After some more time passed, Makima gathered enough Devil Fruits.
Many of these people were strong fighters from the sea, and their Devil Fruits were all very good ones. This gave Genichi lots of options when he later strengthened his followers.
She controlled those whose bodies were mostly intact and who had good strength, then let them leave the small island.
By the way, Whitebeard was not among them.
Of course, Genichi had not planned to deal with Whitebeard right now either. He was still very useful, not just because he was strong, but also because he had some influence on the main world story. Someone like that gave Genichi high emotion points.
Besides...
Someone saved him.
She first went back to The Black Order's headquarters and dropped off the Devil Fruits, then returned to the small island. By then, who knows how much time had passed.
The island was still as peaceful as ever, but the sea in front of her was a terrifying sight, like a bloody hell that made people shiver in fear.
She slowly walked to where Charlotte Linlin had been. At first, she planned to control these people's bodies and turn them into puppets, but controlling Charlotte Linlin failed.
It was obvious. She had not died.
This was interesting...
Makima was sure she had destroyed her mind before, but she was still alive. That left only one possibility.
There were two minds in her head.
The mind Makima had just killed was linked to the Soul Soul Fruit, but it was not connected to Charlotte Linlin's life.
This made Genichi think of Charlotte Linlin's past. At first, she was an orphan abandoned by her parents, raised by the nun Carmel, who had the Soul Soul Fruit power, in the Sheep House.
But at her last birthday party, after Charlotte Linlin ate her fill and came back to her senses, everyone in the Sheep House was gone.
Including the nun who raised her...
And at that moment, she gained the nun's Soul Soul Fruit power.
Though the One Piece author did not clearly say what happened then, why people vanished, or why she got the Soul Soul Fruit power later...
People have many guesses about this story, and one guess is...
Charlotte Linlin ate everyone in the Sheep House!
Makima looked at Charlotte Linlin, still passed out on the ground, and her lips curved up a bit.
If the Carmel with the Soul Soul Fruit entered Charlotte Linlin's body in some way, to escape old age and gain power by taking over Charlotte Linlin's incredibly strong body, that's what she did.
But Charlotte Linlin's power was beyond imagination. Though Carmel entered her body, she was held down by that power and could only become nourishment for her. Even the Soul Soul Fruit became part of Charlotte Linlin's strength.
Maybe one day, when Charlotte Linlin's power weakens to the extreme, Carmel could appear again, but not now.
What Makima killed earlier was probably her soul.
And only after she died did the Soul Soul Fruit power spill out.
So now, what remained was the self-mind of the future Four Emperors Big Mom, Charlotte Linlin.
This was kind of fun.
Truth be told, Genichi had not wanted to kill Charlotte Linlin in the first place, or at least not yet. They could all become huge challenges for the future world hero, and it would be a shame for them to die now.
If they had to die, it should be in the future, to stir up Luffy's emotions.
Charlotte Linlin's talent was still very scary. Though she no longer had the Soul Soul Fruit now, as long as she found a suitable and strong Devil Fruit next, becoming a top fighter would not be hard.
It was just that the world would probably not be as fun as the All Nations without it, after all, without the Soul Soul Fruit she could not control the Homies or give souls to living things and objects.
Thinking this, she sat down on a nearby rock.
After who knows how long, she said softly
"You did not die, huh."
Charlotte Linlin slowly opened her eyes from the darkness, and right away she heard Makima's voice.
She did not speak, because the moment she woke up, the image of that devil appeared in her mind.
Too powerful, and too scary.
That devil seemed to be grinning wickedly, destroying the world with huge blasts. His body gave off endless evil and destruction, making people feel a deep fear.
Charlotte Linlin's body was shaking a bit now. She took a deep breath, then slowly let it out, repeating this.
What was that? That was not something that should exist in this world!
And now they had come to destroy such a thing? It was laughable, really too laughable.
Charlotte Linlin had seen many experts. Back then, even Rocks was so strong, but she did not take him too seriously.
She thought there should be nothing in this world that could make her afraid, but now that thing appeared, and it was the one who had just slaughtered everyone before.
She did not die?
That should not be...
The image of the snarling devil's face in her mind slowly faded, replaced by her last memory from then.
That Aatrox used some kind of move that shattered the sky and sea. She sat on Zeus, releasing lightning, but the lightning's power was far weaker than the devil's. In the end, she was knocked back by that force. For the first time in history, she felt injured, and badly injured!
After the bad injury, she fell into the sea, and seawater is the natural enemy of Devil Fruit users. Yet in that situation, she still survived?
"You saved me?"
She gradually calmed her feelings, then turned her head and saw Makima.
Her pupils shrank, because of course she knew who this was.
Though it was their first meeting, with her strength and influence, finding out who the Fleet Admiral of The Black Order headquarters was should not be hard.
She was from the World Government...
Charlotte Linlin's heart sank to the bottom. Now, though she was still alive, she was badly injured, and...
She seemed to have lost something.
Lost something?
!
Suddenly she seemed to remember, and she yelled out, "Zeus?! Napoleon? Prometheus?!"
The response from their souls...
It was gone!
And she tried to use her power, but it would not work!
"So you should understand now."
Makima sat on the rock, looking at Charlotte Linlin with interest, and said
"The one who saved you was not me."
"It was your Mother Carmel."
----
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