Chapter 157: The players' gossip, the Kingdom's urging...
Just thinking about the huge, delicious engagement cake made Lingling's mouth water uncontrollably. Her greedy and hungry appearance made onlookers wonder if she might lose control and eat herself at any moment.
One in six chance of being unlucky, Stussy thought to herself, she shouldn't be that unlucky.
Of course, those chosen by Lingling can choose to refuse, and whether they can bear the consequences of refusing is up to them.
“MAMA…don’t worry, my children are all very outstanding children.” Lingling said with emotion, “Cracker, Smoothie, Katakuri and Perospero are not engaged yet.”
From a purely rational perspective, Lingling's four children are among the best of their generation in terms of strength, reputation, and status. Moreover, they have the support of the Wan Kingdom and a very active maritime emperor in his prime.
Once this engagement is finalized—no, just the news of the engagement is released—they can use it to expand their territory and influence, and may even directly devour the other emperors of the underworld!
A powerful betrothed, a powerful allied force, and an astonishingly vast network of in-laws—all of this is within their grasp if they simply nod their heads at this moment!
It's no wonder that even though everyone knows that the forces that make marriage pacts with Big Mom's children will eventually be swallowed up by the World Kingdom, so many people are still willing to be the bride or groom when Linling wants to hold a wedding next time.
There's no way around it, the temptation is just too great, and many people have the illusion that "I am different".
Morgans took a bite of the nut mille-feuille to suppress the urge he was having.
It's terrifying that even he felt a flutter of attraction for a moment, even though Morgans knew perfectly well that the current strength of the World Kingdom wouldn't be of much help to his newspaper industry or the new media industry he longed to enter.
The others were probably even more tempted.
On the other side, where the little Charlottes were sitting.
When their mother mentioned the engagement cake in that greedy tone, the little Charlottes, who were familiar with their mother's food cravings, panicked. After half a second, they belatedly realized that their mother had just said she wanted to have a wedding.
Oh, who's getting married?
The little Charlottes opened their bewildered eyes and glanced in disbelief at the Charlottes sitting in the very center, the ones of the highest status.
Just now, Mom seemed to have mentioned Perospero, Katakuri, Cracker, and Smoothie, right?
They're getting married?!
The little Charlottes stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
They originally thought that given Perospero's status and importance in the world, their mother would never choose them as marriage partners.
But why...?
The slightly older Charlottes understood that, given the status of those six underworld emperors, only Perospero and his brothers could move those people's hearts, while the younger Charlottes thought of their older brothers and sisters who had left Treasure Country, and immediately began to shed tears.
Cracker's face darkened, and he felt an urge to pull out a pretzel and destroy everything.
Perospero used his Devil Fruit powers to conjure up various colorful candies and distribute them to his pitifully crying younger siblings.
"It's alright, it's alright, your older brother and sister won't leave the Kingdom of Ten Thousand."
"Brother?!" Cracker looked at Perospero and Katakuri, then at Smoothie, who was calmly drinking her juice. "Why are you all so calm?"
Do they really want to marry someone they've barely even met, just for the sake of those guys' power, as Mom said?
Smoothie thought Cracker's reaction was too strong and gave him a strange look: "Marriage? I don't care. If I can get married, I can also be widowed."
All Mom needs is a marriage contract on paper and a wedding where she can eat a wedding cake.
In fact, there have been cases of brides and grooms who suddenly fell ill and died on their wedding night. Smoothie can also readily name several younger siblings who returned to the country after their fiancés were widowed in a shipwreck.
As the older sister, Smoothie has also personally helped her younger siblings deal with these troubles.
Smoothie: "We're pirates."
Thinking you can bind them with a marriage certificate is wishful thinking.
With protective and powerful older siblings like Smoothie, the young Charlottes who had been away from Whole Cake Island for a long time to live with their fiancés were either not yet fully assimilated into their fiancés' power, or they genuinely liked them, or at least liked the fact that they could be taken away from Whole Cake Island's environment.
Smoothie adapted well to and enjoyed the oppressive rule of Whole Cake Island under her mother's control. However, she also knew that some of her younger siblings did not like fighting and killing, nor did they like the atmosphere of Whole Cake Island. For them, leaving Whole Cake Island through marriage and starting a new life would be a good option.
Perospero nodded in agreement. As the eldest son, he was happy to see his sister have this mindset.
Cracker thought they were simply unreasonable.
As a child with his mother's blood flowing through his veins, Cracker naturally had the ambition to expand his territory and the ruthlessness of a pirate, but he did not want to satisfy his ambition in this way, by marrying someone he had never even met.
What he sets his sights on, the territory he desires, Lord Cracker can seize it himself, instead of... instead of...
Perospero licked the candy, and said respectfully but without understanding, "Okay, then if Mom chooses you, I'll take your place."
"Perogo!"
Cracker was angry. Marriage is supposed to be a very serious matter, so why were Perogo and Smoothie so indifferent? No, he seemed to have the same indifferent attitude when it came to his other younger siblings' engagements.
If you like them, give it a try. If you don't like them, create some unexpected "widowhood." Anyway, with her older brothers and sisters backing her up, as long as she's not stupid enough to suffer a loss or be wronged without even asking her older brothers and sisters for help, Charlotte and her friends will never suffer a loss.
Cracker's pupils trembled upon realizing this.
Why did he not care before, but now find this attitude unbearable?
Could it be that... Cracker is such a hypocrite?!
Is the love he thinks he has for his younger siblings actually far less than his love for himself? So he feels indifferent when it happens to his younger siblings, but becomes unbearable when it might happen to him?
Cracker was so gripped by horrified self-doubt that he failed to realize that he, too, could not bear the thought of this happening to his other brothers.
Katakuri remained silent throughout, but in reality, his inner emotions were no less turbulent than Cracker's.
A sense of responsibility made Katakuri want to take on this purely transactional marriage, but...
Katakuri turned his head to look at Violet, who was sitting at another round table, only to find that she not only didn't notice his gaze, but was also looking forward to joining in the fun.
Katakuri: "..."
The sharp crack startled Cracker, who was deep in thought. When he looked in the direction of the sound, he saw Katakuri, who was expressionlessly smashing the teacup in his hand.
That expression... Katakuri looks really angry right now!
Violet suddenly felt a chill run down her spine: ?
She turned around blankly, but didn't see anyone suspicious.
Strange, why did I suddenly feel a strange sense of guilt at that moment?
After some thought, Vera finally decided to shift the blame to Rocks. The old captain, who had ended up in such a sorry state, must have felt a little ashamed and guilty seeing his former subordinate, whom he used to boss around, doing so well.
Although I can't confirm with Rocks without using [the twin sister], since he didn't object, that's how it is!
Having figured things out, Vera happily ate cake and melon seeds again.
Being pressured to get married is a real headache when it happens to you, but it gets interesting when it happens to someone you know!
Lingling looked around, taking in everyone's expressions.
"MAMA! Anyone want to propose?"
Umit was really tempted.
He was the only one among them who used Violet as an excuse to test Lingling's principle of "no fighting, no bloodshed." This was, of course, because Umit was the one who had the most serious business conflict with Violet, but it also showed that Umit was really pushed to the limit.
Of the six people who control the underworld transactions, only Umit's business is in a precarious state of slow decline. Moreover, unlike Morgans, Umit is not as keen as he is in sensing the changes and developments of the times and actively participating in them—Umit is essentially a rigid and conservative guy!
This can be seen from the fact that he wears clothes that even pirates rarely wear.
Besides Umit, Stussy was also very interested.
As a spy secretly sent by the World Government, everything she currently possesses belongs to the World Government. If one day Vegapunk really stands against the World Government, then Stussy will have no power to help the other side at all!
Why did she only realize this chilling fact recently?
Perhaps for her, marrying into another nation is the best way to gain power independent of the World Government, since the World Government's influence doesn't extend to the territory of another sea emperor.
Moreover, Stussy was certain that although the marriage alliance with the world's nations posed a risk of her losing control, the World Government would not be able to resist the temptation.
Then she can let the World Government and the Big Mom Pirates wear each other down, while she secretly cultivates subordinates who belong only to her!
Everyone has their own ideas, everyone has their own ambitions, and Lingling coldly senses the fluctuations emanating from their souls.
Umit gritted his teeth, stood up and said, "It would be my honor to form a marriage alliance with the Wan Kingdom."
Stussy licked his full, red lips: "Lingling, your sons are all very outstanding. If I rejected them, even I would feel heartbroken."
Big Mom smiled contentedly: "That's wonderful, you're all my good friends. It would be even better if you could become my family through marriage, Mama!"
"Creek, Smoothie, would you two like to get married together? Mom, don't worry, you are among my most beloved children. This wedding will be the grandest wedding in the entire World of Warcraft, no, on the entire ocean!"
Lingling gets excited just thinking about how she'll soon be able to have two engagement cakes and two wedding cakes.
With this intense craving for dessert, she looked at Cracker and Smoothie, clearly not accepting any refusal.
He refused!
If his mother wanted Pleasure Street, he was willing to help her conquer it and hand it over with both hands, rather than marry that scheming old woman, Stusi!
Just as Cracker was forcing himself to refuse the arranged marriage despite his fear of his mother, Katakuri, who was looking at Cracker, suddenly realized what he was about to do.
The rice rose from the ground and tightly wrapped around Cracker, but Katakuri stood up before him!
"Mom, let me host the wedding this time."
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Author's Note: Cracker: Am I a despicable hypocrite?!
Violet: The Wedding Crackdown is in Progress
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