Crossdressing

Ain slowly opened her eyes, feeling waves of pain still throbbing in her chest.

That was the wound Kyros had left her. Though it had been bandaged, it had not fully healed yet.

Ain turned her head and looked around. She saw her teacher, Zephyr, as well as her other comrades. Although most of them looked exhausted and were wrapped in bandages, at least none of their lives were in danger.

Only then did Ain let out a long breath. She had truly feared that the moment she opened her eyes, she would see corpses strewn all over the ground, with herself as the sole survivor.

The tragedy in which all of Zephyr’s students aboard the ship had been slaughtered, leaving only Ain and Binz alive, was not only Zephyr’s nightmare—it was also a knot in their hearts.

Just as Ain had breathed a sigh of relief, a series of light footsteps came from the doorway. A moment later, Ulti walked in with a thoroughly malicious grin on her face.

"Hehehe, stupid woman, got caught now, didn’t you?"

Ulti looked at Ain, locked in her cell, and smiled happily. "You actually turned me into a child. Your Devil Fruit is really terrifying."

Ain rolled her eyes and shot Ulti a cold glance. "You weren’t the one who defeated me. What are you so proud of?"

"Now that I’ve fallen into the hands of pirates like you, kill me or torture me as you please!"

"Hmph! If it weren’t for the boss’s orders, I would’ve killed you already."

Ulti sneered, but soon seemed to think of something. Her expression twisted again, and she covered her flushed cheeks as she said excitedly.

"But your Devil Fruit is really useful! I’ve wanted to see what little Page One looked like when he was young for ages! Hahahaha!"

"What?" Ain cried out, suddenly realizing something. Sea Stone handcuffs were locked around her wrists, yet they were not affecting her body at all.

"You… you used my Devil Fruit!"

At those words, Ulti immediately wore a smug expression. She stretched out her hand, and a peach-colored flame ignited in her palm. "That’s right. Your Devil Fruit is really useful. Although it can’t compare to my Ancient Zoan Pachycephalosaurus Fruit in combat power, it’s still pretty fun to play around with once in a while."

With that, Ulti waved her hand, and the peach-colored flames struck Ain. Visible to the naked eye, Ain became somewhat younger.

Ulti’s mastery of the Rewind Fruit was far inferior to Ain’s. Relying on her own strength and stamina, she could barely rewind someone three to five years. Otherwise, Ain would have turned into a child on the spot.

"Damn it!" Seeing Ulti’s smug expression, Ain was so angry her chest got smaller. Well, that was probably because she had become younger.

In the end, she simply shut one eye, turned her head away, and refused to look at Ulti anymore.

Elsewhere.

As Yota flipped through the intelligence report in his hands, he suddenly heard a set of very light footsteps. Then, a little girl about Sugar’s age, wearing a dress, rushed inside.

"Boss, save me!"

The little girl’s cheeks were bright red, as though someone had pinched them. Tears nearly spilled from the corners of her eyes as she threw herself at Yota’s side.

"Hurry up and take my sister’s Devil Fruit back! Otherwise, I’m going to lose my mind!"

Yota paused slightly, looked at the child before him, and asked hesitantly, "Um… who are you?"

"I’m Page One! Page One!" The child raised his head and shouted. "My sister used the Rewind Fruit to turn me into this! And she even made me wear girls’ clothes!"

Yota immediately sucked in a breath. People in the Pirate World were generally somewhat face-blind, but Yota certainly was not. After Page One had been turned into a child and dressed in women’s clothing, he actually looked surprisingly convincing.

Although Yota had known that once Ulti got the Rewind Fruit, she would definitely do something to her little brother, he had not expected her to go this far. Not only had she reverted her brother to childhood, she had also directly put him in women’s clothing.

Thinking about how Page One had such a clingy, short-tempered older sister with a head full of bizarre ideas, Yota felt that the boy truly had it rough.

As he thought this, the corners of Yota’s mouth rose wildly, and he let out a muffled snickering laugh.

Laughing too openly would be far too cruel to Page One. After all, Page One had always given people the impression of being a cool, cold young man—though his older sister often made him break character.

"Boss! Why are even you laughing at me?" Page One shouted, sounding unable to bear it any longer.

"It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ve received strict training, so I generally won’t laugh… unless I really can’t hold it in… snicker, snicker!"

"Boss, be serious!" Page One let out a despairing roar.

Jokes aside, Yota ultimately took back Ulti’s Rewind Fruit and restored Page One to normal.

Ulti had merely acted on a whim and wanted to have some fun. When it came down to it, the Ancient Zoan Pachycephalosaurus Fruit provided a far greater boost in strength than the Rewind Fruit. Ulti had no intention of switching them permanently.

Although the Rewind Fruit could rewind people into nothingness, it was extremely difficult to develop, and the difficulty rose geometrically with the amount of time rewound. Otherwise, if it could casually rewind someone one or two hundred years, then this Devil Fruit ability would truly be terrifying. Whitebeard, Kaido—if they were careless, even they might be instantly defeated.

However, Yota was extremely interested in every kind of Paramecia Devil Fruit. Unlike Zoan-type and Logia-type fruits, whose abilities were mostly straightforward, Paramecia Devil Fruits came in countless strange varieties. Who knew how many unexpected abilities could be developed from them? Such things could not be measured by combat power alone.

What was more, a marvelous Devil Fruit like the Rewind Fruit was already incredibly useful. Although rewinding someone’s age did not truly restore their youth, only making them appear younger while reducing their stamina rather than increasing it, and they would still die of old age when the time came, it was still very useful.

Leaving everything else aside, if he used the Rewind Fruit to open a beauty salon for the elderly, the threshold of his home would surely be worn flat by visitors.

Having returned to normal, Page One could finally put on his cool and handsome expression again. Then he saw his older sister pull a large stack of photos of him wearing girls’ clothes as a child from her clothes. He immediately flew into a rage. At that moment, he finally could not tolerate his older sister anymore and began wrestling with her.

Ignoring the sibling pair putting on what looked like a comedy skit before him, Yota turned his attention back to the intelligence report in his hand.

Yota had not yet decided how to deal with the Pirate Guerrilla Squad. Killing them all would be somewhat excessive, but letting them go so easily did not quite fit a pirate’s style either.