Four Devil Fruits

With one hand, he clutched the unconscious Katakuri by the throat. Darkness spread over Katakuri's body, swallowing him like a bottomless sand pit.

Owen watched helplessly, and in the end, he could only charge forward in grief and fury.

"Give my brother back!!!"

"Impossible."

With that casual reply, Mobius withdrew from his Taotie Form and returned to his Suanni Dragonman appearance.

Owen's high heat had infected everything around him. Crimson light filled the area, while the walls softened and gradually melted into liquid.

"You lost. As the victor, I naturally have the right to deal with everything you own. Besides, when have you ever listened to the words of the defeated?"

There was no reason to spare these Devil Fruits. Besides, these Charlotte Family members already had bounties on their heads, and they had plundered freely for their mother's sake.

Mobius looked at Owen, the last one standing, and opened his mouth in another inhaling motion. The heat gathered once more and was all sucked into his stomach.

Despair appeared on Owen's face. Their abilities had been completely countered. Half of their strength relied on their Devil Fruit powers; without them, it was like losing both arms.

"If you hurt Katakuri and the others, Mama won't let you go!"

In the end, Owen could only invoke Big Mom's name in an attempt to frighten Mobius away.

"Don't worry. This is ten thousand meters beneath the sea. Your mother won't know. Besides..."

"Even if she finds out, what can she do? Hunt me down?"

A massive dragon claw reached for Owen, followed by that cold pronouncement.

Owen threw a desperate punch with all his strength, but it was like a small hand caught in a large one. With a crack, his bones were crushed.

"You..."

Owen fell silent, unable to say another word. His desperate struggles were useless, and he could only glare furiously.

Mobius slapped him, knocking Owen unconscious on the spot.

Grabbing Owen in one hand and Daifuku in the other, Mobius let darkness surge from both palms, gradually swallowing them whole.

"Mission accomplished."

Kaido had never been a realistic target, but these four Charlottes had delivered themselves to him. Mobius had no reason to refuse.

There was nothing to fear from the Big Mom Pirates. At present, their only top-tier combatant was Charlotte Linlin, and that woman had one fatal weakness—she could not fly.

Or rather, she found long-distance flight extremely difficult. Otherwise, Big Mom would not have been kicked into the sea in the story.

Even if she truly came after him, Mobius was not afraid, because he could fly for long periods.

Compared to that, four Devil Fruits were enough for Mobius to take the risk.

Not to mention that Totto Land had even more valuable Devil Fruits.

The Soul-Soul Fruit, Eat-Eat Fruit, Mirror-Mirror Fruit... all were exceptionally useful abilities.

Compared with the Beasts Pirates, Mobius felt Totto Land's power system was far more diversified and well suited to his hunting.

"Don't be afraid. Sooner or later, I'll reunite your whole family."

Mobius patted his chest, as though comforting the Charlotte brothers inside.

The battle was over, and the scene was a complete mess. Mobius took one look before decisively turning to leave.

The Charlottes did it. It had nothing to do with him. Neptune had a vast estate and could handle the repairs himself.

What he needed to do now was...

As he walked, Mobius stripped the Devil Fruits from the four men within the darkness and absorbed them into his body.

The Book-Book Fruit.

The Mochi-Mochi Fruit.

The Heat-Heat Fruit.

The Puff Puff Fruit.

Mobius shuddered four times, his body trembling, but he took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed it.

For power.

As for the four brothers who had lost their fruits...

Mobius's gaze turned cold. Boundless darkness crushed down, immediately taking their lives.

He could not let them go. As for the bodies...

Should he find an opportunity to exchange them for bounty money through his old uncle?

Forget it. Too troublesome. With the Five Elders funding him, he did not lack Beli. He could just find somewhere to bury them.

Feeling out his new powers, Mobius found Neptune, who was also unconscious from the Haki intimidation.

Neptune tightly shielded Otohime and their four children in his arms, covering them with his own body.

"That's a real man."

Mobius praised him. Good people were simply more pleasing to his eye.

He checked Neptune's condition. Everything was normal; he only needed to wake up naturally.

Mobius first found a place to settle them down, then thought for a moment and stayed to guard them.

He merely spread his Observation Haki through electric waves, preparing to observe the battle outside from afar.

A giant who seemed to hold up the heavens stood with an enormous sword in hand. Fighting him was an ordinary man who was as large as a giant.

The clash of Haki thundered, shaking Fish-Man Island again and again. With no sky to bear the force of that Haki, the seawater outside churned back and forth.

Massive whirlpools rose and sank, revealing the terrifying power of this battle—one witnessed by few, yet incomparably dreadful.

"Tsk, tsk. What terrifying middle-aged and elderly men."

Mobius sighed in admiration. One day, he too would possess such might.

The battle continued for a long time, nearly an entire day and night. Only when the churning seawater had almost reached the edge of the Sabaody Archipelago, forming enormous chaotic currents, did the two finally stop.

On the shore, a middle-aged man with dazzling golden hair that had begun to turn gray stared gravely at the sea, his fingers continuously tapping a small metal flask.

"What happened, Neptune?"

Dark King Rayleigh could not help sighing. If he had known, he would not have gone out drinking. Otherwise, he could have gone down to investigate as soon as he learned of it.

"Let's go see what happened, and see if we can find those three girls."

A mature, charming female voice sounded beside Rayleigh. The speaker was a black-haired beauty upon whom time had left almost no mark, apart from a mysterious, refined allure.

"Yeah, Shakky. I hope Hancock and the other two are all right."

Rayleigh shook his head and sighed in frustration. Though he was retired, all these big and small troubles remained such a nuisance.

A small boat evenly coated in bubble resin slowly descended, carrying the two of them ten thousand meters down to the ocean floor.

At the same time...

"Mom! Mama! Mama!! Something terrible happened! Something terrible happened!!!"

On Whole Cake Island in Totto Land, anguished cries rang out from within the palace.

Charlotte Perospero held up four burning Vivre Cards, his face smeared with snot and tears.

"Katakuri and the others... something happened to them!"

"They..."

Big Mom had still been sound asleep. Hearing this, she was about to fly into a rage, but then she caught sight of the fiercely burning Vivre Cards, and her eyes bulged.

"Katakuri!!!"

He was her finest, proudest son. What was going on!?

No amount of fury could stop the Vivre Cards from burning. Before everyone's eyes, the Vivre Cards belonging to Katakuri and the other three burned to ash.

"No! No! No..."

Perospero frantically waved his hands, as though trying to piece the ashes back into Vivre Cards, but it was completely useless. He only ended up with blackened hands.

"No!!!"

"Katakuri!!!"

"Daifuku!" "Owen!" "Mont-d'Or!"

"Don't die! You can't die!"

Perospero collapsed to his knees, tears bursting forth like a breached dam. His face was so pale it barely looked human.

They had made it through Hachinosu. They had successfully grown up under Mama's protection. Everything had clearly been getting better, and they had gained strength too.

But why? Why!?

Grief flooded the eldest brother's heart. He was the oldest brother, and he had watched all his younger brothers and sisters grow up. An eldest brother was like a father.

Katakuri... Daifuku... Owen... Mont-d'Or...

I got you killed. If I hadn't told you to set out for Fish-Man Island...

"AAAAAHHHH!!!!!"

Charlotte Linlin was completely awake. She unleashed an earth-shaking, terrifying roar as Haki swept through everything and blanketed all of Whole Cake Island.

Every resident turned pale and collapsed. Glassware and ceramics alike shattered, and an apocalyptic scene descended.

"Linlin, Linlin, what happened?"

At that critical moment, Streusen, a sturdy, short man and one of the pirate crew's veterans, rushed over.

Looking at Charlotte Linlin, who had never shown such an expression before, Streusen was utterly horrified. What had happened?

"Streusen!" Charlotte Linlin turned her head. In her rage, for some reason, she miraculously retained a trace of reason.

"Katakuri is dead... He's dead!"

"What!?"

Streusen was horrified. How could that be possible? Katakuri was the Charlotte Family's greatest masterpiece!

"I said Katakuri is dead!!!"

Charlotte Linlin roared. Her Conqueror's Haki spread out, making even Streusen stagger.

"Linlin, Linlin, I understand. We need to avenge Katakuri now!"

Streusen said urgently. They could not let Linlin go mad right now.

Revenge? Right, revenge!!!

"Go! Find the one who killed Katakuri! I'll tear him to pieces!!! I'll make him regret ever coming into this world!!!"

On this day, Totto Land's enormous state machine began operating like mad.