Chapter 416: A Head Covered in Green Grass

Above the All Blue Seas, a Navy fleet stretches across the waves, its end nowhere in sight.

Steel bows cleave the towering waves; warships stand dense as a forest, while snow-white Navy flags snap and roar in the gale.

Katakuri stands on the deck, letting the sea breeze brush the stray hairs at his temples, his eye still twitching from time to time.

Brûlée, seeing this, asks curiously.

"Brother, what are you thinking about?"

"Nothing." Katakuri slowly shakes his head, then quickly adds: "Brûlée, from now on, whenever the Captain puts on a concert, try not to watch if you can."

It was far too painful for the eyes.

Even though several days have passed, the image of Queen strutting and posing still lingers constantly before Katakuri's eyes.

Katakuri had originally thought—

that Queen, as the Plague of the Beasts Pirates, had been forced, had danced only because he submitted to the Captain's supreme might.

Never in a million years did he expect that Queen was the one who volunteered.

Because Queen loved dancing so much, he had eagerly offered to serve as the lead dancer for the song "Mermaid."

Precisely for this reason, Kaido, who accompanied the Captain through the entire concert that night, had a face as green as iron from the very opening.

Whitebeard, Shiki, Lei Li, and other old veterans had laughed until tears streamed from their eyes.

The Beasts Pirates truly have a wealth of talent.

The undercover agent Vegapunk, the Dance King Queen...

As the Navy fleet draws ever closer to the All Blue, Katakuri feels a strange trepidation, as if returning home; he wonders whether his younger brothers and sisters have been well during his time away from Whole Cake Island.

Surely nothing has gone wrong?

Meanwhile, on Whole Cake Island in the All Blue.

Lingling, having successfully slimmed down yet still retaining her charm, glares through gritted teeth at Big Mom and her son.

"Fine, Big Mom."

"In past years you and Saint Saint Saint Saiwen were exchanging glances; did you think I didn't know what you were thinking?"

"Have you long wanted to leave the All Blue?"

As the son of Lingling and Big Mom, Charlotte Perospero finds himself caught between two fires, unable to please either side, and can only keep his head down, saying nothing.

"Lingling..." Big Mom shows a look of helplessness.

"I am a chef; I have the right to pursue every chef's dream."

Since learning from Saint Saint Saiwen a few years ago the news of the legendary sea All Blue, Big Mom has thought without cease of following Saint Saint Saiwen to that legendary sea to witness every chef's dream.

"Just as you wanted to become a pirate..."

Lingling cuts straight in.

"You were my first husband; when we had children back then, you didn't speak like this. Now you're thinking of pursuing your dream?"

Hearing this, Big Mom immediately flies into a rage.

"You still dare to call yourself my first husband? In all these years, how many wild men have you taken? Do you know what the seas say about me?"

"They say I, Big Mom, have a head covered in green grass, that I am the King of Cuckolds on the seas."

Once upon a time, Big Mom hadn't felt there was any problem with this matter; he even took pride in being Lingling's first husband.

He, Big Mom, was the man who had taken down a Yonko!

He was the first love of the Yonko Charlotte Lingling!

But at some point, he didn't know when.

Probably around the time the Inazuma novels swept across the four seas, the term "cuckold" spread with a speed comparable to that of low-tier pirates and high-tier pirates, becoming the focal point of heated discussion among people on the seas.

And he, Big Mom, because Lingling had more than thirty husbands, was dubbed by the world the King of Cuckolds.

Decades of reputation have all been ruined by the title King of Cuckolds.

Even if this is an established fact, no one would feel good being pointed at and discussed endlessly by countless people.

"King... of... Cuckolds?"

Lingling immediately senses something is wrong; if Big Mom can be dubbed the King of Cuckolds, then what about her, Charlotte Lingling?

"What do they say about me out there?"

Big Mom, furious, hisses and glares, paying no heed to Lingling's question; Lingling can only turn to her eldest son and demand sternly.

"Perospero!"

Suddenly called out by his mother, Perospero shivers uncontrollably.

"Mother."

"They are all nonsense; do not take them seriously."

"Speak quickly! I told you to speak quickly."

"Uh." Perospero has to say in a low voice: "Mother, out there they say you are the Sea... Queen..."

"Sea Queen? Who is the Sea King?"

"It's like this." Perospero hurriedly explains the meanings of Sea King and Sea Queen to Lingling.

"How dare they!" Lingling's face twists in rage.

What's wrong with having more than thirty husbands?

I do as I please; if you have the ability, go find more than thirty husbands yourselves.

If you don't have the ability, then don't point and criticize.

If Lingling had her old temper, she would have immediately slaughtered in all directions and forcefully crushed these rumors and slanders.

But times have changed.

The era has changed; to avoid the gaze of the United Kingdom, she was forced to offer up the kingdom, thereby buying time for her three hundred sons to grow up.

Under no circumstances must this ruin the grand plan.

Endure. Endure for now.

Wait until the three hundred sons grow up; wait until she, Xia Luote Lingling, reemerges to become the Pirate King, the ruler of the world—on that day, she will reclaim everything lost today.

By then, she will make rivers flow with blood.

With the pure gold ring, Lingling believed she lacked nothing more than time.

Lingling took a deep breath and looked at Big Mom.

"Putting aside my having sought over thirty husbands, do you have no fault yourself?

After all these years of our bond, what does it amount to before your so-called chef's dream?"

It was not that Lingling felt deep affection for Big Mom.

Rather, Big Mom's Munch-Munch Fruit concerned whether the three hundred sons could eat their fill, eat well, receive sufficient nutrition, and thus grow up.

Even if Lingling abandoned the Whole Cake Island, she would take Big Mom away to live in seclusion.

Moreover, leaving behind children like Perospero would facilitate seizing the Whole Cake Island immediately upon her future return.

To realize her dream of becoming the Pirate King, Lingling calculated everything.

"Sigh." Big Mom sighed, ultimately unable to bear severing these years of bond.

"Very well, I will go with you."

Having spoken, Big Mom looked at his eldest son.

"Perospero, remember to take a couple more photos of father, using the Den Den Mushi camera."

"I understand, father."

Just then, Katakuri came running.

"Mother, Mother, brother Katakuri and sister Brûlée have returned."

Lingling hurriedly signaled Big Mom, indicating: first take the three hundred sons and depart by ship from the rear of the Whole Cake Island.

With Katakuri present, the handover proceeded very smoothly.

Even though the Navy Admiral Kizaru was absent, Lingling did not intend to create obstacles,

including the Whole Cake Island and its surrounding thirty-four islands forming the United Kingdom's many provinces.

After exchanging a few pleasantries with Katakuri, Lingling stepped on Zeus without looking back to reunite with Big Mom.

Under Navy escort, the United Kingdom's administrative personnel swiftly began work, inventorying one by one the land, population, facilities, and other assets within the Whole Cake Island.

Three days later.

The official responsible for statistics arrived before Kizaru and Katakuri with a troubled expression to report.

"Sir, the Whole Cake Island... is utterly destitute."