'Since I've already taken advantage of you… and there's also the fact that we are going to get married… I'll make sure to give you something back,' he thought quietly.
With that in mind, Zechs began thinking about how he could help her with this problem. Soon, an idea came to him.
"Tell me something, Linlin," he said. "The reason you feel disappointed and out of place… isn't it simply because you stand out for being much bigger than everyone else?"
"Yes," she nodded, though she didn't understand why he was asking when she had already explained it clearly.
Without giving her time to question him, Zechs continued, "What if you could become the same size as everyone else?"
"The same size?" she frowned in confusion. "How would that even be possible? It's not like everyone else can suddenly become as big as me."
"That's true," Zechs replied calmly. "For ordinary people, it would be almost impossible to match your size. Even I can only change under specific conditions, and that's because of my racial traits. For most people, something like that would be very difficult."
He paused, watching her expression shift between expectation and confusion. Then, without making her guess any further, he added, "But that's only under normal circumstances. If a Devil Fruit is involved… then something like that becomes much easier."
"With a Devil Fruit… yes, that might be possible," she said slowly, accepting the idea. Then she asked, "But what kind of Devil Fruit could do something like that? One that would let the people around me become the same size as me?"
If such a power existed, she was determined to obtain it, no matter the cost.
"There are actually several possibilities," Zechs replied. "For example, the More-More Fruit, the Huge-Huge Fruit, the Grow-Grow Fruit… and a few others."
"These fruits… they could really make others match my size?" she asked, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation.
"They should be able to," Zechs nodded. "In one way or another."
The More-More Fruit embodies the concept of Multiplication… and while its user had only shown multiplying concepts like strength, speed, as well as the size of inanimate things… With enough mastery, or perhaps the awakening, it might even be possible to use it to increase the body size of living people.
The Huge-Huge Fruit, on the other hand, was straightforward; it directly allowed the user to grow larger, with no need for complicated interpretation.
Then there was the Grow-Grow Fruit. While its known applications focused on enlarging non-living objects, Devil Fruit abilities often depended on the user's creativity and understanding. What one user couldn't achieve, another might be able to.
"If… if there's a way," Linlin murmured, her gaze firming with resolve, "then I have to find those Devil Fruits."
Zechs let out a small chuckle. "Actually, there may be no need to search for other Devil Fruits. The power you already possess should be enough to achieve your goal."
"Huh? The power I already have?" Linlin blinked in surprise. "What do you mean? How could my ability do that?"
"Fufu… Linlin," Zechs said, looking at her steadily. "You have the Soul-Soul power, don't you?"
"—!" Linlin froze for a moment, clearly startled that he knew. A trace of doubt crept into her voice.
"How… how are you so sure?" she asked. She had never told him about her ability.
"I've read the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia," Zechs replied calmly. "I know what certain powers look like. Your homies, Zeus and Prometheus, are obvious signs. They could only be created through the Soul-Soul ability."
It wasn't the full truth, but the explanation was reasonable enough.
Hearing this, the tension in Linlin's expression eased slightly, "I see…"
Still, when she nodded, her reaction was complicated. Fear, reluctance, and something close to disgust flickered in her eyes, as if the power itself carried memories she was very afraid of facing, "Y-yes…" she admitted quietly. "I… I have the Soul-Soul power."
"Thought so," Zechs said. Then he continued, "I believe the Soul-Soul power can help you achieve your goal."
"How?" Linlin asked immediately. If her ability could really make the people around her match her size, why had she never realized it?
"As for the method…" Zechs began, then explained the idea he had in mind.
In the canon, Linlin herself had tried to solve this problem through another approach, the path of science. She had funded Caesar Clown, hoping he could develop a way to turn ordinary humans into giants.
But the technology of the time wasn't advanced enough to make it work. Because even the World Government, which had long been attempting to create giants and ancient giants, had repeatedly failed.
Worse for Linlin, Caesar hadn't even bothered to do any research… and he had wasted all of her funding on his own indulgences instead of carrying out any proper research for her.
But in Zechs' view, the task of creating giants, or something close to them, might not be as impossible as it seemed.
In his opinion, there wasn't even any need to rely on Science to achieve gigantism.
Devil Fruits were more reliable methods.
And Linlin's Devil Fruit, he believed, had the potential to achieve exactly that.
The question was how to make use of it.
The method Zechs proposed was actually quite simple. "Just turn their bodies into homies and then enlarge them," he explained.
Hearing his suggestion, Linlin sighed in disappointment, 'I don't know what I was expecting…' and shook her head. "I can't turn other humans into homies."
If that were possible, she would already be unstoppable. Clearly, it wasn't something she could do.
Zechs, however, felt like arguing. Why would it be impossible? In his view, it should be achievable. After all, Sugar could turn people into toys and enslave them with her Devil Fruit. Moria could steal shadows and create a zombie army. Even Imu was said to transform humans into demons to serve his will.
If others could use their powers to manipulate human bodies and souls in such ways, why couldn't Linlin turn people into homies, especially when her Devil Fruit revolved around the manipulation of souls?
Of course, a person's free will cannot be completely erased. However, there should still be a certain extent to which a human can be turned into a homie.
To Zechs, the only thing limiting Linlin from making that possible might be her own understanding or application of her power.
But whether it was truly possible or not, that wasn't what he meant in the first place.
"You're misunderstanding," he clarified. "I'm not suggesting you turn people themselves into homies. I'm saying you should turn their bones, muscles, and other body parts into homies instead."
In the canon, she was able to infuse souls into her own skeleton, allowing her to heal her own broken bones by commanding them to return to their proper structure… since she could do that with her own bones, there is no reason why she can't do the same with others' bones, muscles, and so on. It should be possible and should allow her to freely change others' physical size as per her whims.
"Ah… this…" She blinked in surprise, momentarily stunned as she considered whether it might actually be possible.
The more she thought about it, the more it seemed possible, "It should… work…"
"Right?" laughed Zechs.
However, her expression soon grew hesitant. "It would probably require too much lifespan to keep them enlarged," she said.
After all, homies are sustained by lifespan. To maintain those bodies in a gigantified state, they would need a constant supply of it. That would significantly shorten their lives.
The cost would likely increase in proportion to their size; the larger the body, the more lifespan would be consumed for maintenance, and the shorter the remaining years would be.
The thought made her reluctant to proceed.
Although the idea tempted her, hesitation soon took over. She shook her head. "This… it would kill them very quickly."
She didn't want the people around her to die that quickly.
"So… that's the problem, huh?" Zechs murmured.
In the canon, she collected a soul tax from the residents of her territory to sustain her homies. But gigantifying people would likely require far more lifespan than what such a system could provide.
If a normal human were enlarged four or five times to match her size, their lifespan would be consumed four or five times faster.
In other words, a gigantified person might not even live beyond twenty to twenty-five years, and that would only be the case if the process were applied to a newborn. If an adult or a middle-aged person were enlarged instead, their remaining lifespan might not even exceed ten years, making the plan impractical.
Even so, Zechs wasn't disappointed. He already had another idea. "In that case," he said, "instead of making others bigger… why not make yourself smaller?"
"Make… myself smaller?" Linlin murmured, stunned once again.
"Isn't that your real goal?" Zechs continued. "You want the people around you to be roughly the same size as you so you won't feel different, right?"
Linlin nodded slowly. "Yes…"
"Then there's no need to enlarge everyone, right?" Zechs continued. "If you make yourself smaller, the problem would be solved much more easily. You wouldn't have to worry about sustaining the gigantic people. You'd only need to sustain your own reduced size, which would be much… much easier to manage. As for how to do it, the method is the same: turn your bones, muscles, and other body parts into homies, and adjust your size downward."
In the original timeline, she had already shown the ability to enlarge and strengthen her body beyond its natural limits by absorbing others' lifespans. If she could grow larger, there was no reason she shouldn't be able to make herself smaller as well.
There was also another option, the Life Return technique, but Zechs doubted it would be sufficient to reduce Linlin to the size she needed.
Compared to that, the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit was far more suitable, allowing her to reshape her body much more freely and effectively without having to worry about maintaining the Life Return.
Linlin began to seriously consider Zechs' suggestion of reducing her own size instead of enlarging others. Almost immediately, she realized that it might indeed be possible.
"In fact," Zechs continued, "having a smaller frame would come with several advantages."
He began listing them one by one.
A more compact body would allow her to move faster.
With her muscle mass concentrated into a smaller frame, her physical power could become even more efficient.
Her metabolism would improve, and she wouldn't need to consume as much food to sustain herself.
Moreover, if her muscles, bones, blood, nerves, and other parts became homies, she would gain far greater control over her own body. She could accelerate her regeneration to heal injuries almost instantly, reattach broken bones if they were damaged, and adjust her body as needed in combat or recovery.
In a sense, her physical form would become highly adaptable, bringing her much closer to being nearly invincible.
And that's not all… she might even be able to replicate Gear 2 and Gear 3…
"And if you ever needed it," he added, "you could always increase your size again, back to your original form, or even larger. You could grow to the size of a giant, or even beyond, like an ancient giant or something bigger. That shouldn't be a problem at all."
No matter how one thought about it, there were far more benefits than drawbacks.
Listening to him, Linlin also understood that everything he described was within her capability. It would certainly require a significant amount of energy and lifespan, but it was undeniably possible for her.
With that in mind, Linlin burst into laughter. "Mama… mama… Zechs… you really are something."
She couldn't help but wonder why the idea had never occurred to her before. Her goal had always been to be the same size as everyone else, so what had been stopping her from simply making herself smaller?
And it wasn't just that. The other concepts Zechs had mentioned, applications similar to Gear Second or Gear Third, and other possible uses of her power, were equally surprising.
For a brief moment, she even felt that Zechs seemed to understand how to utilize her Devil Fruit power more effectively than she did. She had possessed this power for many years, yet she had never once considered using it in such ways.
The realization made her look at him in a new light. At the same time, she wondered why she had never considered such methods.
If Zechs had to put it bluntly, Linlin seemed somewhat slow in the head when it came to certain aspects, especially combat, and focused on acting more like a witch, rather than making full use of her steel balloon physique in conjunction with her Devil Fruit power.
But now that the idea had taken root, she gave a firm nod. "I'll do it."
"Oh? Then go ahead," Zechs said, encouraging her. He stayed where he was, clearly intending to watch.
However, Linlin didn't begin immediately. Instead, she said, "You… go outside first. I'll give you a surprise when I'm done. This might take some time."
"Oh… alright." Zechs didn't mind and started to get up.
Before leaving, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Chu~"
Then he stepped off the bed, dressed quickly, and said, "I'll be waiting. I'll head back to my ship to bathe and change clothes. Take your time."
Linlin blushed slightly at the kiss but nodded. "Yeah… okay. I'll send Zeus to call you when I'm ready."
"Understood." He waved, blew her another playful kiss, then opened the door and walked out, closing it behind him.
Once Zechs left, Linlin let out a long breath of relief before calling out, "Zeus… Prometheus…"
…
Meanwhile, after stepping out of the captain's cabin, Zechs noticed that Streusen was no longer lying unconscious outside the door.
"Hm… maybe he woke up and left," he muttered. It was also possible that someone had found him earlier and carried him away after seeing him unconscious and coughing up blood.
In any case, it didn't concern him.
Without giving it another thought, Zechs headed to the deck. Most of the crew were still asleep after the previous night's celebrations, though a few were awake, mainly those responsible for steering and maintaining the ship.
As he walked out with his usual relaxed confidence, the awake crew members glanced at him and let out a few teasing whistles.
"How was last night?"
All of them wore knowing grins.
After all, some of them had heard the sounds coming from the captain's cabin. The noise alone had been enough to tell them that their Ane-san had been in high spirits. Because of that, many of them now looked at Asmodeus Zechs differently, and a few even seemed tempted to ask him for advice.
"Fufu…" Zechs chuckled, offering no explanation. Instead, he said, "Don't disturb Linlin. Wait until she comes out on her own."
With that, he jumped off the ship, spread his wings, and flew toward his own vessel sailing nearby.
After landing, he greeted the few crew members on duty. They responded with the same amused smiles he had seen on Linlin's ship. Ignoring their looks, he walked straight to the captain's cabin and closed the door behind him.
Once inside, he checked to make sure no one was in the room or the adjoining bathroom. Then he leaned back against the door and spoke calmly, "Miss System… show me the rewards I have earned for fucking Charlotte Linlin... aka… future Yonkō BIGMOM!"
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The previous goal was 300 PS, but we failed to reach it, with only 16 PS. No, hurray for that!
Ahem… But still, we reached 284 PS, that's not bad.
For the generous contribution, I'll gladly drop the next Chapter. But... let's try to hit.. umm... 380 PS within the next 24 hours. And hopefully reach the goal this time.
So hurry up and drop your Power Stones!
Of course, if the readers wish, they can certainly read up to 20 advanced Chapters on p-a-t-r-e-o-n: Knockturn_Alley