeard's injuries had vanished completely.
Back then, Marco had thought it was a pity, but not to the point of deep regret.
After all, Pops had still been in his prime at the time.
He simply had not expected those old injuries to affect Pops this much, nor for them to worsen so quickly.
"Marco, when you sail on this sea, your curtain has to fall sooner or later."
Hearing Marco's frustrated words, Whitebeard grinned.
"If you can do it, then do it. It has been a long time since I had a proper fight with someone."
Whitebeard actually missed the days when he could fight freely and without restraint.
"I understand, Pops."
Marco nodded, though his expression grew even heavier.
…
Totto Land, Nuts Island.
After Big Mom's defeat, the Charlotte Family's control over Totto Land was naturally no longer as absolute as before.
However, without anyone collecting souls as tribute, not every race that had once been forcefully taken here by Big Mom wanted to leave.
After all, other places were not necessarily safer than Totto Land.
On Katakuri's side, he had been moving between the various islands during this period.
He had to personally ask about almost everything, worried that some problem might arise.
"Brother Katakuri!"
Charlotte Brûlée, who could move quickly between mirrors, had become the messenger connecting the islands.
"Hm?"
Katakuri, who had been somewhat distracted, turned his head when he heard her voice and looked toward his younger sister.
"Whitebeard's ship is about to enter Totto Land's waters. How should we respond?"
"So he's here?"
Katakuri frowned slightly.
He had naturally known about this news already. However, the exact time of Whitebeard's arrival had not been confirmed.
Since Brûlée was bringing it up now, that meant the other party had already arrived.
"What did that man say?"
After a moment of silence, Katakuri asked.
Charlotte Brûlée naturally knew who Katakuri meant by "that man."
Cyrus.
The man who had defeated Mama.
"He's still on Candy Island. He should already know about this. That bird definitely wouldn't hide it from him."
As Brûlée spoke, she raised her eyes and looked at Katakuri.
"Do you think Whitebeard could…"
"He can't."
Katakuri shook his head and cut Brûlée off directly.
"I once followed Mama and fought Whitebeard.
Whitebeard is indeed very strong, but when facing Mama, he did not have the same suppressive power that man showed."
Although he was using Big Mom as a reference point, this kind of comparison did allow them to roughly judge the difference between the two.
"Then what should we do?"
Brûlée paused before asking.
"Return to Candy Island. If there are no orders, then act as if we know nothing about this."
Katakuri thought for a moment before speaking.
Whitebeard's target was definitely not them.
It was not even Totto Land.
Based on Katakuri's understanding of Whitebeard, the man was not especially interested in fighting over territory.
There was only one target here worth Whitebeard coming personally.
So this was a matter between two of the sea's top powerhouses.
If Cyrus ordered the Charlotte Family to participate in the battle, Katakuri naturally had no way to refuse.
But if there was no such order, that would be even better.
After all, if a war began, people would die.
"One more thing. Mama has woken up."
Seeing Katakuri fall into thought, Charlotte Brûlée hesitated for a moment before speaking cautiously.
"So soon? I thought Mama would stay unconscious longer with injuries like that."
Katakuri froze.
"Not only Mama. The Golden Lion and Silver Axe have also woken up. That man didn't imprison Mama and the others. I even helped Streusen deliver desserts to Mama."
Charlotte Brûlée spoke with clear confusion in her expression.
According to what she had imagined, since Cyrus had defeated Big Mom and the others, they should now be his prisoners.
But from the looks of it, Cyrus did not seem to care much about that.
"How is Mama?" Katakuri asked.
"Very quiet. Much quieter than before," Brûlée quickly answered.
"That's good."
Katakuri nodded, then stood.
"The matters here will be handled soon. After that, I'll return and visit Mama."
"What about the others? If they find out Mama has woken up, they may start having other ideas."
Charlotte Brûlée sounded worried.
The "others" she meant were naturally the ones still staying inside the Mirro-World.
The ones who were still unwilling to accept the situation.
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