Ain was quickly tied up by Satch, after which he ordered his men to board the Marine warships and seize supplies.
"Eh? G-10 Base?"
A burly, dark-skinned man with an honest-looking smile scratched his head.
"Isn't that the Marine base guarded by Karl?"
He grinned and looked at Ain.
"Miss Marine, don't you have anything you'd like to say?"
Ain shot a cold glance at the ugly, dark-skinned man in front of her, her expression filled with disgust—but she said nothing.
"Hahahaha!"
Someone burst out laughing.
"Teach, with that face of yours, you really shouldn't scare people! No way she'd ever look at you!"
Teach chuckled awkwardly.
"Hahaha, that's true. This kind of questioning is better left to Captain Satch. Pops has been very interested in Vice Admiral Karl's whereabouts lately."
Satch's eyes lit up.
Teach had a point.
If he could squeeze some information about Karl out of this Marine woman, Pops would definitely be pleased.
He crouched in front of Ain, smiling.
"You're from G-10 Base, right?"
"Your base commander is Vice Admiral Karl, correct? What's he been up to lately?"
What's he been doing?
Fishing? Drinking tea and reading the newspaper?
Polishing his swords?
Going shopping with her?
Of course, Ain wasn't about to say any of that.
To lure Satch closer, a plan quickly formed in her mind.
She glanced at the shattered warships around them and sighed.
"If I tell you… will you let me go?"
Satch froze for a moment—then burst out laughing.
"Hahahahaha! That's hilarious!"
"Did you hear that? This was the same Marine who refused to surrender earlier—and now she's begging!"
The crew joined in the laughter.
"Yeah! We've seen plenty of righteous Marines, but cowards like this are rare."
"Women really can't handle pressure, huh?"
After laughing his fill, Satch squatted down in front of Ain again, still smiling.
"Fine. As long as you tell me everything about Karl, I'll let you go. Deal?"
"One month ago, Karl took over as the commander of G-10 Base…" Ain began.
She deliberately lowered her voice more and more.
To hear her clearly, Satch had to lean closer.
He had no suspicions.
After all, Ain was tied up, surrounded by his men. What could she possibly do?
Then—
"That's everything I know. So now, can you—"
Before she could finish, Ain suddenly exploded into motion.
Twisting her body, she slammed her hand against Satch's leg.
In an instant—
Satch shrank.
His body rapidly regressed until he became a small child, staring blankly at his own tiny hands.
"What the—?!"
The crew panicked.
They immediately restrained Ain again, a blade pressed against her neck.
"What did you do to Captain Satch?!"
"Change him back! Now!!!"
"I'm a Devil Fruit user," Ain sneered.
"This is my ability. If I die, he'll stay like that forever."
"Don't touch her!"
The child-sized Satch shouted, stopping his men.
But seeing their captain turned into a kid, the crew completely lost it.
"Hahahahaha! Captain Satch, you were this cute as a kid?!"
"HAHAHAHA! Maybe we should just kill this Marine and let the captain stay like this forever!"
"That's n-not what I meant!!!"
Satch's face flushed bright red as he tried to argue, but the laughter only grew louder.
The air was filled with joy.
Realizing explanations were useless, Satch glared viciously at Ain.
"Turn me back right now, or I'll make you regret it!!!"
Ain smirked.
Her body suddenly shrank as well.
In the blink of an eye, she slipped free of the restraints, rolled away, and returned to her normal form—leaving everyone staring in shock.
The Retro Fruit was something Ain had truly mastered.
"I never planned to surrender," she said coldly.
"Die, pirates!"
"Kill her!!!"
With Satch out of action, the rest of the crew stood no chance against Ain—
except for one person.
Teach.
He hesitated.
Too many people were watching.
If he acted now, his strength would be exposed.
After a moment's thought, he chose to lie low.
As long as that Marine woman didn't target him, he'd stay hidden.
"Call for backup!"
"Call reinforcements!!!"
Realizing they couldn't beat her, the pirates shouted for help.
Ain frowned.
There were simply too many of them.
She couldn't stop what came next.
When reinforcements arrived, Ain was captured again.
This time, she was taken straight to the Moby Dick.
Meanwhile, the battle on Vice Admiral Strawberry's side had ended.
Marco had won.
Strawberry was severely injured—but Marco didn't kill him.
The Moby Dick
"Satch… what happened to you?"
Whitebeard stared at the child-sized Satch in stunned silence—then burst into booming laughter.
"Gurararara! I haven't seen you like this in ages!"
"Time really flies… I remember when you first came aboard, you were only this tall!"
The crew laughed along.
Satch scratched his head awkwardly.
"Pops… I messed up. That Marine was too cunning. If I'd known she was a Devil Fruit user, I—"
Whitebeard waved him off and turned his gaze to Ain.
"Little girl… you're Karl's subordinate, aren't you?"
"You're Whitebeard?"
"Gurararara~ What do you think?"
Ain took a deep breath and clenched her fists.
I'm probably not leaving this ship alive…
"Yes."
"Then you must know about the grudge between him and the Whitebeard Pirates."
"A grudge?" Ain said calmly.
"I don't see it that way. Karl only did what he had to do."
Murmurs of anger rose among the crew, but Whitebeard raised a hand to silence them.
"That's true. By that logic, killing you would be perfectly reasonable," he said slowly.
"But—"
"If you restore Satch to normal, I'll spare your life. How about it?"
"Pops! She killed many of our brothers! You can't let her—"
"Silence!"
Compared to the life of one Marine, Whitebeard valued his sons far more.
As for his conflict with Karl—that was another matter entirely.
Ain looked at Whitebeard with complicated eyes.
Karl had told her before—
Never trust a pirate's word.
She didn't believe that restoring Satch would truly save her.
So—
"Ain!!!"
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
She looked up at the sky.
A familiar figure descended from above.
Karl.
"I'm sorry," he said softly.
"I'm late…"
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