Once Cain learned that the person outside was Katakuri, his heart sank sharply.
Fortunately, in that very instant, Law hurriedly used ROOM to take Bege away…
But even though they were already gone, Cain still felt nervous.
After all, before Katakuri's Observation Haki, Bege hiding under the bed would have had nowhere to hide.
Cain had no idea whether Katakuri had sensed anything just now.
What Cain did not know was that, out of respect for Cain's privacy, Katakuri had not used Observation Haki to sense what was happening inside the room.
When Cain opened the door, Katakuri stood outside. His sharp gaze swept around the room before he spoke.
"Mont-d'Or said there were intruders around here. Be careful."
Hearing this, Cain and Uta's hearts instantly tightened.
Katakuri looked at their tense expressions, then added,
"I'm not worried about your safety. But from what Mont-d'Or told me… there are certain things… that would not be good if someone saw them."
"Uh, I'll be careful."
Cain answered awkwardly, and beside him, Uta's pretty face also flushed slightly.
Katakuri did not dwell on the trivial matter.
He looked directly at Cain and got straight to the point.
"Mama just gave me an order to monitor you. However, you are still free to come and go in Totto Land. This kind of monitoring is closer to protection than surveillance."
"In my opinion, there is no harm in telling you that."
As soon as he finished speaking, his gaze passed over Cain and briefly stopped on Uta.
"But Pudding is different. Regarding her, Mama has given a strict order. No one is allowed to approach her, especially you."
Cain frowned tightly and was just about to speak, but Katakuri raised a hand to stop him.
"But I can make an exception and let you meet her once on the day before the banquet."
His voice was low and powerful.
"But I have only one requirement. You must attend the banquet on time that day."
Cain and Uta were both startled.
First Chiffon's special warning, and now Katakuri's obvious hidden warning.
This banquet was clearly a trap.
Katakuri's hint meant that something major, something capable of shaking the whole situation, would definitely happen that day.
Katakuri himself was deeply conflicted in doing this.
He knew the purpose of Cain's visit.
If he let Pudding make contact with Uta now, then once Cain achieved his goal, Cain would very likely take Uta and leave immediately.
That was absolutely not what Mama wanted to see.
But if Mama's plan succeeded completely, the way they were using Cain would inevitably create a rift between Cain and the family.
Katakuri could not disobey Mama's orders, so this was the only compromise he could make, searching for a fragile balance on a wire and giving Cain a veiled warning about the problem that would come on that day.
"Since you've made everything so clear…"
Cain's expression softened, and he nodded.
"All right. I promise you."
Katakuri looked at him deeply, then turned and left. His black scarf drew a cold arc through the air.
"Rest early."
After the door closed again…
"Well, Cain, don't worry too much."
Uta tried to break the heavy atmosphere.
"You even made it through a battlefield like Marineford. Are you really going to be afraid of a mere Four Emperor?"
"No, I'm mainly worried about you…"
"Idiot. With my current strength, if I pull the enemy into Uta World, who beats who is still hard to say."
Uta wrinkled her nose playfully, then muttered in a softer voice,
"But speaking of which, did Law and the others really just leave like that?"
"They probably withdrew for now."
"Then… maybe we should think about how to sleep tonight. Don't end up unable to sleep."
Cain sighed helplessly.
"As long as you don't suddenly hug me, I'll be able to sleep. I'm seriously afraid I might act on impulse and do something I'd feel guilty about."
"Ah! So you really are thinking weird things again!"
"When I'm facing you, whether I think about them or not isn't up to me!"
"Cain really is a huge pervert!"
"I'm innocent! That's love!"
"Cain is a creep!"
…
Walking through the dim corridor, Katakuri's steps felt unusually heavy.
As he stepped into the shadow of a corner, he let out a powerless sigh in his heart.
'Please forgive us for using you, Cain… forgive us for making this decision on our own…'
His thoughts could not help returning to earlier.
Deep inside the candy palace, Big Mom had told Katakuri about her scheme.
"A wedding? Mama, you mean… a wedding?"
At that time, Katakuri had shown a rare look of shock and doubt.
"MAMAMAMA! THAT'S RIGHT, KATAKURI!"
Big Mom laughed loudly.
"WHAT WILL BE HELD ONE WEEK FROM NOW IS NOT AN ORDINARY BANQUET, BUT A WEDDING THAT WILL SHOCK THE WORLD! THE GROOM IS CAIN, AND THE BRIDE IS—UTA!"
"But what does that have to do with the giants?"
Katakuri's pupils shrank.
He knew very well that a single wedding invitation was not enough to make those arrogant giants bow their heads to Totto Land.
"The wedding is only the opening move."
Big Mom narrowed her eyes, calculation shining within them.
"What we need to do is approach this from another angle. Katakuri, let me ask you a question. In the entire New World, who has the deepest connection to the giants?"
When it came to someone closely connected to the giant nation, Elbaf, and someone Mama had deliberately brought up, there was only one person…
Katakuri answered instinctively.
"Red-Hair."
"That's right! Red-Hair!"
Big Mom fell into a kind of manic excitement, waving her thick hands.
"You still don't know, do you? That girl Uta is his daughter! You saw it during the Summit War, didn't you? That man apologizing to his daughter in front of the entire world—I remember it very clearly! As long as the wedding is held in Totto Land…"
"Once this news spreads across the world, the alliance between the Red Hair Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates will become known to everyone."
"At that time, even if the Red Hair Pirates are not hated by the giants, it will still give us an opportunity to move deeper into the giant race! After all, with Red-Hair's personality, it is absolutely impossible for him to abandon his daughter…"
Greedy light flickered in Big Mom's eyes.
"And I can see it. The way Cain looks at Uta is exactly the same as the way Loki looked at Lola back then! With that relationship in place, even if we cannot make direct contact with the giants right away, we can use those two to build a bridge of communication between Totto Land and Elbaf…"
"And beyond that, we will find Lola! We have already discovered traces of where that girl has been recently. Back then, she escaped smoothly because Chiffon shielded her, so this time, we will use Chiffon to draw her out…!"
"The sincerity of the marriage alliance has already been destroyed once, so the bridge created through Cain and Uta absolutely cannot be missed again!"
"No matter what, during the period when the wedding is announced, we must use Chiffon to bring Lola back!"
After listening to the entire plan, Katakuri's expression grew increasingly grave. His brows furrowed tightly, and he asked in confusion,
"If the Red Hair Pirates act to stop it at that time… we…"
"Don't worry, Katakuri."
Big Mom let out a low laugh, her tone certain.
"The invitations sent to everyone else all say it is a banquet…"
"But Red-Hair's invitation was specially prepared by me. It clearly states that this is a wedding. Unfortunately for him, we deliberately wrote a later time on his invitation. In other words, even if they try to rush over, they will probably only barely arrive after the wedding is finished…"
Seeing this, Katakuri asked the key question.
"But… Mama, is this information truly reliable? If the information about Uta is false, wouldn't the entire plan be wrong?"
Big Mom said,
"…Although this information was not told to me by Red-Hair himself, I trust the person who provided it very much…"
As if she remembered something, a sharp light of realization appeared in her enormous eyes. She spoke with certainty.
"Speaking of which, no wonder Red-Hair specifically told me back then to 'treat Cain well.' I didn't understand what was going on at the time, but now that I think about it, that man was clearly using Cain's name to make me treat his daughter well!"
The more she spoke, the more she felt she had seized Red-Hair's weakness.
A twisted smile appeared on her face.
"That brat actually went this far for his daughter. What an outdated sentiment! But that gives us the perfect opportunity! Mamamama!"
Hearing this, Katakuri's heart grew especially heavy.
As he looked at his mother, who had fallen into a frenzy of calculation, what appeared in his mind instead were the young brothers and sisters of their family.
In his heart, he let out an almost despairing sigh.
'But… isn't that exactly what most of my younger brothers and sisters long for? The affection parents are supposed to have for their children?'
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