Chapter 60: The Mantises Part 2
“Katakuri, you just said you already found the treasure! Where is it?!”
BIG MOM, who had walked a short distance, impatiently asked Katakuri.
It turned out that on the way there, she had secretly learned that someone had already discovered the treasure.
However, that lucky person who found the treasure clue hadn’t had time to be happy before being turned into a candy statue by BIG MOM’s eldest son Perospero, who arrived right after.
After repeatedly confirming that no one else had discovered it, Perospero led a group of confidants and quietly arrived at the treasure vault entrance.
However, after realizing that the commotion from breaking the door might alert other pirates, he chose to contact Katakuri first.
As for why not contact BIG MOM directly to claim credit?
That was naturally the wisdom honed over a long time as Mother’s eldest son.
As the eldest son, Perospero was very clear about his mother’s personality. If he reported honestly, BIG MOM would definitely demand that he bring back as much treasure as possible immediately.
And the trouble was right there!
Perospero believed that no matter how much he brought back, BIG MOM would complain it wasn’t enough—this was the greedy nature of pirates.
Unless he could pack up and take away all the treasure—which was almost impossible.
To transport the wealth onto the ship without being discovered under the noses of so many pirates, they would have to be invisible along with the treasure.
Otherwise, the moment the treasure was exposed to sunlight, they would face a swarm of attacks from other pirate crews. BIG MOM’s eldest son’s identity wouldn’t deter them in the slightest here.
Only by contacting Katakuri first, having him explain the pros and cons to Mother and formulate a suitable plan, then taking action himself.
Poor Perospero, forced by BIG MOM’s capricious and willful personality, had to live like a prince in a battle for the throne while other pirates were still gleefully killing and plundering driven by desire.
He had to think carefully about everything, every step like walking on thin ice.
Katakuri looked around and saw no one other than Beasts Pirates core members, so he leaned in close to BIG MOM’s ear and quietly told her the treasure’s location.
“Mother, we can’t transport all the treasure out from under other factions’ noses. Brother Perospero probably can’t hide it for much longer either.”
“Hmm… Let’s go over there first and see if ‘that thing’ is there. As for the other stuff, they can split it if they want.”
……
“Mother, you’ve arrived.”
Perospero, who had been on edge, saw BIG MOM finally arrive and let out a long sigh of relief.
His task was finally complete.
“Mama~ Mama~ As expected of my favorite son. You did very well, Perospero!”
In a joyful mood, BIG MOM bestowed the title of this time’s “favorite child” on Perospero.
“Thank you, Mother. The treasure should be right behind this door. Perorin~”
Perospero, sticking out his big tongue, pointed behind him. A massive metal underground door emerged from a corner of the cracked ground, its faint cold light showing the extraordinary material.
Its depth from the ground was nearly twenty meters. From the break, one could see layer upon layer of bricks and stones, with thick steel pillars interspersed between each layer.
If not for the explosive rock’s overwhelming power, they probably couldn’t have found it even if they dug thirty feet deep.
“Mama~ Mama~ This is indeed John’s style.”
Seeing such a heavily fortified underground room, BIG MOM couldn’t help but get excited.
Without hesitation, she jumped down into the crevice, stomped her feet hard on the upward-facing underground door, then swung her fist down fiercely.
Whoosh—Boom!!!
A massive roar shook the surrounding pirates in the crevice, sending them tumbling to the ground.
“Hmm?”
BIG MOM looked at her fist embedded in the metal door, frowning. She could feel her fist hadn’t penetrated the gate.
As someone who, in her childhood, could single-handedly wipe out a giant village with brute force and easily defeat a Giant Tribe hero, Charlotte Linlin had great confidence in her physique.
Now fully grown, her power had reached an unimaginable level. Ordinary steel was like putty in her hands.
But now she couldn’t smash through a single gate directly.
It seemed the door’s material and thickness exceeded everyone’s imagination.
“Mama~ That guy John really spared no expense.”
BIG MOM stopped using her fists and instead removed her captain’s hat. Napoleon transformed into a giant blade in her hand.
“Elbaf Spear—Ikkoku!”
With one slash, a terrifying circular impact struck the thick metal gate directly. The spreading force blew open the surrounding earth, fully exposing the entire underground room entrance to sunlight.
When the light faded, the door looked like a chunk had been gouged out, with a pit several meters in diameter at the center.
But through the pit, no one could still see behind the door. This made people suspect whether this so-called underground room was just a solid block of metal with a door pattern carved on the upward face to trick people.
Just as BIG MOM was about to swing a second slash, someone arrived.
“Xihahahaha! Lucky, huh, Linlin. Found it so quickly?”
Shiki, flying in the sky, rushed over at the first sound of noise. Seeing the treasure vault not yet opened, he was a bit surprised, then burst into laughter.
“Tch!”
BIG MOM irritably lowered Napoleon in her hand. Though she knew she couldn’t monopolize the treasure, actually having to split it still annoyed her.
“Hey! Don’t forget old lady gets first pick!”
“Alright, alright, I know, no need to emphasize.” Shiki didn’t seem to care much either.
“You go ahead, don’t damage the wealth inside.”
Seeing Shiki’s cooperative attitude, BIG MOM stepped back a few paces to make room.
Her moves were mostly in Giant Tribe style, wide and sweeping. For precise power control, it had to be a great swordmaster like Shiki.
“Fine, step back a bit more.”
“Lion Tile Drawer!”
Several massive slashes struck the dent BIG MOM had made earlier, finally cutting the door completely open this time.
Sunlight shone into the pitch-black underground room, instantly reflecting dazzling golden light.
“Mama~ Mama~ Let old lady see Rocks’ treasure first.”
BIG MOM impatiently jumped into the treasure room first, followed closely by Shiki flying in.
“Let’s go in too.”
Katakuri and Perospero exchanged eye contact after seeing the two enter, then led their men in a rush.
“So much! So many gold coins!”
“This, this is paving the floor with Belly?!”
“Are these all made of gold?”
“Look! This cup is full of gems!”
“Hahahaha! I’m rich! I’m rich!”
“This is mine! Mine! Go die!”
……
Gold, gems, Belly… everything here was madly stimulating the pirates’ nerves, devouring their reason.
The wealth piled in the treasure vault was something they’d never seen in their lives—well, maybe in dreams.
The gold’s luster was so beautiful, like a beauty’s hand gently caressing their chests;
Gems twinkled like unreachable stars in the sky;
Belly? Those things the pirates obsessed over daily were scattered like roadside weeds everywhere…
Those little paper scraps representing wealth were now worthless, trampled underfoot by the pirates.
But unlike the cheering pirates around them, Shiki and BIG MOM, who had seen the treasure vault’s contents early, showed no joy on their faces.
Or rather, “gloomy” better described their expressions.
Too little.
The treasure here was too little!
As former Rocks Pirates members, they knew exactly how much wealth that guy had plundered.
Calling it “rich enough to rival a country” was an insult. There was enough treasure to buy the entire New World.
And now, in this “treasure room,” the treasure inside didn’t even compare to the wealth they each possessed—it was like scraps left behind.
“That guy John is toying with old lady!”
BIG MOM punched the nearby wall, causing another earthquake.
This punch sobered up some of the pirates lost in greed, making them drop their loot and stand frozen in place.
“Uro-ro-ro-ro~ Linlin, you found the treasure and didn’t say a word? Planning to hog it all?!”
The underground room’s light suddenly dimmed. Looking up, two tall figures were blocking the sunlight—Kaido and Wang Zhi had finally arrived, standing at the entrance looking down.
“Hog it? Kaido, don’t insult old lady. This junk worthy of old lady going to the trouble?”
“Hmm?”
Kaido jumped down upon hearing this and looked at the scattered treasure around.
Hmm, roughly equivalent to the Beasts Pirates’ current assets.
Compared to these veteran overlords, the Beasts Pirates’ foundation was still lacking.
“Too early for conclusions.” Shiki quickly adjusted his mindset.
“With that guy John’s personality, there might be a trick here.” With that, Shiki flew above everyone and swung another slash.
“Circle·Slash Wave!”
A ring-shaped sword energy slashed the surrounding walls, carving deep cuts into the metal.
『Not the surroundings…』
Seeing nothing unusual behind the walls, Shiki swung downward again.
Clang!
This time, the sound of the sword energy slashing was completely different from before.
“Haha, found it! Lion Tile Drawer!”
Having spotted the clue, Shiki wildly unleashed slashes at the ground.
“Hey! Shiki, watch it, you bastard!”
BIG MOM and the other two below saw the dense slashes and retreated to the sides to dodge, while many ordinary pirates were wounded by the sword energy’s aftermath.
Shiki ignored the screams below and kept swinging his famous sword.
Clang! Clang! Clang…
As the metallic clashes grew denser, the ground underfoot tore apart bit by bit, revealing the situation beneath the metal floor more clearly.
“This is?!”
Finally, after the ground underfoot was chopped like dumpling filling, the thing deeply buried below appeared before everyone.
“Tch~ So it’s this thing.”
Seeing it clearly, Kaido tsked uninterestedly first.
“I remember Rocks ordering us to collect this stuff back then.” Wang Zhi said, stroking his beard.
“Rocks valued this thing a lot at the time, but it was useless to me.”
Shiki, now completely uninterested, sheathed his sword and stopped digging.
But compared to the others’ lack of interest, BIG MOM seemed quite concerned about this thing, her voice even carrying a hint of excitement.
“Old lady wants this thing!”
