The entire tea party fell into dead silence.

“Is he insane? Proposing to marry four women at once? Four women together? That’s impossible; this is the Big Mom Pirates we’re talking about.”

“There’s no way Big Mom will agree.”

The other guests thought Kuke had lost his mind.

If it wasn’t for Kuke’s formidable identity, they would have ridiculed him outright.

Proposing to take four at once? Pure delusion.

Katakuri and the others were looking grim, their faces turning an unpleasant shade of blue. They were indeed eager to have a family alliance with Kuke. It would be beneficial for the family. If Kuke became the son-in-law of the Big Mom Pirates, their reputation would skyrocket.

But to take four at once?

If this got out, how would the world view them?

It would be seen as the Big Mom Pirates groveling at Kuke’s feet, humbling themselves to curry favor with the Sun and Moon Pirates, and offering four family members as if they were nothing more than bargaining chips. They would become the laughingstock of the seas.

Big Mom was furious.

Four?

And the four that Kuke wanted were some of the most crucial members of her family—top-tier combat power within her ranks.

Sending even one of them away was painful enough. But Kuke wanted to take all of them?

Big Mom could never accept such a loss, nor the disgrace it would bring.

“Mama… Are you joking with me?” Big Mom’s face twisted in fury, her flesh trembling. Thundercloud Zeus turned into a dark storm cloud, lightning flashing in its depths, while the sun Prometheus burst into roaring flames—all clear signs of her impending rage.

“The nobles of the sea can have as many wives as they want. Mr. Kuke is one of the Emperors of the Sea. Four wives—that’s hardly excessive,” said Morgans, the News King.

Swoosh.

Big Mom’s glare turned toward Morgans, her eyes filled with menacing intent. And not just hers—even Gion and the others had their eyes fixed on him.

To Gion and her fellow crew members, it didn’t matter how many women Kuke took, but it had to be in the correct order. They had come first.

“This isn’t a proposal for marriage. I’m here to take them from you, Charlotte Linlin.” Kuke’s words were like fuel to Big Mom’s burning anger.

“What did you say?!”

Big Mom’s voice erupted in a monstrous roar, like a wail that echoed in a massive storm, sending shockwaves throughout the tea party. Tables, chairs, and decorations were blasted away, and the ground trembled beneath her rage.

“You want to take Smoothie and the others by force?!” Big Mom’s bloodshot eyes were locked onto Kuke.

Katakuri and the others instantly drew their weapons.

It turned out Kuke wasn’t just greedy to marry four of them; he wanted to take them by force. This was far more unacceptable.

“We have a big scoop,” Morgans muttered excitedly, already pulling out his camera. He had assumed this tea party would go by without incident, just another ordinary gathering. Now he realized it would be anything but.

“Poor Charlotte Linlin, I won’t keep this under wraps, even if we do know each other,” Morgans said, already in contact with his headquarters, ready to relay the latest information at any moment.

“Looks like the next pitiful Emperor won’t just be Kaido,” Morgans thought to himself. There was no way they could resist the Sun and Moon Pirates—not a chance.

“Emperors of the Sea are truly a bunch of lunatics. This is going to end in a fight. Let’s find a chance to get out of here,” the other guests whispered, growing more and more uneasy.

“Do you think I’m like Kaido, that worthless fool? That I would let you just take them?!”

Big Mom’s overwhelming aura erupted skyward, affecting the very climate of the island.

All the various species living on Whole Cake Island trembled in fear.

“I was planning to use gentler methods to get what I wanted. But now that you want to take my daughters, I won’t hold back.” Big Mom’s greedy eyes were fixed on Kuke.

You want my daughters?

Well, I want you.

Since a peaceful marriage alliance was out of the question, then she would take him by force.

“Looks like we’ll have to fight,” Katakuri said with a heavy sigh, biting his lip. Things had escalated to this point, despite their hopes.

He glanced toward his family members and then at the bustling Whole Cake Island city. Once the fight started, no matter who won, there would be numerous casualties, and the city would be hard to preserve.

“What now?”

The most conflicted ones were Smoothie and the others, especially Galette. She had been so thrilled just moments ago, running towards Kuke, only for the situation to suddenly change.

A fierce battle was now on the horizon.

“Mr. Kuke, can we not do this?” Galette rushed to Kuke, her eyes pleading.

Smoothie bit her lip.

She hadn’t expected things to turn out like this. “Not only did it not work, but now we’ve become enemies,” she murmured.

Big Mom was already wielding her massive blade, Napoleon, prepared to strike at any moment.

“One last chance, take back those ridiculous words, or…”

“What I desire, no one can stop me from getting,” Kuke interrupted.

Big Mom’s expression turned ferocious. “Then let’s see what means you’ll use to take my daughters,” she said, her aura rising even further, the powerful energy visibly wrapping around her blade.

“There are two options. We can go all-out in a fight, and the winner takes everything.”

This was the simplest approach.

Just like what happened with the Beasts Pirates—settling the matter through sheer force.

Defeat the Beasts Pirates and then take Black Maria.

“The second option is a pirate game—one game for one person.” Kuke offered Big Mom a choice.

This second option was for Smoothie and the others. Unlike Black Maria, who was just a member of the Beasts Pirates, Smoothie and the others were Big Mom’s daughters.

If Kuke used the first option to take Smoothie and the others, he might only get their bodies. Forcibly taking them onto the Tomorrow might not lead them to willingly become members of the Sun and Moon Pirates. They would likely have to be imprisoned, forced to join—yielding only half of their potential as fighters.

Captives rarely had a chance to grow stronger.

The effort would yield only half their fighting power, with little potential for future improvement. It wasn’t worth it to Kuke.

Thus, he offered a second choice.

“A pirate game? Davy Back Fight?” Big Mom asked, immediately recognizing the name.

It was a well-known tradition on the seas, a way for pirates to gain the best crew members from each other while avoiding massive casualties.

The pirate game, Davy Back Fight, was a test of skills, where the victor could choose a member from the opponent’s crew—and that chosen member had to swear lifelong loyalty to the winner.

The pirate game wasn’t just for gambling people; it could be used to wager anything, from pirate flags to treasures.

Everything could be placed on the betting table.

Kuke planned to use this method to win over Smoothie and the others. This approach couldn’t guarantee absolute loyalty, but it would help ease Smoothie and the others into joining the Sun and Moon Pirates, eventually leading to genuine loyalty.

First, he would win them.

Then he would consider winning over Big Mom.

People lost in the heat of competition often gambled away everything they had.

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DONT FORGET POWER STONE

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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up 40+ chapters at patreon.com/Emik01.

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Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep