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By the shore, El and Gerd stood in awkward silence, both covered in sweat, after hearing Linlin's strange question.
"You idiot! What kind of ridiculous question is that?"
Prometheus, unable to endure Linlin's relentless squishing, broke free and transformed into a blazing flame with a demonic face. Floating in the air, he bared his teeth angrily at Linlin: "I'm the sun, I'm fire!"
"Hmph! I was just asking. Why are you so mad?" Linlin huffed, sticking her tongue out at Prometheus.
"This guy... sure has a lot of personality!" El chuckled. At this stage, Linlin was still a relatively mild-tempered child. If she had grown up as the tyrannical Big Mom of the original timeline, Prometheus would likely have been too terrified to even argue.
What surprised El, however, was that despite Gerd being so kind and gentle, the Homie created from her soul turned out to be so hot-tempered. Maybe it had something to do with being born from fire.
"Prometheus, Linlin is my friend. You shouldn't be rude to her!" Gerd scolded, crossing her arms. She gave Prometheus a stern knock on the head and ordered, "Apologize to Linlin right now, or I'll get mad!"
"Ah! I'm sorry, Master! Please don't be angry, don't take my soul back!" Prometheus immediately backed down, shrinking from a fiery form into a cute sun-like shape, looking pitiful as he apologized. He knew well that, despite having his own consciousness, he was utterly bound to the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit and had no ability to resist.
"Linlin-sama, I'm so sorry, please forgive me!" The previously prideful Prometheus now groveled, his demeanor completely reversed.
"Sorry about that, Linlin. Don't be mad," Gerd said as she hugged Linlin, smiling sweetly. "I've already scolded Prometheus."
"Hehe, since it's your pet, I won't hold a grudge," Linlin replied with a bright smile. She was genuinely happy, as she was much closer to Gerd than the other kids from Dream Home. Not only were their sizes more similar, but Gerd was the first giant to play with her, besides El, and had even shared food with her. Linlin didn't mind letting this small issue go.
"Hehe..."
Relieved that Linlin wasn't upset, Gerd turned to El, her eyes full of excitement. "El, let's continue!"
When El had first taught her how to use the Soul-Soul Fruit, he had explained its full potential, especially how creating multiple high-level Homies would give her greater combat strength.
"Alright, I'll take you up into the sky so you can inject a soul into a cloud and create a thundercloud Homie!" El agreed, smiling as he grabbed hold of Gerd.
Before long, under the envious gazes of the others, El spread his wings and flew into the sky with Gerd.
"Wait for me, I want to come too!" Linlin called out excitedly. In the next moment, she transformed into a giant bat and took off after them, her massive wings flapping powerfully.
"Whoosh..."
Before long, El and Gerd reached a cloud thousands of meters in the sky.
"With my soul, I give you life..."
Gerd, just like before, used her Soul-Soul Fruit ability and infused a part of her soul into the cloud. "Come forth in the form of a thundercloud... Zeus!"
"Rumble, rumble…" The cloud roared with thunder, turning dark and stormy, and a demonic face appeared on it. Soon after, the cloud transformed into a fluffy white shape with a cute, smiling face, much like a piece of cotton candy.
"Master, I am Zeus! Nice to meet you!" Zeus, the thundercloud Homie, floated toward Gerd and El, greeting them happily.
"Wow!" Gerd exclaimed as El lowered them onto Zeus. The soft cloud felt bouncy beneath her feet, and she jumped around on it with delight. "This is amazing! It's so soft, and I won't fall off!"
"With this, you're all set," El said as he patted Gerd's head, reminding her, "High-level Homies like Zeus and Prometheus are powerful, so there's no need to create too many. If you need more, just use the souls of pirates or marines to make lower-level ones. And if you use your own soul to create special Homies, make sure to take the soul back after they're no longer needed. Don't waste your soul energy recklessly, or you'll be shortening your lifespan."
While giants had long lifespans, it was still important for Gerd to be careful with her powers. Too much indulgence in this kind of strength could lead to overuse, which would be dangerous.
"Got it, El! I won't do anything reckless!" Gerd beamed as she hugged El, her eyes squinting with joy. "But I want to make one more thundercloud as a gift for Linlin. She's the reason I got the Soul-Soul Fruit, so I want to thank her!"
El chuckled and nodded. "Alright, that sounds like a great idea."
Soon after, thunder rumbled in the sky once more. Another dark cloud took shape, but this time it transformed into a yellowish, female-looking cloud with fluffy hair. Gerd named her "Hera."
"Rumble, rumble! Master, I am Hera!" The thundercloud Homie floated over, clinging to Gerd affectionately.
"Hello, Hera! I'm Zeus. Looks like we'll be working together from now on!" Zeus, usually goofy-looking, suddenly sparkled with interest, floating alongside Gerd.
"Hera, I think we'd make a great team!" Prometheus, not wanting to be outdone, also flew up, trying to charm the new Homie. "Master, you should give Zeus to Linlin and let me team up with Hera!"
"Prometheus, you little…" Zeus glared at Prometheus, transforming into a stormy, dark cloud crackling with lightning.
"Hmph, want to fight?" Prometheus, always quick-tempered, morphed into a raging flame, glaring right back at Zeus.
The two high-level Homies began squaring off in mid-air.
"Idiots! I'm only loyal to my master!" Hera, the thundercloud Homie, scoffed, showing no interest in either of them.
"..." El couldn't help but twitch slightly at the scene. He hadn't expected that these freshly born Homies would start bickering so soon. Two hopeless flirts, and a prideful tsundere…
"You guys need to get along!" Gerd scolded them sternly.
"Whoosh..."
At that moment, a huge bat flew up, transforming back into Linlin, who landed on the fluffy cloud. She bounced on Zeus, marveling at the cloud's softness. "This is a thundercloud? So cool!"
"Linlin, you're just in time!" Gerd smiled and pointed at Hera. "This is a gift for you, hehe!"
"For me? Really?" Linlin's eyes lit up in surprise. "Thank you so much, Gerd!"
"Hehe, I'm glad you like it!" Gerd giggled, then ordered Hera, "Hera, from now on, Linlin is your master."
"Understood!" Hera obediently floated over to Linlin. "Linlin-sama, pleased to meet you!"
"Nice to meet you, Hera!" Linlin excitedly jumped onto Hera, enjoying the soft ride.
"Wow! This is amazing…"
"So this is the true power of the Soul-Soul Fruit?"
"Unbelievable…"
Below, Hajrudin and the other kids from Dream Home watched in awe as the three Homies were created, completely mesmerized.
"Whooo—whooo—"
Suddenly, a horn echoed from the distant sea.
They turned to see several massive warships, filled with giant warriors, sailing away toward the horizon. There weren't just one or two ships—there were at least ten or more.
"What's that?" Linlin asked, her eyes wide with curiosity as she stared at the fading silhouettes of the ships.
"That's the war horn of Elbaf," Gerd explained, equally surprised. "It looks like the giants are assembling. Are they preparing to attack a country?"
"It seems the giants, enraged by the deception, are getting ready to strike back at the World Government," El said, raising an eyebrow as he spotted the flagship of the Giant Warrior Pirates leading the fleet. He smiled and added, "Well, we might as well join in on the fun, don't you think?"
"Huh!?"