Charlotte Linlin: What Reason Do I Have to Stop My Son from Heading Out to Sea?

Katakuri stepped forward and handed the small box in his hand to Ortolan.

Ortolan looked at him somewhat puzzled, but before Katakuri could speak, Charlotte Linlin, seated upon her throne, said directly, "Take it. That's my gift to you for our first meeting..."

Ortolan was not one to stand on ceremony. Hearing that, he raised a hand and accepted the little box from Katakuri.

"Perospero, arrange a place for Ortolan to stay. And show him around while you're at it, let him get familiar with things here," Charlotte Linlin said.

Perospero grinned and licked his lips. After nodding, he called to Ortolan, "Let's go. There are plenty of rooms here, so you can pick one you like. If none catch your eye, I especially recommend my candy house. Don't worry—with my powers, I can make one in no time. Guaranteed to satisfy..."

Ortolan imagined a candy house made with Perospero's powers and felt vaguely uncomfortable, so he quickly said, "That won't be necessary. I'm not particular about that stuff. Just take me to any room."

Still talking, the two of them soon left the room.

Once Perospero and Ortolan's voices had gradually faded away and the Homies door had shut itself, Katakuri looked toward his mother.

"Mother, Ortolan doesn't seem to feel much affinity for us. I spoke with him many times before as well. I don't think he'll necessarily stay..." Katakuri said after some thought.

Charlotte Linlin grabbed a pastry from the table, stuffed it into her mouth, and took a couple bites before saying indifferently, "Whether he stays or leaves, it doesn't matter, Katakuri..."

"Hm?" Katakuri looked slightly confused, as though he did not understand what his mother meant.

Charlotte Linlin had plenty of patience for this favorite son of hers. After swallowing the food in her mouth, she explained, "What matters is my attitude—our attitude. It is goodwill..."

After a brief pause, Charlotte Linlin continued, "Ortolan left me when he was very young... The facts proved that I was wrong. I misjudged him. I originally thought he would be deeply hostile toward me... But today's meeting was somewhat beyond my expectations. It seemed... that boy did not hate me for abandoning him back then."

Katakuri nodded at that. "Yes, I discussed this very matter with him. He stated plainly that his feelings toward you, Mother, could not be called disgust or hatred. Of course, neither could they be called affection. He said it was more like... strangers."

"For us, that is already not a bad beginning. Whether it was what I just said or the gift I gave him, both were gestures of goodwill. As long as that goodwill can bring even a small positive change to our originally distant relationship, that is enough. As long as it tips the scales of fate in a direction favorable to us, that is enough," Charlotte Linlin said softly.

Katakuri considered it for a moment, then nodded.

Charlotte Linlin continued, "If he chooses to stay, that would naturally be a good thing. I could keep him by my side and personally train him. With his potential and talent, sooner or later, he would become my true right-hand man—and truly become one of our family..."

"What if he chooses to leave?" Katakuri asked again.

"Then it means he is even more stubborn than I imagined, and possesses even more backbone and courage, Katakuri," Charlotte Linlin said with a smile.

For Ortolan, the current situation was roughly equivalent to a poor boy suddenly being found by his billionaire mother, who promised him inexhaustible wealth and glory so long as he was willing to return to her embrace.

A single step to the heavens!

Normally, most people would have ecstatically accepted the offer, returned to their billionaire mother's embrace, and lived a life above others from then on.

If Ortolan refused, then it would indeed prove, to a certain extent, that he was more stubborn than most people, and had greater backbone and courage.

If you can't find a book by its title, try searching for the author instead—it may have simply been renamed!

Of course, one could also call him arrogant or foolish.

It all depended on how one chose to see it.

"Stubbornness, backbone, courage—these are all qualities beloved by the sea. Coupled with his outstanding talent and potential, even if he chooses to refuse, I still think highly of his future, Katakuri... If he chooses to stay, he will receive the training of our Big Mom Pirates. If he chooses to leave, he will be nourished by this world's raging winds and storms. Garden flowers have their own nobility and beauty, but wildflowers have their own wildness and romance. Who can say which is superior?" As Charlotte Linlin spoke, an expectant smile appeared on her face.

"Garden flowers... and wildflowers?" Katakuri murmured softly.

Whether it was the great hammer Ortolan had forged himself or the gift Mother had just given him, Katakuri felt they already represented Ortolan's future—a life that was destined not to be ordinary.

He had said that the world was so vast and that he wanted to see it. And to truly see this beautiful yet cruel world clearly, one had to keep climbing upward. Only by standing higher could one see farther and more clearly.

And only by truly standing at the pinnacle of this world could one see its full visage, could one not?

To accomplish that, his journey would inevitably be filled with raging winds and torrential rain. And those winds and rains were both a hammering and a nourishment.

At that moment, Katakuri understood as well. Even if Ortolan chose to leave, the raging winds and storms would guide him onto a thorny path of ceaselessly scaling the spine of the world.

When one day he reached a sufficient height, he would naturally meet again with the Big Mom Pirates, who already stood high above; with Mother; and with Katakuri himself.

By then, this initial goodwill might bring about an unexpectedly wonderful result.

Seeing the look of realization on Katakuri's face, Charlotte Linlin smiled even more contentedly.

Then Charlotte Linlin suddenly picked up the strong liquor on the table and drank deeply several times. With a bang, she slammed the cup heavily onto the table and laughed. "Mamamamama! Besides, I already owe him so much. What reason do I have to stop my own son from heading out to sea?"

After ending the subject of Ortolan, Charlotte Linlin's tone shifted as she asked solemnly, "How is the intelligence on Shiki coming along?"

"It isn't very clear," Katakuri immediately replied.

Thanks to the network of connections Charlotte Linlin had built over so many years, as well as her outrageous "marriages of convenience"... Well, when other people formed marriage alliances, they selected suitable candidates from their families to marry one another. While Charlotte Linlin would later show signs of moving in that direction, she was even more ruthless: she herself was the one entering marriage alliances, marrying again and again. Her ex-husbands alone could form a reinforced platoon.

Yet Charlotte Linlin was still in her prime beauty years at this point. There was no shortage of simps like Ortolan's father.

Even though they had already "divorced" Charlotte Linlin, the moment she gave the word, those devoted fools were still willing to contribute their strength.

Beyond that, Charlotte Linlin was also fond of holding Tea Parties, constantly maintaining her social connections. Through these networks, she had also forged close ties with all manner of shady figures in the Underworld.

For that very reason, the Big Mom Pirates had developed rapidly in the field of intelligence over the years. Later, they had even dared to call themselves "the number one intelligence force in the pirate industry"!

But even so, the Big Mom Pirates had difficulty obtaining much intelligence on Shiki at this time. After all, Shiki's core forces were basically all flying in the sky, while his headquarters, Secret Realm Melview, towered into the clouds, making it difficult for intelligence agents to get up there.

Charlotte Linlin understood these difficulties and did not make things hard for the intelligence organization under her command. She merely said somewhat helplessly, "No matter what, Shiki has already begun gathering his fleet. We can't just sit and wait for death. We cannot let the war reach a core area like Cake Island. Have our fleet begin assembling at the Totto Land front..."