The sky raged with unnatural fury.
Thunderclouds twisted like serpents, spitting white-hot bolts into the sea below. Waves roared upward as if trying to escape the chaos in the heavens. And in the center of it all—King the Lunarian hovered, one arm cradling a trembling Shinobu, the other gripping his blade.
Facing him, larger than life and twice as furious, Big Mom stood astride Zeus, her flaming hair snapping behind her like a war banner. Her eyes were wild, her smile too wide.
"LUNARIAN!" she shrieked. "YOU THINK YOU CAN FLY AWAY FROM ME?!"
King's wings flared as a burst of jet-fire erupted from his back, pushing him sideways. A clean arc of flame split the air as he swung his sword with one hand, sending a crescent slash straight for her.
Big Mom didn't dodge.
"Prometheus! Napoleon!" she barked.
Her flaming homie expanded and fused with her sword, creating a molten, burning weapon of colossal size.
"Ikoku…"
The air warped.
King's instincts screamed.
"Sovereignty!"
The air itself cracked as a massive shockwave of compressed force tore through the sky, exploding toward him like a divine spear. King dove—barely—escaping the beam as it scorched through the storm clouds and vaporized a chunk of sea far below.
Shinobu gasped. "W-What was that?!"
"Yonko-level death," King muttered.
He was sweating—not from fear, but from calculation. This wasn't a fight he could win cleanly. Not with Shinobu in his arms. Not with Zeus blocking the skies.
Another bolt of lightning crashed down just behind him. Zeus was herding him.
Smart homie.
"You run, I chase, little Lunarian," Big Mom cooed, floating closer. "I want your flame. Your blood. Your genes. You're the last of your kind… and I want more of you in my family."
King grunted, dodging left as another bolt struck inches away.
He was being closed in—boxed like a rat.
It was time to change the rules of the game.
He stopped flying.
King hovered in the air, his sword lowered. Shinobu looked up, eyes wide. "What are you doing?!"
"I'm betting on something worse than death," he said.
Then he raised his voice.
"Charlotte Linlin."
Big Mom raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"You want my genes? You want to breed the fire race back into existence?"
His wings flared again—fire rippling with intensity.
"Then you don't need to kill me."
Big Mom's expression twisted from predatory to intrigued. She tilted her head, humming.
"I'm listening…"
King's eyes didn't waver.
"I'm offering an alliance."
"Go on…"
"In exchange for peace between us and the survival of my mission, I will take one—no, three—of your daughters as mates. I will give them Lunarian children. Not experiments. Heirs."
Linlin's grin widened.
"That's a generous offer. And you're willing to stay in Totto Land?"
"No. They will return with me after they conceive. But the children? They'll spend half their time in Totto Land. Educated as Charlottes. Bred for strength."
"And the other half?" Linlin's eyes narrowed.
"In Wano… or wherever my new people rise. I will not give up on my kind."
Big Mom cackled, spinning her sword with one hand as the other stroked her flaming hair.
"Three daughters. You'll take them all? You better be able to handle them…"
"I will. And to prove my sincerity, I'll do it immediately. You say you know their cycles. Once they're pregnant and miss their moon, we both have proof."
"And in return?" Big Mom asked, her tone suddenly sharp. "What do you want?"
King's voice darkened.
"Three things."
She raised an eyebrow.
"One: A copy of your Road Poneglyph."
She frowned but didn't deny it.
"Two: Custody of your three-eyed daughter—Pudding. I've heard she has the potential to read the ancient language."
Linlin's face twitched with possessiveness, but she held her tongue.
"Three: A liter of your blood. If I must suffer the pain of genetic sampling for the future of my race… so will you."
There was a long pause.
Zeus crackled uneasily beneath her.
Prometheus hissed.
Then Big Mom's laughter shook the sky.
"MAMAMAMAHAHAHA!!!"
"You really are something. Bold, cold, and deadly serious."
She floated toward him until they were face to face.
"You've got fire, King of the Skies. I can see why Kaido kept you close. But now that he's slipping… maybe it's time I did too."
King said nothing. His wings folded slowly, ready to move if she changed her mind.
Big Mom grinned.
"You'll have your deal. Three daughters. One will be chosen tonight. The others will follow soon."
She looked down at Shinobu, who looked like she wanted to vanish.
"You'll keep her alive?"
"She's mine," King said firmly.
"Mama respects loyalty," she said.
Then, without warning, Big Mom drew a fingernail across her arm and held it out. Thick red ichor oozed into a conjured jar made of Homie glass.
"There's your sample. I want mine on the same day."
King reached into his belt, pulled out one of his blood containers from earlier, and poured a few drops from a fresh wound on his side. He capped it and handed it over.
"Pleasure doing business," Big Mom said sweetly, accepting the vial like a treasure.
Then she vanished—like a storm passing—Zeus bolting toward the horizon with a roar of thunder.
King hovered in place for a long moment.
Shinobu finally found her voice. "Are you insane?! You just—just—sold your seed to Big Mom!"
"I bought time," King said flatly. "And future insurance."
He looked at the blood vial in his hand.
"And more Lunarian children. That's the mission."
As the skies began to clear, King adjusted his flight path.
Egghead still lay ahead.
And he had a delivery to make: Shiki's blood. Linlin's blood. His own.
The future of his race—began now.
To Be Continued…