Chapter 20: Diverting the Trouble to the East — The Nun's Deposit
"Go!" Pandora shouted, his fiery eyes fixed on Linlin.
At this moment, the small Homie found himself feeling something unexpected—Roy, the usually annoying brat, suddenly looked far more endearing than the monstrous Linlin before them.
He could feel Roy's fear—raw and trembling—but also his humanity. Roy was still just a child… the same kind the nun once protected and called her own.
But in Linlin, there was nothing but chaos.
Pandora sensed it clearly now—there was no warmth, no restraint. Only an instinctive hunger and an uncontrollable darkness.
Linlin didn't want to hurt anyone. Yet every time her cravings struck, she destroyed everything—friends, family, strangers, anyone nearby.
She was born kind but cursed by nature, trapped in a body too powerful and a hunger too cruel.
Her parents hadn't wanted to abandon her. They simply had no choice. When her food cravings first appeared, disaster always followed. Her very existence was destined to bring destruction.
From that moment, Linlin's fate had already been sealed—she could never live peacefully among her friends.
---
Roy grabbed the mink-child beside him and charged straight toward Linlin.
"Bang!"
His fist slammed against her face.
Linlin's massive head tilted slightly, her body swaying. She blinked, confused—then turned toward him with red, tearful eyes full of rage.
Just as she reached out to grab another "Samla" (the terrified child), Roy's punch had stopped her.
Her expression twisted with fury. "Samla…"
She swung her fist at Roy, the air whistling from the sheer force.
Roy dodged back, throwing the mink-child out of harm's way. "I have Samla here! Lots of it!" he shouted.
"Samla!!! Give me Samla!!!" Linlin roared, her voice shaking the entire Sheep's House.
She lunged after him.
---
Behind a massive boulder, the hidden giant watching everything turned pale.
"Don't… don't do it, boy!" he muttered anxiously, too terrified to intervene.
The scene before him was beyond imagination—the child who had fought beside giants now running for his life, baiting a monster.
He wanted to help, but he couldn't. One wrong move, and Linlin would crush him like a twig.
---
Elsewhere, behind another boulder, a scruffy pirate in a ragged chef's coat gnawed on a piece of meat as he watched the chaos unfold.
Streusen—the down-and-out pirate chef—stared in disbelief.
"What… what kind of monsters are these kids?!"
But the gleam in his eyes shifted from fear to greed.
"If I can get my hands on those two… I could form the most terrifying pirate crew in the world!"
---
Meanwhile, Roy sprinted back toward the Sheep's House, Linlin hot on his trail.
I can't fight her head-on. I need to buy time and save the others!
He burst through the doorway, wood splintering under his feet.
Linlin followed with a thunderous crash, smashing through the entrance.
"Samla~" she growled, voice low and cold like a starving beast. Her heavy footsteps thudded across the floor as she sniffed the air, hunting.
"Give me Samla!!!"
"Boom!"
She punched the table in half, shattering chairs, walls, and doors as if they were paper. Splinters flew in every direction.
Then—she froze.
A faint sweet scent drifted through the air. Linlin's nose twitched, and she followed it like an animal possessed, stomping toward the kitchen.
Across from her, Roy poked his head out from another room, watching her move away.
"Now!" Pandora shouted. "Grab what you need and go before she finds you!"
Roy dashed into the children's bedroom, slinging his pack over his shoulder and grabbing his sword. He sprinted to the nun's old room next, the sounds of Linlin's rampage echoing through the house.
"What are you doing?!" Pandora hissed.
"Looking for a record pointer or a permanent pointer! We can't sail anywhere without one!" Roy replied quickly, rummaging through drawers.
Pandora risked a glance out the door. "She's getting closer!"
Roy tore open a wooden chest under the bed—and there it was: stacks of cash, a record pointer used in the New World, and several permanent pointers marked with different islands.
"Found them!"
Pandora's flames flickered nervously. "Forget the money—it's too heavy!"
"I can't move without money!" Roy argued, shoving the Berries into his bag anyway.
He grabbed Pandora, kicked through the wall, and bolted into the next room just as Linlin smashed through the door behind him.
"Run!" Pandora shouted, his body blazing.
Roy dove through the hole in the wall, rolling to his feet as Linlin's enormous hand smashed through behind him.
For a terrifying moment, the chase became a deadly game of hide-and-seek through the collapsing house.
If Linlin caught him, it would be over.
He sprinted into the corridor, the entire building shaking as Linlin's roar echoed through the walls.
Roy grabbed a coil of rope hanging by the door and rushed outside, Pandora spitting bursts of fire behind him to stall Linlin's advance.
But the flames barely singed her skin.
Roy glanced at Pandora and muttered under his breath, "Lighter. That's what you are."
"Excuse me?!" Pandora shouted, still firing desperately.
"Never mind!" Roy yelled, spotting the mink-child nearby. He grabbed him mid-run, tying him up quickly.
But Linlin was already closing the distance.
"Oh no!"
Roy turned and swung his fist just as Linlin's shadow loomed over him.
"Bang!"
Their fists collided, shaking the ground.
Roy stumbled backward—and spotted something in the corner of his eye.
The impoverished prince, trembling nearby, still held an uneaten piece of Samla in his hand.
Roy snatched it mid-fall, shouting, "Hey! Linlin! Look!"
Her head snapped toward him immediately.
"Samla!!!" she shrieked.
Roy hurled the pastry far away—onto a large rock in the distance.
Linlin's eyes followed it instantly, and she bolted toward it without hesitation.
Roy collapsed to one knee, gasping, then quickly ran back to tie up the remaining children.
Behind that same boulder, Streusen stared at the Samla that had just rolled to his feet.
And then—Linlin's enormous form came barreling toward him, drool dripping from her mouth.
"W-Wait! Don't come here!" Streusen screamed, scrambling backward.
He swung his sword in panic, striking the ground. His Cook-Coo Fruit activated, turning the dirt beneath him into a massive piece of sponge cake.
"Damn it! That's not what I wanted!" he cursed.
His power was unstable—half the time, his "food" came out bland or tasteless. If it hadn't, maybe he wouldn't have ended up broke.
Linlin, however, didn't care. She snatched up the real Samla and shoved it into her mouth, her crazed eyes locking on the trembling pirate.
Streusen froze. "N-no… stay back!"
He turned and ran for his life, screaming as Linlin chased after him like a wild beast.
---
Out on the grass, Roy heard the man's cries echo from afar.
He looked up briefly, then smirked. "Thanks, Streusen."
That little detour had just bought him the time he needed.
He tightened the last knot on the ropes binding the rescued children, slung Pandora over his shoulder, and began leading them away from the burning wreckage of the Sheep's House.
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