Stussy

"Ah? It can be used like that? Mamamamama~" Charlotte Linlin had rather weak moral scruples—or rather, morals unlike those of normal people—so she did not feel much psychological resistance after hearing this.

However, she quickly shook her head again, saying the Tea Party could not be held in time. "Unfortunately, there isn't enough time. People need to deliver the invitations in person for a Tea Party. Even if we only invite those nearby, it would still take several days—enough time for those Marines to return to their base and spread the news."

"Mom, you should have sent people to escort them back instead of giving them a ship and letting them sail back on their own." Mousse complained, but the expression on his face actually relaxed considerably.

After all, he still possessed normal moral values. Detaining other people's souls and forcing them to serve him was the sort of thing that sounded evil just by hearing it, and doing it would place a considerable psychological burden on him.

Complaining aside, with Mousse's intelligence, how could he not have considered that possibility? He quickly adjusted his mood and presented his second plan. "If it's too late for the Tea Party, then at least we have to take control of Stussy. She belongs to the World Government!"

Stussy, the Courtesan of the pleasure district—who had not yet been promoted to madam—had an identity that was practically a bombshell. Yet after Mousse revealed it, Charlotte Linlin's face showed only slight surprise.

What surprised her was not the matter itself. "Mamamamama~ Little Mousse figured it out so quickly? As expected of Mommy's smartest son!"

Mousse was instead somewhat shocked. He realized that he had once again underestimated Charlotte Linlin. "Mom already knew? Well, Mom may be naïve and childish, but she certainly isn't stupid. Even if the Pleasure District is well-informed, it would be hard for them to obtain the complete training methods for Navy Rokushiki, right? She's known Stussy for years. How could she have failed to notice that suspicious point?"

"Mamamamama~ After letting those Marines go, Mommy thought of it and called Stussy. She should be almost in Totto Land by now, right?" Charlotte Linlin continued smiling, but her smile had turned somewhat chilling.

Stussy was Charlotte Linlin's best friend—her only best friend, even. Streusen was a companion, not a friend. That was why she had never exposed Stussy's identity.

But since a falling-out was already unavoidable, Charlotte Linlin would not show mercy either. She only hoped Stussy knew what was good for her and would not force her to kill her best friend.

Since Charlotte Linlin had made up her mind, Mousse, an uninvolved party, had even fewer reservations.

To guard against the possibility that the World Government had installed listening devices—or even suicide devices—on Stussy, he had his mother knock her unconscious the moment they met. Stussy was skilled in assassination, but her personal strength was currently only comparable to that of an ordinary Marine Headquarters Rear Admiral. Then, using the Soul-Soul Fruit ability, Charlotte Linlin turned every object on Stussy that could be made into a Homie into a Homie.

Since she was merely creating the simplest Homies, like talking biscuits, Charlotte Linlin could produce them in batches with a casual wave of her hand.

She did not even need to see the objects directly. As long as she still had enough souls, she only needed to spread her Devil Fruit ability over a general area, and it would automatically seek out suitable objects—including non-sentient living creatures—and turn them into a large number of Homies.

No matter how carefully this old agent Stussy hid things, it was useless unless she could make those hidden devices grow directly into her flesh and become inseparable parts of her body.

After eliminating the potential danger posed by Stussy, Charlotte Linlin woke this CP0 agent.

Upon waking, Stussy instinctively curled up and adjusted her posture to block her line of sight. Then she remembered that she had been suddenly attacked, and anger immediately appeared on her face as she demanded to know why Charlotte Linlin had attacked her.

Then this World Government agent learned that her close friend had killed several thousand Navy POWs and had deliberately spared a few, sending them back to provoke the Marines and the World Government.

Even Stussy, who had weathered countless storms, was frightened pale for a moment.

"Linlin, have you gone mad? You have no idea how powerful the World Government is! Over the past eight hundred years, who knows how many forces even stronger than your family have vanished into the river of history. Even the traces of their existence have been completely erased. Once the World Government makes up its mind, there is no enemy it cannot eliminate! If you still consider me a friend, then hurry and capture those Navy POWs. They cannot be allowed to return to the Marine base!"

"Ah? What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Even Mousse, brilliant as he was, failed to follow Stussy's train of thought at first. Only after a short while did he understand the meaning behind her words.

Then Mousse could not help but sneer. "You mean the World Government values its face more than the killing of prisoners itself? Killing several thousand Navy POWs could be dressed up as battle losses, preserving their dignity and leaving room for relations to ease again. But sending those prisoners back slapped the World Government in the face, and once the news spreads, it cannot be suppressed. So there is no possibility of settling this peacefully, no matter what?"

At this point, Stussy finally displayed the professional composure of CP0's ace agent. Barely a dozen seconds had passed, yet she appeared to have completely calmed her emotions.

However, Stussy had also realized that Charlotte Linlin had extracted her soul while she was unconscious. With only a single thought, Charlotte Linlin could take her life.

Thus, when faced with Mousse's question, the old agent answered honestly and did not dare play any tricks. "Yes. A mere few thousand Navy officers and soldiers can easily be replaced, but if open provocation is not severely punished, more potential rebels will come forward to imitate it, shaking the order of the world. The World Government will never tolerate that."

Compared to fabricating a complete lie, adding embellishments to the truth was harder to expose. As an ace agent, Stussy could not possibly fail to understand that principle.

And judging from her performance in the Whole Cake Island arc of the One Piece anime, her loyalty to the World Government was beyond doubt. It was truly difficult to believe she would genuinely be thinking on Charlotte Linlin's behalf.

However, Mousse believed that Stussy's words might really have come from the heart. Besides the fact that her life was now in his mother's hands, more importantly, dealing with the BIG Pirates would bring the World Government more losses than gains.

After all, the Charlotte Family had always been relatively well-behaved before this. Weakening themselves to eliminate it would only benefit the other pirate crews in the New World and cultivate even more dangerous enemies.

Especially since the World Government still did not know Roger was about to die. They thought he had disbanded the pirate crew to shift from the open to the shadows for some earth-shattering conspiracy!

Thus, Stussy's suggestion truly was a win-win idea. The problem was that Charlotte Linlin had understood the key point too late. It was already too late to retrieve the Marines she had released.

So they could only proceed according to Mousse's plan. Charlotte Linlin's gaze turned sharp, and Stussy's soul was immediately dragged out of her body bit by bit!