Summary:
The encounter between the Sanji Retrieval Team and the Fire Tank Pirates begins. Luffy wants to punch Bege for what he did to Pekoms, and after a brief argument, Jinbe convinces everyone to put their differences aside.
Bege reveals that he recruited Caesar for his assassination plot and goes over his plan to assassinate Big Mom. After Bege explains the incident involving Mother Carmel’s photo, Luffy agrees to be the bait.
The Sanji Retrieval Team meets the Fire Tank Pirates, and before any words are exchanged, Luffy helps himself to food from the bin on the table. Bege begins by regarding the Straw Hats as pests and wonders why he shouldn’t kill them. Sanji points out that killing him would prevent the wedding and ruin Bege’s plot, which Bege concedes. Luffy sits in silence for a moment before finally recognizing Caesar Clown who has smoothed his hair and is sitting with the Fire Tank Pirates.
Caesar freaks out when Luffy recognizes him and remembers how he got here. He sat drinking in Big Mom’s factory because he gave up making the gigantization serum for her. Suddenly, Bege and the Fire Tank Pirates burst into the lab. Bege took the position of Caesar’s guard and offered him a chance to escape and work for him, forcing Caesar to use the disembodied scientist’s heart. Caesar was brought in to work on the weapon and was horrified when Vito informed him that the Straw Hats were coming to meet them. This caused him to change his appearance slightly and currently says he is “Gangster” Gastino, but his disguise doesn’t fool anyone except Luffy and Chopper. After this exchange, Bege asks if Luffy wants to form an alliance or not. In response, Luffy tries to punch Bege for shooting Pekoms. Gotti and the Fire Tank Pirates immediately become hostile, and Jinbe tries to block Luffy’s blow and strongly warns him not to fight. However, Bege sits in anticipation of the attack and Jinbe is unable to stop Luffy when Bege intercepts Caesar’s heart strike and he and Luffy have a brief fight.
In another area of Whole Cake Island, people watch the wedding guests of Big Mom, the Emperor of the Underworld, come and go from their ships. Back at Bege’s hideout, the fighting is over as the Sanji Retrieval Team questions how Big Mom can be murdered. Bege says they’ll have a five-second window to kill her, but it won’t be easy, and any fumble will see them overwhelmed by Big Mom’s best crew members. However, with the help of Caesar, they can do it. Caesar becomes angry when he hears Bege using his real name and warns him to keep his agreement to return the heart after the assassination or he will kill Bege. Chiffon simply claims that Bege will keep his promise, and as the Straw Hats laugh at him, Caesar goes to show them his new invention. He reveals the KX Launcher, which when detonated injects a very lethal substance into the body and is guaranteed to kill anyone when it penetrates their skin.
However, Bege states that even this weapon cannot penetrate Big Mom’s tough skin, which has not been injured by bullets, cannonballs, or sinking ships. However, she reveals that Big Mama keeps a portrait of a mysterious missing woman known as Mother Carmel and places it opposite her at every tea party. During the previous one, a servant accidentally knocked it off the table and slightly damaged it, causing Big Mom to collapse and let out a scream that paralyzed everyone. She also unleashed her Haoshoku Haki, but as she fell to her knees in the process, she noticeably abraded them. So the plan to kill her during the wedding ceremony centers around destroying the portrait. The Alliance will wear earplugs to protect themselves from screaming, and the interval during Big Mom’s collapse will give them the opportunity to shoot her with KX Launchers. However, the portrait won’t be easy to get, so Bege asks Luffy to cause a distraction and disrupt the wedding. Despite his crew’s protests, Luffy agrees. The wedding is three hours away.