Charlotte Oven's Scheme

New World, Totto Land, Urn-Baked Dessert Island, Expansion Town.

The cloying scent of cream and caramel permeated every corner of the island. The buildings lining the streets were all shaped like baked confections, and even the paving stones had the crisp texture of cookies. Everywhere reflected the Charlotte Family's unique extravagance and strangeness.

Inside a castle room at the center of town, Charlotte Oven had just seen off his eldest brother, Perospero, who had come to deliver intelligence. He dropped heavily into a thick caramel armchair, the heat rolling off his body nearly setting the surrounding air ablaze, his face shrouded in lingering gloom.

From the corner of his eye, he stared fixedly at the intelligence report spread across the table beside him.

It contained the latest news of the Dawn Pirates entering the New World, defeating the world's Hawk-Eye head-on at Raijin Island, and forcibly driving back the encirclement of the Navy's three Admirals.

Perospero, who had just left, had deliberately placed this document here for him to see.

Oven's fingers hammered heavily against the armrest again and again, producing dull thuds. Uncontrollably, scenes of Dawn crushing him back then surfaced in his mind.

That bone-deep humiliation remained like a poisoned thorn lodged in his heart even after all this time. Whenever he recalled it, he wanted nothing more than to grab a blade and fight Dawn to the death.

But he was not an idiot.

The report on the battle at Raijin Island was crystal clear. Dawn had defeated Hawk-Eye head-on, seized the title of the world's greatest swordsman, and led his subordinates out of the encirclement of the Navy's three Admirals without a scratch.

That man was no longer on the same level as him.

Looking across the entire Charlotte Family, perhaps only Mama, Charlotte Linlin, could