Believing in Me

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The chapter story begins away from the Sunny, in "Wheat Island Soft Flour Town," where chaos continues after the sudden destruction caused by the falling Chateau and the Tamatebako. People cry, "Kya ah!" and "Uwa gh!" as debris and panic spread through the town. One report says, "The reports of mirrors breaking across the islands won't stop coming in!" and another adds, "To think that it's dragged on this long..." The clock at Whole Cake Island marks the time: "It's already 9:30-de soir." Among the Big Mom Pirates, someone mutters, "Damn that Straw Hat... Is he really that strong?!" Another says, "I can't believe his fight with Lord Dogtooth, of all people, in the mirror world has gone on for this long..." Stussy then reveals what she knows: "Want to hear something interesting, friends?" She says of the Tamatebako, "You took it from the Straw Hats, right? That big explosion... The box was what caused that." The others react, "What?!"

Inside the mirror world, Flampe walks with absolute confidence and fawning subordinates praise her: "Today, too! You are as perfect and wonderful as always, Brother Dogtooth!" She has snipers hidden around the battlefield, but they are failing to land a clean shot on Luffy. One sniper complains, "And? What's taking so long, snipers?!" Another answers, "We've been shooting for a while now, but..." A scope tracks Luffy as someone asks, "And how many have you hit?" The answer is frustration: "He's moving around so fast... We can't... Damn it!" Flampe boasts about her family status instead. "I have 41 older brothers!" she says, and adds, "And 40 of them have selected me as the winner of their best little sister award! I'm super popular!" She also admits the reason she is here: "But Brother Katakuri is the favorite of all 38 of his little sisters! And he's beloved by his little brothers as well! I've got a lot of rivals!"

Flampe is introduced as "Charlotte Family, 33rd daughter (15 years old) Charlotte Flampe (Katakuri Fan Club leader and special forces captain)." She explains her goal with a smile: "Everyone wants to be Dogtooth's favorite! I am the most beloved little sister! I'm the girl that'll become the little sister king! But... I'm going to help my brother here and score some brownie points!" Her underlings answer, "We understand, Lady Flampe!" and declare, "We underlings want Lord Dogtooth to love us, too!" She scolds them, "No one gives a crap about you idiots!" and focuses on protecting Katakuri's image: "No one should bear witness to this! He should always be perfect! Besides... for an enemy to give my brother this much trouble... I don't want anyone to lose their love for him!" As battle rages behind her, she wants not only to help Katakuri win, but to erase the shame of seeing him challenged.

The fight between Luffy and Katakuri has become a brutal test of endurance. Katakuri stands amid shattered mirror-world terrain and observes, "Truth be told, though, he isn't exactly 'having trouble'... It's just that his opponent is persistent." Luffy is bloodied and panting, but still standing. Katakuri notes, "He's taken wounds that should have been fatal many times now!" Flampe mocks Luffy from hiding: "And he's been bleeding like a stuck pig! And yet he gets up every time! Wahaha! It's hilarious! It's pathetic. Just you see, you blood-soaked, filthy monkey!" Luffy wheezes while Katakuri watches in silence. The page makes clear that Luffy's body is at its limit, but his refusal to stay down is now the one thing Katakuri cannot ignore.

Katakuri hammers Luffy through the mirror world with mochi strikes that crush walls and floor alike. Luffy is flung across the battlefield, breathing "HAA-" and "HAA-," barely slipping around the next impact. Katakuri's attacks come from impossible angles, stretching and twisting through the shattered space as Luffy tries to dodge, block, and keep his footing. There is little dialogue here beyond gasps and impact sounds: "Bah!" "Fyun!" and the heavy crashes of mochi against mirror-world architecture. The page emphasizes physical damage and speed. Luffy is not winning exchanges yet, but he is still moving, still reading, and still forcing Katakuri to continue.

Luffy begins to catch the rhythm of Katakuri's attacks. Katakuri launches another overwhelming barrage, fists multiplying around Luffy, but Luffy's body turns away from the blows in mid-motion. Katakuri notices the shift immediately: "Did he just try to dodge that?" Luffy counters with a strike that stretches toward Katakuri, and the fight becomes less one-sided than before. Katakuri glares and thinks through what he is seeing, while Flampe's hidden group watches angrily. One of them mutters, "Why won't they die?!" and another starts, "Your blasted..." The important change is subtle but decisive: Luffy is no longer only surviving by toughness. He is starting to act on the same future-sight logic that Katakuri uses.

Katakuri tests Luffy's growth and identifies what Luffy is using: "Eyes!" He sends another attack, but Luffy continues to move in advance of the impact. Around them, Flampe's snipers prepare another shot, their small projectiles and air puffs moving between the panels while Katakuri tracks the flow of the duel. Then Luffy is struck by interference at the worst moment. He crashes down with "Daaaag gghhh!" as Katakuri watches from across the broken floor. The page is built around the contrast between Luffy's progress and the hidden sabotage: Katakuri is fighting seriously, Luffy is learning to read him, and Flampe's secret shot corrupts the duel.

Luffy's body suddenly gives out, and Katakuri realizes something is wrong. Luffy pants, "Haa... Haa..." and falls with no proper defense. Katakuri looks on and says, "I don't think you get it. That just falling down is, in itself, shameful." Yet the impact that follows is not an ordinary victory. Luffy is driven into the ground and cries out, "Ow-" and "Ghh!" before exploding into a roar: "Raaaagg gghhhhh!" Katakuri's face hardens because he understands the difference between beating an opponent and hitting one who has been tampered with. The duel has been stained, and Luffy's scream marks both the pain and the unfairness of Flampe's intervention.

Katakuri explains exactly how far Luffy has come. While attacking with massive fists, he sees that Luffy is not dodging randomly. Katakuri thinks, "I was right. While infrequently, he's managing to see the future, just like me!" He understands Luffy's pattern: "You tried to throw a punch with your left hand, so I hit your left shoulder. You tried to stand, so I prevented you from standing. You tried to throw a punch with your right hand, so I hit your right shoulder." He calls it out to Luffy: "Frustrating, isn't it? And as a result, you've been reduced to an idiot that can only grow frustrated. This is what it means to be read like a book." Luffy remembers the lesson: "Attacks have willpower behind them. An aura to them. Don't just flail about wildly, Luffy!" Even bloodied and exhausted, he is still trying to apply it.

Katakuri stands over Luffy and tells him to stop rising: "Don't get up anymore. Your big plan is no secret to us." He reveals that the Big Mom Pirates know the rendezvous: "Cacao Island at 1 AM." Katakuri says, "Of course, your friends will be crushed before they can make it to Cacao Island. Waiting for them are... my little brothers and their battleships. And they await you too, should you manage to make it out of here!" Luffy, still breathing "Haa... Haa...," rejects the threat. "But... I will make it out of these mirrors. I promise." Katakuri pauses and asks, "What? Have you even been listening?" The promise is not tactical; Luffy is speaking from trust in his crew and from his refusal to let the mirror world become his grave.

At sea aboard Bege's ship, the wedding cake is finally completed. The crew shouts, "We did it!" and announces, "It's finished!" The finished cake towers over the deck, elaborate and huge, while the narration calls it "A supreme wedding cake capable of stopping Big Mom in her tracks!" Bege's men celebrate the smell alone. One says, "What a sublime fragrance... I feel faint! I can't even describe it!" Another declares, "We don't even need to put any poison in it!" and a third says, "The deliciousness will carry you straight to heaven, Big Mom!" The page turns Sanji's confidence into visible proof: the cake is no longer an idea or a gamble, but a completed weapon of taste.

The cake's aroma is so strong that Bege's men nearly collapse. They cry, "Oi, are you lot okay?!" "The cooks are fainting!" and "What a cruel cooking process..." Pudding, exhausted, says, "Phew. I'm so glad... We made it in time." Sanji turns to the women who made it possible and says, "Pudding! Chiffon! You both made this possible! Thank you so much!" Chiffon answers, "With this cake, I'm sure I'll be able to save my friends!" Pudding is overwhelmed by Sanji's thanks, thinking, "Ah! Aha hahaha! I wonder about that! We may have finished this cake, but! Your friends may already be dead, you know! And even if they are alive, Mama may not even like this cake! Then we'll have carried this cake all this way for nothing, Sanji! ...My dear." But her expression betrays her feelings, and when Chiffon asks, "How can you say that, Pudding?!" Pudding panics, "I'm wrong! I'm so wrong! How could I have said such a thing..." Chiffon simply says they still have to meet up with the others.

The chapter ties the two fronts together through faith. At sea, Sanji says, "I'll make the best cake ever, and stop Big Mom! Because they're..." In the mirror world, Luffy says, "I'll clobber you, and definitely make it out of these mirrors! Haa- Haa- Because they're..." The page then cuts close to Luffy's battered face and Sanji's confident smile as the answer lands in a single shared statement: "Believing in me!" Luffy's promise to escape and Sanji's promise to stop Big Mom are not isolated vows. Each man is acting because the others are depending on him, and because he believes the others are doing the same.

At sea near the Sunny, Big Mom keeps pursuing on a huge mass of soul-powered force, laughing, "Haaaa-hahaha! Mama-mama! Ehehhehe! Run, run as far as you wish." The Sunny crew stares at the monstrous sight. Someone cries, "What in the world is that..." and another says, "Your ship is just filled with monsters, isn't it?" Chopper realizes brute water cannot solve it: "Even ocean water won't do a thing!" Brook understands why: "So that's a Yonkou's... Soul!!" Nami still refuses to give in and says, "Even so, I've gotta do something!" as another voice warns, "Chopper! It's useless!" Big Mom towers behind them and demands, "Now, then. The cake!" Meanwhile, the cake ship is close enough that Sanji can sense the situation. He says, "And even though Sanji will be here any minute now... We somehow made it this far, but..." then notices, "Hmmm? What is this... They're here! Wonderful aroma." The chapter ends with Big Mom's hunger and Sanji's cake finally converging.

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