If Apologies Worked...

Homies differed not only in personality, but also in status.

Ordinary Homies treated Charlotte Linlin's children like servants would.

Hermes, born from a fragment of Charlotte Linlin's soul, was different. It held a higher status and obeyed only a select few.

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For example, Hermes obeyed only Charlotte Linlin herself, Nanamo, and Nereus.

When it came to commanding Homies, Nanamo and Charlotte Linlin still had higher priority.

Nanamo and Katakuri were going to settle a score, and Hermes was in no position to stop them. It could only have Perospero notify Charlotte Linlin, lest things spiral out of control.

Perospero turned to look for a Den Den Mushi, but the formerly flat ground suddenly bulged upward. Caught off guard, he tripped over it.

"When did this place get a dirt mound..."

"Sorry, you were too small, so I didn't see you. Miss Nanamo went that way."

Big Pan nodded to himself, then burrowed underground once more and resumed his work as a stalking security guard.

"Say, Katakuri, why are you covering your face?"

"Ultimately, Brulee was injured because of me. From now on, I won't expose this 'weakness' again."

Because of his mouth and fangs, Katakuri was not particularly well-liked by the people on the island. His only playmates had been his own brothers and sisters.

Perospero had once told him that if he folded his mouth away, he would make many more friends.

At the time, Katakuri had scoffed at that advice and acted as though he did not care. Whoever mocked him got beaten up.

Until Brulee was hurt today.

"What kind of weakness is that? By that logic, do I have to wrap myself like a mummy whenever I leave the house?"

"Big sis, our circumstances are different. Nereus... Mr. Nereus has only you as his child, but Mom has many children.

"Perospero isn't strong enough, so naturally, I have to bear this responsibility.

"I was too naïve before. Brulee's injury made me understand that I cannot leave any openings. Only perfect terror can make enemies fear me."

Katakuri paused to consider how he should address Nereus. Charlotte Linlin had always believed in getting rid of the fathers while keeping the children, so Katakuri was still unfamiliar with the role of a father.

The fathers of his other younger siblings held equally little status and rarely entered his field of vision.

And just as Katakuri had said, although Charlotte Linlin had many children, her way of raising them had always bordered on free-range parenting.

She ensured that her children would not die prematurely, but how they grew up was left entirely to themselves. It was commonplace for the older children to look after the younger ones for her.

As the strongest son, Katakuri had matured faster despite being only ten years old. Brulee's injury had accelerated that process even further.

"Do as you like. But I have to say, you're not strange at all. You're actually quite handsome."

"Thank you."

Nanamo was two years older than Katakuri and was herself of mixed Fishman Race heritage, so she could understand his thoughts very well.

She herself was quite beautiful, with an exotic sort of charm, but that did not make discrimination disappear.

Never mind the Demi-human Races—even among people with the same skin color, a mole on someone's face could become the target of group ridicule under someone's instigation.

Even Charlotte Linlin, their mother, could not treat everyone completely equally. Having children from every race was her goal, but some of her children's appearances still displeased Charlotte Linlin.

For example, Pudding of the Three-Eye Tribe was often called disgusting by Charlotte Linlin because of the third eye on her forehead.

On this island, compromise was useless. Staying silent would only make people think you were easy to bully.

Both Nanamo and Katakuri understood that if they did not make these people pay, they would dare to do something even worse.

The trident dragged across the ground, its sharp blades scraping sparks from the stone pavement.

Before long, Nanamo arrived at the Fat Bottle Pirates' base under Katakuri's lead.

"You're here, Katakuri. I've been waiting for you."

The Fat Bottle Pirates' captain was an obese Pirate missing several teeth. He shook out his coat and clapped his hands smugly.

"You even brought along a little girl? You're really looking down on us."

One Pirate after another emerged from the surrounding shadows, all armed, surrounding Katakuri and Nanamo.

Hermes in the sky naturally saw everything as well. It watched the scene below with a grave expression, occasionally adjusting its angle to see whether anyone else was hiding nearby.

The humanlike expression on the Cloud gradually scrunched up, as if it could not understand what was happening below.

The reason was simple: these Pirates were too weak.

Though it was only a Homie, Hermes had seen plenty of major battles. By observing a human's movements and sensing their aura, it could make a rough judgment of their strength.

If these people were all there was, they could not handle Nanamo and Katakuri. Even Katakuri alone would be too much for them.

But why would people like this dare ambush Katakuri? Even if they succeeded, they could never withstand Charlotte Linlin's retaliation afterward.

As a cautious Homie, it believed the other side must have something up their sleeve. Thus, it remained alert for any unforeseen developments rather than interfering in a situation Nanamo and Katakuri could handle.

"Katakuri, what is that thing on your face? It's really hilarious."

The Fat Bottle Pirates still had the leisure to mock Katakuri, but as Katakuri spoke in a dark voice, their mocking tone quickly turned into indescribable terror.

"You dared... to cut my sister's face..."

"Sorry, we were wrong..."

The Fat Bottle Pirates' captain sensed a threat of death from Katakuri.

But they had already done it. An apology was useless now, and Katakuri's trident was the only answer.

The captain of the Fat Bottle Pirates saw with his own eyes that his proudest fighter lasted only two exchanges against Katakuri.

In the first exchange, his weapon was sent flying by the trident. In the second, the blade pierced his heart. Katakuri did not stop moving, charging toward him like a god of slaughter.

"D-Don't just stand there! If you don't want to die, attack together! You lot, grab that little girl beside him!"

Nanamo's delicate appearance seemed to become a possible opening in the Fat Bottle Pirates' captain's eyes.

As the rest of the Pirate crew closed in on Katakuri, he rushed toward Nanamo first, swinging his longsword in an attempt to take her hostage.

Before he could achieve his goal, however, a smooth, delicate hand seized his blade directly.