Mousse's Ambition

"Adults' business isn't yours to meddle in! Shut up, Mousse!" Seeing this, Katakuri hurriedly barked at Mousse, terrified that his younger brother would keep provoking their mother and lose his life. He then immediately turned to face his mother, intending to plead for his brother.

But before Katakuri could say anything, Mousse spoke first. Even Katakuri, renowned for his courage and composure, rarely showed such panic on his face.

Mousse knew his brother meant well, but if he did not finish what he had to say today, then he would have suffered their mother's grudge for nothing.

Gritting his teeth, Mousse shouted as fast as he could while still enunciating clearly, "Because if they hadn't done that, Mother, you would have been executed! Grandpa and Grandma were only ordinary humans. They had no ability to defy the Kingdom Government's orders, so they sent you to Elbaf. There, there was 'Mother'—Sister Carmel of the Giant race—who could care for and protect you. That was why you survived! If they truly only wanted to abandon their child, wouldn't any deserted island have done? Why specifically send you to Elbaf, a place humans rarely visited? And near Lamb's House, at that? Grandpa and Grandma did it only so you could survive!"

When Mousse spoke that first sentence, Charlotte Linlin stopped moving.

And once he had finished, Katakuri even briefly wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him.

Mother was crying?

She really was crying!

Seeing tears stream down Charlotte Linlin's face, Mousse finally breathed a sigh of relief. His gamble had paid off!

Before transmigrating, Mousse had known that, due to the need for a species to continue, young children possessed an instinctive attachment to their parents.

Under its influence, no matter how badly those parents treated them, as long as there was even a barely plausible excuse, they would always be forgiven.

Normally, this instinct gradually faded as a child grew up. But Charlotte Linlin was an oversized brat. Even though she was now a woman in her forties, that instinct still remained.

If everyone had not feared her so much that they utterly dared not touch the old pain in her heart, this thorn would never have remained lodged there until now.

Still, Mousse had taken a tremendous risk today, and naturally, he had his reasons for doing so.

Aside from suspecting that his mother's Food Addiction might be connected to several unresolved knots in her heart (Note 1), and hoping this might improve his future safety somewhat, Mousse also truly wanted to obtain Grandpa and Grandma's blood samples—genetic samples.

"Mother, you are the world's only successful case of Human Gigantification, while Grandpa and Grandma were both ordinary humans. If I can obtain blood samples from both of them, I can compare them with yours and determine whether your gigantification came from a bloodline mutation or from external factors during infancy. If it was the former, what kind of bloodline mutation could have produced such an astonishing change? If we can't figure out those questions, the research will take who knows how many times more effort!"

Mousse had explained it in plain, simple terms. Even Charlotte Linlin, who knew little about science, felt it made perfect sense. Yet she did not know that Mousse's main goal was not merely to enlarge the human body as she hoped.

Compared to the most obvious trait—her gigantic size—what Mousse truly cared about was Charlotte Linlin's terrifying strength, which far surpassed even the Giant race, and her horrifying defense that was nearly physically invulnerable under normal conditions.

Even as a scientist, Mousse did not want to constantly live under someone else's protection, much less lose his freedom like Vegapunk. Therefore, he had never abandoned his pursuit of great power.

But Mousse's natural physique was exceedingly ordinary. No amount of hard training could make him a first-rate powerhouse.

However, if Mousse could unravel the secrets behind Charlotte Linlin's two great talents and apply them to himself, that would be an entirely different matter.

Originally, Mousse had planned to take his time with this. But after being unexpectedly dragged into trouble by his eldest brother today and forced to take on the extremely difficult task of researching Human Gigantification so early, he immediately realized the opportunity amid his frustration.

Wouldn't this let me openly study Mother's genes?

In his excitement, he had not had time to think things through. The moment Mousse opened his mouth, he touched Charlotte Linlin's deepest pain. Fortunately, he understood children's psychology well enough and reacted quickly enough to avert disaster.

However, just as Mousse relaxed, he immediately realized that the danger had not passed.

Charlotte Linlin was not actually stupid, and she quickly noticed a problem.

Her expression darkened again as she parted her red lips and asked, "Little Mousse, how did you know those things? I don't think Mommy ever told you, did I?"

Fortunately, Mousse had genuinely investigated that matter before out of curiosity, so he did not panic.

He immediately put on the usual expression of a mischievous child, scratched his head, and said, "Well, um, I looked into it before because I was curious. It wasn't hard. Think about it: sailing in the New World is so dangerous, and Grandpa and Grandma were only ordinary people. So your homeland couldn't have been too far from Elbaf. At the very least, there had to be a safe, usable route between it and Elbaf. And you were only five years old at the time, yet you caused such a huge incident. That would have been remarkable anywhere, so there must have been rumors and records in that country. Putting those two points together, it was easy to find."

Charlotte Linlin finally stopped doubting him. With a complicated expression, she sat back down. After thinking for a moment, she made up her mind, turned her head slightly toward the son she trusted most, and said, "Katakuri, I'll leave this matter to you."

"Mother, do you mean we should bring the two elders here?" Katakuri was meticulous in his work, so he immediately asked an extra question.

But Charlotte Linlin's face showed extreme conflict, and her answer was practically no answer at all: "Handle it as you see fit!"

Katakuri frowned, but he did not dare ask again. He could only wake his still-unconscious brothers and sisters first, then seek an explanation from Mousse afterward.

His calm and rational nature was a great advantage, but his intelligence was not particularly exceptional. Besides, Mousse had caused this matter in the first place. Who else was he supposed to ask?

As soon as they left Cake Castle, Katakuri pulled Mousse into his residence and dismissed everyone else.

Like his eldest brother Perospero, he was a rational thinker. But as a powerful fighter, he was also a man of action. Once he had an idea, he put it into practice immediately. Especially now, with time pressing, he could not afford to dither like his eldest brother.

Note 1: Mousse believed that Food Addiction might have congenital causes, but those knots in her heart definitely affected the frequency and symptoms of its onset. Otherwise, it would be impossible to explain how Charlotte Linlin could go until the seventh day without eating before falling ill as a child, yet became more prone to episodes after reaching adulthood.