A moment later, the four of them sat in a circle, and Jinbe meticulously mapped out the current state of affairs for Luffy and Sanji.
Finally, his gaze settled heavily onto the captain. "Luffy, our objective here is glaringly obvious: crash the wedding and rescue Sanji's family, correct?"
"That's right!" Luffy replied with absolute conviction.
"Good. Then there is something I must address. This is the stronghold of the Yonko, Big Mom. Given our current numbers and exhaustion parameters, our mathematical probability of success is practically zero."
"I need you to listen very carefully to what I'm about to say next. How we proceed depends entirely on your decision; I am merely presenting a calculated proposal."
Jinbe slowly uttered a specific name: "Capone Bege." Like Luffy and the others, he was a prominent figure branded as part of the Worst Generation.
He explained that Bege was currently aligned under Big Mom's umbrella and had been designated as the commander-in-chief in charge of security for tomorrow's wedding ceremony.
However, his motives were entirely corrupt. He was orchestrating a covert plot to assassinate Big Mom during the event!
"WHAT!?" Hearing this, Luffy and Sanji were simultaneously struck with shock.
"He's planning to assassinate Big Mom!?"
"How... how did you find out about this?"
Jinbe then gradually recounted the events regarding Pekoms to the pair. Pekoms was a veteran officer of the Big Mom Pirates, originally a Mink from Zou. It was precisely because of his guidance and assistance that Luffy and the others had successfully navigated the waters to land on Whole Cake Island.
Not long ago, Bege had cornered Pekoms, demanding his cooperation in the assassination plot. Completely loyal to the Emperor, Pekoms had rejected the proposal without a second thought. Consequently, Bege had him bound and cast into a shark-infested stretch of sea to permanently silence him.
Fortunately, he had been rescued from the deep by the core members of the Sun Pirates. It was through Pekoms' account that Jinbe had learned of Bege's conspiracy.
"Therefore, I calculate that forging a temporary alliance with Bege is our optimal choice right now. If we launch an assault on Big Mom using only our isolated force, we stand zero chance of survival." Jinbe's words were a conservative estimation.
This was the lair of an Emperor of the Sea, teeming with high-tier combatants and exceptional powerhouses. The moment their presence was exposed, they would be utterly surrounded on all sides. Trying to break through a dragnet of that scale would be as difficult as scaling the heavens.
However... his equations had consistently omitted a single variable: Vale D. Drake!
With Drake present, all these strategic bottlenecks would instantly evaporate. Kenshin listened quietly to Jinbe's proposal, choosing not to interrupt.
"Hmph!" Luffy snorted coldly, an expression of sheer reluctance plastering his face. "That bastard Bege... Pekoms is a good guy, that's terrible..."
To Luffy and his crew, Pekoms was the friend who had brought them to Whole Cake Island, and their journey together had been quite "enjoyable."
"Fine, let's do it your way."
Though Luffy was reluctant, he understood that this was currently their best tactical entry point. As for whether they would actually cooperate, they could decide that after meeting the man face-to-face.
"Mmm. However, before we can coordinate anything else, we must locate Nami and the others," Jinbe noted, nodding. "By the way, where did Nami's group disappear to?"
Luffy and Kenshin exchanged a brief look, both shaking their heads in complete bewilderment. Neither of them possessed that data; ever since Drake had departed, he hadn't returned to this sector.
"Luffy! Luffy...!"
Right at that moment, a muffled voice seemed to resonate right out of thin air beside them. Luffy and the others frantically scanned their surroundings, but there wasn't a single physical silhouette in sight.
"It's Chopper!" Luffy leaped up in excitement, tracking the acoustic trajectory. "Chopper, I'm right here...!"
"It's Luffy!"
Inside the Mirro-World, Nami, Chopper, Carrot, and Pedro were all huddled tightly around a small piece of shattered glass, staring through the surface.
"Luffy, it's so wonderful that you're okay... Um... is Sanji with you?"
As Chopper's hesitant question drifted out, the group inside the mirror held their collective breath, tensely waiting for the captain's answer. They had searched through every available mirror on the island and hadn't caught a single glimpse of Sanji. They had ultimately deduced that he must be in a blind spot devoid of any glass.
And the promised location outside the chateau happened to be exactly that. Nami had intentionally left a small pocket mirror behind to serve as a beacon to contact Luffy.
"Ah, it's this thing." Luffy finally noticed the small shard of glass on the ground. He picked it up and spoke directly into it. "Yeah, he's standing right next to me."
The group inside the mirror froze for a fraction of a second before erupting into sheer joy. "Fantastic!"
"So... is Sanji coming back with us?"
"Not just yet," Luffy said, glancing toward Sanji. "Because Big Mom is planning to slaughter Sanji's family during tomorrow's ceremony, and he refuses to just let them die."
"So, all we have to do is wreck tomorrow's wedding and rescue his family. Once that's done, he'll come home with us," Luffy explained with a wide grin.
A heavy quiet fell over the air. Sanji tightly pressed his lips together. He wanted to speak, but the words caught in his throat.
While the atmosphere on the outside remained tense, a chorus of ecstatic cheers suddenly blasted out from the pocket mirror.
"Sanji, you absolute idiot, you gave us such a scare! Nami told us you guys had a massive fight, we were so worried about you... Waaah...!" Chopper wept loudly, his spirit instantly surging with limitless energy.
"Yay! That's incredible!" Carrot leaped up and down in excitement.
Nami's eyes grew deeply misty with emotion. Seeing this display, even Pedro couldn't help but let his lips curl into a warm smile.
A Yonko!
Despite the crushing mountain of an Emperor looming over them, their fragile strength was entirely eclipsed by the fierce, unyielding heat of their bonds. For the sake of a comrade, taking down a mere Yonko was practically a given.
Rationality? What kind of metric was that? Could it cook dinner for them?
"Alright! Big Mom! The wedding ceremony! We're going to tear the whole thing apart, and then we're taking Sanji home!" Chopper bellowed, his battle spirit burning at its absolute peak.
"Damn right!"
Listening to the wave after wave of unbridled joy and excitement echoing from the shard of glass, Sanji remained completely silent. He feared that the moment he opened his mouth, he would be unable to suppress the tears threatening to spill over.
"By the way, we've already linked up with Pedro, and Nami is right here with us. The only one left to account for is Brook..." Chopper's voice suddenly trailed off, losing its energy.
"What happened to Brook?" Luffy asked.
"Ah..." Chopper choked up, unable to articulate the words.
Nami quickly took over the communication line. "Brook was captured personally by Big Mom."
"WHAT!?" The group on the outside was instantly struck with alarm. Exchanging a series of frantic glances, Luffy urgently pressed, "What happened? Where is Brook right now? Is he... is he still alive?"
Sanji's eyes glazed over, a profound wave of self-reproach consuming his chest.
"No, don't panic... well, you should be worried, but Captain Drake has already gone to extract him. It's just that..." Nami explained hurriedly.
"Drake went? Then everything is going to be perfectly fine." Luffy immediately let out a massive sigh of relief, waving his hand casually. "Can you deliver the full data in one go next time? That was terrifying. I literally thought Brook was a goner, ahahaha...!"
"The problem is... Drake-san, Big Mom, and Brook have completely vanished for some reason. We've searched every corridor and can't find their signatures anywhere... We honestly don't know if this qualifies as good news or bad news..."
It was true. Nami and her group had checked every available vantage point within the Whole Cake Chateau trying to gauge the battle parameters, but the three entities had utterly evaporated from the physical sector. They were nowhere to be found.
When they questioned the local mirrors, the glass itself reported in utter shock that the combatants had simply vanished into thin air.
However, Nami held a private hypothesis. Recalling how Drake had seamlessly pulled her into the Mirro-World, she reasoned that this was likely a specialized application of his spatial manipulation—he had probably shifted the entire confrontation to an isolated dimension to prevent outside interference.