Whole Cake Island Arc

The Whole Cake Island Arc (ホールケーキアイランド編), also known as the Sanji Retrieval Arc, is the twenty-ninth story arc in the series and the second in the Yonko Saga of One Piece, continuing from the Zou Arc.

Monkey D. Luffy, accompanied by Nami, Tony Tony Chopper, Brook, and the minks Pekoms, Pedro, and Carrot, heads to Whole Cake Island, where Big Mom of the Yonko resides. Nicknamed the Sanji Retrieval Team, they seek to rescue their crewmate Sanji from his arranged marriage with Charlotte Pudding, set up to finalize a political alliance between the Charlotte Family and the Vinsmoke Family.

A Hard Voyage: Encountering Germa 66
The Big Mom Pirates' ship sailed to the #28 Tarte in an area with cotton candy snow. On board the ship, Sanji and Tamago argued over Sanji's unwillingness to fully cooperate with the Big Mom Pirates and Germa 66. Tamago informed Sanji that his father had set up the arrangement, but Sanji irritably responded that he severed ties to his father long ago and is only there to talk. Tamago further tried to persuade Sanji by informing him that Big Mom was impressed by his skill set and would likely offer him a good position in her crew, but Sanji continued to refuse. Vito eventually passed on to Sanji a photo of Charlotte Pudding, sent from Whole Cake Island as a pre-wedding courtesy; while Sanji was immediately enamored with the photo, he maintained his position that he will not go through with the wedding.



Later, Vito tried to engage Sanji in a conversation about a comic strip called Sola, Warrior of the Sea, in which the protagonist, Sola, fought against the evil Germa 66. The comic was meant to glorify Marine heroes, but Vito had taken to Germa 66 instead. As Sanji entered his private room (in which the captured Caesar Clown was also being kept, in a cage) and kicked Vito out, the Fire Tank Pirates' killer Gotty became enraged at the disrespect shown to Vito and threatened to attack Sanji; however, he was stopped by a woman who reminded him of Sanji's connections (and, by extension, the threat to Capone if anything were to happen to Sanji). Sanji remarked to himself on the physical similarities between the woman and another unspecified person.



A few days later, the Sanji Retrieval Team were all suffering from starvation and the intense heat. Suddenly, Luffy managed to catch a large fish, but as he dug into it, Chopper (after consulting Sanji's books) revealed that the skin of this fish is poisonous; Luffy immediately collapsed. They crossed into Big Mom's territory, and Pekoms prepared to follow protocol to enter as they were approached by a ship. To his shock, however, the ship they encountered belonged not to Big Mom, but to Germa 66. As this happened, a hooded man with eyebrows resembling Sanji's looked down on the crew.

Upon realizing that they had lost their way, the man attempted to go back, but the Straw Hats mistook him for Sanji and called out to him. The man revealed that he was actually Vinsmoke Yonji, Sanji's younger brother. Chopper begged him for an antidote to save Luffy, but Yonji coldly refused. However, Yonji was kicked off the ship by his older sister, Vinsmoke Reiju, who resuscitated Luffy. Brook then revealed that the Vinsmoke Family formerly ruled over the entire North Blue, but Reiju affirmed that they still had royal status despite no longer ruling over any land, and that they are permitted to attend Reverie. Reiju thanked Luffy for taking care of her younger brother Sanji; she further revealed that he had left the family at a young age, and that their father had been searching for him ever since, ordering the Marines to apprehend Sanji when his first wanted poster was released. However, due to the bad depiction of Sanji, the Marines ended up pursuing Duval. When an accurate picture of Sanji came out two years later, their father immediately ordered that his bounty be raised, and that the bounty conditions be changed to state "Only Alive". Yonji and Reiju then departed, agreeing to maintain silence about their meeting with Luffy's group, in order to prevent the imminent wedding being called off.

Meanwhile, Aladine saw the affair from underwater, contacting Jinbe to confirm that the Straw Hats are indeed up above him.

Exploring Totto Land: Big Mom's Unified Paradise


The Thousand Sunny docked at an island, with Pekoms claiming to a guard that he hijacked it in order to avoid arousing suspicion. As Nami and Carrot tried on their disguises, Pekoms told them about Totto Land, a 35-island archipelago in which people of all races lived in harmony. The island they were on was Cacao Island, which had a town built entirely out of chocolate. It was legal to eat the structures, with the exception of the roofs. Pekoms prepared to fit Luffy into his disguise, but to his shock and fear found out that Luffy had already entered the island. Luffy and Chopper ate an entire cafe, and were arrested by a police officer. However, the owner flew in and claimed that Luffy and Chopper were there to dismantle her cafe, berating the pirates for not eating all of it. The policeman understood and congratulated the owner, Pudding, on her upcoming wedding. Brook, Pedro, Nami, and Carrot watched this in shock, and Pedro was approached by a wolf mink who was eager to meet him; Pedro managed to keep him quiet to avoid drawing attention.

Pudding took the Sanji Retrieval Team to her home to feed them. The team got along amiably with her, but Nami knew that they had to leave soon. Pudding prepared them tea and asked them who they were. Luffy revealed his name, which shocked Pudding.

At Whole Cake Island, Big Mom and her underlings, most of whom were not human, danced and sang as they prepared for the Tea Party to be held in three days' time. Big Mom used her crew members to gather banquet ingredients in faraway locations by murdering their owners, and stated that she knew that Luffy was present in her territory.

The Straw Hats revealed to Pudding who they were, and Pudding revealed to them that she was Big Mom's daughter and Sanji's bride-to-be. Pudding became scared because they were pirates and held a knife at them, causing Pedro to hold his sword to her neck, but Nami assured her that they came in peace. Pudding talked to them about Big Mom marrying her and her siblings off, revealing that she had 38 sisters and 46 brothers, conceived by Big Mom and 43 husbands. Chopper asked if she had met Sanji, and Pudding said she did, and was attracted to him because of his looks, mannerisms, and their shared love of cooking. The Straw Hats were surprised to hear this, but Pedro suggested they bind her in order to prevent her from telling Big Mom about them. However, Pudding said that Sanji had refused to marry her, stating he had to return to his crew. In response, Luffy, Nami, Chopper, and Brook are shocked to hear that Sanji rejected a women and Luffy was happy that Sanji still wanted to travel with them and Pudding stated that she would help the Straw Hats rescue him despite her feelings for him. She showed the Straw Hats a secret route to get to Whole Cake Island, where she would meet them. Some officials came to Pudding's home and ordered her to cease working before her wedding, and she sent the Straw Hats on their way with a large amount of chocolate. They returned to the Thousand Sunny, but discovered in shock that Pekoms was not there and there was a message in the bathroom saying to turn back.

On Broc Coli Island, Germa 66 ended a war that had been raging for two years. Receiving payment for their services, two agents prepared to leave for Whole Cake Island to attend their little brother Sanji's wedding.

The Sanji Retrieval Team set off on Pudding's route to Whole Cake Island, and came toward Jam Island. However, Nami decided to steer clear of the island in order to avoid surveillance, and Pedro revealed that he had been to Totto Land once before after he shared more information about it. The crew then encountered a giant sea centipede.



On Whole Cake Island, Big Mom developed a craving for croquembouche, causing her to enter a state of tantrum and eat anything in her path. As her subordinates rushed to prepare croquembouche, Big Mom's son Charlotte Moscato attempted to stop her, but she pulled out 40 years of his life and killed him. Jinbe then arrived and fed Big Mom some croquembouche tourists, immediately returning her to normal. Big Mom thanked Jinbe for the poneglyph he gave her, and Jinbe asked if he could discuss something with her, causing Big Mom to ask in anger if he wanted to leave her crew.



A few hours ago, Jinbe asked his crew for permission to leave and join the Straw Hat Pirates, and they happily agreed. However, they worried about what would happen to them if Big Mom got angry about this, and they prepared to flee. The only issue was that their vice captain, Aladine, was married to her 29th daughter Charlotte Praline, but Praline agreed to accompany her husband away. In the present, Big Mom seemingly allowed Jinbe to sever ties with her, but then said that to compensate for her loss, he would have to lose something in return, and she pulled out a roulette wheel with pictures of body parts on it.

Meanwhile, the Thousand Sunny got trapped in a sea of syrup as it froze overnight. As they worked to melt the sea before they were attacked again by giant wood-eating ants, Pedro revealed that he and Pekoms were once pirates who explored for poneglyphs, but he was defeated in Totto Land. He told Luffy that they need to get their hands on Big Mom's Road Poneglyph, offering to steal it while the others rescued Sanji. Luffy agreed as the crew came under attack by the ants again. The next morning, they reached Whole Cake Island, and Luffy noticed someone standing on the shore.

Big Mom's Soul Nation: Struggle in the Seducing Woods


Pedro and Brook began the mission to steal Big Mom's Road Ponegylph and took the Shark Submerge III under a river toward Big Mom's castle. The Thousand Sunny docked onshore and Luffy called out for Sanji and Pudding, whom he saw on the shore, but the two had mysteriously disappeared. As Nami struggled to comprehend Luffy's claim, Luffy, Chopper, and Carrot then saw Sanji standing against a tree and raced toward him, but he disappeared once again. They became distracted by the forest of candy in front of them, and Nami wondered why Sanji would hide himself from them. Luffy decided to just follow their instincts to find Sanji, which Nami was not happy about, and they crossed a doughnut bridge as they eagerly eyed the candy forest. Suddenly, a giant crocodile attempted to eat the team, and they barely leaped out of its way. However, the crocodile, who was wearing a bowler hat and suspenders, spoke to them and noted that they were just humans. The crocodile walked away on its hind legs, bewildering Nami. She wanted to go back wait on the coast like Pudding told them, but realized that they were stuck due to the bridge collapsing.

Suddenly, Luffy saw another version of himself, and the two Luffys acted and spoke the same as though they were reflections of each other. The team then saw Sanji lying on a tree branch, and Luffy knocked into his reflection when trying to get to him. This caused the two Luffys to get angry and attack each other while ordering the others to go on ahead. Nami, Chopper, and Carrot ran into a large man buried up to his neck, who was there because he wanted to be. Suddenly, they were attacked by a rabbit riding a crane, and began panicking as their watches and compasses stopped working and everything in the Seducing Woods started talking.



Nami, Carrot, and Chopper continued to be pursued by the rabbit, Randolph, but Carrot fell back and attacked the rabbit, who she knew was not a mink due to its inability to use Electro. Carrot disabled Randolph's crane steed with Electro and ran back to the others, but Randolph threws its spear at the pirates. The spear ended up stabbing the buried man in the head, and the Sanji Retrieval Team met up with Luffy, who split off from his reflection as they ran in opposite directions. The Luffy running away from the Sanji Retrieval Team suddenly said that the one running with the team was not him, but the Luffy running with the team quickly shut his mouth. The Sanji Retrieval Team leaped over the river, but encountered the buried man yet again. They turned around and jumped back over the river, but ended up in the same place yet again. The Sanji Retrieval Team started noticing that everything in the Seducing Woods was talking, and it was revealed that the Luffy who accompanied them was actually the reflection as he transformed into Charlotte Brûlée, the eighth daughter of the Charlotte Family. Brûlée grabbed Nami and prepared to injure her and Carrot.

Meanwhile, the world's only maritime country, the Germa Kingdom, began to converge at Whole Cake Island in preparation for the wedding. Inside its royal castle, Sanji reunited with his family after 13 years separated from them. Reiju attempted to convince Sanji to return to the family and embrace the privileges of his royal status, but he reiterated his refusal to either marry Pudding or associate himself with his family again. Their father, Vinsmoke Judge, then arrived to talk to Sanji, but Sanji called him a "bastard" and refused to acknowledge him as his father. Judge then called on Sanji to step outside and settle matters physically.



As Yonji received treatment for the facial injuries he sustained in an earlier, unseen fight with Sanji, Judge and Sanji began their duel in a courtyard outside the Germa castle. Reiju and the onlooking Germa 66 agents were surprised and impressed at Sanji's combat prowess, while Sanji and Judge traded verbal as well as physical blows. Sanji reiterated once again that he was no longer a member of their family, and that he did not care about any potential reprisals from Big Mom if the Vinsmokes broke their marriage pact. Sanji recalled snippets from his childhood, during which he was bullied by his three brothers for feeding rats, and was denounced by Judge as a disgrace to the family name. Back in the present, Sanji blocked Judge's lightning spear with a leg imbued with Busoshoku Haki, which surprised Judge. Father and son continued to trade blows before Judge wrestled the upper hand. The fight eventually concluded when Judge called forth a "wall" of Germa 66 soldiers to stand between him and Sanji; as Sanji yelled at them to get out of his way, Judge sent his spear through one of the soldiers, shocking Sanji and catching him off guard before he channelled electricity through the spear's tip and blew Sanji backwards.

Back inside the Germa castle, Reiju treated Sanji's wounds while voicing her surprise at his vastly improved strength. Sanji responded by telling both Reiju and Judge that, while he'd hoped that they might have improved since he last saw them, they were actually worse now than they were back then. He repeated his intention to return to his crew, but Judge explained that an alliance with Big Mom would guarantee the success of their attempts to retake the North Blue. Judge also revealed that he only sought Sanji out in order to meet Big Mom's terms for an alliance; as he did not want to give over one of his "precious" sons to marriage into the Charlotte Family, he arranged that Sanji should be the groom because he did not consider Sanji a true son. While Sanji was distracted by Judge's statements, Reiju fastened exploding wristlets onto Sanji's wrists. Judge then explained that the wristlets would destroy Sanji's hands if he tried to escape, and that Big Mom was the only person with the key; he concluded by declaring that he would see Sanji married to seal the alliance, no matter what it took. Sanji went outside as he grew more and more angry at his confines.



Meanwhile, Brook and Pedro infiltrated Sweet City as they overheard the citizens talking about the latest news. Jinbe had retracted his request to leave the Big Mom Pirates, causing the citizens to label him as a coward. Brook recognized Jinbe and grew concerned about the fishman, as he thought he would join their crew. Pedro then spotted Pudding trying on wedding dresses inside a shop, although she wanted to leave and tend to a prior engagement. Brook and Pedro were shocked, as this meant that the Pudding Luffy saw on the beach was fake and that Sanji probably did not know they were here. Pedro then noticed Tamago walking out of the shop as some soldiers talked to him. The soldiers revealed that Pekoms was not with the Straw Hats after they set sail from Cacao Island, and they had confirmed that all but two of the Straw Hats were in the Seducing Woods and their capture would be imminent. The soldiers revealed that Brook and Pedro had yet to be caught, and Tamago recognized Pedro as Pedro and Brook grew frightened about their every move being tracked. Tamago told the soldiers to go search for Pekoms, as he wanted to keep his old partner around, and Brook and Pedro continue getting scared about their dire straits.



At the northeastern coast of Whole Cake Island, Capone Bege played around a little with his wife, the 22nd daughter of the Charlotte Family Charlotte Chiffon, and his infant son Capone Pez. Bege then turned his attention to the chained-up Pekoms at the edge of the cliff, and he prepared to dispose of Pekoms, as his compassion and empathy was of no use. Bege asked Pekoms if he had any last words as he pointed the gun at the mink, causing Pez to cry. Pekoms told Bege that underestimating Big Mom would be his downfall, and Bege shot him, causing him to fall into the shark-infested waters below.



Meanwhile, Caesar Clown was brought before Big Mom in the Whole Cake Chateau. Big Mom asked Caesar how his research was going, as he had been commissioned by her to find a way to make her family members the same size as her. However, Caesar had long realized that it was impossible without side effects, as shown with the children he experimented on in Punk Hazard, and so he spent his funds on alcohol and women, counting on Donquixote Doflamingo to protect him. Caesar told Big Mom that Luffy and Trafalgar Law had ruined his research and destroyed his lab, but she replied that she had the Minister of Candy construct an exact, stronger, replica of his old lab. Big Mom gave Caesar two weeks to finish his experiment, shocking him, and her first son Charlotte Perospero, the Minister of Candy, then arrived with Caesar's heart and threatened to turn him into candy with the power of the Pero Pero no Mi should he fail.

As night fell, Luffy crossed the bridge in the Seducing Woods carrying people who looked like Sanji and Pudding, and he wondered why his crewmates were acting so weird as there were two of each of them and they were making animal noises.

In Chocolatown, the citizens were asked a question biannualy: Leave or Life? One woman chose life, and a dark ghostly being removed a small ball from her chest.



Meanwhile, Luffy discovered that the real Nami was among the various figures of his crewmates making animal sounds. Nami revealed to him that Charlotte Brûlée, the woman posing as Luffy, had attacked them, although Nami repelled her with her new Clima-Tact. Carrot then attacked Brûlée, but she created a mirror that reflected Carrot's attack back at her. Brûlée revealed that she ate the Mira Mira no Mi and could create mirrors, and Carrot tried breaking the mirror. However, Brûlée trapped her inside a mirror and revealed that Big Mom knew the Straw Hats were here all this time. It was their mission to let the intruders roam around before showing them the consequences of going against Big Mom. Brûlée then commanded the flora of the forest to come to life and attack, and Chopper tried to buy them time by activating Monster Point as Nami realized how in over their heads they were to go against a Yonko.

In the present, Luffy and Nami spoke with the buried man, wondering what he saw and why he was not attacked. The man revealed that he saw the trees relentlessly attack Chopper, and Nami wondered why the trees eventually stopped chasing her and why they were alive in the first place. The man revealed that every citizen gives up a month's worth of their soul every six months in exchange for safety and protection, which was performed by incarnations of Big Mom's soul that she created with her Devil Fruit, the Soru Soru no Mi. The scattered pieces of soul then made their way everywhere, bringing life to the flora, which were known as Homies, and could also settle into animals like Randolph and the talking crocodile. The man revealed that the animalistic Straw Hat clones were created by Brûlée's ability, however, and Luffy and Nami got frustrated, wanting to know who he was. The man revealed that he was married to Big Mom and gave her two daughters, but was later cast aside. Suddenly, the tenth son of the Charlotte Family and one of the Three Sweet Commanders, Charlotte Cracker, arrived and pulled the man out of the ground, angry that he was giving away secrets to the enemy. The man then pleaded with Cracker to let him see his daughters Chiffon and Lola one last time.



Nami realized that Lola was the daughter of Big Mom and the buried man, and Randolph suddenly ambushed the Straw Hats again. However, Cracker brought Randolph down with his voice and berated him for interfering in his fight. Cracker revealed that Big Mom had sent him to ensure the Straw Hats' defeat, as they may have been too much for Brûlée and the homies to handle. This offended Brûlée and the homies, including the master of the Seducing Woods, Baum. Cracker resumed his execution of the buried man, but Luffy blocked Cracker's sword and freed the man. Nami regrouped with the man, who revealed his name to be Pound, and they ran off as the homies chased them. However, Nami pulled out the vivre card Lola had given her, and the power of Big Mom's soul contained within it caused the homies to shrink back in terror. Meanwhile, Cracker overpowered Luffy as he used an ability to multiply his arms, but Luffy was intent on not giving up or holding back against him.



Cracker easily overwhelmed Luffy with his sword, Pretzel, and his Busoshoku Haki. Nami became more and more frightened at the power they were facing, and Brûlée confronted her, saying that just like the rest of the Worst Generation, they would hit a wall in Big Mom. Fellow Supernovas: Eustass Kid, Scratchmen Apoo, Capone Bege, and Urouge had previously entered Big Mom's territory, and Bege became subservient to them while the rest fled. The only one to make an impact was Urouge, who had defeated one of the former Four Sweet Commanders. However, Cracker was sent in and Urouge was forced to flee. Brûlée threw a mirror down in front of Nami and emerged from it, grabbing Nami and attempting to pull her inside. However, Pound attacked Brûlée and freed Nami, and Brûlée stated that Pound was now an enemy of the Charlotte Family. Nami then struck Brûlée with Thunderbolt Tempo, and the homies ran away from her in fear as Luffy and Cracker continued fighting. Cracker continued to overwhelm Luffy, until his taunts concerning Sanji's royal status antagonized Luffy into activating Gear Fourth; Luffy then successfully hit Cracker with Kong Gun, sending him tumbling away.



Cracker got up and tried attacking, but Luffy split him in half with another punch. However, a figure emerged from one half of Cracker's body and cut Luffy's outstretched arm, sending him recoiling in pain. Cracker then showed his true body to Luffy, revealing that he was actually inhabiting a suit of biscuit armor with the power of the Bisu Bisu no Mi. Cracker reveled in his great power as he created biscuit puppets identical to his old suit of armor. Luffy attacked the puppets, and Cracker had them shield him as he leaped out from behind them and jabbed Pretzel at Luffy, narrowly missing his head. Meanwhile, Nami stood confidently on King Baum as she continued forcing the homies to shrink back in terror at Lola's Vivre Card.

Inside Brûlée's Mirro-World, Chopper developed a plan, having realized that this pocket dimension connected to all the mirrors on Whole Cake Island. He and Carrot then decided to use Brûlée's power against her. Meanwhile, Brook and Pedro hid inside a biscuit soldier patrolling Sweet City in order to infiltrate the Whole Cake Chateau.

A Family Reunion: Sanji's Loyalties Tested
The next morning, Big Mom went over the plans for the Vinsmoke Family to meet with hers, saying that rescuing Sanji would be impossible once he entered the Chateau. Meanwhile, Vinsmoke Ichiji and Niji arrived at the Germa Kingdom, receiving a hero's welcome from Germa 66. Ichiji and Niji wished to see Sanji again, and Sanji began trembling upon seeing them.



The Vinsmoke Family ate breakfast together, discussing the war in Broc Coli Island and the possibility of being barred from Reverie if their goal is achieved. Sanji told Niji to eat the food left on his plate, but Niji refused, causing Sanji to get angry. Annoyed at Sanji's actions, Niji complained to the head chef Cosette that Sanji ruined his food as he threw his plate at her. Sanji caught the plate as the food fell on the floor, and he examined it before eating it, calling it delicious. This appalled Cosette and Niji, and the latter attempted to kick Sanji, but was told to stop by Judge. Niji, Ichiji, and Judge berated Sanji for bringing shame to their royal status, but Sanji replied that he was shamed to be associated with them. Judge then held up a picture of Zeff, revealing to Sanji that he would have the chef killed if he continued challenging and defying them. As Sanji remembered Zeff raising him, Judge told him to make himself presentable for their lunch meeting with Big Mom and Pudding.

Sanji later discovered Cosette unconscious and severely beaten, causing him to seethe in rage at Niji. Yonji then appeared and offered to take Sanji to Niji, but ended up taking him to a large facility containing dozens of clones inside large tanks. Yonji revealed to Sanji that Judge was a brilliant scientist who worked with Vegapunk and several others before they were born. They had discovered the lineage factor of living organisms, allowing them to manipulate genetics and create clones. When the World Government discovered this, they arrested Vegapunk and drove the others apart; Judge escaped and continued this research on his own, creating the incredibly loyal Germa 66 soldiers that caused other nations to envy them. Sanji expressed his disgust for this as Ichiji and Niji entered the room, mocking Sanji for his continued weakness. An enraged Sanji attacked Niji for beating Cosette, but Niji quickly retaliated as Sanji was unable to fight back due to Ichiji threatening Zeff's life. Sanji's siblings mocked his dedication to Cosette, and Ichiji reminded him that he would always be the failure of the family.



Many years ago, Judge prepared to train the very young Reiju, Ichiji, Niji, Sanji, and Yonji in order to get them to surpass human limitations. However, Sanji continually lagged behind his siblings, and was beaten up and by his brothers as a result. As time went on, Judge observed notable progress in everyone except Sanji, who still retained the human traits he had at birth. Judge found Sanji in his room feeding a rat, and he angrily berated Sanji for preparing food, saying that Sanji had no option but to train even harder in order to catch up with his siblings. He then blew the rat and the food out the window as he told Sanji to never make food again, causing him to cry. Sanji continued to fail to progress, causing Judge to pretend his son died in an accident; in the meantime, he had Sanji locked up in an iron mask forever in order to begin a new life where his third son was effectively never born.



Sanji remained in the cell for six months, though he was still given fancy meals. He remembered when he started cooking in order to feed his sick mother, and how many obstacles he faced in getting his first dish to her. By the time he got to the medical ward, his dish was ruined, and the nurse Époni did not think it was safe for his mother to eat. However, Sanji's mother ate all of it and complimented it, wanting more. She eventually died, and while he was inside his cell, Sanji got cookbooks and utensils as he learned more about cooking. However, his brothers discovered him and resumed bullying him, and Reiju tended to his wounds, revealing that they were heading to the East Blue across the Red Line. Sanji wanted to escape, and Reiju bent the bars of his cell. As Germa 66 attacked the island of Cozia, Sanji looked for the keys to take off his iron mask, when he was confronted by Judge. Judge allowed Sanji to leave, but requested that Sanji never identify himself as his son. Sanji and Reiju went outside as Reiju told her distraught brother to run to a nearby cruise ship and not look back, which Sanji did in tears.

Back in the present, Sanji's brothers left him as Reiju approached, ordering the doctors away from Sanji and expressing her disappointment that her brother was reduced to this because of his loyalty toward Zeff.

Meanwhile, Luffy and Cracker continued their 11-hour fight, with a now-obese Luffy adopting a strategy of fighting, running, and eating Cracker's Biscuit Soldiers, which annoyed the Sweet Commander. Luffy was intent on chipping away at Cracker's stamina, while Cracker eagerly waited for Luffy to explode from overeating. Cracker created more Biscuit Soldiers as he told King Baum that his insubordination would be reported to Big Mom, and Baum stated that Nami and her Vivre Card were keeping them at bay. However, Cracker did not accept that excuse and complained that with the homies' help, Nami was able to produce rain that made his Biscuit Soldiers edible. Nami told him to stop complaining as she created rain yet again, and even though Luffy's stomach was at its limit, he continued eating the Biscuit Soldiers. Meanwhile, the people of Sweet City talked in shock as many of them had seen Chopper and Carrot run inside their mirrors. Inside the Mirro-World, Brûlée chased Chopper and Carrot with a scythe.

In the Germa Kingdom, Reiju repaired Sanji's swollen face with a shock mask in order to make him more suitable for the gift exchange with the Charlotte Family, and she asked him where he got his chivalry from. Sanji replied that he was simply following an age-old rule as he recalled Zeff teaching him that men are never meant to hit women. Sanji was then brought outside to travel to the Whole Cake Chateau with his family, and the Germa 66 soldiers cheered him on and wished him luck.



Back at the Seducing Woods, Cracker prepared to finish the battle as he charged at Luffy himself, but Luffy expanded even more as he activated a new form of Gear Fourth known as Tankman: Full Version. Cracker and his attack were fully absorbed into Luffy's large body, and Luffy shot Cracker out through his remaining Biscuit Soldiers into the far-off distance, severely injuring Cracker in the process.

Cracker flew into the Whole Cake Chateau, shocking the citizens and his siblings Mont-d'Or, Opera, and Galette, who deduced that Luffy had sent him there and activated a lockdown of Sweet City. In the Seducing Woods, Nami was excited that Luffy managed to defeat Cracker, and Luffy began shrinking as Gear Fourth dramatically burned calories. However, Pound warned Nami that they would surely attract Big Mom's wrath, as when former Sweet Commander Snack was defeated, Big Mom summoned a thunderstorm while Cracker's fleet attacked, causing Urouge to be swiftly defeated. Big Mom had two entities, Zeus the thundercloud and Prometheus the sun, at her side, allowing her to control the weather. However, Luffy did not care and ordered King Baum to take him to the Whole Cake Chateau.



As the Germa Kingdom carriage approached Sweet City, Luffy and Nami rode Baum out of the Seducing Woods. Nami communicated with Chopper and Carrot through a mirror shard, and they assured her that everything was all right, although their screams suggested otherwise. The connection was cut off, and the Germa 66 troops noticed Baum running towards them. Excited to see Sanji again, Luffy then jumped off of Baum and onto the Germa carriage. As the Germa guards confronted Luffy, Sanji looked stressed as he considered the implications of escaping. As Nami called out to Sanji, he suddenly kicked Luffy off the carriage. Sanji told Luffy that he had fully embraced his royal heritage, including his last name, and degraded his crewmates as lowly pirates. Luffy did not believe what Sanji was saying, and the two prepared to fight.



Sanji continued degrading Luffy as he kicked him in the face with Diable Jambe, sending Luffy flying back. Luffy refused to fight Sanji, but also refused to leave him, and Sanji kicked him again. Nami shouted at Sanji to stop mistreating Luffy after all he had went through, but Luffy interrupted her, not caring about the outcome. Sanji assaulted Luffy with a barrage of kicks, with both sides refusing to give ground. Sanji then leaped into the air and smashed an axe kick into Luffy's head, knocking his captain out. Nami then approached Sanji and slapped him in anguish before letting him go on his way. Judge remarked that Sanji had severed his old bonds as Sanji returned to the carriage to resume its travel. Suddenly, Luffy got up and yelled at Sanji, saying that he knew Sanji was lying and that he would stay in this location until Sanji returned. Luffy further stated that he would not resume his quest to become the Pirate King without his cook and resolved to stay there. Sanji broke down in tears while hearing his captain's words.

As Luffy remained in his spot, thunderclouds started forming as Zeus and Prometheus went to work creating a thunderstorm. As the Germa Kingdom carriage entered Sweet City, they ran into a massive army of Big Mom Pirates. Niji and Yonji were happy at the thought of the Straw Hats meeting their ends at the hands of the army, especially against heavyweights like Bobbin, Amande, and Mont-d'Or. The thunderclouds began pouring down sweetened rain, which Luffy refused to ingest at all.



In the Whole Cake Chateau, Big Mom's daughter Anana asked her for knives so she could mutilate her stuffed animal. Big Mom told her sons Dolce and Dragée to get them for her and did not care for their complaints, being fine with her daughter's psychotic behavior. She then headed into a dining hall to begin the lunch meeting with Pudding and the Vinsmoke Family. The exchange went well, but Pudding gave a note to Sanji which told him to meet her alone later. Later, they talked in Pudding's quarters, with Sanji revealing that due to the precarious situation he is in, he has decided to cut himself off from everyone he cares about in order to protect them. Pudding sympathized with Sanji, and he resolved to continue with his life as best he can by marrying her tomorrow.

Pushed to the Limits: The Retrieval Team's Relentless Fight


Luffy and Nami took on Big Mom's army in battle, and Nami managed to summon a massive lightning bolt, but Galette immobilized her with a liquid substance. Meanwhile, Amande attacked King Baum, vertically bisecting him slowly in order to make him feel maximum pain. As Mont-d'Or mocked Luffy while standing on floating books, Opera attacked the pirate with massive amounts of cream. By increasing the cream's "sweetness", Opera burned Luffy, and the pirate attempted to strike back. However, Mont-d'Or put Luffy inside the setting of a book, preventing him from seeing his attackers. As Luffy snapped out of the illusion, he was punched from both the front and back by two Big Mom Pirates, sending him falling to the ground. Amande then acquired Lola's Vivre Card from Nami, and the Big Mom Pirates were shocked to see Lola's name on it, wondering if the Straw Hats had killed her. They then took the Straw Hats back to Sweet City to report to Big Mom. Luffy refused to come along, causing one of the pirates to stomp on his head.



In the Whole Cake Chateau, Big Mom agreed to a deal with Sanji that she would let his crewmates go in exchange for his complicit participation in the wedding, despite the Straw Hats' egregious actions against her. Meanwhile, inside the Room of Treasure, Tamago and Sweet Commander Charlotte Smoothie guarded the three poneglyphs in the room, one of which was a Road Poneglyph. Tamago braced for Pedro's invasion, recalling how the mink escaped Totto Land five years ago as a result of Pekoms' help. Brook overheard the exchange with his detached soul, and he reported Smoothie's presence to Pedro in the alcohol storehouse. Pedro grew increasingly concerned as their chances of stealing the poneglyph grew smaller and smaller, but Brook was intent on pressing on as a return trip would be almost impossible. Knowing that Tamago knew of Pedro's existence, the two decided for Pedro to act as the bait in their mission.

Inside Brûlée's house in the Mirro-World, Brûlée hung Carrot over a hot cauldron as she and the homies prepared to cook and eat the mink while Chopper sat in chains. However, since Chopper was chained up in Heavy Point, he knew he could escape by transforming and prepared to make his move.



Meanwhile, Big Mom took the Vinsmoke Family, sans Sanji, to her library, where she kept living creatures, including sentient ones, inside large books with Mont-d'Or's ability. Judge then asked her why, despite Totto Land's diversity, he had not seen a giant. Big Mom briefly became enraged, but quickly returned to normal, saying that he had just happened to miss seeing any. Big Mom then took her leave to handle other business, and in the Prisoner Library nearby, Mont-d'Or, Bobbin, Perospero, Opera, and Galette turned opened a book containing the imprisoned Luffy and Nami, and set down a Den Den Mushi for Big Mom to talk to them. Luffy immediately shouted at and challenged Big Mom, but she stated her intention to let them go after the wedding so long as they did not disrupt it. She revealed that a great Fishman Island national treasure called the Tamatebako was given to her by Luffy after he ate all her candy there, and stated her intention to open it at the wedding. Luffy asked to see Pudding, but Big Mom was incredulous that the two of them were friends. She then asked Nami if she really killed Lola, and Nami denied this, revealing Lola's wish for them to tell Big Mom she was well. However, an angry Big Mom revealed that she hated Lola and would send hired assassins after her if she knew her location. This was because Lola ran away from a political marriage that would have given Big Mom the power to take down the other Yonko and become Pirate King; Big Mom continued getting angry and swore to get Lola's location out of Nami later. However, Luffy continued challenging her, saying he would rescue Sanji and defeat her.

Meanwhile, Sanji sat in a guest room, hoping that his crewmates were safe. In the Room of Treasure, Pedro appeared before the guards, who rushed to attack him. While Pedro served as a distraction, Brook prepared to unleash his plan.

Big Mom hung up from her call, but refused to be angry at Luffy's defiance due to her excitement at getting the Tamatebako, wedding cake, and control of Germa 66 tomorrow. However, her hat reported to her that someone was causing a ruckus near the Room of Treasure, causing Big Mom to become angry. Meanwhile, Anglais rode into the Prisoner Library and told his older siblings that there is an intruder in the Room of Treasure.

In the guest room, Sanji assured himself of the safety of his crewmates and the Baratie, and tried to stop worrying in order to make Pudding happy, wanting to solely focus on her. Meanwhile, Pudding was told by an attendant that Big Mom had rejected her wedding dress pick and chose one herself; Pudding recalled how much control Big Mom was taking over her ceremony. As she stepped out into the sweet rain, she remembered Lola's departure; Lola had claimed that Big Mom would never hurt her since they were family, and she wanted to choose her own marriage.



Meanwhile, after taking down many security guards in the Room of Treasure, Pedro raced through the halls, cutting down more guards with his sword. He then ran up a wall, past several guards who were shooting at him, and threw a bomb at the shooters before landing back on the floor. Tamago kept in contact with the soldiers, planning to lead Pedro to the garden and trap him there. He then received a call from Smoothie, who revealed that Brook had snuck into the Room of Treasure and locked her out. Smoothie decided to lay in wait since there was only one exit, and Tamago told her to capture Brook alive so he could be placed in Big Mom's collection. Inside the Room of Treasure, Brook confronted the remaining security guards, and the Chess Soldiers raced to attack him. However, Brook played his guitar, amplifying his soul and suppressing the souls in the Chess Soldiers.

Pudding went to the Prisoner Library and requested to talk to Luffy and Nami, and she entered their cell via an opening created by a bookmark. Pudding apologized for the harm her siblings had inflicted on the Straw Hats, and apologized for not meeting them on the coast like they agreed. She revealed that Sanji had proposed to her, but stated that she knew he did not truly want to marry her and so she would not marry him. She then whispered something to Luffy and Nami, which shocked them, and Pudding said goodbye as she left their cell in tears.

In the Vinsmoke Family's guest room, Yonji noted that Reiju had left before asking where Sanji and Pudding would live. Judge replied that they would live in Germa Kingdom, in order to prevent Big Mom from taking advantage of them after the marriage was complete, and her trying the same tactic would not work since they did not care about Sanji. Niji looked forward to living with his brother again.



Meanwhile, Brûlée prepared to drop Carrot into a pot of boiling soup and cook her. However, it was revealed through Chopper that the Carrot hanging over the pot was actually a frog that Brûlée used her powers to turn into a body double of Carrot. The real Carrot was up in the attic, and as Randolph prepared to cut the rope holding Carrot's double over the soup, Carrot threw a rock at him. Brûlée was confused and angry about Randolph's sudden fall, and Carrot took advantage of her distraction to drop down and kick the pot at her, dousing her in the boiling soup and defeating her. In the midst of the chaos, Chopper activated Brain Point and became small again, allowing him to escape his chains and eat a Rumble Ball. Randolph and some of his comrades raced to help Brûlée, but Carrot defeated them with a large electric shock. Chopper then defeated the Noble Croc by flipping him over onto more of Brûlée's subordinates, and Diesel raced to report the incident to Big Mom. However, Carrot caught up to him and put her hands over his eyes, causing him to crash. Chopper and Carrot celebrated their victory and prepared to use the Mirro-World to visit their allies.



Meanwhile, Sanji prepared to cook food for Pudding in order to cheer her up. Inside the Room of Treasure, Brook defeated the remaining security guards before entering the cage containing the poneglyphs. However, Big Mom came and broke through the door of the room to confront Brook herself, and she immediately became fascinated with his unusual body. Meanwhile, Pedro was surrounded by Big Mom's forces, and Tamago confronted him. The two uncovered their eyes, revealing that they had both lost their left eyes the last time they met. Tamago wondered why Pedro returned to Totto Land, especially after he had 50 years of his lifespan removed the last time he came five years ago. However, Pedro revealed that he did not intend to return from Totto Land alive this time.

Meanwhile, Reiju was severely injured and struggled to move down a hallway.



Chopper and Carrot appeared in mirrors all across Sweet City, frightening the citizens. Inside the Mirro-World, they rode on a cart pulled by Diesel, and searched for the mirrors leading to the Whole Cake Chateau. Due to their lack of success, they tried reviving Brûlée to guide them as they continued searching.

Inside Sanji's guestroom, he finished a bento for Pudding and gleefully went out to meet her. Meanwhile in the Prisoner Library, Luffy pulled at the stake binding his arms to the cell and twisted around. Nami pleaded with him to stop before he tore his hands off, but Luffy intended to do this as it was the only thing that would prevent him from waiting there to be rescued and possibly killed.



In the third floor courtyard, Pedro and Tamago began their duel, with each combatant intending to inflict more than the loss of an eye on their opponent. Pedro remembered his crew's defeat on Totto Land five years ago, with Pekoms having joined the Big Mom Pirates and his comrade Zepo being forced to spin a roulette wheel. The wheel landed on 100 years of life, and Big Mom pulled Zepo's lifespan out. Since Zepo only had 30 years left to live, Big Mom still had to take out 70 years of Pedro's life. However, Pekoms' begging caused her to shorten it to 60, and Pedro atoned for taking out Tamago's eye by removing his own. Admiring Pedro's spirit, Big Mom decided to remove 50 years of his life, allowing him to keep living. Pedro had wished to keep living so he could return home and witness the dawn of this world, and in the present, when Tamago asked him why he had returned, he replied that he believed the Straw Hats would bring about the dawn. While Pedro was fine with not returning from Totto Land alive, he was intent on staying alive until the Straw Hats accomplished their goals. He then raced toward Tamago and bisected him horizontally, causing a giant yolk to fall out.

The Truth About the Wedding: Race to a Reunion


The door homie to Pudding's room refused to allow Sanji in, and he decided to go out to the balcony and give Pudding her gifts through the window. As he came to the window, he heard Pudding laughing and was shocked to see her talking to Reiju. Pudding gleefully cried out that she was only acting and never intended to marry Sanji, and her bangs were swept away, revealing a third eye on her forehead. In the Prisoner Library, Luffy continued trying to free himself and cursed Pudding. It was revealed that Pudding had whispered to them that she was going to kill Sanji during the wedding, and Luffy was intent on freeing himself and stopping her. Meanwhile, Pudding mocked Reiju, who was trapped in her chair by Nitro, for her family's foolishness in arranging this deal. In order to get their hands on Germa Kingdom's advanced technology, the Big Mom Pirates would massacre the Vinsmoke Family during the wedding ceremony. Pudding continued mocking Sanji and the Vinsmokes, and made various shocked faces to mockingly predict how Sanji would react when she revealed her true colors during the wedding ceremony, which caused her homies Nitro and Rabian to laugh hysterically. Outside, Sanji tried lighting a cigarette as tears fell down his face, but the rain made the cigarette too wet to light.



In the Room of Treasure, Big Mom easily overwhelmed Brook with Zeus and Prometheus. However, Brook kept getting back up, and Big Mom asked him why he was going after her Poneglyphs and not after Sanji. Brook replied that due to Sanji's desire to not be rescued and save everyone else, and due to Luffy's willingness to do anything to achieve his dreams, the two were best left to decide Sanji's rescue alone. As he stood before Big Mom, Brook stated that his mission had purpose as well, as even if Sanji was not rescued, they could still honor him by achieving something during their voyage here. Big Mom replied that death would be the worst-case scenario, but Brook chided her that no scenario should ever include one's death. Meanwhile, in Mirro-World, Carrot revived Brûlée by tickling her, and she and Chopper asked where the mirrors that led to the castle were. Brûlée had forgotten, but she told them they could communicate with the mirrors. Chopper and Carrot found the mirrors that led to the castle, but none of the mirrors knew who their teammates were, so Carrot prepared to sketch portraits of them.



Meanwhile, in order to prevent Reiju from dying or telling anyone about her true plans, Pudding used the power of the Memo Memo no Mi to reach into her head and pull out a strip of film containing her memories. Pudding then cut away Reiju's memories about their encounter, and replaced them with a soldier's memory of being hit by a stray bullet in order to explain Reiju being shot, before sending her to the infirmary. Meanwhile, inside the Prisoner Library, Luffy continued to strain and harm his arms, and Opera approached their cell. Opera had received orders from Big Mom to get Lola's location from Nami by the end of the day. Nami refused to sell out her friend, and Opera prepared to shoot her with a crossbow every five seconds until she answered. Suddenly, Jinbe entered the Prisoner Library, and Opera told him that he was not allowed on the castle grounds, but Jinbe only responded by apologizing before hitting Opera in the stomach with a powerful Gosenmaigawara Seiken. Revealing that he came after he heard Luffy and Nami were imprisoned, Jinbe prepared to free the two of them. Jinbe set the book they were in on fire, freeing all the prisoners from their bonds but setting them ablaze. He doused Luffy and Nami with Fishman Karate, and revealed to them that his crew worked under Big Mom. However, he had taken care of his unfinished business, and was now willing to revolt. As Big Mom's forces raced to address the disturbance in the Prisoner Library, Luffy struggled to get up due to his hunger, but went and raced toward the enemy pirates in order to find Sanji and let him know about Pudding's deception, despite Jinbe's warnings.

In the infirmary, Reiju regained consciousness and struggled to remember how she was injured. Sanji then revealed the truth about her injury, and Reiju believed him, having had suspicions on Pudding for acting too nice. Sanji broke down when reflecting on how he and Luffy were tricked, but Reiju stated that she would not say anything and let the Big Mom Pirates execute their plan against Germa 66. Sanji protested since she would die too, but Reiju shrugged it off and told him to escape and rejoin the Straw Hats. Sanji pointed out the threat on Baratie, but Reiju said it would be dealt with afterwards. Reiju recalled a memory of their mother, Sola arguing against their father. Sola intended on keeping their children human while Judge did not care about humanity, only their potential as war machines. Sola was eventually forced to go through the surgery that would turn Sanji and his brothers into emotionless killing machines, but tried working against it by taking a drug that was intended to conteract the surgery's effects. However, the drug only worked on Sanji, with Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji gaining the effects of the surgery and slowly losing their emotions. Sola got weaker due to using the drug, and Sanji was shocked that he was the reason she died, but Reiju assured him that their mother regretted nothing. When Reiju had once visited the bedridden Sola, Sola became hysterical as she recalled the time Sanji gave her a meal. Eventually, Sola died and Judge blamed Sanji for Sola's death and treated him as worthless. However, in the present, Reiju stated that Sanji was Sola's success due to receiving emotions and actually becoming human.



Meanwhile, Luffy raced through the Whole Cake Chateau, choking Charlotte Counter and trying to get Sanji's location out of him. Outside the Room of Treasure, Smoothie received reports of Jinbe's attack on the Whole Cake Chateau, and she ordered her soldiers to deal with the problem and not tell Big Mom about it, as Big Mom finding out yet another problem would cause her to react in an unthinkable manner. She told one of her soldiers to completely seal off the third floor in order to trap and fight the rebels, and they planned to kill the attackers for efficiency. Back in the infirmary, Reiju told Sanji to abandon his family, as they did not deserve to live and Big Mom would still treat him horribly. Sanji understood this, but did not want Reiju to die. However, despite having emotions, Reiju said that she had to obey her family and deserved to die for her actions as well. Reiju then revealed that the wristlets were fakes and encouraged Sanji to return to the Straw Hats. As this happened, Luffy continued battling through the enemy pirates while making his way through the Chateau.

In the Room of Treasure, Big Mom captured and started caressing Brook, revealing that Zeus, Prometheus, and her hat Napoleon were imbued with her own soul, protecting them from Brook's Devil Fruit power. The Chess Soldiers failed to find anything in Brook's clothing and cylinder, and Big Mom happily forgave Brook, being relieved that her Poneglyphs were not stolen again. In the past, Gol D. Roger had read her Poneglyphs using the Voice of All Things, allowing him to beat her to Raftel, and she swore to never let that happen again. However, Big Mom now had someone who could develop the same ability to read the poneglyphs, and that person, Pudding, came into the room right at that moment. Big Mom asked Pudding if her third eye had achieved true opening, and an exasperated Pudding said there was no guarantee since she was a half-breed and was not a full member of the Three-Eye Tribe. Pudding then asked Big Mom if they could talk in private.



In the third floor courtyard, Tamago evolved into Viscount Hiyoko with the Tama Tama no Mi, gaining a chicken beak and wings. However, Pedro quickly cut him in half, but the yolk began evolving into its next form, Count Niwatori. The Big Mom Pirates claimed that Niwatori was a "true knight" who could quickly defeat Pedro, but to their shock, Pedro immediately went to attack Niwatori before it finished evolving. They raced to defend Niwatori, but Pedro pulled out a line of explosives, causing a massive explosion that engulfed the Big Mom Pirates. However, Pedro was pulled into a mirror by Chopper and Carrot, having encountered them and planned his strategy earlier in the battle. Pedro revealed to them that Luffy and Nami were captured and that Brook was likely in trouble, and Carrot asked the mirrors to lead them to the other three by holding up a very effeminate picture of the team. The mirrors then revealed that Nami was with Jinbe.

Meanwhile, as Luffy ran through the Chateau, Reiju pulled him into the infirmary room, where she revealed that they had found out about Pudding's deception but Sanji was still hung up about the threats on his crewmates and the Baratie. Willing to do anything to help Sanji, Luffy jumped out the window. Meanwhile, Sanji recalled the threats on his friends and his attack on Luffy, saying there was no way to go back now. Luffy landed on someone's house, destroying it, and intended to return to the spot where he promised to be waiting for Sanji. In the Chateau, Jinbe and Nami ran from Big Mom's forces, who were intending to surround them, though were surprised to see Jinbe rebelling against them. Nami shocked several pirates with lightning, but ended up shocking Chopper as well, who had emerged from a nearby mirror to rescue them. Nami and Jinbe went into the Mirro-World, and Jinbe revealed that he had avoided spinning the roulette wheel because it would have meant certain death for him. Brûlée affirmed this, saying that no one left Big Mom's crew alive, but was interrupted as the team set off to search for Luffy, Sanji, and Brook.

In the Queen's Chambers, Big Mom commended Brook for being the first one to injure her three top homies, and decided to keep him with her due to being mesmerized by him. Brook then witnessed as Pudding revealed her true nature and she and Big Mom went over their plan to assassinate the Vinsmoke Family. Big Mom had given the Vinsmokes lots of alcohol to intoxicate them, and Pudding had verified the candy jacket bullets' capabilities. Once Sanji lifted up Pudding's veil, he would be taken aback by her third eye, allowing her to shoot him through the head and give the others the signal to start shooting the rest of the Vinsmokes.



A Chess Soldier peeked into Sanji's room and saw someone sleeping there, so it reported that Sanji was asleep. However, the person in the bed was actually Sanji's attendant. Meanwhile, Mont-d'Or held a meeting with some of the Big Mom Pirates to address the status of the Sanji Retrieval Team and the Vinsmoke Family. Count Niwatori, who had survived Pedro's explosion, reported Pedro's supposed death, while Chopper and Carrot were assumed to still be in Brûlée's custody. Mont-d'Or then inquired about Luffy and Nami's situation, as they were supposedly imprisoned but he had heard rumors about them escaping with Jinbe. However, Opera lied that he burned Luffy and Nami to death and never saw Jinbe in order to save face and avoid punishment. With the Vinsmokes in their rooms and the Sanji Retrieval Team seemingly eliminated, Mont-d'Or adjourned the meeting, but told the Chess Soldiers to keep a patrol going since he did not trust Opera.



Reiju looked out of the window at Sweet City, where Luffy was stumbling back to the spot where he would wait for Sanji. In the Chateau, Sanji accepted his oncoming death since it would be the best way to keep his friends safe. However, Bobbin appeared and was shocked to see Sanji not in his room as he took a piece of meat from Sanji's bento basket. Remembering how Luffy swore to not eat anything unless Sanji made it, Sanji became angry and kicked Bobbin into the wall. Bobbin was shocked by Sanji's actions, and Sanji, not knowing why he did it himself, grabbed the bento basket and started to run. Bobbin's crewmates raced to see what was going on, but Bobbin put them to sleep, intent on going after Sanji himself.



Meanwhile, the Sanji Retrieval Team in Mirro-World found Big Mom holding Brook as she slept in her bed. Brûlée tried calling out to her mother, but she and Diesel were bound and gagged. The Sanji Retrieval Team watched as a half-asleep Big Mom crushed a fly buzzing around, followed by her top homies viciously attacking the spot where the fly was, and they wondered in shock how they would get Brook back. They then created a fake Brook from another skeleton and seaweed in order to replace the real Brook with it. Chopper snuck up to Big Mom, but sneezed, causing her to attack his location. Carrot then tried, but was caught off-guard by Big Mom's movement and attacked by Zeus, who thought she was the fly. Pedro was forced to retreat when Big Mom started tossing and turning, but she dropped Brook on the ground. Nami then went to wake up Brook, but he screamed when he saw the fake Brook, causing Big Mom to wake up. Still believing the intruders were the fly she had attacked earlier, Big Mom threw Prometheus at Nami and Brook, but the two of them were pulled into Mirro-World by Jinbe. Brook then revealed that he had acquired copies of all of Big Mom's Poneglyphs and hid them inside his skull, and his crewmates congratulated him as they headed out to find Sanji.

Meanwhile, Sanji traveled through Sweet City to find Luffy, and he reached the outskirts where Luffy had promised to wait for him. As he walked passed the bodies of the fallen soldiers from Luffy's battle with Big Mom's army, he heard a stomach growling, and saw a weakened Luffy sitting in the promised spot.

In the Mirro-World, the Sanji Retrieval Team was unable to find Luffy and Sanji from any of the mirrors, and Nami deduced that they may be in the spot where they fought earlier. Jinbe noted when hearing of the fight that Sanji may be hard to retrieve due to his duties as a member of the Vinsmoke Family, but also revealed to the Straw Hats that the wedding ceremony would not actually be happening. He then asked the team about Pekoms. They stated that Pekoms was with them before disappearing, and Jinbe revealed that Pekoms was all right, though would have been killed in a plot had Jinbe not taken action, which shocked Pedro. Meanwhile, in Sweet City, Bobbin was shot by some unknown assailants, and cursed them as he collapsed from his wounds. In the Vinsmoke Family's guest room, Judge and his sons began to taper off on the immense amount of alcohol they consumed, planning to truly party the next night once they were allied with the Big Mom Pirates. They then had a toast to Sanji, reflecting on how the "dud" of the family was finally useful to them. Outside, Mont-d'Or had his Chess Soldiers guard the guest room, ordering them not to let the Vinsmokes contact anyone until the wedding ceremony.



In the outskirts of Sweet City, Sanji fed Luffy the bento he made, and Luffy happily ate it, calling it delicious despite the weather causing it to get soggy. Luffy regained his strength, but Sanji then told him to leave, saying that he could not return to the crew due to attacking his captain, the hostage crisis with Zeff, and his innate desire to save his family from being murdered by Big Mom despite his hatred of them. However, Luffy punched Sanji with great force, shouting at his cook to tell him the truth. Sanji then broke down and confessed that he wanted to return to the crew, but had no way of getting out of this situation by himself. Luffy then offered him his assistance in crashing the wedding tomorrow.

Crashing the Wedding: Alliance With the Fire Tank Pirates
The Sanji Retrieval Team then found Luffy and Sanji through the mirror shards that Nami had while riding King Baum toward the outskirts of Sweet City. Sanji was shocked that his crewmates were inside the mirror, but had apprehension over facing them again. Luffy talked to his crewmates, affirming that he had Sanji, and they told him everyone was rescued and that Brook had gotten copies of the Poneglyphs. Luffy then revealed that Sanji wanted to crash the wedding and save his family, and the team was shocked at the prospect of confronting Big Mom, but very quickly threw in their support for Sanji, which surprised him.



Jinbe then warned the team that the enemies they had faced were but a fraction of the Big Mom Pirates' forces, and they would also have to deal with the Underworld figures invited to the wedding, but he then brought up Capone Bege. He revealed that the Supernova was once the head of one of the Five Families of the West, five powerful mafia organizations that controlled the Underworld in West Blue. Bege had become infamous in his field for taking down the bosses of rival groups directly, and rather than taking power over the forces he defeated, he was content to watch the chaos as his rivals struggled for power after the attack. The same was now about to happen with Big Mom, as Bege had been placed in charge of security and was now plotting to take her head. Earlier, Bege had approached Pekoms and offered a partnership between the two, but the loyal Pekoms had refused, forcing Bege to shoot him into shark-infested waters to keep the secret safe. Jinbe's crew had managed to rescue Pekoms just in time, and the lion mink was currently recovering. Luffy was angry at Bege's actions, but Jinbe stated that it was in their best interests to go along with Bege's already established plan, so Luffy reluctantly agreed despite his crews' protests. Meanwhile, Bege and his crew sat in their hideout, ready to meet with Luffy. Bege was open to working with his fellow Supernova, but had no qualms with eliminating Luffy if he got out of hand.



At the Whole Cake Chateau, Streusen, Big Mom's head chef, put the finishing touches on the wedding cake. In the eastern inlet of the island, the Sun Pirates tended to the injured Pekoms. Pekoms asked if Jinbe would ensure Bege got his retribution at the hands of Big Mom, but he remained suspicious that the Sun Pirates were lying to him and protested against them forcing him to stay.

Meanwhile, Luffy and Sanji reached the Fire Tank Pirates' base, where they were greeted by Vito. They and their teammates that had emerged from the Mirro-World were all forced to bathe themselves before they could meet with Bege. In the women's bath, Chiffon talked with Nami and Carrot, expressing her happiness to hear about Lola's well-being. She revealed that Big Mom had always had a bad relationship with giants for some reason, but one day Loki, the prince of Elbaf, came and proposed to Lola. Not only could Big Mom improve her relationship with the giants, but she would also gain control over Elbaf's military, reputed as one of the strongest in the world. When Lola ran away to pursue her own husband, Big Mom tried substituting Chiffon, but the giants discovered the trick and the marriage was annulled, with relations growing worse than before. Due to Chiffon's resemblance to Lola, Big Mom began abusing her, and now Chiffon did not consider her as family anymore to the point where she felt no emotion at her planned assassination. The Sanji Retrieval Team then emerged from the baths, with Luffy and Brook healing their injuries with milk. The captive Brûlée and Diesel reacted with outrage to Chiffon's participation in Bege's plan, but Chiffon reminded them of what Big Mom did to her.



The Straw Hats then met with the Fire Tank Pirates, and Luffy recognized Caesar Clown among them. Caesar futilely tried disguising himself as "Gangster" Gastino, but eventually admitted that Bege had freed him from Big Mom in exchange for his help in the plot. Luffy then tried to punch Bege for shooting Pekoms, which caused an uproar, but Jinbe quickly calmed everyone down as Luffy, Bege, and Caesar went over Bege's plan.

Bege presented a weapon that Caesar created, the KX Launcher, which would quickly kill Big Mom once it penetrated her. However, the problem was that Big Mom was like an "iron balloon" who was unaffected by bullets and even cannonballs. However, she did have a weakness in a portrait of Mother Carmel, which she kept across the table from her at every tea party. If the portrait was damaged, she would suffer a mental breakdown and unleash a shriek that would cause everyone nearby to collapse. Her body would also be significantly more susceptible to injury during the breakdown. Thus, Bege planned to cut the portrait in half, and with earplugs in his ears, he could gun down Big Mom in a five second window. However, it would take three seconds for Big Mom to react to the portrait's damage, so he would use Luffy as bait in order to keep Big Mom's forces occupied in that time. Luffy agreed to fill the role, and planned a grand entrance that he would make once Pudding shot her gun, which Sanji would dodge. Once Big Mom was killed, Caesar would emerge from the mirrors with Brûlée's assistance, and they would escape to their ships, where the alliance would be disbanded.

With two and a half hours before the wedding, Sanji returned to the Whole Cake Chateau to prepare for it. The people all around Totto Land celebrated the wedding as Big Mom's guests began flowing to the Chateau, and Big Mom herself was distraught when she believed Brook to be dead, but quickly tossed his substitute aside when she realized it was the wedding day. Meanwhile, Pudding sat in her wedding dress sullenly, not looking forward to having to alter everyone's memories to portray her as a good girl.

Meanwhile, the Sun Pirates prepared to leave Whole Cake Island and desert Big Mom, and so they tied up Pekoms. Aladine remembered Jinbe stating his intentions to help the Straw Hats rebel against Big Mom, having known that the roulette wheel Big Mom had shown him earlier would have not only caused his lifespan to be removed, but would land on enough years that his crewmates' lifespans would be removed as well. Knowing the risks in Jinbe's plan, Aladine wished to help him, but Jinbe told him to escape and that he would now be fighting to protect Luffy. The two then departed.



In the Whole Cake Chateau, the Vinsmoke Family arrived at the ceremony venue as Big Mom's guests. The emperors of the Underworld arrived and Perospero greeted them before escorting them to the banquet hall on a candy escalator, impressing them. Meanwhile, Bege was accosted at the front door by a man named Jigra, who refused to go through a body check. In the middle of their conversation, Jigra was suddenly shot through the head by a jelly bean. The shooter, Charlotte Katakuri, revealed that with his advanced Kenbunshoku Haki, he saw that Jigra was intending to take revenge on Big Mom and was about to attack the venue. Bege noted that Katakuri's advanced Haki would be his biggest obstacle in the plan to assassinate Big Mom. Finally, the tea party started as the guests arrived at the banquet hall, and Big Mom excitedly told them to feast before the tea party's main events would start.

Vito looked over the wall of the venue, and was simultaneously excited and scared by the big names congregated at the party, including Big Mom's children Compote, Daifuku, and Oven. Inside the venue, Big Mom was presented with the portrait of Mother Carmel, and expressed joy at seeing it. A new guest asked about Carmel's significance, but Big Mom got angry and knocked him out with Haoshoku Haki. The emperors of the Underworld then presented Big Mom with gifts, and a gleeful Big Mom prepared to open them along with the Tamatebako during the banquet after the wedding. Outside, Bege had his men close off every entryway and jam all communications, and he had Caesar come out of his body with the mirror that they would use to make their escape. Bege went over the plan with Caesar, but noticed a door homie spying on them, causing Gotty to cut its face off and kill it. With 30 minutes left before the ceremony, Caesar went back into Bege's body, and Bege was shocked to see Luffy and Nami sleeping in his body, but Jinbe assured him that he would wake them up 10 minutes before the ceremony. Bege then went into the venue.

In the bride and groom changing rooms, Sanji was with Pudding, who continued to act sweet in front of him. Despite knowing her true nature and intentions, Sanji struggled to keep himself from being entranced by her beauty. Meanwhile, Pudding was inwardly disgusted by Sanji's behavior and could not wait to kill him. Sanji and Pudding were then taken to the venue on a giant teacup flown by Zeus, and the wedding ceremony began.



As this happened, Jinbe slapped Luffy in a panic in order to wake him up, yelling at him and trying to get meat. Out in the venue, Streusen presented the guests with the giant wedding cake, which Sanji and Pudding would get married on. Big Mom gleefully prepared to eliminate the Vinsmoke Family, and Reiju looked at her surroundings as she wondered if Sanji had a plan. As the minister recited the vows, Katakuri suddenly foresaw Pudding breaking down, and stepped forward as Pudding stood up to remove her veil. Pudding then displayed her third eye to Sanji, but instead of being appalled, Sanji called the eye beautiful. This brought tears to Pudding's eyes and she collapsed, as everyone in her life had called her third eye creepy and disgusting. Big Mom and her other children were disgruntled by Pudding's actions, and Big Mom had the minister attack Sanji, but Katakuri knew he would miss and flicked a jellybean at Sanji's head. However, Sanji dodged and the jellybean hit the minister, killing him. Hearing a gunshot, Luffy raced to make his entrance, and chaos began forming in the venue as the wedding cake started expanding. Several copies of Luffy then emerged from it as it exploded, shocking everyone in the venue.

Three hours ago, Luffy had requested that he enter through a mirror in the wedding cake, and when he remembered that Brûlée could make mirror clones out of him from animals, he rounded up dozens of animals and forced her to make them into copies of him. In the present, the wedding venue fell into chaos as the cake began to topple, and Sanji grabbed Pudding as he jumped off of it. Mont-d'Or was shocked to realize that Opera had lied to him about Luffy's death, and Big Mom began to have a crisis about the destroyed cake. Despite Streusen's pleas, she ordered the cooks to make another cake, and took away their lifespans when they could not. Inside the Mirro-World, Jinbe and Pedro went to the outside world to back Luffy up after all his clones had left, and Nami, Chopper, and Carrot went out as well in order to rescue the Vinsmoke Family.



An enraged Big Mom confronted Luffy and his clones as Luffy raced to destroy Mother Carmel's portrait, but as Big Mom prepared to attack, Katakuri intercepted the real Luffy with a massive tendril of a sticky substance using the power of the Mochi Mochi no Mi. Katakuri explained to Big Mom what the Luffy clones were and revealed that Luffy was intending to attack the Carmel portrait, but as he attacked Luffy, Jinbe sent a deluge of water at the sticky substance, freeing Luffy. Big Mom angrily confronted Jinbe for his act, and Jinbe stated his intention to leave the Big Mom Pirates, even being willing to sacrifice his lifespan as long as Big Mom did not harm anyone else. However, Big Mom was unable to remove Jinbe's lifespan because of his lack of fear, and so attacked him with Prometheus. In the midst of the chaos, however, Brook snuck up to the Carmel portrait in a Luffy disguise and shattered it with a hammer.

The Wedding Becomes Chaos: Going After the Yonko's Head


Big Mom's attention was brought to the portrait as she attacked Luffy and Jinbe, and Brook ripped off his Luffy mask. Big Mom was shell-shocked to see the portrait destroyed and to see Brook again, and Judge fell under the impression that this was all part of a plot to take Sanji back. To control the damage that would happen once Big Mom went on a rampage, the Big Mom Pirates mobilized to take down the Straw Hats. Meanwhile, Pudding desperately attempted to finish her job and shoot Sanji, but Sanji dodged all her shots. Pudding's brother Daifuku then came and coldly pushed her aside, having had enough of her failure, and he confronted Sanji by summoning a genie with the power of the Hoya Hoya no Mi. Sanji battled the genie, but was overwhelmed by its immense strength. Bege pinned Luffy to the ground in order to act like he was doing his job, and as Jinbe fought off multiple Big Mom Pirates, he warned Pedro not to block Charlotte Oven's strikes. However, Pedro blocked one with his sword, and Oven used the power of the Netsu Netsu no Mi to transfer a large amount of heat to the sword, preventing Pedro from holding it.



After three seconds had passed, Big Mom had still had not started screaming due to being torn between the portrait and the wedding cake, and Nami, Chopper, and Carrot anxiously awaited their cue. However, things continued to not go as planned as the Vinsmokes were trapped and surrounded at gunpoint by the Big Mom Pirates. Judge was appalled at this treachery and begged Big Mom to have honor, not willing to accept his death because of how hard he had worked to achieve his dream of reconquering the North Blue. However, his sons felt nothing about their imminent deaths due to their lack of emotion, and Ichiji mocked Judge for his display of weakness while Niji and Yonji made casual comments on their predicament. Perospero mocked Judge as Big Mom continued to stare blankly. During the chaos, Brook was decapitated and his head rolled towards Bege and Luffy, but he survived. Brook told Luffy to show Big Mom the damaged portrait again in order to make Big Mom focus on that. Katakuri then confronted Bege and Luffy, but upon noticing that his face was completely pale, Bege grew confident that something bad was about to happen as he directly told the Sanji Retrieval Team to prepare to execute the plan. The Big Mom Pirates grew suspicious of his actions and Katakuri ordered him to kill Luffy, but Bege confidently refused as he initiated his assassination operation.

Caesar arrived outside the venue with Brûlée as he acquired the escape mirror he would fly in, but he noticed that Big Mom had not reacted to the portrait's destruction. As Luffy raced to show the portrait to Big Mom, Katakuri chased after him, telling Perospero to kill the Vinsmokes immediately. Perospero continued taunting the Vinsmokes, and Sanji raced towards them, trying in vain to save them, but Reiju was proud of his compassion and accepted her death. Meanwhile, Bege shot Katakuri from his castle turrets, but the bullets passed through Katakuri as he attacked Luffy with a massive mochi leg. Pedro intercepted the leg with his sword, though got it trapped, and Jinbe tried hitting Katakuri with Fishman Karate, but Katakuri dodged it as he leaped at Luffy. He successfully pinned Luffy down with a mochi arm, but at the last second, Luffy stretched his arms to Big Mom's face, putting the portrait right in front of her.



Big Mom focused on the portrait, and as she realized what happened to it, she let out a great scream that shook the entire venue. Many guests were knocked out by her blasting Haoshoku Haki, while the rest were incapacitated by her scream. Big Mom dropped onto her knees and scraped them, and Bege grew confident as Vito and Gotty emerged from his body and, with their earplugs on and KX Launchers in hand, the alliance prepared to assassinate Big Mom. Meanwhile, with their assailants all incapacitated, the Vinsmokes were freed from their candy bindings by Sanji. Chopper gave them earplugs and Nami handed the Vinsmokes their raid suits, and as the tides began turning to the alliance's favor, a shell-shocked Big Mom reflected on Mother Carmel, asking why she left her a long time ago.



63 years ago, a 5-year-old Linlin was left on Elbaf by her parents, who promised to come back but were actually lying. Linlin had been exiled from their homeland for her uncontrollable behavior and they hoped that Mother Carmel could take care of her. Mother Carmel was well-known as the "Holy Mother", as 37 years earlier she had saved the Giant Warrior Pirates from being executed by the World Government by promising that this would prevent war between the humans and the giants. Carmel set up the "Sheep's House", a home for all lost children regardless of their race. Linlin was taken in to the Sheep's House, and in the presence of people her size, she felt truly at home. However, her naivete coupled with her great strength often resulted in her unintentionally hurting other people and animals, but Carmel always forgave her, saying that she was kind at heart.



Ten months later, giant heroes and former Giant Warrior Pirate captains Jorl and Jarl came to Linlin's village to partake in a semla feast with the Sheep's House residents. Linlin grew very attracted to the semla, and had to be held back in order to stop her from eating all of it. Elbaf then entered 12 days of fasting as part of the Winter Solstice Festival, and Linlin suffered due to the lack of food. Despite heeding Carmel's words, she was eventually unable to overcome her cravings on the seventh day of the fast, and went on a rampage through the village in order to get semla. As she took down full-grown giants and set the village ablaze, Linlin was confronted by Jorl, who decided that her actions could no longer be forgiven and decided to kill her, despite Carmel's pleas.

Jorl's sword shattered when it hit Linlin's incredibly tough arm, and Linlin grabbed his beard and threw him to the ground, severely injuring him. In desperation, Carmel had the giants get semla for Linlin, and she took out a fragment of her soul and put it in the fire engulfing the village, forming a sun homie that she named Pandora. The giants were in awe of Pandora, and Linlin was satiated when she received semla that the giants had been storing away. However, Jarl knew that Jorl was too old to recover from his injuries, and could not forgive Linlin for killing his partner as he prepared to stab her. Carmel intervened, and though she could not stop Jarl's rage, she agreed to take Linlin away from Elbaf. Jarl agreed with Carmel's terms, and Jorl's death, coupled with Linlin failing to remember it once she woke up, earned her the hatred of all the giant nations.



Carmel took Linlin and all her children to another island, where a new Sheep's House was built. Life returned to normal, but unbeknownst to all the children, Carmel was actually an orphan trafficker. Rather than sending the children to foster parents like she claimed, she sold one child to the World Government every two years in order to serve as spies. While negotiating with CP-0, Carmel prepared to sell Linlin for a high price as her final transaction before ending her business, knowing she would be a powerful force for the Marines. Later, Carmel and the Sheep's House children threw a birthday party for Linlin, and they feasted on croquembouche consisting of semla. Linlin had the time of her life at the party that she couldn't see because of her crying out tears of joy. When she finished eating, she saw that everyone had disappeared, much to her shock and horror. In the present, the trauma of this memory caused Big Mom to continue crying out for Carmel.

Two people had witnessed Carmel's disappearance: a giant warrior from Elbaf and Streusen. The giant was repulsed by Linlin's actions and ran away. When the other giants found out about this, they despised Linlin even more to the point that they refrained from even speaking her name. Streusen, meanwhile, was greatly amused by the scene. As a failed pirate, he decided to take the opportunity to join up with Linlin, feeding her with the power of the Kuku Kuku no Mi, which could make food out of anything. Linlin revealed that she shared Carmel's wish for everyone to live together in harmony and see eye to eye, though she took it literally to mean that everyone should be the same size as her. She and Streusen banded together, forming the Big Mom Pirates, and they sought to turn the island into Linlin's dream country, which would later become Whole Cake Island. Linlin quickly became infamous as a pirate, earning bounties of 50,000,000 and later 500,000,000 before she reached adulthood. She was stated to be stronger than Cipher Pol and razed villages to the ground for sweets, promising to let her victims live together in her dream world, but got frustrated when they refused and killed them as a result.



In the present, Big Mom continued mourning over how people still refused to follow her dream as Bege, Vito, and Gotty fired their KX Launchers at her. However, the force of her scream detonated the shots before they hit her, and Katakuri created mochi earplugs and gave them to his siblings. With Bege's plan a failure, Caesar flew into the venue with the escape mirror in order for the alliance to make a quick getaway. However, Big Mom's scream shattered the mirror. With nowhere left to run and no way to fight against the surrounding horde of Big Mom Pirates, Bege told everyone to get inside him as he transformed into a giant humanoid fortress known as "Big Father".

Escaping the Wedding: Big Mom's Unstoppable Craving


The alliance members raced to get into Big Father, but the Big Mom Pirates attacked, with Katakuri rescuing Brûlée and Smoothie, Daifuku, and Oven capturing Nami, Carrot, and Chopper respectively. However, as Perospero and his crewmates decided to attack the Vinsmoke Family again, they put on their Raid Suits, and Ichiji punched Perospero and shattered his candy while Niji, Reiju, and Yonji beat back Oven, Smoothie, and Daifuku respectively and freed the Straw Hats. Sanji reunited with his crewmates as they and the Vinsmokes raced to Big Father. Meanwhile, Du Feld acquired mochi earplugs and took the Tamatebako away from everyone else, intent on seeing and stealing its contents. Before he could open it, however, he was blown away by Big Mom's scream and watched as the Tamatebako was sent flying out of the wedding venue as it fell down to the island far below.

Meanwhile, Bege shot cannonballs at Big Mom, but the shots were blocked by Perospero, and Katakuri stuffed all the cannons with mochi. Perospero then trapped Big Father in candy bindings, putting the alliance under siege as they were surrounded by the Big Mom Pirates. Inside Big Father, Bege revealed that if the giant fortress was destroyed, he would die, and they needed to get moving. He was then suddenly injured as Big Mom regained her senses and attacked Big Father, destroying one of its turrets as she angrily sought to attack Bege for betraying her.



Chiffon tried begging Big Mom to spare Bege for her and Pez's sake but showing her face only enraged Big Mom further. The Big Mom Pirates stood outside, waiting for the rest of the alliance to appear after Bege died so they could attack and make an example out of the alliance. With Big Mom completely overwhelming Big Father, Luffy prepared to go out and attack her, but his crew held him back. They pointed out that they had achieved everything they came to do, and needed to think of a way to escape so they could get to Wano Country. While willing to leave his allies to die, Bege had no wish to do the same to his crew and family, so he hatched a plan in which he would turn back into his human form so Caesar could fly him out. Caesar vehemently argued against the risky plan, and as this happened, Judge asked Sanji why he rescued them. Sanji explained that he would not be able to face his real father, Zeff, if he held on to a childhood grudge, before telling Judge to accept that the two were no longer father and son as Judge himself had stated 13 years ago. Judge obliged, promising not to go near Sanji nor the East Blue ever again. The Vinsmokes then headed out in order to protect Bege and Caesar from the Big Mom Pirates, intent on getting rid of their debt to Sanji. With Bege threatening his heart, Caesar reluctantly agreed to go through with the plan and exited Bege as the latter turned back into his human form. The Big Mom Pirates opened fire, but the Vinsmokes blocked their shots as Caesar flew away in a panic. Big Mom threw Prometheus at the escapees, catching Reiju in the powerful blast. She then turned to Reiju and tried to attack her, only to be countered by Luffy and Sanji as they raced out of Bege to confront the Yonko.



Perospero tried to block Caesar's escape with a candy wall, but the Vinsmoke brothers shattered it to clear Caesar's path. Meanwhile, Du Feld spotted the Tamatebako, which was on a lower ledge of the Chateau. He was approached by Stussy, and as he slipped and fell to where the treasure was. He was about to open the chest, but she shot him with Shigan, revealing herself to be a CP-0 agent who intended to take the Tamatebako for the government. She then made sure that Morgans would blame the theft on Du Feld in the news, but Du Feld's unconscious body leaned on the chest and pushed it off the Chateau, to Stussy and Morgans' shock. Meanwhile, Big Mom taunted Luffy as Sanji tried to make his captain retreat, but Luffy would not stand it as he clashed with her in Gear Fourth. Luffy swore to take down Big Mom after Kaido, and Big Mom laughed at the notion of Luffy getting away to face her fellow Yonko, let alone defeating him. However, Judge came in and charged at Big Mom, but she shattered his spear and struck him down with a bolt of lightning. Caesar was confronted by Katakuri, and Ichiji came in to deal with the Sweet Commander, but Caesar immediately ran into Brûlée, who was reflecting him. When Caesar turned around, he saw a seemingly hopeless situation: Katakuri defeated Ichiji; Smoothie, Daifuku, and Galette subdued Luffy, Sanji, and Reiju; and Big Mom held the defeated Niji and Yonji in her hands. With everyone outside beaten, Jinbe and Pedro prepared to jump out and fight. Big Mom was going to execute her enemies, but as that moment, the Tamatebako landed on the ground at the foot of the Chateau, exploding and causing the entire castle to collapse.



The citizens of Sweet City panicked as the Chateau fell on them, and the Big Mom Pirates panicked as they were unable to stop their long fall. Big Mom fell off the venue, and Bege laughed triumphantly as the Straw Hat-Fire Tank-Germa alliance flew away from the venue. Stussy used Geppo to get away, but as everyone else fell, Streusen plunged his sword into the venue, cutting the top part of the castle from the rest of the Chateau and turning it into an incredibly soft cake. The venue landed lightly on Sweet City, saving the citizens while cushioning the Big Mom Pirates. Mont-d'Or immediately started organizing the crew to chase the alliance, who were in the northwest part of Whole Cake Island. They went their separate ways, with Bege giving Caesar his heart back and trying to lead the Big Mom Pirates on the Straw Hats' trail. Back in Sweet City, Daifuku organized two groups to pursue the Straw Hats and Fire Tanks, but as she ate some of the cake created by Streusen's powers, Big Mom started getting a craving for real wedding cake, and her eating disorder started acting up again.

Count Niwatori and Pekoms reunited with their crewmates that had been at the tea party, and they found out how the tea party had been ruined. They revealed that communications to the wedding venue had been disabled, which prevented them from sharing the news of the Sun Pirates having fled from the island. They found out about Jinbe leaving the crew, and Daifuku reported that three squads had been sent out to hunt the Straw Hats, the Fire Tank Pirates, and the Germa Kingdom. Katakuri prepared to take Brûlée with him and join the pursuit team going after the Straw Hats. He planned to kill Luffy himself so he would not become a threat in the future. Smoothie suddenly came running from the crazed Big Mom, who lay waste to Sweet City as she sought to eat the wedding cake she craved. During her rampage, she killed Opera. In desperation, Perospero claimed that they had made a spare wedding cake, but it was stolen by the Straw Hats. Before leaving to go after the Straw Hats, Big Mom threatened to kill Perospero if she found out he was lying. After Big Mom left, Perospero fretted over what to do next, and found out that Streusen had been severely injured from the fall. Suddenly, Pudding arrived and revealed that she had ingredients to make another cake on Cacao Island, and she would force Chiffon to assist her. Her crewmates agreed to lead Big Mom to Cacao Island after she vanquished the Straw Hats, and Pudding wished to fulfill a debt of gratitude for her mother killing Sanji.

Meanwhile, the Sanji Retrieval Team encountered King Baum (resurrected and stitched back together) on the outskirts of Sweet City. Nami revealed that she still possessed half of Big Mom's Vivre Card and used it control King Baum again, forcing him to carry the fleeing team while the Big Mom Pirates pursued them. Before the team reached the Seducing Woods, Big Mom came flying in on Zeus, intent on getting cake from the Straw Hats as she attacked them.

When she caught up to the Sanji Retrieval Team, she immediately attacked with Napoleon in its sword from and sliced off a part of King Baum. While Luffy prepared to fight her, he is once again stopped by Nami, who managed to distract Zeus with her thunderclouds, causing the cloud homie to veer off-course and drop Big Mom. Once the team reached the Seducing Woods, Big Mom ordered the tree homies to stop them, but King Baum charged through them. Realizing King Baum's betrayal, Prometheus attacked and burned him, while the group evaded at the last second. Meanwhile in Sweet City, Mont d'Or mobilized Totto Land's forces to prevent the Straw Hats' escape. Brûlée, Perospero, Daifuku, and 10,000 Chess Soldiers were awaiting orders in the Mirro-World and tarts from various islands blocked the sea route. Katakuri and several subordinates infiltrated the Thousand Sunny and prepared to ambush the Straw Hats should they return to their ship. A group of tart tanks were chasing after Bege and the Fire Tank Pirates. Pudding managed to catch up to Bege and asked to talk to Chiffon, who declared that she does not care about her mother nor the country anymore. However, Pudding tearfully replied that the reason she needed Chiffon's help was not for their mother, but to rescue Sanji and his friends.

As the Sanji Retrieval Team continued with their escape, Jinbe explained about Big Mom's eating disorder to Luffy as she resumed her pursuit, and Nami kept feeding Zeus thunderclouds because it was the only way to keep Big Mom from catching up to them. Thanks to Big Mom's presence, the Vivre Card in Nami's possession was rendered useless, and the Seducing Woods homies went to work attacking the Straw Hats and changing the landscape to confuse them. Big Mom and Prometheus' anger towards Zeus' actions grew, and Luffy attacked Prometheus to avenge King Baum, but he was unable to harm the living flames with Haki punches. Jinbe managed to stun Prometheus with blasts of water, but several Big Mom Pirates caught up to their captain and clashed with the Sanji Retrieval Team. The team pulled out of the conflict quickly, knowing they could not split up here, and while Nami was distracted by the sudden onslaught, Zeus ended up eating her entire weather egg. This caused the cloud to massively expand and become stormy, and Nami took the opportunity to send a gust of wind at it, summoning a massive lightning bolt that struck the Big Mom Pirates pursuing them.

While this was going on, Chopper and Brook returned to the Shark Submerge III, which had become covered in cream, and they went through the Juice River back to the coast where the Sunny was located. There, they confronted the Big Mom Pirates onboard, and when Perospero saw Zeus' giant thunderbolt, he assumed that Big Mom had annihilated the Straw Hats and gave Brook and Chopper a chance to escape. However, the two Straw Hats prepared to fight instead. Meanwhile, Pudding and Chiffon flew towards the Seducing Woods on Rabiyan, with Chiffon being more than willing to help Pudding if it meant saving the people who had saved Lola. Bege had protested earlier, but she told him that it was the honorable thing to do before departing. Pudding noticed Sanji, and Chiffon was confused by her sister's fixation as Pudding's third eye came uncovered.

Nami's attack left Big Mom laying at the bottom of a crater. The Straw Hats were impressed with the power of the thunderbolt Nami created. To their shock, Big Mom was barely affected and continued to move. She ate through the ground as she moved back up, and the team started running again. They were then approached by Pudding and Chiffon, and Pudding tried to tell Sanji about their mission to make a cake, but quickly impeded herself with mood swings as she went from being in love with Sanji to wanting to kill him and back. Chiffon took the lead as she petitioned for Sanji to help them make a cake to satiate Big Mom's eating disorder, and Sanji readily agreed to assist them. Big Mom then got back on her feet and unleashed another devastating attack, and the two groups parted ways with Sanji heading to Cacao Island with Pudding and Chiffon. To help Sanji's group get back on the right path to the Thousand Sunny, Pudding used her Devil Fruit powers to send memories flooding into the souls in the homies, allowing the Straw Hats to make it to the coast without trouble. The trio then flew away from Whole Cake Island, passing over the Thousand Sunny, where Brook and Chopper were holding their own against the Chess Soldiers coming from a mirror onboard.

Eventually, Perospero managed to immobilize Brook and Chopper with candy, covering their entire bodies in it as he revealed that they would turn into candy after it seeped into their body and suffocated them within three minutes. Perospero and Katakuri then noticed company coming, and were surprised to see the Straw Hats still alive and still being chased by Big Mom. Perospero sent a giant candy iron maiden charging at the Straw Hats, but Luffy destroyed it with the fiery heat of Red Hawk. He then attacked Katakuri, and Jinbe told Luffy to get Katakuri off of the Sunny while the rest of the crew worked to prepare the Coup de Burst. Perospero told Mont-d'Or to surround the coast with Tarte Ships, and the Sunny became surrounded from all sides. To make things worse, Perospero trapped the Sunny in candy, preventing the Straw Hats from using Coup de Burst. He laughed at their impending doom as Katakuri knocked Luffy down and Big Mom and the Tarte Ships prepared to unleash their attacks on the Sunny. Pedro suddenly raced in to strike him, but Perospero blocked Pedro's attack and managed to subdue the mink, but Pedro revealed a stash of bombs in his jacket and lit them up, engulfing himself and Perospero in a massive explosion. The Straw Hats looked on in shock, with Carrot remembering Pedro telling her earlier that he believed that the Straw Hats would bring a new dawn of the world, so he was willing to sacrifice himself for them here.

Thanks to Pedro's efforts, the Sunny, Brook, and Chopper were freed from Perospero's candy. However, Perospero survived the explosion but was grievously injured. As the Sanji Retrieval Team completed preparations for their getaway, Katakuri made his move and subdued Carrot when she tried to attack him. Meanwhile, Big Mom grabbed onto the Sunny. Luffy then grabbed Katakuri and dragged him into the Mirro-World. The team on the Sunny successfully escaped Big Mom's grasp and Whole Cake Island with a Coup de Burst. Inside the Mirro-World, Luffy smashed the mirror leading to the Sunny and prepared to continue his fight with the Sweet Commander.

Cooking Up a Solution: The Sanji Retrieval Team's Last Stand
As the Thousand Sunny sailed away from Whole Cake Island, Jinbe told his mourning crewmates to focus on the present and press on, as Pedro had given them this opportunity and his sacrifice would only be meaningful if they escaped from Totto Land. The Sanji Retrieval Team was spurred into action, and Nami charted the quickest route to Cacao Island. However, Carrot spotted not only the Big Mom Pirates' fleet pursuing them, but Big Mom herself, who was walking on a candy road made by Perospero. Meanwhile, as Pound sailed out of Totto Land, he noticed Chiffon, Pudding, and Sanji flying over him. Chiffon revealed to Sanji that Lola was the Minister of Chocolate, and the position remained unfilled as Pudding did not want to take her sister's place. Pudding affirmed this as she tried to keep her distance from Sanji, and the trio reached Cacao Island.

In the Mirro-World, Katakuri claimed that he would match Luffy both in speed and power as he countered Luffy's rapid punches with several mochi tendrils hardened into fists. Luffy tried to overwhelm the Sweet Commander with speedy attacks, but Katakuri proved himself to be even faster as he kicked Luffy into the wall. Luffy then tried overpowering Katakuri with Elephant Gun, but Katakuri created an even larger fist with mochi and pushed Luffy into the wall with tremendous power, dealing a considerable amount of damage.

Pudding, Chiffon, and Sanji arrived at Chocolat Town on Cacao Island, where Sanji was hidden away and Chiffon acted as though she was Pudding's prisoner. Pudding enlisted the help of Whole Cake Island's 31 most renowned head chefs, and at the Sweets Factory, she altered their memories to make them believe the wedding had gone smoothly and Big Mom's first cake had been destroyed by bad weather. Sanji revealed that he designed the cake while hiding, and Chiffon and the head chefs were in awe at how he perfectly recalled even the more obscure ingredients. The team planned to prepare the cake for delivery in three hours and complete it by the time they take it to Big Mom. With Chiffon making the base layers, Pudding making the chocolate, and Sanji preparing a secret ingredient, the cake baking officially got underway.

After subduing Luffy, Katakuri contacted Perospero, who revealed that they were chasing the Straw Hats across the ocean. Katakuri ordered Brûlée, who just regained consciousness, to facilitate an assault on the Sunny and set it on fire. Their siblings Mascarpone and Joscarpone came with a mirror leading to the Sunny, but Luffy stretched out a punch to attempt to break it. Luffy then got up and raced toward the sibling trio, but Katakuri intercepted him with a mochi stomp, reminding the Straw Hat that the two of them were fighting. Katakuri assaulted Luffy with multiple mochi legs, and Luffy grabbed a mirror shard, calling out to Nami to break all the remaining mirrors on the Sunny. Nami was hesitant, but with Brûlée, Mascarpone, and Joscarpone shooting flaming arrows into the bathroom and setting it ablaze, she agreed to do so. Brûlée prepared to lead a massive invasion of the Sunny, but the Straw Hats quickly found themselves under a more immediate threat as a giant wave homie came crashing down on them, impossible to escape from.

Despite Perospero's pleas, Big Mom maniacally rode the wave of mass destruction onto the Sunny. However, Jinbe had the crew attach ropes to the sail, which he used to take control of it himself. Jinbe steered the ship into the wave, and the Straw Hats believed they were going to die, but instead they found themselves coasting along the inside of the wave's crest, which Jinbe called the "Green Room". The Straw Hats managed to escape the wave, and Perospero believed that the ship sank. The Big Mom Pirates' plan to invade the Sunny from the Mirro-World was called off, and as Nami shattered the mirrors leading to the ship, they just assumed that they broke from the water pressure. Luffy then received a call from his crewmates from a mirror shard and distanced himself from the Big Mom Pirates as his crewmates reported their safety. They said that they would make it to Cacao Island in 10 hours and told Luffy to beat Katakuri, but the mirror shard broke as Katakuri attacked and heavily injured Luffy. However, still keeping the mirror shard hidden, Luffy assured them that he was already ahead of them on this plan to give them assurance. Katakuri then prepared to finish Luffy off as he summoned a trident.

As Luffy continued to struggle against Katakuri, Brûlée began boasting about Katakuri's capabilities. Luffy tried to punch her, but Katakuri grabbed his fist and slammed him into a wall. Having overheard Luffy's conversation with his crewmates, Brûlée reported to Perospero that the Straw Hats were heading to Cacao Island. Katakuri then used his Devil Fruit's awakening to turn the ground around him into mochi. He wrapped Luffy in the mochi and foresaw the Straw Hat activating Gear Fourth. On Whole Cake Island, Mont-d'Or told Pekoms to stop weeping over Pedro's presumed death, but Count Niwatori sympathized with his partner and warned Mont-d'Or that they must not underestimate the Straw Hats and increase their efforts against them at all costs. They then received a report from Custard that the Fire Tank Pirates managed to elude their forces and they learned that the territorial sea slugs were inactive. Bege's crew sailed on their ship, the Nostra Castello, and head for Cacao Island to retrieve Chiffon. Back at the Germa Kingdom, the Vinsmoke siblings defeated the pursuit squad sent after them. Niji contacted Mont-d'Or while impersonating Charlotte Nusstorte and tricked him into believing that Germa 66 had been crushed. After they were informed of the direction the Straw Hats were heading, the Vinsmokes prepared to set sail.

In the Mirro-World, Katakuri prevented Luffy from activating Gear Fourth by binding him in mochi, as he was tired of their battle due to it making him late for his snack time. He tried to end it by transforming the walls and ceiling into mochi and burying Luffy in it in order to suffocate him. Believing that their battle was finished, Katakuri promptly turned his attention to his snacks. He made a mochi house so he could eat them in private, but Luffy managed to eat his way out of the mochi and break into the house. There, he saw Katakuri gorging on donuts in gluttonous bliss with his mouth exposed. Katakuri was enraged by Luffy's discovery and took out his chefs before brawling with Luffy once again. However, Luffy managed to land a hit on the Sweet Commander, and finally activated Gear Fourth as the two clashed on equal footing. Luffy managed to land some hits on Katakuri, having figured out that Katakuri could not make himself intangible if he was too distracted to use Kenbunshoku Haki. However, Katakuri regained his composure, allowing him to dodge all of Luffy's attacks again. He then created two giant mochi arms that he controlled remotely, and punched Luffy into the wall with great force.

At Cacao Island, Pound attempted to get into the factory to see Chiffon, but was forbidden to enter due to Pudding's instructions. Inside the kitchen, Brûlée contacted Pudding, informing her about that the Straw Hats' rendezvous at the island in 10 hours, Katakuri's battle with Luffy, and the presence of Oven and his forces on the island. As Oven and his troops waited to ambush the Straw Hats once they arrived, Oven noticed Pound and attacked him. Sanji remained focused on the baking, confident that Luffy would give Katakuri his first loss. In Sweet City, Mont-d'Or received a report of Big Mom attacking Nuts Island and he also heard that there were no territorial sea slugs anywhere to be found. Indeed, they all were gathered around Praline in a state of entrancement as she sang to them, and this allowed the Straw Hats to sail to Cacao Island without being pursued.

Luffy continued to be overwhelmed by Katakuri's powerful remote arms, and knew that Gear Fourth was about to expire. His Gear Fourth wore out as he retreated from the battle and he continued running away from Katakuri to buy time for 10 minutes, but Katakuri chased after him. However, Luffy noticed Brûlée sitting by a mirror nearby. He then grabbed her and jumped through a mirror. Katakuri tried to grab Luffy, but was too late as he instead broke the mirror. Luffy and Brûlée arrived at Nuts Island, but Luffy had no time to rest as he and Brûlée wound up right near a rampaging Big Mom. Perospero and Amande tried to stop Big Mom from destroying Nuts Island when they noticed Luffy, and Perospero directed Big Mom's attention towards him. The candy man tried to stop Luffy from escaping with a candy wall, and Amande tried attacking Luffy, but Luffy dodged her attack and jumped over the wall. However, the chase continued as Big Mom rode on a wave of candy towards Luffy. Meanwhile, the rest of the Big Mom Pirates had all convened. In a tough spot due to the loss of the territorial sea slugs, the crew initiated a uniform effort to hunt down and kill all their enemies. On Cacao Island, one of the chefs tasted Sanji's secret whipped cream and was close to dying from the deliciousness. With the cake, chocolate, and cream ready and in peak condition, Sanji was on schedule to deliver it to Big Mom. He and the chefs prepared to set sail and rendezvous with the Thousand Sunny on the way.

As Pudding, Chiffon, Sanji (in disguise), and the group of chefs left the factory with the cake, they were met by Oven. After Pudding told him of her plan, Oven allowed Pudding to pass but attacked Chiffon for her role in Bege's assassination attempt. As he prepared to finish her off, Pound charged at Oven to protect his daughter, and Sanji took advantage of the attack to slip in and kick Oven in the head right as Pound's punch was about to land. He rescued Chiffon, but Oven knew Pound was not the one who attacked him as he quickly dispatched his stepfather and confronted Chiffon again on the carriage. Hearing that Bege was heading towards Cacao Island, Oven contacted him and ordered him to surrender at the port if he did not want Chiffon to die. Bege seemingly agreed, but as his ship approached Cacao Island, he shot Oven in the face with an explosive round. Meanwhile, the Thousand Sunny drew closer to the Big Mom Pirates' fleet, and the Straw Hats prepared for battle. Elsewhere, Luffy hopped from island to island through the Mirro-World, and he contemplated on unlocking the ability to see the future like Katakuri, as Rayleigh had told him that one's Haki grew stronger by taking on strong opponents at full power.

Story Impact

 * Some characters make their first appearances after the timeskip. The characters (in the order they were reintroduced) are: Dracule Mihawk, Aladine, Yasopp, Shanks, Benn Beckman, and Rockstar.
 * Sanji's family, the Vinsmoke Family, is formally introduced.
 * His father, Vinsmoke Judge, is revealed as the one who sent bounty hunters after Duval in order to find Sanji, and later changed his bounty condition to "Only Alive".
 * His family once ruled over North Blue, and Judge seeks to reclaim it. Though they no longer rule over land, the family can still attend Reverie.
 * Judge is a scientist and former peer of Vegapunk, and the pair had worked together on the Lineage Factor of living creatures (genetics). Judge has implemented this via Cloning an army for Germa 66, as well as by making his own children into Modified Humans with genetically enhanced abilities.
 * Sanji did not receive these abilities due to his mother Sola's interference, as she wanted to keep her sons human. He was picked on by his brothers, who where successfully advanced and in the process lost their humanity.
 * Sanji's statement about growing up in the North Blue is confirmed and expanded upon; he grew up there in the Germa Kingdom, but after being imprisoned by his father for his unmilitant nature his sister freed him. Sanji escaped from his abusive family at the age of 8, during an assault by the Kingdom in East Blue.It is revealed how he ended up on the Orbit.
 * Sanji is revealed to have developed his chivalry from Zeff, whom he considers his true father.
 * Big Mom and her crew are heavily revealed and much of their nature is elaborated.
 * Big Mom rules over a 35-island archipelago known as Totto Land, where she seeks to house a population derived from all races living in harmony. Totto Land is inhabited by numerous anthropomorphic animals and objects known as homies, which have been ensouled via Big Mom's Devil Fruit, the Soru Soru no Mi.
 * Big Mom has been married 43 times. She has 46 sons and 39 daughters, who together form the Charlotte Family.
 * Lola is revealed to be one of those daughters, thus revealing that the Vivre Card she gave to Nami on Thriller Bark points to Big Mom. Due to Big Mom's Devil Fruit, the fragment of her soul within the Vivre Card is extremely powerful and can repel homies, unless Big Mom herself is present.
 * Big Mom's 35th daughter and Sanji's ex-fiancee Charlotte Pudding is the first member of the Three-Eye Tribe to be shown in the series. Pudding has the potential, if unawakened, ability to read Poneglyphs.
 * Following Sanji's comment about her third eye during the Tea Party\wedding, Pudding has developed an erratic personality disorder.
 * Big Mom has enmity with the Giant race due to unwittingly killing one of their heroes as a child, as well as unwittingly causing the mysterious disappearance of Carmel and the Sheep's House children. She attempted to amend relations with them through a political marriage between her daughter Lola and Prince Loki of Elbaf, but Lola ran away. Big Mom attempted to substitute Lola's identical twin sister Chiffon in her place, but the giants saw through ruse, which only worsened tensions. Big Mom has since abandoned her efforts to befriend the giants, and has nursed a grudge against Lola and Chiffon ever since.
 * No giants reside in Totto Land as a result of this enmity. Big Mom commissioned Caesar Clown to research into artificial gigantism, that she might convert members of her family into giants. Caesar blew off the assignment and embezzled the funds, so Big Mom sent her underlings to track him down from Dressrosa to Zou.
 * Jinbe officially breaks off from the Sun Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates in order to join the Straw Hat Pirates.
 * Prior to that, he gave Big Mom the Poneglyph he found during his journey.
 * Wadatsumi joins the Sun Pirates.
 * Pedro is revealed to have once led a pirate crew called the Nox Pirates, of which Pekoms was once a member. The crew was defeated in Totto Land, and Pekoms joined Big Mom while Pedro had 50 years of his lifespan taken away.
 * Big Mom has no less than three Poneglyphs in her possession: a Road Poneglyph and two regular ones, one of which she obtained recently from Jinbei. Brook manages to steal imprints of the text recorded on all three.
 * Capone Bege's past as a leader of the Five Families of the West is revealed. He was once a Rook combatant in the Big Mom Pirates, but has been plotting to assassinate Big Mom since before he joined.
 * Tributary crews must marry into the Charlotte family in order to join Big Mom. Thus, Bege married Linlin's daughter Charlotte Chiffon, and they have a son named Capone Pez.
 * Some of the Underworld Emperors are shown for the first time.
 * Stussy is revealed to be an agent from CP-0.
 * Elbaf is shown for the first time, 63 years before the present day.
 * Luffy vows to defeat Big Mom after he defeats Kaido.
 * Caesar gets his heart back.
 * Pedro seemingly gives his life in hope the Straw Hat Pirates will bring forth the new Dawn of the World.
 * Jinbe shows great helmsmanship skills aboard the Sunny.
 * The Fire Tank Pirates' ship's name is revealed to be the "Nostra Castello".
 * More information about Haki is revealed.
 * Advanced Kenbunshoku Haki allows one to see a few seconds into the future.
 * Kenbunshoku Haki requires a calm mind state to work.
 * Kenbunshoku Haki can deplete like Busoshoku Haki.
 * Haki can become stronger through encounters with stronger opponents.

Trivia

 * This arc has some similarities with the Enies Lobby Arc:
 * A member of the Straw Hat Pirates (Robin and Sanji) leave in the hopes of saving his or her friends from a powerful enemy (World Government and Big Mom Pirates) and is then handcuffed to prevent an escape.
 * On the rescue party's journey, they encounter an open sea obstacle (Aqua Laguna and Hot-Hot Sea) and a future ally (Yokozuna and the Vinsmoke Family).
 * A member of the antagonist group has a Devil Fruit ability that can allow then to travel through a pocket dimension (Blueno with the Doa Doa no Mi and Brûlée with the Mira Mira no Mi).
 * A member of the antagonistic group claims the rescue party is in over their head (Spandam and Cracker) enraging Luffy.
 * Luffy reveals a new usage of his Gomu Gomu no Mi (Gear Second and Tankman).
 * Luffy fight against many enemies at once (the Marines and Cipher Pol agents and the Enraged Army), and two high ranking members of the antagonist group (Blueno and Rob Lucci from CP9 and Cracker and Katakuri from the Big Mom Pirates).
 * The rescuee refuses to return and reminisces about their tragic past and the death of their mother (Nico Olvia and Vinsmoke Sora).
 * Luffy is brought to a near death state after a fierce battle (Rob Lucci and the Enraged Army).
 * The rescue party form an alliance with a previous antagonist group (Franky Family and Fire Tank Pirates).
 * The Straw Hats escape the main location of the fighting through the air to escape pursuing forces.
 * Further more, Sanji leaving the crew for personal reasons, fight with Luffy, and tearfully apologizes later, is similar to Usopp's storyline during the entire Water 7 Saga.
 * This arc also has some similarities with the Thriller Bark Arc:
 * The Straw Hats arrive to a location that is heavily inspired by a specific genre (Thriller Bark with Horror and Totto Land with Fairy Tales).
 * The first time the Straw Hats arrive to the arc's main setting, they enter a forest.
 * The main antagonists have a similar Devil Fruits (the Kage Kage no Mi and the Soru Soru no Mi) that allow the user to take an intangible part of their targets and insert it into another inanimate container and create life, resulting in a new species (Zombies and Homies).
 * The introduction of Lola and the acquiring of Big Mom's Vivre Card serve as a foreshadowing for this arc.

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