Above the sky, dark clouds churned without end as lightning flashed and thunder roared.
Rumble—
Blinding lightning tore through the darkness, turning night into day.
Wave after wave rose across the surface of the sea.
One ship after another, flying the flag of the BIG.MOM Pirates, cut through the raging waves.
"How could the Vivre Card be pointing into the sea...?"
At the bow of the deck, Perospero lowered his head and stared at the Vivre Card, his expression grim.
"Could it be... Mama was..."
"Shut up!"
Perospero shot a cold glance at the person who had spoken.
Under that icy gaze, the speaker immediately fell silent, trembling like a frightened cicada in winter.
Snack stood beside Perospero, his expression just as gloomy, as dark as the black clouds churning overhead.
Katakuri, Smoothie, Cracker...
They had all fallen victim to Maud.
Snack had never dreamed that, among the Sweet Commanders, he would ultimately be the only one left—and the weakest at that.
"Bagard. Maud..."
Snack lowered his head, gnashing his teeth as he repeated Maud's name in his heart.
If he could, he would have loved to cut Maud into a thousand pieces.
Only by making Maud wish he were dead could he ease the hatred and fury in his heart.
Around the deck, everyone stared intently at Perospero.
More precisely, they were staring at the Vivre Card in his hand.
Although the Vivre Card was pointing downward, it remained completely normal. There was no reason for them to worry excessively about Mama's safety.
But...
The direction in which the Vivre Card pointed meant that Mama's pursuit of the Maud Pirates had most likely failed.
If that was really the case...
If even Mama had failed to catch them, then the Maud Pirates escaping unscathed was practically a foregone conclusion.