The Smart Dumbass

Because the Poneglyph was far too conspicuous, merely being able to float and fly was not enough. Greedy Mousse also hoped to grant the Stone Tablet Homie the ability to transform freely, including growing larger and smaller.

Even Charlotte Linlin rarely frowned at that. "Freely transforming is impossible. Growing bigger and smaller is difficult enough. If it has to fly and also grow bigger and smaller, it won't have much strength left, and its flying speed will definitely be even slower. Little Mousse, are you sure you really want this?"

"Yes. If necessary, it can give up the ability to grow bigger, but it absolutely must be able to fly and shrink. If it can't shrink freely, then it must at least have a relatively compact alternate form, like Napoleon. Its main body is a giant sword, but it can turn into a tricorne hat for you to wear." Mousse answered without hesitation.

Even if he regretted it later, he could destroy it and make another one. Naturally, he had to first try making one according to his most demanding specifications.

Because Mousse had too many requirements and kept coming up with new ideas that made them scrap and redo their work, it took the pair more than an hour to finally finish.

Then, the roughly four-meter-square Poneglyph transformed into an enormous bald head, with a maw like a blood basin and teeth like door panels. It had no body, much less limbs—just a head.

Mousse could not help facepalming. Speechless, he said, "Why does it look like this?"

"It's so ugly, uglier than Bond! No body, no arms, no legs, and such a huge mouth!" Charlotte Linlin frowned as well, clearly dissatisfied with this creation.

However, the appearances of Homies made from solid base materials formed naturally, and even she, their creator, had no way to change them.

Charlotte Linlin could only pout and look at her son. "How about we destroy it and make another one?"

The "big face," which had been born with a vacant expression and had not spoken a word, immediately came alive upon hearing that. Its face filled with terror as it begged, "Master, I'm very useful! Please don't let Mama kill me!"

"Homies are afraid of dying too? Its intelligence is pretty high, at least!" Mousse laughed, waving for his mother not to destroy the Homie just yet.

Even if it truly turned out to be useless, it was still Mousse's first avatar-type Homie. He had to understand it thoroughly before melting it down again, and could at least gain some experience from it.

"I'm not afraid of anything, not even Pluton's main cannon..." the Homie bragged smugly. Mousse was already growing impatient, since he had long known how hard the stone tablet was.

But before Mousse could tell it to name its next ability, its following words made his heart skip a beat. It knows about Pluton? Could this Poneglyph still carry memories from eight hundred years ago?

Yet when Mousse asked, the Homie's big face showed a puzzled expression again. "Huh? What is Pluton? I don't remember. I only know that even its main cannon couldn't do anything to us."

Could they have specifically tested Pluton's main cannon on these tablets after making them? Or had they been shelled by Pluton during that world war more than eight hundred years ago? Mousse was filled with curiosity, but after repeatedly questioning it without results, he could only give up.

After all, Mousse knew that while in the world of One Piece even inanimate objects seemed to possess memories, expecting them to remember as clearly as humans was unrealistic.

Besides, eight hundred years had passed. Even if this stone had a human's memory, it should have forgotten almost everything by now, right?

But at that moment, the big-faced Homie made another startling statement. "Um, if Master can find a few more stone tablets like me, I might be able to remember some more things."

"Other Poneglyphs?" Mousse was immediately interested again. He widened his eyes and asked the Homie, "Were you originally one whole piece?"

"I can assimilate all rocks, but their inferior materials are unworthy of merging with me. I can only make temporary use of them. To merge completely, I need stone tablets made of exactly the same material as me. Mm-hm, that one is very suitable. As long as I merge with it, I'll recover more memories and become stronger." The Homie grew more excited as it spoke. It wanted to jump, but discovered it had no legs, so it could only first fly into the air and then drop down to imitate jumping.

This was a massive stone weighing over three hundred tons. The entire Treasure Room immediately shook from the impact.

Even Charlotte Linlin, who was also quite a dumbass, could not stand watching any longer. Her face darkened as she reached out and pinned down the Homie that was trying to bounce around again. "Jump again, and I'll immediately beat you back into your original form!"

The Homie was already instinctively afraid of Charlotte Linlin, and now there was a real threat on top of that. The Stone Tablet Homie panicked at once, staying obediently fixed to the ground without moving a muscle, better behaved than any model student.

Only then did Mousse finally ask what interested him. "I understand gaining memories after merging, but you said you would become stronger? Does that mean the fusion is permanent and complete? Equivalent to adding more base material?"

"That's right, that's right! Exactly! I can keep growing stronger!" The Stone Tablet Homie immediately became smug again.

With Charlotte Linlin keeping it in check, it did not dare jump anymore. Instead, the Stone Tablet Homie tried its best to tilt its head as far back as possible to express its mood.

Looking at its showy appearance, Mousse really wanted to destroy it outright. It was smart, certainly, but truly dumb.

Just as the big-faced Homie had said, there happened to be another Poneglyph in the Treasure Room. Though it was a red Road Poneglyph and not from the same set, there was no difference in the material of the Poneglyphs. Mousse thus wanted the Stone Tablet Homie to merge with it.

But Charlotte Linlin immediately refused. "No. Merging another one would double the base material, so the soul required would also double. Mousse, you've already split off nearly forty percent of your soul. Add another one, and you'll have to split off most of your soul. The master-servant relationship would be reversed! It's not that Mama is reluctant, okay! Besides, every special Homie has the ability to fuse. It's not nearly as amazing as this guy makes it sound."

You don't care about an even more precious Road Poneglyph? Then why the hell didn't you use it to make one before? Mousse could not help silently complaining.

But Charlotte Linlin's words did make sense, and Mousse had no ability to change her mind. Whether he accepted it or not, he had to accept it.

Since the Homie could not merge with the other Poneglyph, they could only let it find ordinary rocks outside to test its much-boasted Rock Assimilation ability. Thus, Mousse followed his mother back to the deserted island where she had been training earlier.

Partly because he found it interesting, and partly because he wanted to take the opportunity to learn about the Stone Tablet Homie's flight ability, Mousse chose to sit atop its head as transportation instead of riding Zeus with his mother. But he regretted it within seconds.

At the Stone Tablet Homie's sleep-inducingly slow speed, they might not reach their destination before the sun went down.