"You've gotten stronger again, Katakuri. Looks like you could've handled this yourself too."
Nanaimo shook her arm lightly, then grabbed the nearby pirate flag and used it to wipe her hand clean.
Her fight and Katakuri's had ended almost at the same time.
At this moment—
the Fat Bottle Pirates had officially disappeared from the sea forever.
🏴☠️⚔️
"No, big sister. Having you here saved a lot of trouble... What are you looking for?"
Katakuri retrieved his trident, then turned—
only to see Nanaimo rummaging through a pile of stored supplies nearby.
"The pirates' treasure, obviously. What else would I be looking for? This is their base, isn't it?"
"Uh..."
For a moment, Katakuri forgot.
The fierce battle stance had made him overlook one detail:
his eldest sister was actually a bit of a treasure addict.
Very interested in spoils.
💰✨
Even though they were siblings,
Nanaimo was still quite different from the rest of the Charlotte family.
Nereus and Charlotte Linlin had separated very early.
Their relationship itself had not lasted long.
Most of Nanaimo's time had been spent with Nereus.
Though she often played with the Charlotte siblings,
the feeling was more like:
the neighbor's child who came over often.
So for Katakuri—
she was familiar,
but not deeply understood.
"Relax, relax. We'll split it fifty-fifty, so don't worry. Hermes! Stop floating up there and come help!"
"That's not what I meant..."
Nanaimo ignored his protest completely.
After some searching, she found several treasure chests.
Without even opening them to check what was inside,
she casually divided them like blind boxes—
then tossed half toward Hermes.
🎁☁️
Seeing the flying treasure chests,
Hermes opened his mouth—
and swallowed them whole, one after another.
His cloud body immediately puffed up two sizes larger.
Hermes's body structure was unusually complex.
He was made from nearly every kind of Skypiea cloud:
Ball CloudSwamp CloudIron Cloudand others combined together
Inside him, Ball Cloud and Swamp Cloud formed a special internal "stomach."
Ball Cloud could contain objects.
Swamp Cloud had swamp-like storage properties.
Though not true spatial storage,
it functioned perfectly well as a portable pocket.
Hermes often served exactly that purpose.
☁️📦
"Princess Nanaimo, please remain careful. These people were too weak—abnormally weak. At this level, daring to ambush Mama's children means someone behind them likely hasn't acted yet."
As an elemental lifeform,
Hermes had no fixed anatomy.
His eyes moved across his cloud body while he scanned the surroundings carefully.
Homies possessed intelligence—
but Hermes, being made entirely of cloud types, had limitations.
Animals sometimes could train Haki—
like the Kung Fu Dugongs from the original timeline.
But for Hermes?
That was nearly impossible.
Which was why most Homies focused only on support.
Without Observation Haki,
he could only rely on eyesight.
👀☁️
"Mama~ mama~ Hermes, you're still as timid as ever. No need to worry—there are no enemies nearby anymore."
A familiar voice came from nearby.
Hermes immediately relaxed.
Because that voice belonged to his creator:
Charlotte Linlin.
"Mom, that's not timidity—it's prudence! I must protect Princess Nanaimo's safety!"
"Well, your prudence is excessive. I thought it was some serious opponent, judging by how urgently Perospero contacted me. Turns out it was just trash."
Charlotte Linlin had come because Perospero ultimately followed Hermes's request and called her.
But seeing the scene before her—
she felt the trip had been unnecessary.
😌
Nearby, Zeus, wearing his duckbill cap, floated beside Hermes.
Though they were different clouds,
their nature was closer than most Homies.
"Hermes, what tasty thing did you eat? Share some with me~"
Zeus spoke lazily.
Gluttonous as always,
he immediately noticed Hermes's swollen belly.
In Zeus's mind,
anything inside another cloud must naturally be food.
Hermes said nothing.
He simply drifted away silently—
as if embarrassed by this senior Homie who thought only about eating no matter the situation.
But Zeus stubbornly followed.
The two clouds began circling each other midair.
☁️🍰☁️
Linlin ignored the Homies after that.
Their personalities had always been like this.
She was long accustomed to it.
"Mama~ mama~ Katakuri, as expected—you're my finest son. You've improved again."
"Mother... Brûlée—"
"She won't die. Just a minor injury. Nothing worth worrying about."
After revenge was done,
Katakuri's concern returned immediately to Brûlée.
But Linlin clearly did not care much.
As far as she was concerned:
She wasn't dead.
Therefore it was trivial.
And compared to a daughter weak enough to suffer retaliation—
she naturally favored the stronger child before her.
💥👑
"Nanaimo... how is life with that man Nereus? Isn't it time you came back to live with Mama? Your brothers and sisters are here. This is your real home."
When it came to custody of her children,
Charlotte Linlin cared deeply.
More precisely—
what she cared about was control.
Linlin possessed a peculiar obsession toward her children.
She did not necessarily love each child equally—
but every child had to remain within her control.
They could not disobey.
They had to complete what she assigned.
Failure meant punishment.
Even the original Sweet Four Commanders had once been reduced to Three because of a single failure.
At her current younger age,
this tendency was still manageable.
In old age—
it became extreme.
👁️
Normally, Charlotte Linlin never surrendered custody.
Nanaimo was the sole exception.
Of course—
she had originally tried to take the child by force.
The real reason things ended differently was simple:
she could not beat Nereus.
For ordinary people,
custody disputes involved courts.
For those two—
their breakup solved everything through fighting.
🥊
At the question,
Nanaimo visibly stiffened.
She blinked,
then answered as tactfully as possible:
"Um... actually, living with Dad is pretty nice. I think things are fine as they are."
This was not the first time Linlin had asked.
Almost every meeting eventually led here.
Nanaimo had no intention of doing what Linlin wanted—
but Linlin was still her mother,
so ignoring it outright was difficult.
"...Mama~ mama~ Is that so? Then let's leave it for now."
Linlin's expression darkened briefly.
But the gloom vanished almost instantly.
A smile returned.
Warm.
Almost maternal.
Yet in Katakuri's eyes—
this kind of "compromise" looked entirely different.