Summary:
As 1:00 a.m. approaches, Sanji and Pudding reminisce about their experiences together as Sanji prepares to leave. The Straw Hats approach Cocoa Island while the Fire Tank Pirates and the Wedding Cake approach Funwari Island with Big Mom on their tail.
In the Mirror World, Luffy emerges victorious from his battle with Katakuri. They find that Brûlée has escaped, but Pekoms then shows up with a recaptured Brûlée who wants to help Luffy escape to honor Pedro’s memory.
Just as Luffy and Katakuri hit each other with their final blows, Brûlée manages to break free from the rope bindings. To stop Luffy from escaping the Mirror World, she decides to run away and join Owen’s group on Cocoa Island. At 12:28, Owen’s army waits for activity and Newshi considers the possibility of Luffy defeating Katakuri. Trouba and several other siblings admonish him, refusing to believe that Katakuri can be defeated. However, they think that Luffy might capture Brûlée and escape Katakuri when his crew arrives at 1 am, so they wait to ambush him. Hidden in a nearby alley, Sanji watches the army’s movements and says that he will have to move once Luffy comes out of the mirror for them to have a chance to escape. He tells Pudding that this will be their farewell and notes how they met in a strange way. He reminisces about his experiences with Pudding, from seeing her photo for the first time, to resigning himself to marrying her, to the wedding ceremony in preparation for her assassination attempt, and finally to making the second wedding cake. . Sanji reaches out for Pudding to come to him, and her violent personality briefly comes out and rejects him, causing her kind personality to become upset. Sanji comments that even though Pudding started out as his enemy and once planned to assassinate him, he is still happy that she was his fiancée, causing her to burst into tears. After Pudding has calmed down, he asks Sanji for one last favor and she rips the cigarette from his mouth before approaching him.
At 12:37, Luffy and Katakuri’s attacks retract and the ground collapses beneath Luffy as Snakeman deactivates, leaving him incapacitated at the bottom of the sinkhole. Katakuri stays on his feet a few seconds longer, saying that he won’t lose, but ends up losing consciousness as well and falls forward. On Whole Cake Island at 12:40, Morgans notes that the Straw Hats still haven’t been caught, noting that their increasingly likely escape will make a big headline. Mont-d’Or reassures him, saying that the Big Mom Pirates have put their pride aside and gathered thousands of their forces to take down the Straw Hats. He says that once the Straw Hats are caught, their heads will be cut off to serve as an example, and Stussy comments on his brutality. At 12:43, Big Mom and Prometheus get close enough to Nostra Castello to start burning its sails, and the Fire Tank Pirates plead with Bege to get rid of the cake and run. However, Bege says that they all came from different places and now is the time to stand firm and die together if necessary, and Chiffon sees their destination island of Funwari appear.
At 12:45, Smoothie’s fleet stopped attacking the Thousand Sunny, but Jinbe says they will likely continue once the Straw Hats join the occupation of Cocoa Island. Brook tries to negotiate with Smoothie but fails. Nami says that they will make it to Cacao Island on time at 1:00 AM, but worries that Luffy won’t because he will have to use Brûlée to escape the Mirror World. However, she and the crew continue to trust him. At 12:47, Luffy pulls himself out of the abyss and struggles to walk as he heads towards Brûlée. Katakuri then stands in front of him and asks Luffy if he will come back and take down Big Mom. Luffy confirms this and declares that he will become the Pirate King, and Katakuri remarks that he can see a way to the future. The sweet commander then falls on his back in defeat and Luffy puts the hat he got from the Fire Tank Pirates over his face to cover his mouth. Luffy then goes to where he left Brûlée, only to see that he is gone. However, he then overhears her wailing over Katakuri’s defeat and comes face to face with Pekoms, who has disguised himself as “Nazomi” and captured Brûlée. After realizing that Luffy knows who he is, Pekoms says that he will help him escape to honor the wishes of Pedro’s sacrifice and takes him and Brûlée to the only mirror on the island. At 12:50 the Straw Hats are very close to Cocoa Island and note how well it is defended. With the minutes ticking down to 1:00 AM, Oven has his army ready their weapons for an ambush.