Recognized as a Strong Enemy

On the battered Sunny, everyone spots the ship carrying the wedding cake. Nami cries, "Everyone," and the crew realizes, "The boat with the cake is here!" Brook and Chopper look exhausted, Carrot sleeps with "Zzzzz...", and the others stare across the sea as the cake ship approaches. Sanji's return is announced with joy: "Sanji's group came back with the cake." Brook calls out, "Sanji-sama," and someone shouts, "Ooohh Sanji!" Big Mom immediately reacts to the scent. Prometheus says, "Mama?" as she sniffs, "Sniff sniff," and murmurs, "This smells very good." From the cake ship, someone warns, "Hey your ship and Big Mom are over there," while also noticing, "They're getting chased by a lot of enemies" and "It looks like your ship took a lot of damage."

Sanji makes his return as flamboyant as possible. Bege calls, "Everyone, get ready," and Sanji bursts into view, crying, "Namiii swann! I came to save you." He tells Nami, "You survived very well getting chased by Big Mom." Nami and Chiffon react with shock and relief, while Bege adds, "And Perospero. Even your captain is busy too." Sanji's entrance is ridiculous and sincere at the same time: he is not merely bringing the cake, he is returning to the crew he promised to protect. The page also shows that the enemies have not disappeared. Sanji's group is bringing the one object that can stop Big Mom, but they have arrived in the middle of a battlefield.

The crews quickly realize that Bege's ship is not an enemy ship in this moment. Nami says, "Someone is on the helm of that ship... I have a weird sensation?" Jinbe identifies it: "It is not an enemy. It is Bege's ship." Others wonder, "Someone is dancing on that ship?" and recognize that "They really made the exact cake." Bege's enemies still suspect the obvious trap. Perospero thinks, "But there is Bege... The cake must be poisoned..." then weighs the risk: "Should I destroy that cake? But if I do, nothing can stop Mama, and our Whole Cake Island will be doomed! But if she eats from a poisoned cake, that is the end of this crew as well..." Meanwhile the attack on the Sunny finally stops, and someone gasps, "Their attack finally stopped. I thought this was finally the end." The cake has changed every side's priorities at once.

Bege, Sanji, Pudding, and Chiffon prepare to separate the cake from Bege's ship. Bege tells Sanji, "Hey Blackleg, we'll take this cake from here." He promises, "As promised we won't touch the cake with anything funny..." Bege's logic is ruthless: "Until Mama eats it and she's full but afterwards we can do whatever we want, right?" Sanji does not argue because their immediate mission is clear. He says, "Do whatever, our job was... to calm down Big Mom with that cake." Chiffon adds, "She'll definitely stop!" Nami's side urges speed: "Sanji-san, we should hurry." Chiffon snaps, "If you don't wanna... fucking die." The small tart ship named Rabiyan drops away from Bege's vessel as Chiffon orders, "Rabiyan, fullspeed! Make sure Perospero and Bavarois don't see us." A voice answers, "Okay!"

Big Mom finally locks onto the smell and the direction of the cake. Prometheus answers her with, "Yes, Mama," as she stares across the sea and says, "Over there. I finally found it." Her hunger narrows the whole world into one word: "Wedding caaaaaake." Riding on Zeus with Prometheus burning above her, she charges after the cake's scent. The panel is dominated by her manic face and Zeus's huge grin, making her pursuit feel less like a naval chase and more like a natural disaster. The cake has succeeded in pulling her attention away from the Sunny, but now Sanji's smaller group must survive being the new target.

The cake ship changes direction, and the surrounding fleet notices immediately. A report rings out: "The boat with the cake changed directions!!" Someone shouts, "Go fast to the right," and the course is identified: "Toward Liquor Island." Perospero watches and realizes, "She's coming." On the Sunny, the crew sees the diversion working. Brook gasps, "Ah!" and the others look on as Sanji sits calmly on Rabiyan and says, "Hey, I'm back." Chopper and Nami call, "Sanji! Pudding!" The page gives the crew a moment of relief after the chaos on the Sunny: Sanji has returned alive, the cake is moving, and Big Mom is no longer focused directly on their ship.

The reunion is emotional and brief. Nami hugs Sanji and says, "You're back! Safely!! It's a miracle I thought it was the end for us thank you!" Sanji answers in full Sanji fashion, "I like you too Nami." Chopper asks, "Sanji, why were you on Bege's ship?" while someone observes, "Looks like they're headed somewhere." Sanji explains, "We don't know what will happen to Big Mom after she eats the cake, so they're going to nearby island." He also makes his priorities clear: "I don't think they gave up on the idea of killing Big Mom. I'm fine as long as this ship is safe. If they are gonna take Big Mom with them, even better." Sanji is relieved to be back, but he has not forgotten the risk that Bege still intends to assassinate Big Mom after the cake works.

The crew takes stock of the Sunny. The deck is wrecked, the sails and railings are damaged, and Jinbe tells Sanji, "Anyways, it looks like everything is messed up here." Sanji apologizes, "Sorry, even though I was here, we couldn't stop them." Nami corrects him: "Stop that! We'd be dead without you, Jinbe!" Chopper asks, "Where is Pedro and Carrot?" Brook answers, "Sleeping!! They got tired from fighting and they're sleeping." Both Pedro's absence and Carrot's exhaustion hang over the scene, but the chase continues. A Den Den Mushi call comes through: "This is Bege!" Perospero demands, "Bege, what are you doing?" Bege responds, "About Big Mom's rage... Leave that to us, we will feed her cake and calm her down." Perospero yells, "Don't lie, you traitor!"

Bege keeps Perospero talking long enough to redirect the chase. Perospero accuses him: "We're chasing Bege?! They're 100% planning on killing Mama! They might have gotten rid of Pudding already!" Bege answers with a trap of his own: "Relax and chase the Straw Hats." Perospero's crew asks, "But Brother Peros, what about Straw Hats?" He weighs the battlefield and orders, "Smoothie! Answer me!" Smoothie confirms, "Of course we're behind them, brother." Perospero decides, "They'll run into Cacao Island." He then lays out the split pursuit: "Corner Straw Hats' ship this way. And I'll go chase Bege and Mama with Bavarois." A map-like panel shows the Sunny, Smoothie, Perospero/Bavarois, Bege, and Big Mom moving on separate routes. The cake has divided the enemy fleet, but the Straw Hats are still being herded toward Cacao Island.

Smoothie's force enters the pursuit. She stands with other Charlotte daughters as someone says, "Men're so stupid. They're in such a rush." Another voice says, "You should've left it to us in the first place, okay! We could've been stopping Choco Tea on Cacao Island and waited for them." The page introduces the sisters as members of the Charlotte Family: Smoothie, Citron, and Cinnamon, with Smoothie identified as the 14th daughter and 3rd Sweet Commander. The crowd cheers, "Yeahhh," while Smoothie tells them, "Don't talk like that... Everyone ready to fight." Their arrival changes the chase again: Perospero may be after Bege and Big Mom, but Smoothie and her sisters are now taking responsibility for intercepting the Sunny.

On the Sunny, the crew understands that the enemy has acknowledged them as a real threat. Nami asks, "Our meeting place with Luffy? They already know?" and someone confirms, "Yeah, Cacao Island is probably loaded with the bunch of them waiting." Sanji sums up the problem: "If we fight their fleet there's no way we can win." Jinbe adds, "It's rare, but looks like they acknowledged us as strong enemies. They're pulling out all the stops." Meanwhile Big Mom keeps chasing the cake ship, demanding, "Hand it over" and "Chase faster." Bege asks Chiffon, "Is this good enough, Chiffon?" Chiffon answers, "Yes, it's good. Thanks Bege." Bege mutters, "Man, this is troublesome," as the plan drags Big Mom away while the Sunny still faces the fortified route to Cacao Island.

The crews on Bege's ship cheer for Chiffon and Sanji's plan. One says, "We are paying back a favor," and another tells Chiffon, "I love that about you Chiffon." They encourage everyone: "Just believe in the cake, that chef's an amazing," and the crowd cheers, "Yeaahhhhhhh." Then another enemy fleet appears behind the Sunny. Someone warns, "Another fleet is chasing us," and the answer comes: "It is Commander Smoothie." On the Sunny, the crew calculates the time. "How long till Cacao Island?" someone asks, and Sanji answers, "A little more than 3 hours." Brook reminds them, "We will get there right around 1 o'clock as we promised." But he also admits, "We don't know where and when Luffy will come out from Cacao Island and there's no way to warn him of the danger outside." Sanji says, "I've thought of one way to get through Cacao Island."

At Cacao Island, Oven organizes the trap. The island is lined with Big Mom's ships and soldiers, and Oven commands, "Mr. Oven, to line up the whole Cake Island... Do we really need this many ships?" Another answers, "There's no way Sir Katakuri will let Straw Hat get away." Oven says, "Tell that to Tamago and Mont-d'Or." Someone questions the explosion story: "Do you believe it? The explosion in the Chateau was intentional." Oven replies, "Of course, this is necessary, Oven brother." The soldiers decide not to underestimate the Straw Hats: "Even though they're rookies they shouldn't be underestimated." Oven orders, "Go and break every mirror on the island." When someone asks, "Even valuable ones??" he says, "If you don't want to break them, you can throw them in the ocean and get them back. Just do it." Only one mirror is kept: "There are no other mirror left on this island except for this mirror. If Straw Hat comes through we'll execute him." The crowd cheers, "Yeah!!"

Back in the mirror world, the duel is still not over. The page labels it directly: "Mirror World Luffy vs Katakuri." Luffy lies battered and gasping, "Huff... Huff..." while Katakuri tells him again, "Don't get up anymore. There is no chance." Katakuri understands what Luffy is trying to do and thinks, "This guy's observation haki... is getting to closer to mine." Luffy refuses to stay down because he knows the promise matters: "If I don't hurry up... the unthinkable might happen." He tries to rise, coughing and panting, and his focus sharpens even through exhaustion. Katakuri watches him carefully as Luffy's body twitches and he forces himself forward again.

Katakuri attacks again with a mochi spear, shaping his arm into a piercing weapon and calling, "Mochi Spear!" Luffy braces with a grimace and tries to answer, but the spear drives through the motion and strikes him hard. The impact tears across the page as Luffy cries out, "Aaahhh," while Katakuri's expression remains cold and focused. Hidden observers react with excitement at the brutal hit, but the duel itself remains deadly serious. Luffy has not yet escaped the mirror world, and Katakuri has no intention of letting him reach Cacao Island. The chapter ends on the spear blow and Luffy's scream, keeping the outcome of his promise unresolved.

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