A call from Kaido…
Wilder's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly suppressed the flicker of unease, his brow furrowing. "What is it?"
"Jack the Drought from the Beasts Pirates somehow found out that Red Leaf took over Doflamingo's businesses. He called through one of our channels, and he…"
On the other end, Kaneshiro paused, taking a deep breath before continuing. "He said… he wants us to provide them with Artificial Devil Fruits, just like Doflamingo used to."
"And what did you say?" Wilder asked, his eyes narrowing to slits.
"I told him… that Red Leaf doesn't have that kind of capability," Kaneshiro answered, his tone cautious.
Wilder was silent for a moment before replying with a soft, "Mm." He then pressed on, "And Jack? What was his reaction?"
"He said he's giving us half a month to deliver the first batch of Artificial Devil Fruits," Kaneshiro reported, his voice thick with anger and frustration.
"Half a month…" Wilder murmured to himself. A cold, humorless smirk touched his lips. "Well, we still have half a month, don't we? No need to rush…"
After hanging up, a chilling light flashed in Wilder's eyes.
Kaido…
The world was full of arrogant bastards, and it seemed their numbers were only growing.
Wilder hadn't anticipated this development. To be honest, the news was a source of pressure, but that didn't mean he was about to bow to Kaido's threats.
Besides, according to his timeline, after Big Mom… Kaido was next anyway.
Though the matter weighed on his mind, Wilder's expression remained a mask of calm. He summoned the warship's chefs and instructed them to prepare the Tiger Grouper.
"Sashimi," he stated simply, handing the fish over. He then walked to the bow, settled into a deck chair, closed his eyes, and began rubbing his temples in thought.
Before long, the sashimi was ready. Wilder invited Claire, who was traveling with them, to join him.
He had to admit, the Tiger Grouper truly lived up to its reputation as an ingredient from the legendary All Blue. The meat was tender, exquisitely fresh, and completely free of any fishy taste, possessing only a faint, clean fragrance inherent to the ingredient itself.
"Not bad," Wilder said, taking a sip of red wine to accompany a slice of fish. Satisfied, he set down his chopsticks.
"Report! We will reach the waters of Cake Island in half an hour!" a member of Morass called down from the crow's nest.
"Pass the order!" Wilder commanded instantly. "Maintain full alert and prepare for battle! Deploy the monitoring submarines! Clear the way!"
"Yes, sir!"
Two hatches opened on either side of the black and red warship's hull. A total of six submarines shot out, diving into the sea and fanning out to patrol the surrounding area. The hatches sealed shut behind them.
Soon, a steady stream of reports began to flow back from the deployed submarines.
"Report! Submarine One, no abnormalities or enemies detected!"
"Report! Submarine Two, no abnormalities or enemies detected!"
"Report! Submarine Three, no abnormalities or enemies detected!"
"Report! Submarine Four, no abnormalities or enemies detected!"
"Report! Submarine Five, no abnormalities or enemies detected!"
"Report…"
As the messages came in, the black and red warship advanced steadily, following the path cleared by the submarines.
Before long, the submarines returned, re-entering the warship.
In the distance, a bustling island had come into clear view.
Puff-like objects drifted in the sky. Wilder glanced up at them, a cold sneer on his face.
Boom!
A thin, black film materialized, enveloping the entire warship.
It was a new product from the R&D department, an optical membrane developed based on Yves's abilities. It rendered the ship invisible from the outside, while those inside could still see out.
Wilder had already decided he would sell these products for a profit in the future.
After all, this kind of technology posed no fundamental threat to Morass. As long as it made money, it was worth selling.
Simultaneously, the dozen other ships approaching from different directions were also cloaked in the same film, steadily closing in on Cake Island.
Finally, more than a dozen ships arrived silently on the shores of Cake Island from various directions. Without exception, they all landed on coastlines that lacked docks or any other moored vessels.
After anchoring the ships, everyone leaped from the decks and made landfall.
Wilder knew that even with these precautions, they couldn't possibly hide from Big Mom completely. But he wasn't worried. As long as their identities remained concealed, it didn't matter. Even if Big Mom knew uninvited guests had arrived, she wouldn't be able to confirm it was Morass, and she likely wouldn't be able to spare the forces to deal with them.
Furthermore, the Straw Hat Pirates had already infiltrated Cake Island and were causing a commotion. The island's forces were concentrated on hunting them down, and with Big Mom in the throes of one of her sweet cravings, the entire territory was in chaos. There was simply no spare capacity to investigate other disturbances.
While Big Mom was terrifying in her rampages, there were two sides to every coin. Once she went berserk, she lost all reason, unable to consider the bigger picture. She would fall into a state of madness, indiscriminately destroying everything and every living creature in her path. But in doing so, she would neglect things she would normally guard against.
According to Wilder's plan, the teams from the dozen ships would not meet up initially. They would stay in constant communication via Den Den Mushi.
After entering Cake Island, the teams would converge on the palace from different directions, looking for an opportunity to assassinate their target: Big Mom herself.
"Claire, Franpetar, Jacks," Wilder said, turning his head and speaking to the three in a low voice. "Once you reach the palace, do not reveal yourselves. Infiltrate it directly and copy the Road Poneglyph."
The three were momentarily taken aback, then nodded silently.
Wilder handed Claire a map compiled by the Lurking Serpent Department, along with a camera. "When you find it, just take a picture of the Road Poneglyph."
As he spoke, Wilder couldn't help but recall the scene from the original story where the Straw Hats copied the Poneglyph, and he shook his head.
Wouldn't it be a whole lot simpler to just snap a picture? They had to press a sheet of paper against it and slowly make a rubbing. Weren't they just asking for the enemy to stop them?
Claire took the camera and nodded. Then, the three of them departed.
Wilder and the Morass members behind him also began to move, advancing toward the interior of Cake Island.
Before long, they entered a forest.
As they walked, strange, cackling laughter began to echo from all around them.
Wilder stopped, and the group behind him followed suit, raising their guns and swords. They formed a back-to-back circle, warily scanning their surroundings.
"Heeheehee-hahaha!"
The sound grew louder. Wilder stood his ground, taking a drag from his cigarette with a blank expression.
He had anticipated this. Big Mom's Soul-Soul Fruit allowed her to give life to anything. This forest, therefore, was a living, inescapable surveillance zone.
There was no doubt that the sounds were coming from the forest itself.
The cackling laughter was like a demonic chant, ringing in the ears of Wilder and his men. Some of the Morass members were already frowning; the noise was designed to disrupt one's mind. An ordinary person would have likely broken down in fear by now.
Then, the surrounding trees and plants began to rustle and stir. Bizarre, smiling faces appeared on them. They turned, their gazes fixed on Wilder's group, who were now surrounded.
"Heeheehee!"
"Hahahaha!"
The plants let out their strange laughter as they gradually closed in on Wilder and his men.
Wilder raised a hand, stopping his subordinates who were about to open fire.
He then lifted his palm, aiming it at the encroaching flora. He swept his hand in a circle, and a dense barrage of swamp bullets erupted from his palm. In an instant, the plants were blasted to smithereens, their screams echoing through the forest.
Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew…!
Wilder remained unmoved, standing in place, only his arm moving in a circular motion. Countless fist-sized globs of swamp erupted from his palm, firing continuously with no sign of stopping.
"Help! Spare me!" The plants were terrified now, scrambling to flee. But those with roots couldn't escape. They were instantly obliterated by the swamp bullets, their remains splattering onto the ground to serve as fertilizer.
"Let's go."
The entire process took less than a minute. Once the surrounding area fell silent, Wilder lowered his arm and spoke calmly. He then began walking forward at a steady pace, as if he had just taken care of some trivial matter.
His subordinates exchanged glances, swallowing dryly. Their eyes, fixed on Wilder's back, were filled with adoration.
"The boss is incredible!"
"Yeah! That took less than a minute. If it were me, I would've had to reload a dozen times."
Muttering amongst themselves, they hurried to follow.
Meanwhile, the teams in the other dozen locations were encountering similar situations.
Crocodile gathered a swirling vortex of sand in his hand. With a sharp thrust of his arm, the sand shot forward, instantly expanding into a terrifying tornado sandstorm. In less than ten seconds, it had shredded all the surrounding plants to pieces. They didn't even have time to scream.
Clenching a cigar between his teeth, Crocodile wore an expression that suggested he had just done something utterly insignificant. He lowered his hand and strode forward.
The high-ranking officer on his team was Kuchiel. He hadn't made a move, having noticed Crocodile's intention to act. Instead, he had stopped to observe.
What he saw sent a ripple of shock through him.
"As expected of a former Warlord of the Sea," he muttered. "That power certainly lives up to his reputation." With that, he hefted his greatsword onto his back and followed.
The other crew members stood stunned for a moment before shaking themselves out of their stupor and hurrying after them.
In another direction, Vice and Ivankov were on the same team. They chose to attack simultaneously, and likewise, it took them very little time to completely destroy the annoying plants around them.
Vice transformed into a terrifying giant crocodile. With a single sweep of his tail, he swung in a full circle, snapping the trees and plants in half and sending them exploding into splinters.
The Okama King, Ivankov, shot a wary glance at Vice and shrieked, "Watch it, you idiot! You almost hit me!"
"Oh, my bad," Vice's deep voice rumbled, but his tone held not a hint of sincerity. Enraged, Ivankov took out his frustration on the remaining plants.
"DEATH WINK! HEE… HAW!"
BOOM!
Dust and debris exploded outwards. The plant-homies were annihilated without a single scream.
The surroundings fell silent. Some of the plants in the distance that had been planning to join the fun were now trembling in fear, wishing they could bury their heads in the ground.
The display of power left the subordinates of both men stunned into silence. Ivankov's followers were shocked by Vice's terrifying strength, while Vice's men were aghast at Ivankov's bizarre and destructive ability.
"Hey, can the Horm-Horm Fruit really be used like that?" Vice asked, transforming back into his human form and looking at Ivankov curiously. "Death Wink? Is that a shockwave? What does that have to do with hormones?"
"That guy…" Ivankov was startled by the question. A thought suddenly struck him, and he grew wary of Morass's intelligence network. They even knew about his Devil Fruit ability.
He rarely disclosed his power. Without him saying it, no one would ever guess it was the Horm-Horm Fruit. He had only told Straw Hat and his close companions during the Summit War.
"Could that bastard Sand-Crocodile have told them?" Ivankov's face flushed with anger. "Damn it! It looks like he's itching for another taste of my power!"
"Hey! I'm talking to you, plate-face," Vice said impatiently when he didn't get a response.
"..."
Plate-face…
Only one word echoed in Ivankov's mind.
Plate-face…
Plate-face…
As the word reverberated, a fire of pure rage ignited in his heart.
"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU CALLING PLATE-FACE?! LET'S GO, YOU BIG OAF!" Ivankov's eyes turned bloodshot. He lunged at Vice, landing a solid Okama Kick on his cheek.
"What the—!" Caught off guard, Vice was sent flying, his face instantly swelling up. Now he was furious too.
"ROAR!" A deep, terrifying growl erupted from his throat. Vice shifted into his half-man, half-crocodile form, his sharp claws swiping at Ivankov. The two immediately began brawling.
The others could only stare, completely dumbfounded.
"Wh-why did it come to this?" a Morass member asked blankly.
The other teams also ran into harassment from the forest's flora. In every case, the homies that dared to show themselves were utterly annihilated, and those farther away quickly fled.
At that moment, Wilder finally emerged from the forest. In the distance, he could see the tall castle.
BOOM!
An explosion roared from the bustling town ahead, and thick smoke billowed into the sky. Wilder knew the Straw Hats had likely already clashed with Big Mom's children and were now being hunted.
"Let's go," Wilder said, his voice deep as he took a step forward. "Time to enjoy the sights of Totto Land."