"You Are My Sharpest Invisible Blade!"

Perospero took a deep breath, a chill running down his spine.

"Mama thought Mother Carmel had vanished or died under mysterious circumstances decades ago."

"But... that old woman never died!"

"She used some forbidden power of the Soul-Soul Fruit to lurk inside Mama like a parasite all these years, waiting for the day she could seize Mama's perfect body—a body blessed with the gifts of a Steel Balloon!"

The Big Mom Pirates gasped at the revelation. A chill shot from the soles of their feet to the tops of their heads.

Who could have imagined that one of the Four Emperors, who had dominated the New World for decades, had been harboring a scheming evil spirit inside her all along?

Yet Ronan merely cast a cold glance toward the spot where the black smoke had dissipated and gave a contemptuous snort.

"So that's it. After hiding and scheming for decades, she turned out to be a nobody who didn't even dare try to seize the body head-on."

"She's dead. Forget her. Trash like that isn't worth our attention."

As Ronan withdrew his spear, the suffocating pressure of his Conqueror's Haki receded like a tide.

The purple light pouring from Pudding's third eye gradually faded, leaving it as deep and clear as before.

Her face was pale from the prolonged mental strain, and her chest heaved as she struggled for breath. But her eyes shone with exhilaration unlike anything she had felt before.

"It worked... I did it, Lord Ronan!"

Without bothering to wipe the sweat from her brow, Pudding looked at Ronan like a devotee yearning for praise. She could barely contain the excitement in her voice.

"That evil spirit is completely gone! More importantly, I've finished altering Mama's memories. It went perfectly!"

She drew a deep breath to steady