Chapter 853: Not Here

Inside the treasure vault of the Chateau, the captured Brook fascinates Big Mom, who pets his head and marvels at a skeleton that still lives. She cautions him that her three soul-infused homies, the bicorne Napoleon, the thundercloud Zeus, and the sun Prometheus, cannot be defeated. Once her chess soldiers confirm that nothing was taken from his clothing or cylinder, she apologizes for suspecting him, then boasts that no one will strip her of the Tamatebako or her poneglyph rubbings before she gains Laugh Tale. She recalls that Roger once slipped past her by means of the Voice of All Things, and hints that another in her keeping will someday wake that very gift.

Pudding then enters and is asked by her mother whether the third eye has truly opened. Annoyed, she reminds Big Mom that her half-breed blood offers no guarantee the eye will ever awaken, though her mother remains certain the Three-Eye Tribe flows in her veins. Brook quietly notes the disclosure. Pudding ends by requesting a talk away from listening ears.

In the third-floor courtyard, Pedro cleaves straight through Viscount Hyoko, cracking the figure open like an egg as bystanders brace for the next and mightiest stage, Count Niwatori. Impatient, Pedro sets off a string of explosives among the massed soldiers, and at the last possible instant Chopper and Carrot haul him clear into the mirror realm ahead of the blast. Chopper explains that the realm can be entered only by touching Brûlée, then asks for news of the rest. Carrot lifts her stylized portraits of Luffy, Nami, Sanji, and Brook and asks the mirrors to locate them; one answers that Nami has broken free and is now with Jinbe.

On the same floor, soldiers hound Luffy as he noisily hunts for Sanji. Passing the infirmary, he is grabbed by the arm and yanked inside by Reiju, who shuts the door to hide him from the chase. She reveals that Sanji already grasps the situation yet stays on the island, unwilling to leave the Baratie hostages or the crew in peril. Thankful, Luffy vaults from the window onto a townhouse below and heads back toward the spot where he swore to wait.

This chapter uncovers that Roger had met Big Mom years earlier and copied the writing from her Road Poneglyph to press on toward Laugh Tale. The chapter names the Tama Tama no Mi as the power behind Tamago, while Pudding's heritage and the mysterious potential of her third eye come to light. Chopper and Carrot pull Pedro to safety in the mirror realm, where the trio learns through a mirror that Nami has broken loose and joined Jinbe. Reiju lets Luffy know that Sanji understands Pudding's true nature. Off elsewhere in the Chateau, Sanji sits alone, weighs everything that has occurred, and concludes there is no turning back.