"Is this the end?"
Smoker lay on the corridor floor, staring at the ceiling with a self-deprecating smile. The movement tugged at his wounds, sending waves of intense pain that made his vision flicker.
In the end, he had been cornered by Katakuri in the corridor.
The pursuing executives like Perospero had blocked his retreat, leaving him with no escape route.
Smoker tried his best, but his strength was no match for his opponents. Without open space to maneuver, he was soon severely injured.
"Damn little rat!"
Perospero angrily kicked Smoker, sending him flying into the wall before he bounced back.
After that kick, Smoker could no longer stay conscious. With deep regret, he lost consciousness.
"Where is Montd'or?"
Katakuri glanced around but didn't see Montd'or among the siblings who had gathered to corner Smoker. His brow furrowed.
He remembered Montd'or was responsible for guarding the kitchen.
Earlier, in his haste to capture Smoker, he hadn't paid much attention, assuming Montd'or had been defeated by Smoker and couldn't regroup with him immediately.
It wasn't until now, when he wanted Montd'or to imprison Smoker in the Book World, that he realized his brother wasn't present.
"Montd'or?"
Perospero paused, instinctively saying, "Wasn't he guarding the kitchen..."
As soon as he said it, he also sensed something was wrong.
"Keep an eye on him here."
Katakuri threw out the order and hurried back to the kitchen to investigate.
Soon, he returned to the kitchen entrance.
"All of you are useless! Can't even handle such a small task!"
Streusen's furious roar came from inside the kitchen. Katakuri hesitated but decided not to disturb Streusen as he worked on a new cake.
Even though there was already one cake as backup, he still hoped Streusen could salvage the situation and prevent a major flaw in their plans.
Katakuri quickly inspected the area outside the kitchen, his expression darkening.
Montd'or was missing!
At that moment, Perospero and Daifuku hurried over.
"Katakuri, it's time to report to Mom."
Perospero's tone carried a hint of dissatisfaction toward Katakuri.
Katakuri froze, then frowned.
What was I looking for here just now?
"Katakuri!"
Perospero was visibly annoyed. Did he really not respect me as the eldest brother?
"Understood, Brother."
Katakuri's eyes held confusion. He glanced back at the kitchen door before following Perospero and Daifuku to report to Big Mom with lingering doubts.
The little rat had been caught, and the tea party could finally proceed as scheduled.
Inside the room.
Reddy had two dolls placed in front of him.
Montd'or was on the verge of madness. "They're in cahoots! I have to find a way to tell Mom!"
But no matter how many times he tried, not only could he not speak, he couldn't even leave the table.
The moment he was turned into a doll, the Hobi Hobi no Mi's ability had forced him to accept the contract, restricting his movement to this table.
"If I've been turned into a doll, then who's the other one?"
Montd'or reluctantly gave up and looked at the doll beside him. It felt familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.
"Who else did that guy capture?"
Pudding had long since resigned herself to her fate and stopped resisting. Seeing the other doll looking at her, she was also curious about which sibling Reddy had captured this time.
Reddy paid no attention to the dolls' actions, focusing instead on reviewing the gains from this round.
One million points of energy!
That towering multi-layered cream cake had given him such a massive amount of energy, truly an enormous surprise.
And compared to Sea King meat steaks, cakes were much easier to consume.
Aside from this surprise, another was the Memo Memo no Mi's ability.
Since he still needed Streusen's clone to maintain the deception, Reddy hadn't turned Streusen into a doll to erase his existence.
However, he had used the Memo Memo no Mi to extract Streusen's memories related to cooking.
This was a massive treasure trove.
Streusen's memories contained countless dessert recipes.
With this, Reddy could achieve self-sufficiency, greatly accelerating his energy accumulation.
As for Montd'or, he was just a minor bonus, barely worth mentioning.
Letting him go was out of the question.
The Book World was perfect for imprisoning genetic donors.
Just then, a knock came at the door.
Katakuri's voice soon sounded from outside. "Dr. Reddy, the tea party will proceed as scheduled."
Reddy set aside his thoughts and went to open the door. Seeing Katakuri, he smiled. "I heard someone broke into the castle. Do you need my help?"
"The intruder has already been caught."
Katakuri shook his head, his gaze quickly drawn to the two dolls on the table.
Dolls were common, but dolls that could move were rare.
He remembered that such human-transformed dolls had once existed in Dressrosa, so he grew wary and casually steered the conversation toward the two dolls.
"What are those?"
Katakuri looked at Reddy, his eyes deep. "They resemble the Homies Mom creates."
Reddy waved his hand with a smile. "These are trophies I obtained in Dressrosa."
This statement wasn't wrong.
The Hobi Hobi no Mi's ability was indeed a prize he had obtained after wiping out the Donquixote Family in Dressrosa.
But Katakuri didn't know this secret.
Because Doflamingo had hidden Sugar too well, the secret of the Hobi Hobi no Mi's ability hadn't leaked.
Katakuri pressed further. "Is it a Devil Fruit ability?"
"Correct."
Reddy stepped aside, gesturing for Katakuri to come in and examine them freely.
"Excuse me."
Katakuri politely nodded before walking to the table and picking up the doll to inspect it closely.
"Katakuri, it's me!"
Pudding's hopes were rekindled, but she still couldn't speak. She could only watch as Katakuri picked her up, examined her briefly, then set her back down before picking up the other doll.
"Katakuri... No, he can't hear me. I have to find a way."
Montd'or was frantic, gesturing wildly, trying to catch Katakuri's attention through body language.
But it was useless.
Katakuri never imagined these two dolls were his siblings. Seeing the doll in his hand waving its arms, he shook his head and placed Montd'or back on the table.
"Wait, I can write!"
Montd'or had a sudden idea and immediately began writing on the table.
"Hmm?"
Katakuri noticed and frowned slightly, watching as Montd'or wrote a few words.
"It's me, Montd'or!"
Katakuri softly read the words Montd'or had written on the table, his frown deepening.
Who is Montd'or?
Was this doll's former name Montd'or? Not a bad name.
"Interesting dolls."
Katakuri had personally come to inform Reddy that the tea party would proceed as scheduled, hoping to observe more details to refine his plans further.
Dolls... This hobby had value, but how to exploit it required careful consideration.
"Apologies for disturbing you, Dr. Reddy."
This trip had yielded some discoveries, though not many. Katakuri was already satisfied and soon left the room.
Montd'or was beside himself, watching helplessly as that devilish man smiled and saw Katakuri out.
The door closed.
Reddy returned to the table, picked up Montd'or, and weighed him in his hand, his lips curling slightly.
"How will Katakuri exploit this weakness of mine?"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━