Charlotte Linlin had refined the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit enough to use it on her own appearance, preserving the beauty and physical youth of her prime to the point that, despite nearing the twilight of her life, she could still have passed for a high school girl.
Big Mom was overflowing with confidence as a woman, but that did nothing to soften her naturally jealous temperament.
And for the man she had pursued her entire life—yet failed to win over, and failed to conquer by force—to let his eyes wander elsewhere instead of choosing her dealt a heavy blow to her pride.
"Women are like wine, Solomon. And I even developed the Soul-Soul Fruit enough to keep my body and looks in perfect condition at their peak. So don’t go losing your mind just because some brazen little brat bats her eyes at you~"
"I hate this no matter how I look at it! It feels like some fish-farm keeper trying to specially manage a premium catch! I’m too much of a coward to handle someone like you, Linlin! And even if you call me your first love, you’ve already taken how many other husbands besides me?"
"That whole body-mind-soul virgin theory is outdated. At this point, I’m a suuuper alpha girl who isn’t bound by that kind of cheap nonsense~ Mamamama~"
"That too, but honestly, you’re just scary! You tried to force yourself on me with strength more than once! Elbaf was genuinely terrifying! You even made me bring out a Noble Phantasm!"
"Then isn’t it your fault for turning Linlin into a scary woman? I’m the freest woman on this sea! Stop making pathetic excuses!"
Look at me properly.
Linlin declared it proudly, like some warrior straight out of Fist of the North Star.
"Pirate Empress? Hah! I honestly don’t care who you roll around with or how many brats you make with some other woman! Sure, I get a little jealous, but as long as you’re beside me in the end, I can forgive anything!"
Kya-ha-ha-hat mamamama!!
Solomon felt exhausted by Linlin’s overwhelming love, unchanged from long ago to now.
If I reject her this much, a normal woman would get the message... Ah, right. She isn’t normal. That’s probably how she climbed all the way to the rank of Four Emperors.
"By the way, what happened to that horned brat you used to keep around back when you were with the Rocks Pirates? The one you wore on purpose to make me jealous?"
"Munch munch. Hm? Kaido? Don’t even mention that bastard! I looked after him like a cute little brother and risked my life for him, and after all that, he just took the fruit and ran!"
"I see... So he didn’t die, then. Not after eating a Devil Fruit that grants the power of an azure dragon."
"You really are more out of touch with the outside world than I thought. Were you seriously asking because you didn’t know? You travel these seas and still had to ask me because you didn’t know Kaido’s name? That’s unbelievable~"
Solomon felt awkward under Big Mom’s genuinely incredulous reaction.
"No, seriously. You know I’m one of the Four Emperors, so how do you not know the others? I’m not looking after him just because he used to be a younger brother figure to me. He’s the most violent troublemaker among the current Four Emperors, and you’re saying you don’t know him?"
Faced with Big Mom’s scolding, Solomon reproached himself. Honestly, this was the kind of thing he deserved to get cursed out for.
"Hah... That brat who used to be treated like the baby of the Rocks crew is now called the strongest creature in the world. It feels like just yesterday I was covering for him after he got bullied and wrote his little suicide notes all the time... Tch. But now things have gotten awkward. We can’t really meet anymore as just an older sister and younger brother..."
"I see. A relationship that used to be comfortable became difficult because the heights you stand at changed... That’s unfortunate."
"Let me give you one piece of advice, as the greatest information broker on these seas. I almost forgot. I was planning to tell you the moment you arrived anyway."
Be careful of Kaido.
"Why? I’ve never even met him."
"Haa... You turned him into grilled eel with a single gesture at God Valley, and you don’t even remember? He holds grudges like nobody else, so don’t expect him to come at you kindly. Be careful. Better yet, avoid going into his territory if you can."
"Ahaha... I really don’t remember. But would I actually have any reason to enter his territory?"
"You never know how life turns out. Back then, who could’ve guessed Rocks would die at God Valley? Well, the moment you sided with Roger and Garp, I changed my whole plan to getting the hell out of there, and that’s how I barely survived..."
Big Mom spoke of it now like a memory from her youth, but if someone told her to go back to the God Valley of that time with the overwhelming power she possessed now as one of the Four Emperors, she would refuse without a second’s hesitation.
Roger and Garp alone had already been too much. With Solomon joining them, adding the military strength of just one Emperor would never have changed the outcome.
"Linlin. Can we move on to the matter of the government’s deal now?"
"Ah, way to ruin the taste of sweets... Fine. I’ll open the route and guarantee safe passage for government ships only. I’ll keep the terms we agreed on beforehand without adding anything extra, so that’s the end of that! I’d much rather spend time planning our final family arrangement with you than talk about something so boring and pedantic~"
"Let’s not call it family planning..."
"Why? You don’t want to? If you really won’t accept me, then at least leave me your seed before you go. You know what a one-night stand is, right? One night. And just so you know, I’m very far removed from modern civilization things like condoms."
Deep down, Big Mom had vaguely guessed that Solomon would reject her to the very end. If nothing else worked, then even if he treated her as a toy for a single night, she still wanted them to share at least that much physical intimacy.
By the vulgar standards of the world, Big Mom’s behavior might have fit a crude word like "slut," but Big Mom was a woman with the power and authority to justify even her vulgarity.
Who on these seas would dare call Big Mom a whore or trash, or point at her children and sneer that they were bastards without fathers?
Thinking carelessly that no man could possibly refuse even this, Big Mom heard something she had not expected.
"I don’t want to treat you like a toy for one night. Even if I can’t love you, I still care for you."
"Ah..."
It was clearly a firm rejection, exactly the answer Big Mom had not wanted, and yet she suddenly found herself unable to control the pounding of her heart.
Abandoned by her family as a child, Big Mom had learned that even Mother Carmel had only approached her to exploit her power by trafficking children, and yet some part of her had still refused to accept it.
If even Carmel had come to her only to use her, then had there ever been anyone who truly loved Charlotte Linlin herself as a person?
Solomon’s gentle refusal disappointed Big Mom, but more than that, it brought immense stability to her fragile heart.
"If you say something like that... it makes Linlin want to cry. In a good way and a bad way. Solomon. You really do care about me, don’t you?"
"All my memories with you remain good ones... There’s no way I could dislike such a lovable little sister."
"Tch... You put up walls with everything you’ve got, but anyone can say sweet things. Liar. Hypocrite. Stupid chicken idiot."
"Don’t call me a chicken?!"
"So you’re fine with the rest?"
In a better mood now, Linlin gently stroked the doll-like older brother sitting on her thigh.
"I won’t bother you anymore, so spend today on a date with me. If you refuse even that, I really will gobble you up~ Gyao~"
That childish display of affection, just like the Linlin of long ago, made Solomon melt.
No matter how much Linlin had grown into an adult and even had children of her own, to Solomon she still looked like nothing more than a giant crybaby little sister.
The tea party held in Totto Land, the largest tea party ever thrown there, did not lose momentum even after several days had passed.
At last, the final day of the tea party arrived.
Big Mom, unusually enough, came out to the harbor in person to see him off, because she simply could not bear to part with Solomon.
If she wanted to, she could have forced the issue... but there were too many problems born from the difference in their respective positions for Big Mom and Solomon to associate with each other normally.
Only then did Big Mom realize it.
She felt a sudden helplessness at the calculating side of herself that hesitated to even confess her love to the man she loved because of political complications.
Ah... so that’s why Linlin could never become Pirate King...
Unlike Linlin, Roger had never been held back by such trivial concerns.
As she watched the ship carrying Solomon disappear beyond the distant horizon, Big Mom had no choice but to admit it. She hated admitting it, but she finally understood why Charlotte Linlin, a great pirate of the seas, had remained nothing more than a "silver medalist."
"Mama."
"Perospero. I think I want to rest for a while. Do I look weak to you?"
"No! Mama! You’ll always be the head of our Charlotte Family and our pride!"
Big Mom, who had now completely given up on her lifelong goal of becoming Pirate King, looked at her precious eldest son, who unlike her youthful appearance had already become a middle-aged man.
Maybe I... was so obsessed with my dream that I neglected everything around me too much.
After Solomon’s visit, rumors spread through Whole Cake Island that Big Mom had somehow mellowed out.
There was no hard proof to support the gossip, but Pudding, the Charlotte Family’s thirty-fifth daughter, who had always been scolded by Big Mom for how creepy her three eyes looked, could clearly feel that Big Mom had changed.
Because Pudding was no longer berated in front of Big Mom for needing to hide her third eye.
Big Mom had let go of her dream.
As a result, she would avoid the ugly downfall that awaited at Onigashima a few years later.
The butterfly effect had begun.
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