Chapter 192: Don’t Refine Copper
“Mamamama~ Mamamama~”
“You’re called La, right? You and your sisters are really pretty~”
Nearly twenty tons of gold were sent out, and Big Mom’s attitude clearly improved.
The offense against Aoxi and the dissatisfaction with Jin’s absence both dissipated on their own under the golden light of this gold.
“Hurry and take your seats, and enjoy Whole Cake Island’s celebration.”
She personally led La and the others to their seats. After seeing all the guests assembled, Big Mom shouted toward the castle.
“Hey! Is the celebration cake not ready yet?”
“Please wait a moment, Mother. Because the cake is too large, the people at the workshop are figuring out how to transport it here.”
Since this was Whole Cake Island’s founding ceremony combined with Big Mom’s birthday celebration, Head Chef Charlotte Mont-d’Or had creatively made a double-sided cake.
But because it used twice the usual materials, the cart specifically meant for transport was now somewhat too small.
Plus, the homies on the island had all suddenly stopped working for some reason, making the backup methods unusable at this time. The people at the cake workshop were now frantic.
“Hmph~ This is such an important celebration, and yet something goes wrong.”
“Katakuri, go take care of it.”
“Got it, Mother.”
Katakuri nodded upon hearing this, then looked toward his own sister who was biting her handkerchief with a jealous expression as she stared at La and the others.
“Brulee, come help me.”
“Mm… Huh?”
“Yes, Brother Katakuri~”
Hearing her brother’s words, Brulee was stunned for a moment, then her face instantly lit up with excitement. She hiked up her wedding dress skirt and bounced after Katakuri.
“Phew~”
Watching the two leave, Perospero, who had been on edge, finally breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, he handed the Cream-Cream Fruit to his fourth brother.
“Oven, go put this fruit in the treasure vault. Be careful. Perorin~”
Because he had to handle sudden incidents at all times, Perospero couldn’t leave the venue too far, so he entrusted this sensitive task of entering the treasure vault to his serious younger brother.
“Don’t worry, Brother Perospero! Leave it to me.”
……
Since the special cake, the main event, couldn’t be brought to the site for the time being, everyone had to sit back down and continue drinking tea and chatting.
And they were happy to do so. After all, they came to this ceremony partly to build some ties with the Big Mom Pirates, and partly to expand their own connections.
After all, it wasn’t easy to even meet these bosses normally, so they naturally had to seize the opportunity.
“Haha! I didn’t expect you to actually come. What a surprise, Rayleigh.”
Hainar had his leg crossed, one hand on the chair back, sitting in a very arrogant pose.
“Well~ Just a coincidence. Gotta relax once in a while.”
Rayleigh swirled the wine glass in his hand, speaking casually.
“By the way, your captain hasn’t shown up much lately… My boss Shiki has been looking for him.”
“Golden Lion? What does he want with Roger?”
Rayleigh’s hand swirling the wine glass slowed slightly.
“Of course, to get him to join.”
With that, Hainar took his foot off the table, walked over to Rayleigh, and leaned down to whisper:
“Captain Shiki has been searching for the ancient weapon lately. You all, who once reached the deepest part of the New World, should know some clues, right?”
Clang~
Rayleigh didn’t answer, merely setting down his wine glass.
On his face, the round glasses reflected the glaring sunlight, making it impossible to see his current expression.
“Well~ No need to answer. Anyway, Boss Shiki will personally find Roger later to ‘discuss’ cooperation.”
With that, Hainar removed the hand he’d placed on Rayleigh’s shoulder and returned to his own seat.
『Golden Lion, huh… What a troublesome man~』
Rayleigh picked up the wine glass from the table and drained it, his eyes downcast as if pondering something. He completely failed to notice that the two little ones who’d been sitting at the kids’ table not far away were gone.
……
A little earlier in time……
At the kids’ table in the corner of the venue, Aoxi and Obei were bored watching Shanks and Buggy, along with Big Mom’s underage children, stuff their faces with the desserts on the table.
“How can you even eat such disgusting stuff~”
Aoxi propped her face with one hand, looking disgusted at the cake on the table.
She could clearly sense the lingering traces of human souls inside it.
The disgust level of these desserts was no less than XX char siu bao to her, and it even put Obei beside her off her food.
“Hm? Disgusting? It tastes great.”
Shanks, who was fighting Buggy over a piece of tiramisu, mumbled. His mouth was already full of cream.
“By the way, Sister Aoxi, you really won’t have a piece?”
The victorious Shanks offered the tiramisu to Aoxi, but she pushed it right back.
“I don’t eat this stuff. Eat it yourselves if you want. Wipe your mouths clean when you’re done.”
With that, Aoxi tossed a white handkerchief with gold embroidery on the edges to him. It was the one La usually used to wipe her mouth.
“Woo~ Thanks.”
Just as Shanks took the handkerchief, his vision suddenly darkened. Looking back, he saw a man in a proper suit standing behind him.
The man’s clearly adult build blocked most of the sunlight.
“Looks like the food here doesn’t suit you two’s tastes~”
The man leaned down slightly, completely ignoring Shanks in front of him, and greeted Aoxi and Obei directly.
“Guwoo~ Uncle, who are you?”
Swallowing the tiramisu in his mouth, Shanks asked curiously.
But the man merely glanced at him with obvious disgust before continuing to chat up Aoxi and Obei.
“May I have the honor of introducing myself to you two beautiful young ladies?”
“My name is Mediya Caspar, heir to the Mediya Family this generation.”
With that, amid the ‘Who’s this retard?’ looks from Obei and Aoxi, he snapped his fingers stylishly.
Snap~
After the crisp sound, an assistant in a suit arrived at the table holding a box packaged exquisitely and luxuriously.
“I see you two aren’t interested in the desserts here. This is the highest-grade chocolate from Fish-Man Island. You two beautiful young ladies can give it a try.”
Caspar said with an elegant smile. This move had never failed him.
Little girls~ They just like pretty little dresses, exquisite little snacks, and such……
Plus his own elegant demeanor and approachable charisma meant he’d never failed when he made a move before.
Sure enough, Aoxi saw the top-grade chocolate in front of her, its surface reflecting a dark sheen like marble, and directly popped a piece into her mouth.
“Om nom nom~”
“Mm~ Not bad. Better texture than any chocolate I’ve eaten.”
『As expected, these naive little girls are easy to handle~』
Thinking this, Caspar’s smile widened, while he subtly glanced at the golden figure not far away.
That one was originally his first choice.
The warm, approachable yet untouchably sacred aura around La had captivated him completely from the first glance.
But since she was always sitting next to Big Mom, and that old woman’s nation-destroying momentum from earlier was still fresh, Caspar didn’t dare approach, so he’d settled for second best with Aoxi and Obei.
“This blue little lady, won’t you try some?”
Seeing Aoxi already hooked, Caspar greedily turned his gaze to Obei, who had been playing with heavenly fire.
“Hm?”
Obei looked up at him, then picked up a piece of chocolate and put it in her mouth.
Seeing Aoxi eat it so eagerly, she was curious what made this taste different from regular chocolate.
“Eh? Is this stuff really that good?”
Seeing Aoxi and Obei like this, Shanks and Buggy couldn’t hold back either and reached out to grab some pieces.
Smack!
Caspar slapped their little hands away, his face cold as he said:
“You two kids, this isn’t for you to touch.”
“What~ So stingy.”
“Haha~ Being stingy is appropriate, since this uncle isn’t a good guy.”
Aoxi said this while quickly stuffing chocolate into her mouth. Even with her mouth full, her words were clear, as if she had two mouths.
“Oh? How so?”
Hearing this, Caspar still kept his poise and chuckled as he asked, showing no sign of anger… at least on the surface.
“How so… Uncle, you know full well, don’t you?”
“Well~ On account of your chocolate being decent, I’ll give you a heads-up…”
Having hurriedly eaten all the chocolate, Aoxi stared straight into his eyes with her soul-piercing gaze and returned the same smile, then said word by word:
“Refining, copper, means, certain, death!”
