Homies did not only differ in personality—
their status differed as well.
Ordinary Homies treated Charlotte Linlin's children like masters, acting entirely as servants.
But Hermes was different.
Because Hermes had been created directly from a fragment of Charlotte Linlin's own soul.
That gave him:
higher standingstronger independenceauthority above ordinary Homies
And more importantly—
he only obeyed a very limited number of people.
Specifically:
Charlotte Linlin herselfNanaimoNereus
Among them, Nanaimo and Linlin still held the highest command priority.
☁️👑
Since Nanaimo and Katakuri were determined to seek revenge, Hermes could not forcibly stop them.
At most, he could have Perospero notify Charlotte Linlin—
to prevent the matter from escalating beyond control.
Perospero turned, intending to find a Den Den Mushi—
but the flat ground beneath him suddenly bulged upward.
Caught off guard, he tripped hard.
"What the— since when was there a dirt mound here...?"
A giant head poked out.
"Sorry. You're too small, so I didn't notice you. Miss Nanaimo went that way, right."
After nodding to himself, Bikupanda sank underground again—
resuming his bodyguard tailing duties.
🌍🐟
"I say, Katakuri, why are you covering your face?"
"Because in the end, Brûlée was hurt because of me. From now on... I won't expose this 'weakness' again."
Because of his mouth and sharp teeth, Katakuri had never been popular on the island.
His only companions were his own brothers and sisters.
Perospero once told him:
If you cover your mouth, people will like you more.
At the time, Katakuri had dismissed it completely.
He acted like he did not care—
and simply beat up anyone who mocked him.
Until today.
Until Brûlée got hurt.
"What kind of weakness is that? If you say that, should I wrap myself like a mummy every time I go outside?"
"Big sister, our situations are different. Nereus... Mister Nereus only has one child—you.
But Mama has many children.
Perospero isn't strong enough.
So this responsibility naturally falls to me.
I was too naive before.
Brûlée's injury taught me something—
I cannot leave any openings.
Only perfect terror makes enemies afraid."
Katakuri paused briefly before choosing how to refer to Nereus.
Because Charlotte Linlin had always followed the principle of keeping the child, discarding the father—
the concept of fathers remained unfamiliar to him.
The fathers of his other siblings were equally insignificant.
Most never appeared in his world at all.
And just as Katakuri said—
Linlin's parenting had always resembled semi-free-range upbringing.
She ensured her children did not die young.
But how they grew—
that was entirely left to themselves.
Older children raising younger ones had long become normal.
As the strongest son, even at ten years old, Katakuri matured quickly.
Brûlée's injury only accelerated that process.
⚔️🧠
"Suit yourself. But I'll say this—you're not strange at all. You're actually very handsome."
"...Thank you."
Nanaimo was two years older than Katakuri.
As a fish-man hybrid herself, she understood his feelings very well.
Her own appearance was striking—
with a distinct foreign beauty.
Yet prejudice never disappeared because someone looked beautiful.
Not for demi-humans.
Not even for ordinary humans.
Sometimes:
different skin colorunusual featureseven a single mole
could become targets for group ridicule if someone led the crowd.
Even Charlotte Linlin herself could not claim total fairness.
Though she wanted children from every race,
certain appearances still displeased her.
For example:
Pudding, of the Three-Eye Tribe—
whose third eye often earned disgusted comments from Linlin herself.
On this island—
compromise solved nothing.
Silence only made people think you were easy prey.
Both Nanaimo and Katakuri understood:
If they did not retaliate now,
those people would only dare worse next time.
🔥
Katakuri dragged his trident along the ground.
The sharp blades scraped stone—
throwing sparks behind him.
Not long after,
under Katakuri's lead,
they arrived at the base of the Fat Bottle Pirates.
"So you came, Katakuri. Been waiting for you."
The captain of the Fat Bottle Pirates was an overweight pirate with missing teeth.
He shook out his coat smugly and clapped his hands.
"You even brought a little girl? That's some serious disrespect."
From surrounding shadows,
pirates emerged one after another—
all armed,
quickly surrounding Katakuri and Nanaimo.
⚔️🏴☠️
Hermes watched everything from above.
His cloud-face grew increasingly serious.
He kept adjusting position,
trying to see whether anyone else remained hidden.
Because something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
The reason was simple:
These pirates were too weak.
Even as a Homie,
Hermes had seen enough battles to judge strength roughly through:
movementbreathingpresence
And by his estimate—
with just these people below,
even Katakuri alone could defeat them.
No need for Nanaimo at all.
So why would such weak people dare ambush Katakuri?
Even if they succeeded—
they could never survive Charlotte Linlin's retaliation afterward.
As a cautious Homie,
Hermes concluded:
They must have another move prepared.
So he stayed alert for hidden danger,
while refraining from interfering in a fight the two children could clearly handle.
☁️👀
"Katakuri, what's that thing on your face? You look ridiculous."
The Fat Bottle Pirates still had enough nerve to mock him.
But as Katakuri answered—
their tone immediately shifted into fear.
"...You dared... cut my sister's face..."
The captain felt it instantly.
A death warning.
Cold.
Absolute.
"Sorry! We were wrong—!"
But apologies now were useless.
If apologies could solve things—
they would not have come this far.
Katakuri's only answer was his trident.
⚡
The Fat Bottle captain watched in horror as his strongest fighter lasted only two exchanges.
First exchange:
His weapon was knocked flying.
Second exchange:
The trident pierced straight through his heart.
Katakuri did not stop moving.
He looked like a child-sized god of slaughter—
still charging directly toward him.
"D-Don't just stand there! If you don't want to die, attack together! You lot—grab that little girl beside him!"
Nanaimo's soft appearance suddenly looked like the only possible opening.
While the rest rushed Katakuri,
the captain himself lunged first toward Nanaimo—
swinging his saber to seize her hostage.
But before he could complete the motion—
a small smooth hand caught the blade directly.