One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 177 This is not a surprise attack, this is war!

After seeing the scene on the live stream where Neverland slowly emerges from the clouds above Whole Cake Island, viewers were amazed.

"Hey, are you kidding me?"

Perospero's voice was almost trembling: "When was it?"

But he didn't finish his sentence.

Because at this moment
"Roar!"

Accompanied by a piercing growl, the sound of sword blades and flames slicing through the air came from behind him.

The mythical beast Yazi, holding a giant sword in its mouth, was about to strike.

"clang!"

But the next moment...
After Smoothie absorbed the water, its massive body blocked Yazi's path.

Longswords clashed with greatswords, flames and moisture mingled.

"Brother Perospero, there's no time to study these things!"

At that moment, Smoothie gritted her teeth and struggled against Ya Zi, while also shouting in a low voice, "Didn't you see? Those creatures from Neverland seem to be able to restrain the 'Homies'!"

"This was not a surprise attack; it was a well-prepared war!"

She said it heavily.

Upon hearing this, Perospero was taken aback.

He then clearly took notice of the situation on the surrounding battlefield.

At this moment, the Homies were engaged in a fierce battle with the Dream Legion.

The knights, their bodies ablaze with flames, charged toward the legion of chess pieces before them.

The giant fire monsters formed from the convergence of celestial fire, together with the wind spirits that howled around them, continuously swept away the 'Guardian Tower Homies'.

Various Homies and mythical beasts of all shapes and sizes fought each other.

It must be said that after the mutation occurred in the old woman, these Homies, who followed the change in their master's personality, also became incredibly ferocious.

They use their mouths, their weapons, and even pierce their own companions to kill the enemies in front of them.

But
That doesn't make sense.

"boom!"

Not far in front of Perospero, he witnessed a fire monster being frantically cleaved in two by a queen, Homie.

"Oh dear, who wasn't coordinated well and reacted too slowly?"

"Stop arguing, this is an opportunity!"

The celestial fires that made up the fire behemoth shouted this, and then its body, broken in two, instantly healed.
"bake!"

It grabbed Queen Homie and, with a forceful grip, set her ablaze.

Of course, this situation was actually not so bad originally.

Perospero knew very well that the Queen Homie was a superior breed among all Homies. Although she couldn't compare to the three Homies created by Big Mom herself, her soul possessed a powerful self-healing ability, making her difficult to kill easily.

But at this moment
The Queen Homie, however, was clearly not healed—the soul that made it up seemed to let out a wail at that moment, and was then snatched out by the fire behemoth.

"Caught another one!"

The giant fire monster casually tossed the soul into its body, and then a group of immortal fires within it took out a mirror from somewhere and stuffed the soul directly into it.

Perospero immediately realized that Smoothie was right.

The other side clearly had a way of dealing with special creatures like the Homies.

The current battle in Totland is not a surprise attack triggered by Big Mom's words, but a war that has been prepared in advance.

The significance of this preparation lies in...
"Even if the assassination fails, they can ensure that neither we nor the Homies can provide support, so that they can kill Mom?"

Perospero, who was very quick-witted, immediately realized the key point.

He didn't know how many enemies there were, nor what methods they had used to subdue the Homies.

But he knew at least one thing—that following the enemy's path was a mistake when the enemy was clearly well-prepared.

The enemy's current actions are an attempt to completely isolate Whole Cake Island; their target is 'BIGMOM' himself.

Therefore, he should contact the port immediately. No, not just the port!
So, he didn't hesitate to take out a batch of Den Den Mushi (snail phone devices).

"Highest level of alert—all ships in all ports, depart for Whole Cake Island immediately before those monsters arrive and destroy them! Protect Mom's safety at all times!"

Perospero shouted into the command Den Den Mushi in his hand.

Yes—this is the most correct decision.

Although the battles on each island were fierce, he still ordered support for Whole Cake Island.

Because that is the only place the enemy has chosen as their main battlefield!

As his words fell...
"Support? Now? But what about our side?"

"This is the port of Chocolate Island, Lord Perospero—we're setting sail immediately."

"This is Fragrant Island, let's set sail immediately."

A series of responses followed.

But it is precisely at this moment
"Boom!"

Perospero, however, clearly heard thunder.

He raised his head subconsciously.

Then we saw—from the thick clouds in the sky, flashes of lightning suddenly crashed down.

He didn't even need to look to know where the enormous pillar of lightning would strike.

That's the direction of Chocolate Island's port.

At the same time, the Den Den Mushi representing 'Chocolate Island Port' in Perospero's hand was instantly disconnected, leaving only a busy tone.

But that's not all.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"

In the next instant, Perospero heard a series of thunderclaps.

They came from the distant sea.

"Directions to Cheese Island, Cookie Island, and Nut Island"

Each time thunder rumbled, Perospero would immediately hang up one of the Den Den Mushi in his hand.

His expression froze completely.

He certainly knew the significance of it.

"Are all the ships in the ports of the various islands..."

He said in disbelief.

Then, as if suddenly realizing something, he bit his tongue sharply: "So this is why you made us activate the 'highest sugar alert' in advance and had all the ships prepare in port ahead of time?"

Clearly, the other side possesses some kind of ability to destroy ships remotely.

In addition, there was the unexpected support from 'Cracker' during that Charlotte family meeting.

The answer is self-evident; it was all a conspiracy from the very beginning.

"The power of lightning"

Perospero looked up at the clouds that had been unusually thick since this morning.

In the darkness, he seemed to see a vast shadow looming over Totland above the clouds.

"It's not time to give up yet!"

But a moment later, Perospero gritted his teeth again.

As the strategist of the Big Mom Pirates, he could not tolerate being manipulated like this!

This is Totland; he still has a way.

Even if our ship is destroyed, we still have our guests' ships.

As he murmured to himself, he dialed another Den Den Mushi in his hand.

"Pokramus, inform all guests attending the tea party, as well as the Homies and combatants who went to greet them, that Whole Cake Island has been attacked by the Twelve Constellations. Return to base immediately to provide support. Repeat, return immediately."

"The sea area under the highest sugar level alert will be lifted for you. I will let the ocean currents homies..."

After dialing the Den Den Mushi, he hurriedly shouted.

But
"Perogo is useless."

At that moment, he heard Katakuri's voice from the side.

"Hmm?" Perospero turned his head and saw Katakuri wave his hand, and the fist made of mochi knocked back the stone guardian in front of him.

Then, he held the trident, which was already wrapped in jet-black Armament Haki, horizontally towards the empty space beside him.

next moment.
"clang!"

The enormous figure of the serpent, moving at speeds invisible to the naked eye, and its sharp claws had already appeared there.

"Zizi!"

The sharp claws clashed with the trident, sparks flying everywhere.

"Didn't you notice?"

At this moment, Katakuri's words were also very solemn - even for the second-in-command of the Big Mom Pirates, dealing with these two monsters at the same time was indeed enough to put pressure on him.

"There hasn't been a breath of wind on the sea since just now."

As he spoke, it was as if he were seeing the 'future' once again: "Guests can't come in—the whole of Totland has been 'locked down'."

"We can no longer support Mom."

His words sounded discouraging.

But the truth is, his words were very calm.

Just as he said.

Acknowledging reality and the strength of one's opponent is not shameful—on the contrary, true strength lies in recognizing one's own weaknesses in order to grow.

Katakuri is undoubtedly a 'strong'.

Therefore, he has come to terms with reality.

"What?"

Upon hearing this, Perospero, who had barely managed to get up, was taken aback.

But then, he was surprised to find...

Katakuri is right.

It wasn't just the thick clouds—at some point, you couldn't feel a breath of sea breeze at all on the entire Chocolate Island.

Moreover, to be honest, even the 'reconnaissance homies' responsible for reconnaissance and the 'current homies' controlling the ocean currents beneath the surface of Totto Land haven't reported any news for quite some time.

Even if you look far into the distance at the horizon, you can clearly see...
The sea level surrounding Totland has changed completely over time.

On the sea level, something enormous appears to be constantly rising and falling.

"That is."

Perospero's eyes widened—as the eldest son who had sailed with Bigom for many years, he certainly knew what that thing on the horizon was.

In fact, the reply from the other end of the Den Den Mushi confirmed his guess and Katakuri's words.

"We can't get into Tottoland, Lord Perospero—the entire sea is engulfed in storms, tsunamis, and waterspouts; we're completely helpless. Hey! Watch out, the ship's about to capsize!"

"Even the ships of the Dark Emperors couldn't get in; we were all intercepted."

Yes.

As Perospero saw it—what appeared on the distant horizon was a massive storm and tsunami.

But
"How could there be a tsunami? The ocean currents shouldn't have been 'eliminated' by Mom."

Perospero couldn't understand it.

"There are no more Homies, Lord Perospero. All the 'reconnaissance Homies' in the sea have been wiped out by that monster in the sky."

"Heaven?"

Perospero asked the question instinctively.

"Yes, in the sky! There are dragons in the sky! Gaaah!"

At the same time, off the coast of Totland.

Holding a Den Den Mushi, wearing sunglasses, and with the fur of a lion, the Mink Tribe let out a 'caw', its fur standing on end almost instinctively.

And at this moment, just as he said.

Before him lay a terrifying storm unlike anything he had ever seen before.

The sky was pressed down by swirling dark clouds, as if it were about to hang down to the sea.

Countless enormous waterspouts churned across the sea, lightning crashed down from the sky, and tsunamis on the surface of the sea collided with each other like towering mountains.

This terrifying celestial phenomenon stretched as far as Pokémon could see, all the way to the horizon.

"Sail! Sail!"

"Another one of the shipping tycoon's ships has been stolen?"

"There's nothing we can do. After all, it's not a warship, but a treasure ship coming to attend the tea party—besides, even a warship would be capsized in a storm of this magnitude!"

"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"

Pekoms' ship, the 'Queen Mother Anthem', is the flagship of the Big Mom Pirates and also a 'Ship Homie,' a powerful tool for sailing on the high seas.

Even this ship was constantly emitting terrified cries, completely unable to move forward normally in this storm—if it weren't for the other Homies and other fleets resisting the nearby gales and thunder, they would probably have been sunk long ago.

As he said, this sea area has gone mad; there's no way to get in from anywhere.

"Wow, this is truly...incredible news!"

But at this moment, on this panicked and terrified ship...

Flashes of light went off one after another; Morgans, the 'big news,' was frantically pressing the shutter button with his camera.

Even as thunder roared on the sea not far from him, he remained unmoved, his face showing only excitement.

His gaze was fixed on the center of the sky where the thunder was most concentrated and the dark clouds were most turbulent.

In fact, the unusual celestial phenomena in the entire Tottoran sea area at this moment all started from there.

It was a huge vortex above a cloud layer.

Inside the vortex, a colossal creature was circling and hovering.

It was a crimson dragon.

Each graceful and slow sway of its body caused a change in the celestial phenomena, which continued to spread towards the nearby sea.

To put it bluntly, anyone who makes a living on the sea would instinctively want to kneel down and prostrate themselves upon seeing this scene.

"What exactly happened in the attack on Bigmoon by the Twelve Constellations? What was the outcome? What happened to those who perished?"

"And another thing... this monster that looks exactly like Kaido is only one of the twelve constellations. It seems the world has completely underestimated you before?"

Morgans kept muttering to himself.

He almost wished he could fly directly to Totland right away.

But it wasn't to help the old lady deal with the twelve constellations; he just wanted to get firsthand information.

Of course, his overly excited behavior prompted the members of the World Economic News Agency to repeatedly advise him to keep a low profile—not to mention the storm nearby, just the anger of the Homies in BIGMOM would be enough to give them a hard time.

But it was precisely at this moment.
"Click."

Among the crowd, a beautiful woman carrying a handbag quietly pressed the button on her small camera as well.

She is one of the six great emperors of the underworld—'Queen of Pleasure Street', Stussy.

Besides that.
"Hey"

She spoke into the tiny Den Den Mushi in her hand, her lips not moving, but her abdomen emitting a soft rumbling sound: "I found them, they're in Tottoland—you can have him come over now."

"I don't know how many there are; I can only see one here."

As she spoke, her gaze fell upon the crimson dragon in the sky.

【Twelve Zodiac Signs - Dragon】

She said softly, "So, is there anything I can do for you?"

“No need, Stusi.”

From the other end of the Den Den Mushi came an aged voice: "Take care of your own safety."

The tone of that voice even seemed to be full of anticipation.

"This is a stage for the 'Twelve Constellations,' a stage for the 'New Era.'"

"We just need to wait."

　In the original work, Big Mom and Kaido are dead. Oda has explicitly stated in an interview that they are "dead." The reason for not writing about their corpses is to allow Big Mom and Kaido, representing the old era, to make a dignified exit.

　　Incidentally, although the old lady here is led by Sister Carmel, she is actually the old lady herself (you can understand it as everyone experiencing the same things after their souls merged, except that Sister Carmel's part of the soul has a different personality than Lingling, but their combat abilities, combat experience, and even the use of their bodies are the same).

　　Also, there will be an extra long chapter today, so we can wrap up the "Grandma" arc tomorrow.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)