"Huh? Oro~ Weren't we going to test your telepathy? Why did we come so far? Mother told us not to go this far from the house..."
"It's alright,Linlin. Look, who is that?"
Oro patted Linlin and pointed ahead.
"Ah! It's Mother! But didn't Sister Carmel go to buy strawberry cake? Oh! Is that ship the shop?!"
"Mother went to getsupplies, Linlin! Not just your cake! And that ship doesn't look anything like a shop!" Galz, holding a lantern, corrected her with mild exasperation. Oro just chuckled.
"Hey, Linlin," he said, his tone shifting. "Would you like to hear what kind of business Mother is really doing?"
"Huh?Can we? We're on the mountain, and that big ship is way down by the sea."
"Of course.Have I ever lied to you?"
"Oh!I want to hear it!"
Clap! Clap!
Oro brought his hands together twice.Gold surged from the ground like a metallic spring, enveloping the three of them before sinking smoothly into the earth.
"Wow! Oro is amazing! What is this? Can we eat it?"
"This...!Linlin! You must not tell anyone about what Oro-nii did with us today, or anything that happens! Especially not Mother ! Do you understand?!"
Compared to Linlin's simple delight, Gerd was far more perceptive. After a moment of shock, her instincts kicked in. Devil Fruit users were rare among giants, and she had never seen one herself, but her people had legends of a heirloom Devil Fruit. Children grew up hearing stories.
Devil Fruits are incredibly precious. This must be kept secret. The thought was instinctive.
"It's alright, Gerd. I trust you," Oro said, smiling to reassure her.
"What?!Oro knows lots of magic, and I wont tell anyone!"
"Alright,alright. We're almost there. We'll hear Mothers voice soon. Gerd, bring the lantern closer, please."
Oro calculated the distance silently. Getting too close to the surface risked the sound of gold breaking through soil and rock. Drilling too deep would dull his senses, severing his connection to the gold filaments he'd left above. And going out under the sea would be a death sentence.
Here. This should be perfect.
Tendrils of gold seeped from their protective sphere, spreading through the soil like roots. They broke through the cliff face overlooking the sea, then reached towards the large ship moored below. The filaments attached to the hull, creeping like vines across the barnacled wood to the side hidden from shore, and finally, painstakingly, ascended to the upper decks.
"You're right on time, 'Carmel.'"
A casual male greeting traveled through the specially crafted gold pipes and reached their ears.
"Is that the shopkeeper, Uncle?" Linlin whispered, confused. Gerd stood rigidly beside Oro. She knew eavesdropping was wrong, but she also knew Oro wouldn't do this without a grave reason.
"Of course. Do I ever break a promise? Let's get down to business."
"I have some wonderful children here."
The next voice was a cold, unfamiliar female tone. Yet all three beneath the ground recognized it instantly. That was precisely why Galz and Linlin froze.
"That's... Mother Carmel's voice?" Gerd murmured, uncertain.
"Why is Mother Carmel talking like that?Her voice is usually so gentle," Linlin said, her broad face clouded with tiny confusions.
The sounds continued.
The nonchalant male voice:"I never expected you to leave Elbaf."
A click,the sound of a cigarette being lit. Sister Carmel's voice, now hard and transactional: "I would do anything to avoid abandoning that child." Photos rustled as they were scattered on a table. A finger tapped one emphatically. "This one. Charlotte Linlin. 3.5 meters tall, 800 kilograms, naturally powerful. Think carefully. This is a talent who could level an Elbaf village at age five and fight an adult giant to a standstill."
"But... this price..." The man sounded hesitant.
"Ha. Don't tell me you can't afford it?" Carmel's voice took on the wheedling tone of a merchant closing a deal. "Think. Hand her to the Navy, and she becomes a future Admiral or Fleet Admiral. Deliver her to CP, and she becomes the strongest shield for the Celestial Dragons."
A slow exhale of smoke.
"This... is the best product I've handled in fifty years of buying and selling children."
Seeing the man in the white suit and blank white mask remain silent, Carmel raised the stakes.
"Thirty-seven years ago, we staged that 'Rescue of the Giants' play with the Navy. The act has gone on too long. I'm tired of it."
"From the giant I introduced to the Navy, to all those clean-background, qualified children I've sold to you every other year... I'd say my contributions to the World Government rival those of a Marine Admiral, wouldn't you, Mr. CP?"
"I understand, I understand. I'll find a way to secure the funds," the CP agent replied, waving a hand in weary resignation.
Hearing this, Carmel smiled. It was not the loving smile she showed the children. On the old woman's wrinkled face, shadowed with decades of vice, the expression concretized the very meaning of "wickedness," lingering at the corners of her upturned mouth.
"That's more like it. Ha... Playing 'Saint Mary' isn't... without its costs."
"I'll be using this move to retire from the business. This is the last deal, old friend. You can't skimp on a retirement pension."
The fish-smelling sea breeze and the earthy mountain wind clashed violently over the small hill, as if the ground itself were the battlefield of a silent war.
On the grassy hilltop, Linlin, Oro, and Gerd sat in stunned silence, staring at the distant sea.
"So... the mother... was she... going to sell us? Like the little cakes in a shop window? To be sold... and then eaten...?"
Linlin's voice, dull with despair, was the first to break the quiet.
"No! That won't happen! Now that we know, we won't let it! Right, Oro-nii?!" Gerd sprang to her feet, shouting at Linlin as if volume could shatter the truth.
"Yes. Gerd is right, Linlin. Neither you, nor any of the other children from Lamb House, will face that future." Oro's voice was low, firm. "Trust me, Linlin."
Their eyes met. Oro slowly stood, his gaze unwavering, fixed on Linlin's tear-streaked face.
"Oro... brother..."
Charlotte Linlin's cheeks, wet with tears, finally broke into her familiar, simple, honest smile once more.
"Yes! I believe in Oro! I believe in my brother!"