Chapter 203: The Emperors' Despair!
"What?!"
The terrified exclamation echoed not just in one room, but simultaneously across a hundred different gilded palaces and hidden fortresses throughout the treacherous waters of the New World.
"That monster... that absolute, unkillable disaster known as Kaido... was really taken down?!"
Kings, nobles, and underground brokers alike stared at the morning newspapers in their trembling hands.
The bold, black ink of the headlines seemed to blur before their wide, panicked eyes, the reality of the words completely failing to register in their logical minds.
Cold sweat soaked through expensive silk pajamas and heavy velvet cloaks.
"My God! What kind of unfathomable background does this Suzaku Pirates crew actually have?!" a king of a prominent vassal state screamed, his crown sitting askew on his balding head as he paced frantically across his marble study.
"Will they come to kill us too?! We just paid our tribute to the Beasts Pirates last month!"
The sheer, suffocating terror of the unknown gripped the hearts of the world's elite.
"Forget the past! The past is dead with Kaido!" an elderly minister shrieked, waving his arms wildly at the royal guards. "Hurry! Prepare the finest gifts in the royal treasury at once!"
"Empty the vaults! The more extravagant, the more priceless the better! We must dispatch our fastest envoys to Wano Country immediately!"
In an instant, a massive, unprecedented chain reaction swept across every single kingdom in the New World.
Whether they were loyal vassals currently bowing to the World Government, independent realms that lived in constant, shivering fear of the Yonko, or smaller states paying heavy tribute to other notorious pirate crews, they all erupted in pure panic.
They reacted exactly like frightened cats whose tails had just been violently stepped on.
Grand palaces that usually slept peacefully through the night now blazed with intense, blinding light.
Emergency royal councils were convened in the dead of night, the shouting and arguing of terrified officials echoing down the long, ornate corridors until dawn broke.
In the bustling harbors of these desperate nations, grand envoy ships were hastily and chaotically readied for immediate departure.
Massive, heavily guarded royal warehouses were thrown wide open.
Soldiers and servants packed the ships' holds with absurdly lavish gifts: mountains of sparkling gold coins, chests overflowing with flawless diamonds, rare artifacts, and the finest silks the world had to offer.
Government officials and royal advisors scrambled across the docks in frantic, undignified haste.
They screamed orders until their throats were hoarse, absolutely terrified that even the slightest, most insignificant delay would draw the deadly gaze of the new apex predator.
They all feared that the youth with the wicked, confident smile plastered across the front page of the newspaper—the man known as "Suzaku"—would look their way next.
"Anyone capable of personally slaying a towering Emperor of the Sea is someone we absolutely, unequivocally cannot afford to provoke!"
This was the singular, undeniable consensus that united the chaotic New World.
"We must show our absolute goodwill and submission—at any cost! We absolutely do not want our peaceful kingdom to become the next blood-soaked Wano Country!"
Flattery and sheer fear, sycophancy and deep-seated dread; these dark emotions flawlessly blended together to become the sole, dominant mood of the entire New World.
Everyone, from the highest king to the lowest underworld broker, used immediate, desperate action to prove a point to this newly risen "emperor."
They all wanted to loudly broadcast: We know exactly which way the wind blows now.
We know who the new god of this sea is, and we are more than willing to pay for our lives.
A mighty, glittering tide of "tribute" ships now surged forward, sailing at maximum speed toward the long-secluded, mysterious, and now terrifying borders of Wano Country.
Meanwhile, deep in the heart of the New World.
Totto Land. Whole Cake Island.
The air in this bizarre, fantastical empire forever reeked of cloying, artificial sweetness.
Rivers of thick, warm syrup meandered gently past colorful houses constructed entirely of baked biscuits, chocolate, and hardened frosting.
It was a paradise of sugar, a place where the environment itself was supposed to bring joy and comfort.
Yet, at this exact moment, the shocking news carried by a single, flimsy newspaper completely washed every last trace of that sickening sweetness away.
"Mom! Mom! Something absolutely terrible has happened!"
The frantic, high-pitched screams of the Charlotte siblings echoed through the massive, winding corridors of Whole Cake Chateau.
"Kaido... that invincible, arrogant bastard Kaido is actually dead!"
"And Red Hair! The invincible Red Hair Pirates were violently beaten back too!"
The core members of the Charlotte Family—those incredibly proud Ministers and universally feared Sweet Commanders—had completely lost their usual haughty composure.
They now swarmed through the halls of Mom's colossal palace, moving with the frantic, chaotic energy of a violently stirred hornet's nest.
The eldest son, Charlotte Perospero, was pacing frantically in the grand foyer.
He nervously, obsessively licked his oversized candy cane.
The sugary staff went pero-pero in rapid, erratic clicks against his long tongue.
His eyes, usually filled with cunning and cruel amusement, were now wide and completely full of profound, unsettling doubt.
Heavy drops of cold sweat ruined his thick, theatrical makeup, dripping slowly down his long chin.
Nearby, the massive and usually stoic Sweet Commander, Charlotte Smoothie, clenched her hands into tight fists without even thinking.
She squeezed the stem of her wine glass so hard that the thick crystal violently shattered, spilling red liquid across the patterned floor.
She didn't even notice the glass cutting her palm, entirely focused on trying to steady her violently shaking heart and the sheer shock vibrating through her tall frame.
On the other side of the room, the hot-tempered Minister of Browning, Charlotte Oven, was breathing heavily.
His massive, muscular body involuntarily began radiating waves of intense, searing heat.
Thick, ugly veins bulged prominently on his broad forehead, and the candy-coated tiles beneath his heavy boots actually began to melt and hiss.
The apocalyptic news in the paper had clearly and deeply rattled him to his very core.
For the first time in decades, the entire, supposedly invincible BIG MOM Pirates crew sank into a suffocating chaos and blind panic they had never, ever known.
Just as the cacophony of panicked voices threatened to tear the roof off the chateau, a single voice cut through the air.
It was a voice as steady, cold, and immovable as a towering mountain of iron.
"...Enough. Be quiet."
The words were not shouted, yet they carried a heavy, terrifying acoustic weight that instantly silenced the entire room.
Charlotte Katakuri stood near the entrance to the throne room.
The man with a staggering bounty topping a billion Berries, the flawless second son of the Charlotte Family, and the absolute, unshakable backbone that every single sibling trusted with their lives.
He stood tall, his massive arms folded tightly across his broad, spiked leather chest.
His demeanor was entirely cold, incredibly calm, and utterly devoid of the panic infecting his family.
His sharp, crimson gaze was completely unruffled, bearing the immense, crushing steadiness expected of the crew's greatest pillar.
That single, low sentence from his hidden mouth froze the once-seething, chaotic room into absolute, deathly silence.
Every single eye in the foyer slid instinctively from the imposing figure of Katakuri, moving slowly and fearfully toward the enormous woman sitting upon the vast, cushion-strewn throne at the end of the hall.
One of the Four Emperors of the Sea.
BIG MOM, Charlotte Linlin.
"Mmm... mamamama..."
A bizarre, unsettling rumbling sound emerged from the towering woman's throat.
Surprisingly, absolutely no joy, sorrow, or immediate anger showed on BIG MOM's massive, heavily wrinkled face.
She sat heavily on her throne, looking entirely unbothered by the fact that one of her oldest acquaintances and fiercest rivals had just been slaughtered.
She only casually dug in her giant ear with a thick pinky finger, pulled it out, and gave a strange, high-pitched laugh before snorting loudly in disdain.
"That arrogant, reckless bastard Kaido... he just went and up and died on me?"
She leaned forward, her shadow completely engulfing the siblings standing before her.
"He still owed me for the massive, life-saving favor I lent him all those decades ago in God Valley!"
In her incredibly greedy, childish eyes, the very first flash of emotion was not the expected dread of a fallen rival.
It was not fear of the shifting global balance.
It was simply raw, unadulterated fury over a bad, unpaid debt that she could no longer collect.
That is the terrifying, single-minded nature of BIG MOM.
But soon, the chaotic gears in her mind shifted.
She seemed to finally recall the specific name that had been printed in massive letters as the one who had beaten Kaido to death—"Suzaku."
She remembered the handsome, entirely fearless young captain of the crew that, not long ago, had casually attended her tea party.
She remembered how they had eaten their absolute fill at her prestigious table, casually disrespected her authority, and then strolled right out of her territory completely unscathed.
Thinking of their deeply unfathomable, monstrous strength, and the chilling, absolute composure that even she had found deeply troublesome at the time, her mood violently shifted.
BIG MOM's rage-twisted, greedy face suddenly stiffened into a rigid mask.
The rest of her loud, echoing complaint about Kaido's debt was abruptly swallowed back down her massive throat.
A rare, almost imperceptible bead of cold sweat formed near her bright pink hair.
After a long, tense pause that felt like an eternity to the siblings holding their breath, she slowly turned her huge head.
She looked down past her homies, locking eyes with her most powerful, trusted son.
"Katakuri... my perfect, good son," BIG MOM rumbled, her voice losing its usual chaotic edge, replacing it with a dangerous, serious undertone. "What do you think we should do about this mess now?"
That single, heavy question instantly lifted every single heart in the room straight into their throats.
All eyes snapped back to the towering Sweet Commander.
Though his mouth and sharp, pelican-eel teeth were entirely hidden by his thick, voluminous white scarf, Katakuri's voice rang out incredibly clear and authoritative.
"Mom. We must look at the facts," Katakuri stated, his crimson eyes scanning the terrified faces of his siblings. "We entertained the Suzaku Pirates here on Whole Cake Island. No true bad blood was spilled between our main forces."
He slowly unfolded his massive arms, emphasizing his point.
"In fact, we shared what could technically be called a 'pleasant' tea party. That is a very rare, incredibly good foundation to have with monsters of their caliber."
He paused, allowing his strategic logic to sink into their panicked minds.
"Now, they firmly hold the entirety of Wano Country. They have violently, decisively taken Kaido's place on the throne of the New World."
Katakuri's gaze hardened, his tone brooking absolutely no argument from anyone present.
"I firmly believe we should send our most diplomatic envoys at once. We must load our ships with the absolute finest sweets, the rarest ingredients, and the most priceless gifts our treasury holds, and send them directly to Wano."
He spoke slowly, pacing slightly, but every single word he delivered was steeped in flawless, undeniable logic.
"The ultimate goal here is to build upon that solid, pre-existing base we established. We must proactively strengthen this so-called 'friendship' before they decide to look for new enemies."
"What absolute, cowardly nonsense!"
The furious, booming shout shattered the silence Katakuri had carefully constructed.
The hot-tempered Oven was the very first to step forward, completely unable to contain his wounded pride any longer.
Searing, intense steam violently warped the air around his massive, muscular body, making the candy decorations on the walls begin to drip and sizzle.
"Brother Katakuri! Have you completely lost your mind?!" Oven roared, gesturing wildly with his thick, burning arms. "Everyone on this sea knows we were on fair, equal terms with the Beasts Pirates!"
He stomped his heavy boot, cracking the floorboards.
"Now, Kaido's corpse is barely even cold, and you want us to desperately rush to deliver lavish gifts to his killers like some weak, trembling vassal state?!"
Oven's face was twisted in a mixture of deep shame and explosive rage.
"If news of that cowardly action spreads across the sea, won't the entire world laugh at us?! Won't people say that the mighty BIG MOM Pirates bow lower and faster than the Suzaku Pirates?!"
Oven's passionate, fiery words accurately voiced what many of the proud siblings present secretly felt in their hearts.
They were the children of Charlotte Linlin.
They were the core members of one of the legendary Yonko crews, the absolute, undisputed monarchs of the New World.
How could they possibly stoop to such pathetic, groveling "flattery" just because another Emperor had fallen? It went against everything they had built their terrifying reputation upon.
A murmur of agreement began to ripple through the gathered siblings, their pride temporarily blinding them to the reality of the situation.
Yet, Katakuri simply turned his head.
He didn't yell. He didn't raise his voice. He merely locked his glowing, crimson eyes directly onto his younger brother.
The sheer, suffocating intensity of his Conqueror's Haki flared for a fraction of a second, instantly chilling the searing heat radiating from Oven's body.
"Oven," Katakuri said, his voice dropping to a freezing, dangerous whisper that cut through the murmurs like a scythe. "Stow that laughable, useless pride of yours immediately."
Oven flinched, taking a half-step back as if physically struck by the sheer coldness in his older brother's tone.
"Do not let your arrogance blind you to the absolute facts printed on that paper," Katakuri continued, taking a slow, heavy step toward the crowd. "Don't forget the most terrifying detail of this entire incident. They didn't just kill Kaido in a grueling, drawn-out war. They didn't just take Wano Country after a long siege."
His voice dropped even further, carrying a freezing, razor-sharp edge that seemed to lower the temperature of the entire throne room.
"On their direct path to Wano, they were intercepted. They also clashed with, and entirely crushed, another one of the Yonko."
Katakuri paused, letting the silence stretch until it was nearly unbearable.
"They routed the Red Hair Pirates. Shanks and his entire elite crew were forced to flee for their lives."
He looked around the room, making sure every single sibling met his terrifying gaze.
"Within the span of a single, solitary day, this newcomer crew completely toppled two invincible emperors of the sea."
The heavy, undeniable words struck like an invisible, massive sledgehammer directly into the core of every single Charlotte heart present.
The grand throne room sank once more into a profound, deathly silence.
This time, the quiet did not stem solely from Katakuri's immense authority or fear of his reprimand.
It stemmed entirely from the suffocating, mind-breaking truth he had just forced them to acknowledge.
They themselves were a Four-Emperor crew.
Because they stood at the absolute pinnacle, no one in the entire world knew better than they did just how mighty, how truly insurmountable such a force was supposed to be.
And yet, this young man named "Suzaku" had casually sailed into the New World, crippled one Emperor's fleet, and completely, violently crushed another Emperor to death.
All within twenty-four hours.
What an outrageous, entirely absurd, and utterly... soul-crushing, despair-inducing feat!
[Akarin Note:
Your Support Keeps This Story Alive!
If you're enjoying this novel, your support means the world to me. Simple actions like leaving a review, power stone, comment, or sharing the story let me know you're out there. It's the greatest motivation for me to keep updating until the very end and ensures this project continues.
For those who wish to support me more directly, you can join my Patreon at [patreon.com/AkarinTL]. As a thank-you, you'll receive access to 50 advanced chapters.
I hope I am still worthy of your support. My life truly depends on this... haha, I know I'm so shameless.]