Parting

Outside Bege's fortress body, Big Mom's fury focuses entirely on the hidden enemies. She roars, "STRAW HAT!!!" and then turns the pressure on Bege himself: "GET OUT HERE, BEGE!!" Someone calls the scene "AN EXASPERATED MOM...!!" Chiffon tries to stand between her mother and the people inside, pleading, "BEGE IS MY HUSBAND, AND WE EVEN HAVE A CHILD. PLEASE SPARE US AND OVERLOOK THIS!!" She calls, "WAIT, MAMA!!" and insists, "IT'S ME!!!" But Big Mom only sees the resemblance that has haunted her anger: "AS USUAL, YOU LOOK EXACTLY LIKE LOLA." Her expression hardens, and she reaches for the castle while ordering, "SHOW THAT FAAAAACE!!!" Chiffon panics, "I TOLD YOU NOT TO...!!" as Big Mom's rage threatens both Bege and everyone sheltering inside him.

Big Mom's anger expands from Luffy and Bege to everyone tied to the assassination attempt. She snaps, "DON'T THINK THAT YOU'LL BE ABLE TO EAT SNACKS TOMORROW!!!" and condemns Chiffon: "SO YOU'RE ALSO AN ACCOMPLICE FOR THE ASSASSINATION!!!" Cries of "MAMA...!!!" rise around her. Someone realizes the danger in blunt terms: "IF THE CASTLE IS DESTROYED, BEGE WILL DIE..." and "AND EVERYONE INSIDE WILL BE THROWN OUT...!" The enemies list the people trapped in the plan: "FIRE TANK PIRATES, THE STRAW HAT CREW, JINBE, AND GERMA 66...!!" The order is absolute: "DON'T LET A SINGLE ONE OF THEM GET AWAY...!!" The Charlotte family burns with humiliation that "THEY TURNED THE WEDDING CEREMONY AND THE TEA PARTY... INTO SUCH A MESS..." and concludes, "IT LOOKS LIKE WE'VE BEEN SERIOUSLY UNDER-ESTIMATED." Their answer is public punishment: "LET'S HANG THEM UP AS AN EXAMPLE TO THE REST OF THE WORLD."

Inside Big Father, the attacks are already reaching Bege's real body. He curses, "DAMMIT!! THAT OLD HAG...!! SHE DOESN'T EVEN FLINCH AT THE CANNONBALLS." The fortress's strength means nothing against Big Mom: "BIG FATHER'S DEFENSIVE POWER DOESN'T MEAN ANYTHING TO HER!!!" Someone cries, "BEGE!!!" as he coughs, "GUGH!!!" Luffy immediately moves toward the fight, deciding, "...IT'S BETTER IF I JUST GO OUT AND SEND HER FLYING!!" Nami stops him at once: "YOU CAN'T, LUFFY!! CHOPPER, STOP HIM!" Chopper grabs him while Luffy yells, "HEY!! LET GO OF ME!!" Another ally warns him, "DON'T JUST RUSH OUT AND START A POINTLESS FIGHT!!" Nami forces him back to the real mission: "OUR REASON FOR COMING HERE WAS TO RETRIEVE SANJI-KUN, WASN'T IT!?" Brook adds that they gained something even beyond that: "IN ADDITION, WE MANAGED TO GET A TRANSCRIPT OF THE PONEGLYPH."

Nami keeps Luffy focused on escape rather than pride. She reminds him, "WE EVEN FULFILLED SANJI-KUN'S WISH TO SAVE HIS FAMILY!!" and, more broadly, "WE'VE ACCOMPLISHED OUR GOALS!!" The Vinsmokes stand in silence as the words land. Nami argues that if Luffy truly has time to fight back, he should spend it planning how everyone survives: "IF YOU'VE GOT THE TIME TO FIGHT BACK, USE IT TO THINK OF HOW TO ESCAPE!" Then she presses the larger point: "IF YOU'RE REALLY PLANNING TO FIGHT, YOU SHOULD BRING ZORO AND EVERYONE ELSE HERE TOGETHER!!" She asks, "ISN'T THAT RIGHT?" Brook agrees with the direction of the mission, saying, "LUFFY-SAN, IT'S LIKE NAMI-SAN SAID." He adds, "WE ONLY MANAGED TO INFILTRATE THIS PLACE BECAUSE OF OUR LOW NUMBERS." The route forward is clear: "LET'S SAFELY HEAD TO WANO, WHERE ZORO AND EVERYONE ELSE ARE WAITING!!!"

The room shakes as Bege absorbs every attack meant for them. Around him, panic breaks out: "UNOH!" "BEGE!!" "HUWAAAH BUMAAA!" Someone shouts, "LOOK AT BEGE!!" and another demands, "...WHAT ARE YOU SAYING WE SHOULD DO THEN!?" The truth is obvious: "HE'S TAKING ALL THE ATTACKS AIMED AT US, YOU KNOW!?" The others fear being dragged down with him: "YOU'RE NOT GOING TO DRAG US DOWN WITH YOU, ARE YOU?" Chiffon pleads, "PLEASE WAIT A SECOND, BEGE-SAN!" Caesar, thinking only of himself, yells, "I ALSO DID EVERYTHING I WAS SUPPOSED TO DO!! RETURN MY HEART NOW!!" Bege, battered and coughing, admits the operation is failing: "COUGH...!! GOD DAMMIT...!! ONLY YOU GUYS SUCCEEDING... WHILE WE FAIL MISERABLY... I CAN'T LIVE THIS DOWN..." Even so, he rejects abandoning his own people: "...FROM THE VERY START, I DIDN'T CARE WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU GUYS. BUT MY PRECIOUS SUBORDINATES ARE ALSO HERE...!! MY BELOVED WIFE AND SON TOO!!!" Caesar is stunned by the sentiment: "HAH... DRAGGING YOU DOWN, HUH... THAT SOUNDS GOOD TOO."

Bege reaches the only plan that might let everyone live. While Chiffon cries "DARLING----!!!" and "FAAAATHER!" and Pez wails "HUWA AAH," Bege bares his teeth and declares, "THERE'S NO WAY I'D LET THEM ALL DIE!!!" He tells the room, "THERE'S ONLY ONE WAY FOR EVERYONE TO SURVIVE...!!!" The problem is that his castle body is the shelter; every impact on him affects the people inside. He explains, "THIS ROOM IS INSIDE OF ME, SO..." and "WHETHER I LEAN OVER OR FALL DOWN, YOU WILL ALL BE AFFECTED BY IT." The same risk applies when he changes back: "THE SAME GOES IF I RETURN TO MY NORMAL HUMAN FORM." Luffy protests immediately: "HEY!! WHY ARE YOU CASUALLY PUTTING MY LIFE ON THE LINE!!! THAT PLAN'S SUICIDAL!!" Bege ignores the complaint and lays it out: "LISTEN UP, I WILL RETURN TO A 'HUMAN' WITH ALL OF YOU INSIDE...!! CAESAR WILL THEN CARRY ME AND ESCAPE THROUGH THE AIR...!!!"

The escape plan sounds impossible because the plaza outside is full of armed Haki users. The warning comes fast: "THERE ARE TOO MANY ARMAMENT HAKI USERS OUT THERE!! THERE'S NO POINT EVEN IF I TURN INTO GAS!!!" and "WE'LL BE SHOT FULL OF HOLES INSTANTLY!!" The conclusion is grim: "THE CHANCE OF IT SUCCEEDING IS ZERO!!" In the middle of that crisis, Judge turns to Sanji and asks the question he cannot let go: "...ANSWER ONE THING FOR ME, SANJI." He asks, "...WHY DID YOU SAVE US." and frames it as an insult to both sides: "WE, WHOM YOU DETEST SO MUCH, FELL INTO THE ENEMY'S TRAP SO EASILY...!!" Sanji answers with restraint rather than affection: "...BECAUSE" and then, "MY FATHER WOULD'VE BEEN SADDENED..." He adds the condition behind that choice: "...IF I HELD ON TO THE HATRED FROM MY CHILDHOOD."

Sanji's answer reaches back to the day he escaped Germa. The memory of his younger self is full of pleas: "I'M SORRY FOR BEING BORN SO WEAK...!!" "PLEASE, LET ME OUT." "FATHER!! I'M SORRY...!!" and "SAVE ME!!! FATHER, SAVE ME!!! FAAATHER!!" Against that cruelty stands Zeff, who once sent him away with the simple care of "DON'T CATCH A COLD." Sanji says of that man, "...HE WOULD BE APPALLED." If Sanji became the kind of man who laughed at his own blood relatives' deaths, he says, "I REFUSE TO LIVE A LIFE... WHERE I... CANNOT FACE THAT PERSON." Judge recalls the official lie: "...13 YEARS AGO, THE VINSMOKE SANJI WHO ESCAPED FROM GERMA... DIED ON THE SEAS." Sanji states that this was also what Judge wanted: "THAT WAS ALSO WHAT YOU WISHED FOR."

Sanji tells Judge to accept the fiction he created: "...SO ACCEPT IT ALREADY!!!" The words Judge once used against him return with their full weight: "DO NOT EVER MENTION TO ANYONE... THAT I AM YOUR FATHER ...!! BECAUSE YOU ARE A 'STAIN'." Sanji drives the separation home while striking Judge across the face: "THE FACT THAT YOU ARE... NOT MY FATHER!!! VINSMOKE JUDGE!!!" Luffy stands beside Sanji and makes the boundary even sharper for the future: "NEVER SHOW YOUR FACE IN FRONT OF US AGAIN!!!" Judge, bloodied and silent, can only absorb the rejection. The page turns Sanji's rescue of Germa into a final severing rather than reconciliation: he saved them because of Zeff's values, not because Judge earned forgiveness.

Judge accepts Sanji's demand with a hard promise: "I UNDERSTAND... I WILL PROMISE... NOT TO COME NEAR YOU... OR THE EAST BLUE...!!" Nami quietly watches the exchange, while someone warns Caesar, "YOU'LL DIE AS WELL IF YOU DON'T DO IT," and shouts, "CAESAR!!" Caesar insists that he has already fulfilled his side: "I ALREADY ACCOMPLISHED MY MISSION!!" and protests, "ANYTHING MORE THAN THIS IS DIFFERENT FROM WHAT YOU PROMISED!!" But Luffy cuts through the arguing with the order, "OPEN THE GATE!!" Judge steps forward as "GANG" BEGE prepares the desperate move. He declares that until Caesar and Bege escape through the air, "WE GERMA WILL UNDERTAKE THE JOB OF ESCORTING YOU!!"

Bege confirms the practical point behind Germa's offer: "GERMA IS ALSO ABLE TO FLY THROUGH THE AIR, HUH? ...THEN IT'S FINE TO LEAVE YOU HERE?" Judge answers, "THAT'S RIGHT..." Caesar snaps at the sudden cooperation: "WHY THE HELL DO YOU GET TO DECIDE WHAT I DO!?" and throws Sanji's family conflict back at him: "YOUR OVERBEARING ATTITUDE REALLY HASN'T CHANGED, JUDGE!!" Luffy accepts the chance to buy time immediately: "OK!! IF IT'S TO BUY TIME, I'LL HELP O...!!" Sanji cuts him off, "LEAVE IT, LUFFY." Judge says, "THAT'S FINE." Their reason is pride rather than kindness: "WE REFUSE TO BE IN THE DEBT... OF A 'FAILURE'!!" Sanji understands the shape of it and says, "THAT'S... THEIR RESOLVE."

The plan starts before Caesar feels ready. He yells, "WAIT A SEC HERE!! HEY, I HAVEN'T AGREED TO DOING IT YET, YOU IDIOTS!!" Bege silences him physically, squeezing him while saying, "SHUT UP..." The grip hurts enough for Caesar to cry, "IT HUUUUURTS!!" and for Bege to threaten, "YOU BETTER REMEMBER THIIIIS!!!" Caesar melts into gas with a wet-looking "みょん!" as the transformation begins. In the large panel below, the interior of the castle erupts outward: Big Father gives way, people tumble and leap out around Bege, and the shelter that had kept every faction alive collapses back toward human scale. A startled "!!?" marks the instant everyone outside sees the escape attempt begin.

The castle vanishes from the battlefield. The Charlotte side notices at once: "THE CASTLE HAS DISAPPEARED!!" Another voice had warned exactly this would happen: "SEE, I TOLD YOU! EVERYONE'S ALREADY AIMING AT US!!!" Big Mom roars, "GYAAAAAAAH!!!" as the plaza explodes into gunfire and impact marks. Armed figures point weapons toward the escape route while the allies scatter into motion. Judge, now committed to the escort, gives the cold command, "HURRY UP." The page stays on the instant of exposure: Bege and Caesar's plan has created the only opening, but it has also placed every escaping ally under direct fire the moment the fortress body stops protecting them.

The enemies unleash fire as soon as the group emerges. Big Mom laughs and shouts, "YOU CAME OUT...!! HEH!!!" A command rings out: "FIRE ...!!!" followed by "HEAVENLY ...!!!" and another roar of "GYAAAAAAH!!!" Reiju is struck or caught in the barrage, groaning, "UGH...!!!" Niji reacts instantly when Sanji calls, "REIJU!!" and stops him with, "LEAVE IT, NIJI!!!" The battlefield is a storm of smoke, weapons, and flying bodies; Caesar and Bege are trying to escape through the air while the escort has to keep them from being shot down. The page's key turn is that Germa does not merely talk about covering the retreat: the siblings are already moving into the line of fire as the Charlotte forces target everyone.

The fight bursts open in several directions at once. Judge says, "THE WEAK ONES ARE THE ONES AT FAULT!! WE MUST COMPLETE THE MISSION!!!" Niji, after a heavy "THUD!", complains, "MY LITTLE BROTHER IS SO NOT-CUTE!!" and then refuses to be finished: "WHATEVER. I WON'T BE DONE IN!!" Big Mom closes on Reiju, mocking, "LITTLE GERMA-GIRL, I'LL START WITH YOU... OUT OF MY WAY, I WON'T LET A SINGLE ONE OF YOU GET AWAY!!" Sanji launches in with "DIABLE JAMBE 'CROSSE'" while Luffy attacks beside him, starting "GOMU GOMU NO..." A note explains: "TL NOTE: KANJI FOR 'CROSSE' READS 'BEEF SHANK'. 'CROSSE' REFERS TO LEG/BUTT AREA IN FRENCH." Their combined strike lands with "WOOSH" and "WAH!!" while Luffy's side calls "ELEPHANT GUN!!! STRIKE!!!" Inside, the others panic: "THEY WENT OUT!! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO NOW, IDIOOOOTTS!!!" and "THERE'S NOT ONE TO KEEP QUIET!!" Caesar protests, "YOU SAID NOT TO COME OUT!!" another answers, "THAT'S RIGHT!! NOBODY SHOULD COME OUT EXCEPT FOR ME!!" and someone snaps, "THAT'S NOT FAIR!!" The chapter ends with the escape plan turning into an open clash.

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