Chapter 176: This is Not a Raid, This is War!
Seeing Neverland piercing through the clouds on the live broadcast screen, slowly revealing itself above Whole Cake Island.
"Hey, hey, you're joking, right?"
Perospero's voice trembled. "When did..."
But he couldn't finish his sentence.
Because at this moment...
ROAR!
Accompanied by a piercing low roar, the sound of sword edges and flames cutting through the air came from behind him.
Phantom Beast Lord Yazi, biting a giant sword, struck.
CLANG!
But the next moment...
Smoothie's massive body, after absorbing moisture, blocked Yazi.
Long sword collided with giant sword; flames and water overlapped.
"Brother Perospero, no time to analyze!"
Gritting her teeth while wrestling with Yazi, Smoothie shouted in a low voice, "Didn't you see? Those Neverland creatures seem to counter 'Homies'!"
"This is not a raid... this is a war prepared long ago!"
She said heavily.
Hearing this, Perospero froze.
Then, he clearly noticed the situation on the surrounding battlefield.
Homies were fighting fiercely with the Phantasm Legion.
Knights burning with flames charged at the legion of Chess Soldiers.
Flame giants formed by Faerie Fires cooperated with Wind Spirits surrounded by howling winds, sweeping away guard "Tower Homies" constantly.
Various Homies and distinct phantoms killed each other.
Admittedly—after the mutation in Big Mom, these Homies, changing with their master's personality, became incredibly ferocious.
Using mouths, weapons, even piercing companions to kill enemies.
But...
Meaningless.
BOOM!
Not far in front of Perospero, he saw a flame giant cut in half by a Queen Homie frantically.
"Oops, who didn't cooperate well just now, slow reaction."
"Stop arguing, this is a chance!"
Faerie Fires composing the flame giant shouted. Then the severed body healed instantly, and...
WHOOSH!
It grabbed the Queen Homie, squeezing hard to ignite her.
Normally, this would be fine.
Perospero knew well—Queen Homies were high-level Homies. Although inferior to the three Homies made from Big Mom's own soul, their souls had strong self-healing abilities, hard to kill easily.
But now...
That Queen Homie clearly didn't heal—her composing soul seemed to wail at this moment, then was pulled out directly by the flame giant.
"Caught another one!"
The flame giant threw the soul into its body casually. Then, a group of Faerie Fires inside it took out a mirror from somewhere, stuffing the soul directly into it.
Perospero realized immediately Smoothie was right.
The enemy clearly had countermeasures against Homies.
The battle in Totto Land wasn't a raid triggered by Big Mom's words, but a prepared war.
The significance of this preparation lay in...
"Even if assassination fails, they can ensure we and Homies cannot support... to facilitate killing Mama?"
Perospero, with a good brain, realized the key point instantly.
He didn't know the enemy's numbers or methods to counter Homies.
But he knew one thing—following the enemy's path was wrong when they were clearly prepared.
The enemy was trying to isolate Whole Cake Island completely; their target was Big Mom.
So, he should contact the port immediately... no, not just the port!
He took out a batch of Den Den Mushis without hesitation.
"Maximum Sugar Alert—all ships in ports, before those monsters destroy them, depart for Whole Cake Island immediately... must protect Mama's safety!"
Perospero shouted into the command snail.
Yes—this was the most correct decision.
Although battles on various islands were anxious, he still ordered support for Whole Cake Island.
Because only there was the main battlefield chosen by the enemy!
As his words fell...
"Support? Now? But here..."
"This is Cacao Island port, Lord Perospero—we are sailing..."
"This is Flavor Island, we are sailing immediately too."
Responses came continuously.
But just then...
RUMBLE!
Perospero clearly heard... thunder.
He looked up instinctively.
Then he saw—from the thick clouds in the sky, flashing lightning struck suddenly.
He didn't even need to look to confirm where the massive lightning pillar struck.
The direction of Cacao Island port.
Simultaneously, the snail representing "Cacao Island Port" in Perospero's hand hung up instantly, only busy tones came.
And not just this.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
In the next instant, Perospero heard continuous thunder again.
Coming from the distant sea surface.
"Cheese Island... Biscuit Island and Nut Island directions..."
Every time thunder sounded, a snail in Perospero's hand hung up immediately.
His expression froze completely.
He knew the meaning.
"Ships in ports of various islands, could they all be..."
He said incredulously.
Then, realizing something suddenly, he bit his tongue fiercely. "Letting us activate 'Maximum Sugar Alert' early, making all ships prepare in ports early, was it for this?"
Clearly—the enemy had some ability to destroy ships remotely.
Plus "Cracker" suddenly supporting the proposal in the Charlotte Family meeting earlier.
The answer was self-evident... everything was a conspiracy from the start.
"Lightning ability..."
Perospero looked up at the overly thick clouds since this morning.
Vaguely, he seemed to see a massive shadow looming over Totto Land above the clouds.
"No... not time to give up yet!"
But moments later, Perospero gritted his teeth again.
As the Big Mom Pirates' strategist, he couldn't tolerate being played like this!
This was Totto Land; he still had ways.
"Even if our ships are destroyed, there are guests' ships..."
Muttering, he dialed another snail.
"Pekoms, notify all guests attending the Tea Party, and Homies and combatants welcoming guests... Whole Cake Island attacked by The Zodiac, return immediately for support, repeat, return immediately..."
"Maximum Sugar Alert sea control will be lifted for you, I'll have Current Homies..."
After dialing, he shouted hurriedly.
But...
"Brother Perospero... useless."
At this moment, he heard Katakuri's voice beside him.
"Hm?"
Perospero turned around, seeing Katakuri waving his hand, mochi fist repelling the Xiegandang (Stone Sentinel) before him.
Then, the trident wrapped in black Armament Haki swung horizontally toward an empty direction beside him.
Next moment...
CLANG!
Zheng's massive figure, fast beyond the naked eye, and its sharp claws appeared there.
Spark!
Claws and trident collided, sparks flying.
"Didn't you notice?"
Katakuri's tone was solemn—even for the second-in-command, handling these two monsters simultaneously was pressuring.
"Since just now, there's no wind on the sea at all."
He said, as if seeing the "Future" again. "Guests can't come in... all Totto Land is 'Blockaded'."
"We... can't support Mama anymore."
His words sounded like defeatist talk.
But in fact, his tone was calm.
As he said.
Admitting reality and the opponent's strength wasn't shameful—on the contrary, true powerhouses must realize their flaws to grow.
And Katakuri... was undoubtedly a "Powerhouse".
So, he recognized reality.
"Wha... what?"
Hearing this, Perospero, barely standing up, was stunned.
But immediately, he discovered with surprise.
Katakuri was right.
Not just thick clouds—from a certain point, Cacao Island felt no sea breeze at all.
And strictly speaking, even the "Scout Homies" under Totto Land's sea surface and "Current Homies" controlling currents hadn't reported news for a long time.
Looking far at the horizon, one could clearly see...
The horizon around Totto Land had changed completely unnoticed.
On the horizon, some massive things seemed to be rising and falling constantly.
"That is..."
Perospero's eyes widened—as the eldest son sailing with Big Mom for years, he knew what was on the horizon.
In fact, the reply from the other end of the snail confirmed his guess and Katakuri's words.
"Can't enter Totto Land, Lord Perospero... entire sea area is storms, tsunamis, and waterspouts... we can't... Hey! Watch out, ship capsizing!"
"Several Underworld Emperors' ships can't enter either, we are all intercepted..."
Yes.
What Perospero saw on the distant horizon was massive storms and tsunamis.
But...
"How can there be tsunamis? Current Homies shouldn't have been 'Eliminated' by Mama..."
Perospero couldn't understand.
"No Homies, Lord Perospero... all 'Scout Homies' in the sea are wiped out, by... by the monster in the sky..."
"Sky?"
Perospero asked instinctively.
"Yes, sky... there is... there is a Dragon in the sky! Gah-oh!"
At the same time, outer sea of Totto Land.
Holding a snail, wearing sunglasses, a lion-like Mink roared "Gah-oh", fur bristling instinctively.
As he said.
Before him was a terrifying storm he had never seen.
Sky pressed low by rolling dark clouds, seemingly touching the sea.
Countless massive waterspouts overturned in the sea; lightning smashed down from the sky constantly; tsunamis on the sea collided like mountains.
Such terrifying weather extended to the end of Pekoms' vision.
"Sails! Sails!"
"Another ship of the Shipping King swept away?"
"Can't help it, not warships but treasure ships for the Tea Party—besides, in this storm, even warships would capsize!"
"Retreat! Retreat! Retreat!"
The ship Pekoms was on, "Queen Mama Chanter", the flagship of Big Mom Pirates and a "Ship Homie", a weapon for sailing.
Even this ship screamed in terror now, unable to advance normally in this storm—if not for other Homies and fleets resisting nearby gales and lightning, they would have sunk long ago.
As he said—this sea area had gone mad, unenterable from anywhere.
"Hohoho, this is truly... incredible Big News!"
But on this panicked ship.
Flashbulbs flashed continuously. "Big News" Morgans held a camera, pressing the shutter frantically.
Even with thunder exploding nearby, he didn't waver, face full of excitement.
He looked at the center of the sky where lightning was densest and clouds rolled most violently.
In fact, the abnormal weather in Totto Land started from there.
A massive vortex above the clouds.
Inside the vortex, a behemoth circled.
A Crimson Giant Dragon.
Every graceful and slow movement of its body triggered weather changes, spreading to nearby seas constantly.
To be blunt, anyone making a living on the sea seeing this would instinctively want to kneel.
"The Zodiac attacking Big Mom, what's happening? Who wins? Who dies?"
"And... this monster identical to Kaido is just one of The Zodiac. Seems the world underestimated you guys before?"
Morgans muttered constantly.
He wished he could fly into Totto Land personally.
Not to help Big Mom against The Zodiac, just to get firsthand news.
Of course, his over-excited behavior made News Coo members advise him to keep a low profile—aside from the storm, surrounding Big Mom Homies getting angry would be trouble enough.
But just then...
Click.
In the crowd, a beautiful woman carrying a handbag pressed a small camera quietly.
One of the Six Emperors of the Underworld, "Queen of the Pleasure District", Stussy.
Besides that...
"Hello..."
Speaking to a micro snail, lips not moving, but abdomen emitting faint ventriloquism. "Found them, they are in Totto Land... you can let him come."
"Don't know how many, I can only see one here..."
As she spoke, she looked at the crimson divine dragon in the sky.
[The Zodiac — Ryuji (Dragon)]
She whispered, "So, need me to do anything?"
"No need, Stussy."
From the other end, an old voice came. "Ensure your safety."
The voice seemed full of expectation.
"This is the stage for 'The Zodiac', the stage for the 'New Era'."
"We just need to wait."
☆☆☆
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