Chapter 54: Linlin Eating Disorder
Boom!!! A thunderous roar.
A blinding white light.
Impossible to look at directly.
In the disbelieving eyes of the twisted, bloodthirsty Linlin, a terrifying cylindrical wave of sword energy was mercilessly crushed by El’s wild Hero's Spear.
It struck her directly.
"Boom..." Her entire body exploded, turning into countless vampire bats.
However, El’s eyes sharpened.
“Heavenly Net!!”
"Swoosh… swoosh…”
In the next moment, countless vines shot into the sky, intertwining tightly, forming an impenetrable net with holes too small to see.
Moreover, the net was covered in powerful high-level Armament Haki, making it incomparably tough.
It closed in from all directions, binding them tightly.
"Crackle…"
In an instant, El’s entire body was wrapped in flashing electricity. A massive current surged from the vines beneath his feet, continuously flowing out. The densely interwoven vine net instantly transformed into an unimaginably high-voltage electric grid.
The tough and firm vine net not only tightened further, but the already narrow space was continuously compressed.
"Flap... flap..."
"Crack… crack..."
Fierce vampire bats with sharp fangs, impervious to blades and bullets, flapped their wings violently, trying to tear apart the vines. Sparks flew from the electric net, creating a horrifying sight, and sharp screeches filled the air.
Yet, the vines, wrapped in Haki, were unbelievably resilient. No matter how hard the bats, capable of biting through steel, struggled, they couldn’t break free.
"Where is it? Caramel puff tower~~~"
The bats gathered by the hundreds and thousands, and Linlin returned to human form. This level of electricity was naturally not enough to threaten her—a being born a monster. But no matter how much her incredible strength raged, she still couldn’t tear apart the vine net wrapped in Haki.
Especially since hidden within the vines were several pairs of Seastone Cuffs, tightly intertwined. These specialized restraints, emitting an ocean-like energy, rendered Devil Fruit users unable to use their abilities. Though they weren’t fully bound on her, they pressed heavily against her, sapping her strength and preventing her from using her Devil Fruit powers.
“Damn it, is it Seastone?” she screamed hysterically, struggling violently. “Bastard, let me go!!”
Immediately afterward, the massive vines dragged her along.
Pulled directly into the sea.
"Splaaash..."
Without her Devil Fruit powers and in direct contact with high-purity Seastone, even at a fraction of her peak strength, Linlin, now immersed in seawater, was unable to tear apart the net. As a Devil Fruit user, she became completely powerless.
"Blurble..."
Seawater poured into her nose and mouth.
As time passed, her eyes rolled back as she began to drown.
No one knew how long it took, but when El pulled her out of the water, she had lost consciousness, completely fainting.
She could struggle no more.
"Boss El-sama—"
Seeing El subdue the frenzied Linlin, the members of the Fallen Angel Pirate Crew rushed over, their gazes filled with indescribable awe and reverence.
If Linlin was a monster, then the person before them was a true monster among monsters. His strength was unfathomable, and no one knew how far his limits reached.
Looking at the unconscious Linlin, the vines began to retract, and the Armament Haki wrapped around them dissipated. El stepped forward and crouched down, gently pressing his right hand against her slightly swollen abdomen.
"Ugh... ugh..." Even in her unconscious state, she instinctively coughed, spitting out a large amount of seawater.
Seeing that she showed no signs of waking, El raised his eyebrows but did not force her to awaken. Instead, he asked in displeasure, “What happened? Why didn’t you put the Seastone handcuffs on her beforehand?”
Logically, even if her eating disorder was inevitable, Linlin should have been able to maintain her composure for a short time and control herself. With her personality, she would have immediately asked for the handcuffs to be placed on her, which would have prevented her from using the powers of her Mythical Zoan-type Vampire form to cause havoc.
Even if she lost control, her immense strength would have allowed her to gauge that the chains weren’t made of Seastone. But at least it would have minimized damage and casualties.
“No, we did plan to put them on her at first, and it was Linlin herself who requested it…”
Rok, a member of the Longleg Tribe, explained helplessly, “But the kids in the Dream House were too young, and they were scared by Linlin’s biting, so they didn’t dare get close and couldn’t put the handcuffs on in time…”
“By the time I and the other Fallen Angel Pirates, who were training on the other side of the island, realized something was wrong and rushed over with the handcuffs, it was already too late…”
"At that point, Linlin was barely holding onto her sanity but was starting to lose control of her destructive urges.”
They weren’t making excuses. Just as the Fish-man Jien, who wasn’t a Devil Fruit user and could touch Seastone, arrived with a large pair of handcuffs for Linlin, she suddenly snapped.
Had Jien not reacted quickly and used his honed Observation Haki to sense the danger and retreat instantly, he would have been seriously injured by one of Linlin’s immensely powerful punches.
“I’m terribly sorry, Boss El. I couldn’t even handle this small matter!”
To them, El was like a father or older brother—someone they respected and were grateful to from the bottom of their hearts. He had saved them from the poisonous nun and the World Government when they were helpless, abandoned children, left to be slaughtered or sold like lambs.
When the Giants refused to let them stay in Elbaf any longer, he took them in, teaching them how to read and write, training them in combat and Haki. Although he put them through rigorous training, he never mistreated them in their daily lives—they were well-fed, well-housed, and had plenty of fun.
Every child in the former Sheep's House cherished fond memories of their childhood and saw each other as siblings, not just bearers of scars and tears. Their current strength and ability to change their own fate were all thanks to El.
How could they not be grateful?
“Never mind. At least there were no irreversible losses or casualties... Learn from this and be more careful next time!”
El frowned but didn’t pursue the matter further. The new kids in the Dream House were not like Rock, Moss, and Jien, who had grown up with Linlin. They were understandably frightened by her frenzy, unable to approach her.
Even Moss and the others feared the out-of-control Linlin, but as they matured, they suppressed that fear as much as they could.
Before the children from the original Sheep’s House had grown up, he had always made sure Linlin wore Seastone handcuffs when her eating disorder flared up. At times, for safety’s sake, she would wear them for one or two months straight. Over time, Linlin had developed a strong resistance to Seastone, so even without her Devil Fruit powers, her raw strength was terrifying.
This time, however, her eating disorder had flared up too suddenly, in an unusually erratic manner.
"El/Boss—"
"El Onii-chan!!"
At that moment, far in the sky, Moss, in the form of a Pelagornis bird, flapped his wings and approached. Behind him were Lily, Witt, and Gerd.
Witt and Gerd rode atop Zeus, the thundercloud, a bit behind, while Lily sat astride a massive black leopard with black wings and sharp fangs, which flew toward them. This was El's gift to her—an enormous black hawk empowered with the Black Leopard Zoan-type Fruit. Whether on land or in the sky, it possessed incredible speed and strength. Moreover, it could combine with Lily, the Pile-Pile Fruit user.
"Gerd, you've arrived..."
As the group gathered, El nodded slightly.
“Is Linlin okay?”
Looking at the soaking wet and unconscious Linlin, even though she knew Linlin was a natural-born monster, difficult to hurt, Gerd couldn’t help but ask out of concern.
"Don't worry, she's fine..." El shook his head and said to Gerd, "Please take her back to her room, help her clean up, and change her clothes."
"Got it, leave it to me!"
Gerd nodded gently. As a giantess, she easily picked up the now unconscious Linlin, whose height exceeded seven meters.
“Although the cycle of her eating disorder’s flare-ups isn’t short, it seems unpredictable and irregular, making it impossible to foresee…”
El sighed, “To prevent any accidents, until she can completely suppress and overcome her eating disorder with her willpower, she may need to carry Seastone with her at all times.”
Of course, that meant carrying it, not constantly wearing it. That way, if her eating disorder flared up unexpectedly, Linlin, who could now maintain rationality for a short period, could put the handcuffs on herself.
Better safe than sorry.