Chapters · Four Emperors (Yonko) › Whole Cake Island

Chapter 868: KX Launcher

Arc: Whole Cake Island · Saga: Four Emperors (Yonko) · Released: 2017-06-19

Summary

In flashback narration, 63 years ago Mother Carmel and the orphans of the Sheep’s House simply vanished — and only two people witnessed what happened, a truth even Big Mom herself does not fully know. The first witness was a Warrior of Elbaf who came to check on the House of Lambs, went pale, fled, and never returned to the island; from that day the name “Charlotte Linlin” became so feared that no giant in the world would speak it. The second witness was Streusen, a failed pirate cook stranded on the island who wields the Cook-Cook Fruit (turning any object into food); finding the starving, rampaging child fascinating, he chose to feed and stay with her — the meeting that would launch the eventual Big Mom Pirates. Together they conceived a “land of dreams” where all races live at the same eye level, the country Linlin vowed to build for Mother. In the present, Capone Bege’s coup executes: the shattering of Big Mom’s only photo of Carmel triggers her scream-fit and incapacitation, and Caesar’s KX Launchers fire during the opening — but Big Mom destroys the launchers, the plan fails, and Caesar’s escape mirror is broken by her wind pressure. With Katakuri, Smoothie and the Big Mom forces closing in and no escape from the rooftop, Bege transforms into a full-scale castle fortress — “Big Father” — and calls the allied forces inside.

New reveals

• 63 years ago, Mother Carmel and the orphans of the Sheep’s House (House of Lambs) vanished; only two witnesses saw the truth, which even Big Mom does not fully know (p. 2).
• Witness #1: a Warrior of Elbaf who came to check on the House of Lambs; he fled in terror and never returned. The tale spread to Elbaf and to all giants, who refuse to even speak the name “Charlotte Linlin” (pp. 2-3).
• Witness #2: Streusen, a failed pirate cook stranded on the island, user of the Cook-Cook Fruit (turns any object into food) (p. 4).
• Streusen took in the starving young Linlin; their meeting “launched the eventual Big Mom Pirates” (p. 5).
• Origin of Big Mom’s dream: Streusen frames a “country of dreams” where all races coexist “at the same eye level”; Linlin adopts it as the land she’ll build “that Mother would like” (pp. 8-10).
• Cipher Pol issued a 50,000,000 bounty on Charlotte Linlin as a child, deemed dangerous (p. 9).
• The Mother Carmel photo shatters, triggering Big Mom’s scream-fit and weakening her — the trigger Bege’s coup was built around (pp. 11-12).
• The assassination plan fails: Big Mom destroys Caesar’s KX Launchers, and her wind pressure shatters Caesar’s escape mirror (pp. 13-15).
• Capone Bege transforms into a full-scale castle fortress — “Full-Scale Rook!! The Big Father!!” — sheltering the allied escapees (pp. 16-17).

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Mentions / appearances

• Characters: Big Mom (Charlotte Linlin — present + child flashback), Mother Carmel (referenced; vanished 63 yrs ago), Streusen (first appearance), Caesar Clown, Capone Bege, Charlotte Katakuri, Charlotte Smoothie, Luffy, Nami, Sanji, Brook, Charlotte Pudding
• Cover (B-plot): Cavendish
• Devil Fruits: Cook-Cook Fruit (first appearance), Soru Soru no Mi (referenced), Shiro Shiro no Mi (Big Father form)
• Races / groups: Giants (the Elbaf warrior witness), Big Mom Pirates, Firetank Pirates
• Locations: Whole Cake Chateau (rooftop), House of Lambs (flashback), Elbaf (referenced)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Title page. Cover story: “The Saga of the Self-Proclaimed Straw Hat Fleet, Vol. 5, Cavendish.” Cavendish dances with a rose; two heart-decked ships (“MARRY ME” / “WE LOVE CAVENDISH”) with cat homies.
• Page 2 — Big Mom screaming “HYAAAAA”; narration: Carmel + children vanished 63 years ago; two witnesses; even Big Mom doesn’t know the truth.
• Page 3 — The Warrior of Elbaf flees the island; the tale spreads across Elbaf to all giants.
• Page 4 — Streusen introduced; he turns objects to food with the Cook-Cook Fruit.
• Page 5 — Streusen and child Linlin meet — “the meeting that launched the eventual Big Mom Pirates.”
• Pages 8-10 — The “land of dreams / same eye level” dialogue; the origin of Big Mom’s dream; child Linlin’s 50M bounty.
• Pages 11-12 — The Carmel photo shatters; Big Mom’s scream-fit (“BWAAAA”); incapacitation.
• Pages 13 — ”…HAS FAILED!!!!” Caesar: “I can’t believe she destroyed my launchers! …Guess the Emperor of the Sea is for real!!”
• Pages 16-17 — Splash-scale: Bege’s “Full-Scale Rook!! The Big Father!!” castle-fortress transformation. (Mirror-flag candidate.)
• Page 18 — Flashback close: a giant birthday cake “HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINLIN.” Below: an editorial answer-key to a volume spot-the-difference puzzle (P134) — a META note, not story canon. (Lists puzzle answers referencing Buggy, Garp, Rayleigh, Roger, Chopper, and “Kuzan’s shirt” — do NOT treat as an in-story Aokiji name reveal; it is a puzzle answer key.)

Open questions raised

• What actually happened to Mother Carmel and the orphans 63 years ago that terrified a Warrior of Elbaf? (Even Big Mom doesn’t know.) — see Mother Carmel Mystery.
• How did child Linlin come to possess Devil Fruit powers (“the trick that Mother did”)?
• With the KX-Launcher plan failed and the escape mirror broken, how does the alliance escape the Big Mom forces closing on the rooftop?