The standoff on Whole Cake Island

"Hmm." He paused, then added, "Pops, I'll go with you then."

"Nonsense. What am I supposed to do if you don't go?"

Marco chuckled beside him. "I'll go too. That guy Yaoyu cheated on me last time we drank together; we agreed on three drinks, but he secretly poured one. I haven't settled that score with him yet."

"Give me a break," Jozu mumbled from behind. "You turned into a bird and flew away halfway through your drink last time, and you still have the nerve to accuse me of cheating."

"I was going to do reconnaissance! Do you even understand what reconnaissance is?!"

Vista, standing nearby, clinked his twin swords together and chuckled.

Several Division Commander chimed in, and the atmosphere on the deck relaxed.

Ace crouched by the ship's railing, listening to the familiar voices behind him, head down, and wiped his eyes again with the back of his hand.

When he lowered his hand, he glanced at Yan. Yan also glanced at him, said nothing, and simply nodded slightly.

Ace stood up and dusted off his knees.

"Brother Yan," he said, "I'll go with you all about things here in North Blue."

Totto Land Waters, Whole Cake Island.

Yashiro walked at the front, stepping on the sea surface; his gray-white uniform was somewhat dazzling in the afternoon sunlight.

Behind him were Tekka, Taoho, and Qi, followed by a hundred Night Owl Guard, ten squads lined up in two rows, their footsteps echoing on the waves.

No one spoke.

One hundred pairs of scarlet Sharingan stared straight ahead, their Tomoe patterns turning silently.

The shore of Whole Cake Island was already packed with people.

Charlotte Linlin stood at the very front.

She was a size thinner than in her prime, and her cheeks had sagged a bit, but her imposing presence remained.

Beside her floated Zeus, Napoleon, and several other high-ranking Mihawk, who warily watched the group of figures ahead.

Behind her were Katakuri, Perospero, Smoothie, Cracker, Oven, and Daifuku; basically all the capable officers of the Big Mom Pirates were here.

Further on, there were densely packed crew members, but their numbers were far fewer than in their heyday.

After Imu's wave of extractions, seven or eight out of ten of the low- to mid-level ability users in Tales of Totto Land were gone.

The remaining people also looked unwell, many of them with bandages wrapped around their bodies, standing Crooked.

Linlin watched the gray-white array approach, her eyes narrowing.

"A member of the Uchiha." Her voice was still as rough and loud as ever, but her confidence had waned. "What are you doing in Whole Totto Land? Came to see me make a fool of myself?"

Yashiro stopped at the shore.

He looked up at Linlin, his gaze sweeping from her face to the Candy Spear, and then at the cadres standing guard behind her.

His gaze didn't linger on anyone for even a moment, simply sweeping across them flatly.

"Lord Natsu Yin sent me to deliver a message."

"Pass on a message?" Linlin pulled the Candy Spear from the ground, pointing the tip at Yashiro. "What message? Let your clan leader come and tell me himself!"

"Natsu Yin is too busy to see you." Yashiro's tone was flat. "So he sent me to inform you. The Uchiha Clan wants the land of Totto Land."

You have two choices.

First, submission. The Big Mom Pirates disbanded, and those who were willing to stay were incorporated into the Earthly Chief Guard and placed under the command of the Uchiha Clan.

Second, refuse. Then we'll proceed by refusing.

Linlin's face flushed red instantly.

"What did you say?!" Her voice rose, Conqueror's Haki exploded from her body, dark red electricity crackling and spewing out, causing spiderweb-like cracks to appear on the Cream Ground beneath her feet.

"You want me to disband my pirate crew? You want my men to be your dogs? Who do you think you are! Call Uchiha Natsu! Tell him to come and talk to me in person!"

Yashiro looked at her, her face expressionless.

He tilted his head and said to Tekka, "You heard that."

Tekka's lips twitched slightly.

"I heard you."

He took a step forward.

The Mangekyō Sharingan slowly rotated in its eye socket, its patterns exceptionally clear in the afternoon light.

He didn't unleash any killing intent, nor did he activate his Chakra; he simply took a step forward.

Linlin's Conqueror's Haki struck him, but he didn't even pause in his tracks.

Linlin's pupils contracted for a moment.

"Old woman." Tekka's voice wasn't loud, but every word reached Linlin's ears clearly, "Natsu Yin sent us to deliver a message, which is a favor to you. Don't push your luck."

The color drained from Linlin's face instantly.

Her mouth opened, and a very rough sound, as if something was stuck in her throat, came out.

She wanted to yell back, but her Observation Haki caught something in that instant.

She saw the image of Tekka raising his hand, the image of her own head flying off her neck, and the image of the Uchiha people in their gray uniforms rushing into Whole Cake Island.

The video was short, but frighteningly clear.

"Katakuri," Linlin's voice suddenly lowered, becoming somewhat hoarse, "Look at them."

Katakuri stood to her side and slightly behind, his scarf covering the lower half of his face, his eyes rapidly scanning the array opposite him.

His Observation Haki was also on alert, and it hadn't stopped since it started.

He heard Linlin's words and also saw Tekka's move.

He saw the situation clearly earlier than Linlin.

Those one hundred Night Owl Guard in gray uniforms, each possessed an aura no weaker than his.

The four at the front— Tekka, Yashiro, Taoho, and Kei—were all stronger than him, and by a significant margin.

"Mom," Katakuri's voice was low, "Don't do it."

Linlin didn't turn around to look at him.

"Mom! Don't do it!" Katakuri repeated, his voice more urgent than before. "We can't win, and... don't forget Madara Uchiha, Kaido with a single sword strike!"

Linlin gripped Napoleon's fingers tighter.

Her knuckles were white, and the veins on the back of her hands bulged out one by one.

Her gaze moved from Tekka's face to Yashiro's face, then from Yashiro to Taoho and Qi, and finally swept over the hundred Night Owl Guard in gray and white uniforms behind her.

Those people's Sharingan were all staring at her, their redness glaringly intense.

Her Conqueror's Haki was still surging outwards in concentric circles, but when that Haki crashed against the Uchiha Clan's formation, it shattered silently like waves hitting rocks.

"The Uchiha Clan wants Totto Land," Linlin's voice was hoarse, but she was still holding on, "What will happen if we refuse?"

Yashiro looked at her directly, without beating around the bush.

"If you refuse, we'll take over the Totto Land. You people, kill those you can, capture those you can. Those willing to surrender, we'll talk later. Those unwilling, deal with them on the spot." He paused.

"As I said before, those willing to submit will be given the opportunity to join the Earthly Chief Guard. Lord Natsu has left you a way out, but whether you choose to take it or not is up to you."

"Leave a way out?" Perospero couldn't hold back any longer. Licking his lollipop, he took a step forward, his voice rising sharply, "Disbanding the pirate crew and incorporating them into some kind of Earthly Chief Guard, is that what you call leaving a way out? That's called—"

"Perospero," Katakuri interrupted him.

Perospero shut his mouth, but the anger on his face remained.

Yashiro glanced at Perospero, ignored him, and looked back at Linlin.

"I'm not here to negotiate. I'm here to inform you: Surrender, or refuse. Choose one."

Linlin remained silent for a long time.

She stood there, holding Napoleon's hand; the Conqueror's Haki had subsided, but her shoulders remained tense.

She glanced at Katakuri, Katakuri nodded slightly.

That nod meant: I can't win.

Linlin glanced at the cadres behind her again. Perospero was chewing on a lollipop and didn't say a word. Smoothie was holding her longsword and looked very serious. Cracker at the very back without even raising his head.

Everyone realized one thing.

"Totto Land..." Linlin's voice was forced out through clenched teeth, "I've been running it for decades..."

"I know," Yashiro said. "So Lord Natsu Yin gave you a choice. If you don't want this choice, then it will be done the way that there is no choice."

Linlin loosened her grip on Napoleon's fingers for a moment, then tightened it again.

She looked down at the Cream Ground beneath her feet.

The ground cracked from the impact of her Conqueror's Haki, and a creamy, sticky liquid seeped from the cracks.

"How long?" She looked up.

"Half a day," Yashiro said. "Give me an answer before dark."

Linlin didn't say anything. She turned around, leaning on her Candy Spear, and walked into Whole Cake Island.

After taking a few steps, she tilted her head to the side.

Katakuri, come with me.

Katakuri followed her.

Yashiro watched their figures disappear behind the doorway of the cream-colored building, then looked away and said to Tekka, "Do you think she'll agree?"

Tekka Mangekyō Sharingan around once, then withdrew it slightly. "I don't know. That old woman is incredibly stubborn."

"What if she doesn't agree?"

Tekka's lips twitched upwards slightly.

"Then let's fight."