[Veyron's POV]
After enjoying a Brunch with Big Mom and her children, getting to know them better, and some proper introductions, it was time to go. Although they were very enthusiastic about forming a trusting relationship, the truth is that I can't possibly remember every single one of them.
Big Mom has way too many children and a lot of sons and daughters-in-law too; her family is huge. So I stuck with some key names of the people I was going to deal with in the future.
Big Mom, obviously.
Her three commanders: Katakuri, Smoothie and Cracker.
My two captive princesses: Brule and Amande.
There were also Charlotte Monde and Cinnamon who seemed to be the most 'mature' out of the rest of her children with whom I exchanged Den Den Mushi addresses in case I needed them.
Throughout the whole meal, Smoothie, Amande and Brulé were looking at me a bit weirdly.
"What is it?" I asked Smoothie. The woman evaded my gaze and kept eating, a small blush creeping up her cheeks.
What the... how many people were peeking yesterday? I only felt Amande and Brulé, though, so why is she awkward too? She kept focusing that intense gaze on me for the rest of the meal. Through it all, they were also glancing at Saki as well, but this woman had enough thick skin to not care.
Watching the interactions between her daughters, Big Mom only grinned every so often while Katakuri watched me with a piercing glare that could kill anyone else. He seemed pissed off that it wasn't enough with Amande and Brule; I also 'wanted' to take Smoothie.
I didn't...
'It is not my fault that your sister wants me...' I sighed; even though I have clearly rejected Smoothie, it doesn't look like she's going to give up. I don't know what meaning she used to look at us, but doing so only got her more interested if I just go by her stare.
"You had a lot of fun yesterday, huh?" Big Mom asked while having her biscuits; she wasn't eating a normal meal... all this grandma eats are sweets; there is so much sugar that her saliva was downright acidic.
'Eww...'
"I don't care how many women you have, but you better not treat my daughters wrong... I want grandchildren, Veyron... a lot of them," Big Mom told me eerily.
"We will see–"
"Not 'we will see' both Brule and Amande are important ministers of Tottoland. If they're not going to Rusukaina to get impregnated, I'd rather they stay".
'Woman, how can you talk about your daughters like that...?' I felt the urge to crash out. Does she see her daughters as baby farms? They must really hate-
"There is no need to worry, mother, I will succeed" (Amande)
"Eh?".
"Me too, mother! We won't disappoint you! We will make sure to squeeze this boy dry!" (Brule)
"Eh...? I mean, no!"
"It will be done very quickly, mother" (Smoothie)
"Why are you joining here?!"
As if their declaration to make me into a farm wasn't enough, Sakazuki stumbled, stood up and departed with a low, almost inaudible mutter, "Must be nice to be you, huh?".
"Why are you getting jealous now?"
...
After some comedic relief, we headed to the coast of Whole Cake Island. It was time to go. I managed to subdue Big Mom; it was easy... I wasn't afraid she'd be scheming something behind my back.
Big Mom is afraid; I can feel that through her Conqueror Haki. It is nowhere near as strong as when she was in Onigashima. With that much fear, there is no way she will betray me. It was only further proven when she showed us two gigantic vessels that were docked and ready to sail.
I admired how massive her vessels were, although the design was a bit ridiculous, like everything on this island.
We checked the goods, and I was impressed... they got all this ready in one night.
Tons of food, tons of wood, iron, tons of minerals... millions of bellies; Nami would be happy to see this haul.
"Just as we promised, kiddo", Big Mom said.
"Wow".
The vessels were filled to the brim with resources ready to be fetched to Dressrosa and Wano. Big Mom was not the kind of woman who wastes time... yesterday evening, while I was pounding, she was pouring.
"I will send Smoothie along to ease the process. Who is the current ruler of Wano?" She asked.
"Kozuki Hiyori; she will be the appointed shogun for the foreseeable future", I said, hoping it would stay like that, but as volatile as Wano is, who knows... if an internal group rises to do a coup on her, I may have to get involved.
"I see... then Smoothie, go and let her know our Tottoland are allies".
"I understand, mother".
Smoothie came up to me, holding her sword. I thought she wanted to fight for a moment.
"I will be under your orders, boss" She mumbled naturally.
"... no need to be so formal, we are family, aren't we?~" I said, trying to tease her and break that fake persona she's trying to portray. I'd rather she just be genuinely bitter about my choice; maybe then I will change my mind.
Smoothie clenched the handle of the sword and boarded the ship without saying much more. On the other end, there was another ship; this one would head in the opposite direction, towards Dressrosa.
Cracker and Katakuri were on it.
"Cracker, don't make trouble and dispatch the goods without raising any uproar", Big Mom ordered him. The guy with the odd haircut nodded and got in; only Katakuri was left behind, staring at me.
I thought he'd say something similar to what Smoothie said, but as expected of someone with Conqueror Haki, he has his pride.
Seeing everything so well fetched and ready to depart, I stared at Big Mom.
"What do you want as a repayment for this...? You prepared a lot more than I expected".
"Aren't I your subordinate?" Big Mom laughed, confused.
"It is true, but that doesn't mean I will have you incur a loss... these are Tottoland's resources" Having her as a subordinate meant this island also belongs to me now.
"No big deal, brat... these are resources we have plundered from merchant ships for years. If you want to repay me, that little thingy you said for me to get back to my prime–"
"That is priceless", I frowned, "I will only give you that once I can fully trust you".
"Okay okay, so mean mamama!~"
"You can trust mother, Veyron... we don't have any intentions to revolt... so long as you continue to be fair", Amande declared; she even held my sleeve, surprising me.
"We will see... if I trusted anything anyone told me, I wouldn't be here, would I?"
"Mamamama, touché~ don't worry, Amande, the brat will mellow up with time, maybe after he gets a taste of you".
"Y-Yes..."
Big Mom put us in quite the awkward situation, and I noticed the meek Brule in a corner, silent, and obviously depressed after being constantly looked down upon by her own family. I felt a bit of pity for her.
I wanted to keep this a secret, but... why not? I will use it here after all if it happens to work out as I expect.
"Brulé" I called her.
"Yes, my dearest husband!~" She rushed to me.
"I want you to do something for me. You and Amande will go with Katakuri and Cracker to Dressrosa. Once you arrive and deliver the goods on my name, Katakuri and Cracker can come back while you two stay, alright? I want you to do something else for me, Brule" I gave strict orders.
"Huh?".
"Can you get me a mirror, Big Mom? The biggest one you can get" I requested.
"Brat... what are you trying to do?".
As per her orders, they brought the biggest mirror they could find, which wasn't too big... roughly five metres high by three metres wide. As big as a mirror could be for its usual purposes. It was also in Brule's possession since she was quite aware of her capabilities, but not as much as me.
"Can you use your powers in this mirror?".
"I can".
She touched the mirror, and for a moment nothing seemed to change, but when I touched it, my finger phased through.
She had 'connected' that mirror to another dimension. I was awed. For them, it may not be anything, but the physical and scientific weight of this power was humongous.
"Good, I will be taking this one. Now, I want you to make another one of these and take it with you to Dressrosa".
All of her children looked at me as if I was an idiot; they couldn't understand what I was trying to do, and for a moment, Big Mom didn't either until it clicked.
!!!
Her countenance paled. And I couldn't help but smirk while staring at her heaving chest.
"Y-You're trying to...!" Big Mom gasped.
"I have way more vision than you, Big Mom... I am surprised you never thought about this... but well, I guess this is what happens when you severely underestimate someone. She is your child, and you couldn't look past yourself to see the potential".
"..." Big Mom looked at Brule; the latter was still confused, just like her siblings. She didn't understand what I was trying to do, but she did notice her mother's gaze...
"You may have always thought this was your useless, ugly child, but out of all your children, she had the most ridiculous power".
"We still don't know if it works", she harrumphed.
"Oh, it will work... and I will use it to my heart's content, don't worry~".
"Damn brat. You can still... get Smoothie and Pudding and leave Brule here" What was like a suggestion before now sounded like a plea. Inwardly, she can't even fathom how she didn't see something so obvious.
Her daughter can connect two distant places through a transdimensional gate... she could be anywhere she wants, anytime she wants, with whoever she wants, carrying as much weight or as many resources as she wants... and it would only take one second.
And that's only one of the myriad case uses I have for Brule's powers.
"I want to go with Veyron, mother" Brule uttered by herself, much to her mother's disbelief.
"Brule! You should be more considerate and–"
*PA!*
A slapping noise resonated. I slapped Brule's ass, right in front of her mother, her siblings... the woman looked back at me like a stuck mechanism that needed oil.
"Too late, she's mine~ get in the ship, Brule... Once you get to Dressrosa, I want you and Amande to find the Mermaid Princess, Shirahoshi, and protect her on my stead, okay?"
"Y-Yes..."
"Amande, come here".
"..."
The woman came; I beckoned for her to bow down, and when she did, I took her lips.
!!!
Once I released her tongue, her expression was a sight to look at.
"Be a good girl, and I will give you a reward when I come, a better sword maybe".
The woman bit her lips and rose, walking with steady steps into the ship and without saying a word. Once they were gone, I glared at Big Mom, giving a side eye to Smoothie and Pudding.
"I have already chosen, no reimbursements ~".
**
**
Both ships departed Tottoland, heading in different directions. Veyron was in the front, arms crossed, while Sakazuki sat on the edge of the ship, smoking her cigarette, onwards to the Country of Wano.
"The tides are moving... I am surprised by how effective you can be. You should leave that laboratory more often" She huffed a mouthful of smoke and complimented me.
"Rusukaina is as technologically advanced as it is, precisely because I spent most of my time in the lab... I just had to settle some things with Wano and Dressrosa before I could come back and be reassured... once I go back in, I won't be coming out for the next few years".
"Years...?" She frowned, not liking it very much.
"There is a lot I need to study and produce. I have Monet and Sugar doing some experiments, but if everything works... this may be the last time I have to stay in the lab for so long".
"..."
This time, once I come out, I will come out with something even that Imu is not going to be able to counter.
**
**
Not too far away, at least twenty kilometres from the Archipelago of Tottoland, a small raft could be seen afloat heading westbound.
In one corner, a young man had a hat on top of his face to stop the sun from interrupting his little nap.
Yamato, on the other side of the raft, looked at the sea around her, as far as the eye could see... and although she felt immensely liberated by leaving Wano, days after sailing, surrounded by sea with little food or anything to do.
She quickly got... bored.
'Oden-sama... being a pirate... is it just this?!'
Although Ace had said that things would get fun once they reached his crew in one of the neighbouring islands, she was already starting to regret her decision since all Ace did was sleep and cook the fish with his -very convenient- devil fruit.
As she prepared to take a nap too, Yamato saw something in the distance that began as a blur that increased in size slowly.
"It's a ship! Finally, someone is there! Ace, look!"
She slapped the young man awake, a bit too hard in fact.
*BAAANGG!*
"You little–"
Ace rubbed his head, ready to fight, only to look in the same direction that Yamato was staring at. In the distance, a huge ship, and just looking at the design, for him, it was obvious who it was.
"It is the Big Mom Pirates; this is going to be interesting~".
"Yonko Big Mom?!"
Of course, Yamato knew who that was; it was a friend of her late father. She had seen some of their crew members many times, including during that fateful night.
Immediately, her countenance froze, "Why are they coming to Wano, now of all times? It was a mistake to leave..."
Heading towards that direction, the only place they could be going to was Wano.
"We will stop them right here and now, Ace!".
"You don't even need to say it~".
With one fist alone, a gigantic barrage of flames burst across the sea, blazing the water and creating clouds of smoke in its wake. The ship was a couple of kilometres away, but the flames reached it very quickly.
"Go ACE!" Yamato cheered and prepared her club as a few more ships appeared in the distance behind the gigantic one; they were smaller.
She thought they were in for a good battle, but...
*RUMBLE!!*
*BOOOMMMMM!!!*
WAY faster than the barrage of flames, a gigantic blue lightning beam completely shattered his flame burst, phasing by them and impacting into the sea, creating a huge cloud of smoke that eventually exploded, threatening to uplift their raft from the very sea.
!!!
Ace and Yamato held their ground as the sea waves spread across, leaving sparkling lightning in the atmosphere.
'This is...!' Yamato could recognise that lightning anywhere.
"Vey–!"
The vessel was still a few kilometres away, but all it took was a second.
*CHAA!!!*
A thunder strike resonated, and they felt a sudden presence behind them.
"Hmph... Yamato...?"
The Oni turned around with a broad smile; there she caught a glimpse of her hero. Veyron was levitating on top of them with his hands in his pockets, admittedly confused. He had just been relaxing on the deck with Saki, talking about stuff, when a sudden burst of flames started heading their way, out of nowhere.
Smoothie and the Big Mom Pirates got ready for battle, but it wasn't necessary. He fended everything off in no time.
"Veyron!"
The Oni jumped on him, he caught her mid-air, still confused.
"What are you doing here? weren't you in Wano?"
He looked at the other energy reading on the ship and frowned, then gasped.
Two pairs of eyes met, two conqueror wills.
"Ace..."
"Dracule Veyron".