Compressed Biscuits and Brick Mochi

"Isn't it the kind you're eating right now?" Cracker wasn't as protective of his younger siblings as Katakuri was. Already in a bad mood, his tone came out a little harsh.

Mousse didn't hold it against him, because the important matter was more pressing.

He looked at the crisp, flaky biscuit in his hand and said in surprise, "What? These biscuits that snap with a light bend? Uh, Brother Cracker, you could try making Compressed Biscuits instead."

"Compressed Biscuits? You mean packing the biscuits tightly to increase their hardness?" Cracker genuinely hadn't known about them.

Still, he could roughly guess what they were from the name. Cracker tried compressing some himself, only to see the biscuits all turn into crumbs.

"Compressed Biscuits aren't made by simply pressing down on biscuits that have already been made like that." Mousse hadn't seen any Compressed Biscuits since crossing over, so that was all he could say.

Fortunately, he did know the basic method. "You need to add some oil as a binding agent, remove as much moisture as possible, then apply enormous pressure from every direction to bind it tightly into a thick block. There isn't any equipment here, so can your ability do it directly, Brother Cracker?"

"What's so difficult about that?" Following Mousse's instructions, Cracker quickly made a block roughly ten centimeters on each side. After squeezing it, his face immediately lit up. "These Compressed Biscuits really are hard—far harder than ordinary biscuits!"

"It's not just harder. They should also be fairly water-resistant. Try soaking one in water. Even boiling water should be fine." Cracker tested it as Mousse suggested and found that it barely softened after several minutes of boiling, which made him even happier.

Biscuit Soldiers being softened by water was no small flaw. Although that weakness would gradually be remedied as he developed his Devil Fruit ability further, it was impossible to completely eliminate such an innate vulnerability one hundred percent.

Now that Compressed Biscuits themselves weren't very afraid of water, strengthening them with his Devil Fruit ability would surely make them completely waterproof. Even if he encountered torrential rain in the future, his Combat Power wouldn't drop in the slightest!

After several more experiments refining the formula and production method, the hardness of the Compressed Biscuits rose even further.

Cracker's confidence soared. Right there on the spot, he created a Compressed Biscuit Soldier and had Katakuri test it.

The result was clear: it could take far more punishment than before. Even when Katakuri unleashed his ultimate move, Slash Mochi, it still took two or three strikes to destroy the soldier.

And once Cracker added Armament Haki to further harden the Biscuit Soldier, Katakuri needed several hits just to break through its shield.

Considering the enormous gap in their current strength, this was truly unbelievable.

Although creating Compressed Biscuit Soldiers consumed several times more time and stamina than ordinary Biscuit Soldiers—

—the increase in defense was clearly even greater. Besides, being able to break through its defense and being unable to break through it were fundamentally different concepts. This was absolutely a qualitative leap!

Cracker was already overjoyed, but Mousse wasn't satisfied yet and continued thinking hard.

Before long, Mousse came up with another idea. "Right, there's no need to care too much about the taste, is there? Biscuit Soldiers aren't meant to be eaten, so there should still be room to improve the formula and process."

"Huh? That's right! Biscuits used for battle only need to be strong. It doesn't matter whether they taste good or not! As long as we don't use materials that absolutely shouldn't be used." Cracker's eyes immediately lit up, feeling as though his thinking had broadened even further.

Cracker was instantly invigorated and began deeply refining the Compressed Biscuits he created according to this new line of thought.

"It really does taste worse now." Curious, Mousse licked one to sample the flavor, then immediately frowned.

But that gave Mousse another rather wicked idea. "Actually, tasting bad is better. Brother Cracker, you should deliberately make the biscuits used for combat taste awful—ideally as awful as Devil Fruits. That way, if you run into Luffy, or a powerful and especially gluttonous monster like Garp, you won't have to worry about them eating your biscuits to prevent you from directly repairing them, forcing you to make them all over again from scratch."

"If that old bastard Garp throws one punch, wouldn't everything be finished anyway? Would he even need to eat my Biscuit Soldiers?" Cracker hadn't yet fully realized just how much he had improved. His face turned green at once, and he instinctively wiped away a cold sweat.

Still, Cracker took Mousse's wicked suggestion to heart. Grinning, he said, "But it's a good idea. Once I make the biscuits taste like shit, anyone who dares take a bite of them... heh heh."

As Cracker snickered to himself, imagining an enemy's nauseated expression after taking a bite of his biscuit, Third Sister Charlotte Amande—usually ruthless and sparing with words—unexpectedly cut in. "Taste like shit? Cracker, have you tasted it before? Otherwise, how would you know what shit tastes like?"

All the brothers and sisters present burst into laughter. Even Katakuri, who had always maintained his cool-guy image, couldn't stop his face from twitching for an instant.

Cracker was utterly mortified and repeatedly begged everyone not to mention this after they went back.

After the laughter and teasing died down, Cracker made another Biscuit Soldier and had Katakuri test its strength. Sure enough, its durability had improved by quite a bit again.

Now, even Katakuri going all out couldn't hurt Cracker hiding inside the Biscuit Armor at all. Compared to the beginning, it was practically a complete transformation!

However, as Mousse watched, he suddenly thought of a problem, and his brows furrowed. "Something's wrong. Cracker is inferior to Second Brother in his own strength, Armament Haki, and Devil Fruit development. And since he's only twenty now, the gap is far greater than it will be more than twenty years later. So why can his Biscuit Armor withstand Second Brother's attacks? Is it because biscuits are harder than mochi? But even Compressed Biscuits aren't necessarily harder than mochi. I remember the kind of mochi our family used to eat—before it was steamed, baked, and sliced, it was as hard as a brick!"

Yet when Mousse raised his doubts, Katakuri asked in confusion, "Cold mochi is indeed hard. Some of my moves make use of that, hardening the attacking part and adding Armament Haki to increase its destructive power. But no matter how hard mochi is, it's still mochi. How could it be as exaggerated as you say?"

"Uh, I heard that in the Flower Kingdom, they grind rice flour very finely to make mochi extremely dense. It can be stored in cold water for a long time to prevent mold, and supposedly it's hard enough to use as a brick to hit people," Mousse awkwardly explained the origin of his "strange" idea. Then he suddenly understood why Katakuri, and even all the other brothers and sisters here, knew nothing about this kind of mochi.

The reason was actually simple: these second-generation members of the Charlotte Family had no concept of food shelf life at all!

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