Over the following week, just as Tenma had predicted, the effects of the "praise-to-kill" strategy were immediate.
Pirates who caught a whiff of opportunity swarmed in like locusts crossing a river, wave after wave charging toward Wano.
The results were, unsurprisingly, disastrous.
Most ships never even made it close—devoured by the terrifying whirlpools and waterfalls in the outer seas. The few lucky ones that forced their way in were hacked to pieces by samurai who had been itching for a fight.
These reports rolled across the newspapers day after day, shocking the entire world.
After all, many of the pirates who came to die weren't nobodies—they included plenty of seasoned New World veterans with bounties exceeding 300 million.
And all of this happened without Tenma lifting a finger.
The name Wano alone instantly became synonymous with an unbreakable fortress.
On Whole Cake Island in Totto Land, the Charlotte Family's intelligence network was running at full speed.
They hadn't rushed to act precisely because they wanted to use those cannon-fodder pirates to test Wano's depth.
Now it was clear—the waters ran far deeper than expected.
"Looks like this time we'll have to bleed a bit, Mama."
Perospero frowned as he read the intelligence in hand, his tongue even retracting as his brow furrowed.
"It's indeed troublesome," Katakuri said gravely, tugging at the scarf covering his mouth.
"If we want to take Wano, we'll likely have to pay a heavy price."
"Ma~ma~ma~ma! What's there to be afraid of?!"
Big Mom burst into carefree laughter, shaking the teacups on the table.
"As long as we take Wano, those weapons factories and seastone resources alone could double Totto Land's strength!"
"And if we capture Tenma, that ringleader, won't the entire country fall right into our hands? Don't tell me you think Mama would lose to some snot-nosed brat?"
This was the confidence and arrogance of a Yonko.
To her, this was nothing more than a slightly troublesome hunting game.
"Katakuri, you stay behind and guard our home this time."
Big Mom issued the order—only leaving Totto Land in the hands of her most perfect son put her at ease.
"As for you, Perospero, send word across the seas—tell everyone Wano is mine. I want to see whether that brat dares accept the challenge or runs with his tail between his legs!"
This was an open scheme, forcing Tenma to take a stance.
If he fled, his reputation in the New World would be utterly ruined.
Just as Perospero was about to leave and stir up momentum through the underworld, the bookkeeper Charlotte Mont-d'Or rushed in, pale and flustered.
"M-Mama! Big trouble! That Flying Admiral Tenma sent word—he says he'll attend your tea party in three days!"
The statement hit like a bombshell.
Everyone present froze.
Even Big Mom was stunned, the pastry in her hand forgotten.
She'd just resolved to go to war—and now the other side was cheerfully accepting her earlier invitation?
Big Mom narrowed her eyes.
"Did Kaido that bastard tip him off?"
"M-Mama… then are we still attacking Wano?" Perospero asked cautiously.
"Are you stupid, Perospero?!"
Big Mom backhanded him with a loud smack.
"Of course we're preparing the tea party! He's delivering himself right to us!"
"But Mama… didn't we just hold one not long ago?"
Her children exchanged bewildered looks. One moment war, the next a party—the logic was hard to follow.
"This is him showing Mama respect," Katakuri analyzed calmly.
"And since Tenma is coming himself, we hold the home-field advantage. No need for a costly expedition."
There was one thing he didn't say:
If talks collapsed, surrounding Tenma on Totto Land's soil was far safer than invading Wano.
As news of Tenma attending the tea party spread across the seas, a massive ship flying Whitebeard's flag quietly entered Wano's waters.
The New World exploded.
Had Whitebeard finally made his move against Wano?
What shocked everyone was that the ship stayed only one day before departing in force—no one knew what had transpired.
Rewinding to a day earlier—
Tenma had long expected Whitebeard to send someone.
The envoy was none other than Izo, former member of the Akazaya Nine.
Rather than stop him, Tenma gave him full access.
Under Tenma's relentless, near-brainwashing propaganda, Wano had become solid as iron. Grab any passerby and all you'd hear was fanatical praise for the new Shogun.
After touring the city and hearing nothing but Tenma's achievements, Izo might have been swept along himself—if his heart weren't still bound to the Kozuki clan.
When he finally met Kozuki Toki and learned the truth of the past, he said little, immediately returning to the Moby Dick to report.
Everything unfolded exactly according to Tenma's script.
Only as Izo departed did Tenma's sharp Observation Haki catch a glimpse of the man's true thoughts.
On the surface respectful—yet deep down, still clinging to the idea that if Momonosuke ever returned, the "legitimate" line should be restored.
Disgusting.
Tenma stood high above, watching the departing ship, a cold sneer tugging at his lips.
Under his rule, Wano was developing at rocket speed.
Within ten years, its prosperity would far surpass anything imaginable in the past.
As for the Kozuki clan? They'd be nothing but dust in history books.
Even Kozuki Sukiyaki was now just a useless old man—alive or dead made little difference.
And Momonosuke, that lecherous brat? If he dared show his face, Tenma had a hundred ways to make him regret ever being born.
If not for using Whitebeard to restrain Kaido, Tenma would have ensured Izo entered vertically and left horizontally.
Beside him, Kozuki Toki sensed none of the killing intent. She simply gazed out at the sea, thinking of the retainers she'd sent into the future.
Tenma wrapped an arm around her slender waist, feeling the warmth in his arms, saying nothing.
There was no need to force her to choose now.
Time bred affection—give it another decade or two, and the Kozuki name would fade naturally.
After all, she no longer resisted his intimacy—she even enjoyed it a little.
Wasn't that proof enough?
Meanwhile, the New World was thrown into total upheaval by Tenma's decision.
The Charlotte Family announced another tea party in half a month—something unprecedented.
Everyone sensed something extraordinary.
This wasn't a tea party.
It was either a Hongmen Banquet—or a ceremony that would reshape the world.
In a lavish underground estate, one of the underworld emperors, Du Feld, King of Loan Sharks, stood before a floor-to-ceiling window, cigar in mouth.
"Another tea party after just half a year? And this time the star's an interesting one… I'd better choose the gift carefully."
At the headquarters of the World Economy News Paper, the great bird Morgans flapped excitedly.
"Big news! Absolute big news! Linlin actually broke precedent for Tenma! I have to go see this myself!"
Almost every heavyweight was making preparations. No one wanted to miss a drama that might rewrite history.
The World Government and the Navy were in agony.
They'd tried to praise Tenma to death—only for him to climb the pole.
If he really allied with Big Mom, the Navy's days would be grim indeed.
And as if that weren't enough, scouts monitoring Whitebeard sent urgent news—the Moby Dick was charging straight toward Kaido's territory with killing intent.
Now the New World was a boiling pot.
Whitebeard versus Kaido.
Tenma accepts Big Mom's invitation.
Two grand spectacles at once.
Weak pirates trembled in fear.
The strong sharpened their blades, eager to seize their share amid the chaos.
As the tea party drew near, Tenma boarded his ship and set sail for Totto Land.
Totto Land—thirty-four islands forming a so-called land of inclusivity, yet in truth a one-woman dictatorship under Big Mom.
At this moment, ministers across the islands were frantic, preparing to receive guests from all corners of the world.
Anyone not affiliated with the World Government or Marines, and bearing generous gifts, was welcomed.
On the day of the tea party, officials from each island personally escorted guests to the core—Whole Cake Island.
Among today's guests, the most illustrious were the six emperors of the underworld with deep ties to the Charlotte Family:
Morgans, ruler of the World Economy News PaperStussy, Queen of the Pleasure DistrictDu Feld, King of Loan SharksUmit, the Shipping KingGiberson, Warehouse MagnateDrag Peclo, the Great Undertaker
These heavyweights had already been received and settled with the highest honors by Perospero and other core family members.
"Ma~ma~ma~ma! No matter how many times I host it, the lively atmosphere of a tea party always fills my heart with joy!"
At the top of Cake Castle, in an opulent open-air hall, Big Mom lounged comfortably in a custom-made giant seat.
Looking down at the steadily filling audience below, she laughed with booming delight.
"Amande!"
She tilted her massive head slightly, addressing her third daughter standing dutifully by the chamber doors.
"Well? Are all the guests here? Can I announce the start of the banquet now?"
"Reporting to Mama—just a little more."
Beside Amande, the eldest daughter Compote hurriedly whispered,
"Most guests are seated. Only the star of this tea party—the Flying Admiral Tenma—has yet to appear."
"That insolent little bastard—does he dare play games with me?!"
Big Mom's smile vanished, replaced by violent gloom.
A suffocating pressure burst from her body. Her daughters felt as if plunged into ice, cold sweat pouring down.
In the Charlotte Family's warped structure, blood ties were thinner than paper.
To Big Mom, children were tools. Only tools that produced value deserved "motherly love."
When her mood soured, even Katakuri couldn't escape scolding—others risked having their lifespan stripped away.
"Mama, please don't be angry!"
Seeing danger, Brûlée summoned her courage and stepped forward.
"Brother Katakuri went personally to receive him. We just got word—he's already met Tenma!"
"Oh? That's delightful news, Brûlée."
Big Mom's face instantly cleared, her smile returning.
Surrounded by her daughters, she rose and strode from the inner chambers.
"Ah, Stussy! You came as well!"
At Big Mom's booming greeting, Stussy showed no hesitation.
She swayed her slender waist gracefully, stepping forward with a perfect professional smile.
"Sister Linlin's tea party—no matter how busy I am, I must attend. I put great thought into your gift this time—top-tier sweets from Fish-Man Island."
Seeing her finesse, the other underworld emperors followed suit, presenting rare treasures to curry favor.
Big Mom laughed in delight, inviting them all to the main table.
Holding Stussy's hand, she casually asked,
"I've heard this tea party is especially for that Flying Admiral. I must admit—I'm quite curious about him."
"Hmph. That brat's got quite the attitude—still hasn't arrived."
Big Mom replied indifferently, sweeping her gaze across the table.
"Seems you're all interested in him too?"
"Of course," Du Feld grinned. "He's the hottest figure in the New World right now."
"And Wano truly is a land of fortune," Stussy said openly.
"If I could open a Pleasure District branch there, my profits would multiply."
Big Mom smiled meaningfully, then turned to Morgans fiddling with his camera.
"Morgans, you and Tenma seem close. The news of him attending—that was all your doing, wasn't it?"
"On my honor, I don't even know how he got my private number!"
Morgans' feathers trembled as he waved his wings.
"He only told me he'd attend the banquet. No other contact at all!"
"Ma~ma~ma~, relax—I was just asking."
Big Mom waved it off, then suddenly froze.
Her eyes snapped upward toward the horizon, a feral grin spreading across her face.
"Look—he's here!"
The six underworld emperors stiffened, following her gaze.
At the distant edge of the sky, a massive floating island burst through the clouds, advancing with overwhelming pressure.
In today's New World, only one man dared—and could—make such an entrance.
As the island drew closer, two figures at its edge came into focus.
One was Katakuri, a reassuring sight to the Charlotte Family.
The other—sword at his waist, posture straight as a pine—was the man shaking the New World:
Tenma, Shogun of Wano—the Flying Admiral.
For the guests, traveling so far for this unprecedented second tea party was not only about fear of the Charlotte Family—but to witness Tenma firsthand, and perhaps a historic turning point.
Seeing the flying island, many first-time viewers instinctively recalled the terror of the legendary Golden Lion, swallowing nervously.
"Flying Admiral…"
Stussy rolled the title on her tongue.
As Queen of the Pleasure District—and CP0's ace—she followed Tenma's intel far more closely than most.
From the sky, Tenma's hawk-like gaze swept the hall, seizing everyone's attention.
Some faces were new, yet perfectly matched their intelligence profiles—especially the alluring Queen of the Pleasure District, Stussy.
Feeling his aggressive scrutiny, Stussy didn't shy away. Instead, she sent him a seductive wink.
For someone trained as a top agent, weaponizing her charm was instinct.
Unfortunately for her, it was all wasted.
Tenma ignored her completely and looked away.
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