Of course, Reno had no romantic interest in the woman.
Aside from being tall, she looked quite ordinary and dressed very simply.
The reason she caught Reno's attention was purely her identity.
Her features bore a certain resemblance to Charlotte Linlin. If his guess was correct, this woman was Charlotte Linlin's mother!
And their appearance at Elbaf at this specific point in time meant only one thing: they were here to abandon Charlotte Linlin.
Talk about perfect timing. He had just been thinking about it, and now the opportunity had practically fallen into his lap.
This was good. It would save him a lot of time and allow him to start building a bond with Charlotte Linlin much sooner.
In Reno's eyes, Linlin's parents were utter fools.
They were abandoning her simply because she had a large appetite and ate too much.
If other factions—or the Marines—knew about Linlin's talent, they would trample over the threshold of her home begging to take her.
Especially the Marines. They would kill for a recruit like this.
With Linlin's raw talent, becoming a Marine Admiral in the future was practically guaranteed with just a little training.
Marine Admirals were top-tier powerhouses, revered within the Navy and across the entire sea.
As her parents, they would have enjoyed endless glory and wealth.
However, they did have one valid point of consideration for Linlin: her appetite was genuinely monstrous. If they abandoned her anywhere else, no one would be able to afford to feed her.
That was why they deliberately came to the Giant Kingdom of Elbaf.
The giants were naturally massive and had enormous appetites. If Linlin were adopted by giants, feeding her would be a trivial matter for them.
"Roge, hold off on landing. Keep an eye on that merchant ship," Reno ordered decisively after identifying them.
"Yes, Young Master!"
Although he didn't understand Reno's intention, Roge never questioned his orders.
While docking their warship along the coast of Elbaf, Roge kept a close watch on the slowly approaching merchant vessel.
Soon, the merchant ship docked.
Under the pretext of their coaxing, Linlin—who had been told the island was full of food—stepped onto the shore.
Seizing the opportunity, the couple quickly returned to the ship.
At just five years old, Linlin was still naive. Hearing her parents say she could eat to her heart's content on this island and never go hungry again, she happily stayed behind.
She didn't realize she had been abandoned. As they parted, she even waved happily at her parents.
The merchant ship slowly sailed away, eventually disappearing from Linlin's view completely.
Linlin looked around, then headed towards the forest to search for the giant villages her parents had mentioned.
As long as she found those villages, she would have plenty of food to eat.
Watching Linlin walk into the forest alone, Reno's eyes lit up. He waved his hand.
"Roge, go watch that little girl. Use food to lure her away to a secluded area. Do not let her discover the giant villages."
Linlin, who trusted her parents implicitly, was dead set on finding the giants.
Therefore, now was not the best time for Reno to appear. He had to wait until she couldn't find food, until she fell into hunger and despair. Only then would his appearance make him the light of her world.
"Understood, Young Master!"
Reno had already briefed him on two possible scenarios during the journey.
Roge took a few agile guards with him. While monitoring Linlin, they used various desserts and delicacies to lure her away from the giant settlements and into an uninhabited zone.
In the forest, as Linlin searched for the villages, she suddenly spotted several ripe fruits on the ground not far ahead. They looked incredibly appetizing.
She ran up to the fruit, swallowing her saliva instinctively.
Glancing around to ensure no one was watching, she picked them up and began to eat.
"So sweet!"
A happy smile bloomed on Linlin's face. Daddy and Mommy were right.
There really was delicious food here.
She hadn't even found the village yet and there was already such sweet fruit. Once she found the village, imagine how much good food there would be!
Filled with anticipation, Linlin gorged herself.
The pile of fruit on the ground vanished rapidly, devoured by Linlin in no time.
"So sweet."
Still unsatisfied, Linlin smacked her lips.
Hmm?!What is this smell?!
Suddenly, Linlin's nose twitched involuntarily.
A fragrance! It was a delicious fragrance!
Linlin smelled a scent she had never encountered before. It was a sensation unlike anything she had ever felt.
The aroma flooded her senses, triggering a chain reaction. Her little face flushed red, as if she were drunk.
Something inside her urged her to find the source of this scent and eat it.
"Linlin wants to eat."
Her cute little nose twitching, Linlin followed the trail of the scent.
Soon, she found the source.
"Is this... cake?"
Her eyes lit up as she confirmed it.
"Cake! It's really cake!"
Recognizing the item before her, Linlin was overjoyed.
Previously, because she ate so much, her parents couldn't even afford the cheapest food.
To her, cake was a luxury item.
She had only heard about it from her parents' descriptions but had never eaten one.
Now she was certain—Daddy and Mommy hadn't lied. The cake must be delicious; just the smell alone was causing a physical reaction in her.
Unable to wait any longer, and seeing no one around, she happily enjoyed her prize.
Meanwhile, hidden in the shadows, Roge watched Linlin devouring the food with a puzzled expression.
I can't see anything special about this little girl. I completed the mission with just a bit of food... it was almost too easy.
Despite his doubts, Roge didn't dare let his guard down.
He signaled his guards to clean up all traces of Linlin's path to prevent her from backtracking.
It felt as if she had walked into a completely different forest.
"Waaaaah! Daddy, Mommy, where are you? Linlin is so hungry! Linlin can't find the place you talked about!"
"Did you lie to Linlin?! It's nothing like you said! There's no food here at all! You lied to me!"
"Linlin is hungry! Linlin wants cake! I want something yummy!"
Linlin wailed loudly, her cries echoing through the vast, empty forest.
At this moment, Linlin was utterly helpless, her dress soaked with tears.
Gradually, Linlin's pupils began to lose focus. Her eyes turned reddish, and a berserk aura began to radiate from her body.
This was the precursor to her Eating Disorder (craving pangs).
"Are you hungry? Big brother has some delicious cake here. Do you want some?"
Suddenly, a gentle voice drifted into Linlin's ears like a soothing spell.
As if by magic, Linlin, who was on the verge of going berserk, slowly calmed down and looked in the direction of the voice.
She saw a young boy walking towards her, holding a large cake intricately decorated with plenty of fruit.
It was all the things Linlin loved. It looked incredibly tempting.
As the boy got closer, sunlight filtered through the gaps in the ancient trees, illuminating him.
At that moment, to Linlin's eyes, Reno seemed to be glowing.
But very quickly, her gaze was captivated by the cake in his hands, unable to look away.
"Cake! It's cake! Linlin wants to eat cake!"
The familiar sweet scent made Linlin swallow hard, smacking her lips repeatedly.
"If you're hungry, go ahead and eat. It's delicious," Reno said gently, patting her head naturally.
"Is this cake really for Linlin?"
"Can Linlin really eat it?"
Linlin stared intently at the cake in front of her, asking timidly.
"Yes, this is for Linlin." Reno nodded in confirmation.
"Thank you, Big Brother! Linlin will eat it now!"
Taking the cake, Linlin began to feast once again. Perhaps because she was starving, she didn't care about table manners and wolfed it down.
Reno watched her silently the whole time. Only when she had nearly finished did he speak slowly.
"Linlin, was the cake tasty?"
"Big Brother has lots more sweets and delicious food at home. Do you want to come with me? As long as you listen to Big Brother from now on, you can eat as much as you want. I promise you'll never go hungry again."
Having swallowed the last bite of cake, Linlin looked up in surprise and nodded furiously like a chicken pecking at rice.
"Okay! Linlin will go with Big Brother!"
"Linlin will listen to everything Big Brother says. Whatever Big Brother tells Linlin to do, Linlin will do! Big Brother is so nice!"
Unsurprisingly, Linlin agreed to Reno's request.
Everything had gone exactly as Reno predicted.
The most critical step had been taken; the rest would naturally follow.
[Ding! Congratulations Host! You have successfully recruited Charlotte Linlin. The System is evaluating the crew member's aptitude!]
Right at that moment, the System's notification chimed in Reno's mind.
"Aptitude, huh?"
The corners of Reno's mouth curled up slightly. He was curious to see how the System would rate the strongest natural talent in the One Piece world.
[Aptitude evaluation complete. Congratulations Host! You have successfully recruited an S+ Aptitude crew member: Charlotte Linlin. Mission 3 Complete!]
[Congratulations Host! You have received the reward: Conqueror's Haki Awakening!]
[Distributing reward...]
As the voice faded, Reno felt a power surge out of nowhere within his body.
It felt as though this power had always been hidden deep inside him and had only just awakened.
He could control and release it at will. It was a marvelous sensation.
"The System really delivers!"
Shaking his head with a self-deprecating smile, Reno couldn't wait to test the power of his Conqueror's Haki.
Although he had lived two lives and his mental fortitude far exceeded his peers, awakening the Conqueror's Haki—the symbol of a true king—still filled him with immense joy.