You think I'm lying?

After a while of silence, they finally got their bearings back.

They were in fact so shocked that they were rooted in their own place.

"He shot his ally in the back!" Sanji said with anger.

"How horrible!" Brook, the musician skeleton, shared the same view as Sanji.

A small portal in the hands of Bege closed up!

But Brook who saw it was not quite sure if he saw it correctly or if he was hallucinating.

Bege spoke up at that moment.

"You might not know it, and though he doesn't look like it, he is a well know pirate!" He said. Talking about the now unconscious Pekoms.

"But the moment he tried to abandon Mama's mission, he became just a coward! There is no longer any use for him!" He said in distaste.

Then he focused his eyes on Sanji and Brook.

"Mama's mission, I'll do it on my own!" He stated.

"Alright guys, come out!" He ordered. And then just as he finished a drawbridge opened up on his chest.

Then after which huge numbers of people started to come out and then after passing a certain point in the sky from Bege, their small bodies regained their size, and they started to surround Sanji and Brook in an organized manner.

The two straw hats barely blinked when they were suddenly surrounded completely with all the people around them pointing their guns at them.

"What the hell!" Sanji muttered.

"What kind of ability is that?" He spoke up as he eyed his surroundings warily.

Brook was finally sure of what he saw earlier when Bege shot Pekoms.

'So I saw correctly earlier!' Brook thought as he too stood there alert.

Bege proceeded to introduce himself to them.

"I am a castle human! As I ate the castle-castle devil fruit. I'm regarded in the same generation as your captain! So you obviously know me, right?" He spoke up with a smug grin on his face.

Sanji glared at him.

"Capone 'Gang Bege!" he uttered.

"At that time when Luff punched that celestial asshole, you were there weren't you?" Sanji questioned him.

And Bege replied.

"Yeah, we were forced to waste so much energy at that time thanks to you guys! We could have blown you guys up too in a big show of cannons. However, we are not gonna make a scene here. We don't want that either!" He said addressing Brook and Sanji.

"If the minks come here right now, they would definitely take your side. And I know of their prowess in fighting. Not to mention Emperor Ian and his crew!" Bege said.

Sanji then yelled out.

"We are not looking for their help in the first place!"

"I'll accept anyone's challenge!" Sanji stated.

"If you want a fight, we'll give you one! Oi Brook, we gotta stop them here!" Sanji said, addressing Brook.

"I agree." Brook gave him a nod.

And just as Sanji was planning to attack, Bege started laughing.

"I knew you would be like that!" He said.

Before he motioned with his hands.

And then Nami and Chopper came out being held t gunpoint by some guards.

"Sanji, I'm sorry, we couldn't help but be curious…" Nami apologized.

"I thought there were only two enemies!" Chopper said too.

And then Bege called out to Caesar next who fell off a tree.

"Now that everyone is here! Let's start." He said.

And then he added.

"Rather than stand here outside to talk, get inside my castle." He told them. Rather he ordered them.

Sanji and Co felt like they were caught in a spider's web. With no way to escape.

But just as they were about to do as he asked with no other choice left. Another voice spoke up.

"I think they would prefer to stay outside!" The voice said.

And Bege, who had caught Caesar hiding earlier started sweating. This new guy was capable of hiding from him.

When all of them searched for the owner of the voice, they found him floating in the sky.

All the members of the Fire Tank pirates crew pointed their weapons to the sky by reflex, but then all of a sudden they started to lower their weapons and point them to the ground.

"Don't point those sticks at me, if you don't want to die!" The person casually remarked.

And although they tried to ignore his words and again point at him, they felt their weapons were unmovable.

The person, who by now was identified by the people there as Ian, started floating to the ground until he touched it gently.

He stood right in front of the straw hats facing Bege.

"I just came back, and this is what I find… sigh" He sighed.

He was quite tired mentally from what he had just done and just wanted to relax for today. But he knew that the whole ordeal with big mom was soon to happen so he used his observation Haki as soon as he was back. And voila!

Although with this, he knew that he was soon going to start on his plan against Big Mom.

"Alright, recall your troops!" Ian then focused on Bege and ordered.

Bege furrowed his brows.

"This is a private matter of the big mom pirates, even someone like you shouldn't interfere here!" Bege tried to act calmly as he said. But the sweat was apparent on his brows.

The straw hats flinched at that. They knew it was true.

"Don't tell me what I can or can't do!" Ian calmly spoke up. But this time he snapped his fingers.

Then suddenly arms started to sprout from the necks of everybody from Bege's side. The arms were in the motion of twisting the head off.

"Are you going to recall them or not?" Ian asked once again.

And was satisfied with the look of fear on Bege's face. Who then proceeded to recall them all. Ian knew that his crew was already in here, each taking a hiding place and waiting for something to happen.

Once it was just him standing there. Ian continued speaking.

"Although you thought you were in control from before, in fact, you were not! Although I had come just now, you could have died any time before even if I didn't show up!" Ian told him.

But the snort heard from Bege implied that he was not believing him at all.

"Oh, you think I'm lying?" Ian laughed as he asked him. Then he snapped his fingers once again.

And this time it was followed by a very fast bullet that no one can dodge.

Said bullet passed by Bege's face and injured him in the cheeks.

Leaving him sweating bullets. He now knew that he was indeed at the risk of dying anytime. The worst of it was that he didn't know where the hidden sniper was. He then remembered that one of Ian's crewmates was in fact a sniper. The girl was so skilled that even an admiral was unable to guard against her. And that was two years ago…

Then he realized that it was foolish of him to think that Ian's crew would not notice him.

He looked at the unconscious Pekoms and realized that it might have been good to do as he said and just leave. Too bad there was nothing he could do now.

Even the straw hats were shocked to know that someone was hiding in the shadows and was on their side. They understood that it would be Ian's crew.

In fact, they knew that Robin's ability was the one that held those soldiers. And most likely Elene was the hidden sniper.

They couldn't help but be thankful, with Sanji promising to thank them well later with what he is known for best. Cooking. This was something he knew that even Ian would quite like. So he was sure the others would be satisfied.

"Now then, what is your purpose with the straw-hats here?" Ian then questioned Bege as he directed his gaze towards him.