"C-Captain… that person… is Ultear?"
Ain looked at the elderly woman ahead of her and asked Arton, both shocked and confused.
"That's right. That person is Ultear."
Arton nodded.
"So when Ultear said earlier that she used up everything, she didn't just mean all of her magic power."
"Did that single use of time magic nearly drain away her own life force too?" Robin asked.
"Exactly. Even without me saying it, you all know how outrageous it is to make time flow backward."
"For Ultear to accomplish something like that, she naturally had to pay an enormous price."
"And her body rapidly aging was that price."
Arton looked at Ultear, and his feelings were rather complicated.
A young woman who had been so beautiful and sexy before had turned into this in the blink of an eye.
Arton felt deeply regretful, not only because a young girl had suddenly aged, but also because of the state her body was in now.
He still remembered just how regretful he had felt when he'd once seen this scene in the anime.
If possible, he truly wished Ultear could have continued living in a young body for a while longer.
Although, for Ultear herself, this ending was actually not bad. Even so, Arton still felt regret.
…
Smoothie said, "That makes sense. When you unleash a powerful force, you pay an equally great price. That's normal."
Cinnamon said, "Yes. If anything, it would be truly strange if she unleashed a power that strong without paying any price, or with only a very small one."
Kozuki Hiyori said, "Although she paid a price, the power Ultear displayed really was incredibly strong."
Kalifa said, "If the people in the World Government knew about a power like this, they would probably want it very badly."
Stussy said, "Even if time can only be turned back by one minute, the people who hold power in the World Government would definitely want to have that minute in their hands."
Belo Betty said, "Just like the scenes around Ultear showed us, sometimes a single minute can change a lot."
…
"Turning time back by one minute… maybe I could use it in the future to help Captain and Zephyr-sensei?"
Ain lowered her head and murmured.
"What are you thinking?"
Arton raised a hand and patted Ain on the head.
"Ow."
Ain puffed out her cheeks and looked at Arton.
"Good. It's supposed to hurt."
Arton folded his arms and said to Ain, "Don't start thinking like that. I'm showing you Ultear's ultimate move."
"I'm not telling you to learn from her. I want you to stay young and beautiful forever."
"Captain…" Ain looked at Arton, unable to stop herself from feeling touched.
Although she had originally approached Arton for the sake of gaining power, as time passed, Ain realized Arton's image in her heart had grown taller and taller.
She had also come to see Arton more and more as her captain, and as her future husband.
For the current Ain, the people worth risking everything to repay were no longer limited to Zephyr alone. Arton, standing right in front of her, was one of them too.
"That's right, Ain. You must never think about using a method like that."
"If there's any problem, you can ask us more often. All of us will be willing to help you."
Robin spoke seriously.
"That's right. Aside from Zephyr-sensei and Captain, I also have a group of friends and companions now."
The corners of Ain's lips rose into a sweet smile.
Chapter 689: Ain Has a Great Figure, Just Like Ultear
Cinnamon said, "Good thing Arton doesn't plan on letting Ain use Ultear's ability to turn back time. Otherwise, before we even realized it, we might have already experienced time flowing backward once."
Smoothie said, "That may be true, but if such a powerful ability can't be used, it feels like too much of a waste."
Makino said, "If Ain really used that miraculous ability from Ultear's template to turn back time, would we sense what happened before time flowed backward, just like Gray did?"
Whitey Bay said, "Hard to say. If we were only doing ordinary things we usually do, I don't think we'd sense anything."
Stussy said, "But if, during the time that flowed backward, we experienced a life-or-death battle like Gray did, maybe we'd be able to notice something and possibly foresee the danger like Gray and the others?"
Kozuki Hiyori said, "It's a time ability completely different from Mother's. Mother's time ability could only send her into the future, but the power of Ultear's template can make time flow backward, even if the amount of time is extremely limited."
Yamato said, "That really is amazing. If Ain could make time flow backward to a certain extent, maybe I could change things that already happened in the past."
Kalifa said, "If Ain really could use Ultear's template to make time flow backward by a lot, the Marines and the World Government would probably become even more wary of Ain and Arton's existence."
Gion said, "It's a good thing Arton doesn't plan to let Ain use that ability. The price of using it is also enormous."
Doll said, "Ultear became that old after using the ability to turn back time. If Ain used that ability, her outcome probably wouldn't be any better. Unless she gained even more powerful strength through Arton."
…
"In any case, don't use the ability to turn back time, Ain."
Arton moved the hand resting on Ain's head to her shoulder and said, "I'm sure you saw earlier that aside from the ability to make time flow backward, Ultear's template's other time magic abilities are also quite powerful."
"And besides time magic, Ultear's Ice-Make magic is extremely strong too."
"As long as you have enough imagination, Ice-Make magic can be used in all kinds of creative ways in your hands."
"On top of that, you have your own Devil Fruit ability. With your battle intelligence, you should be able to handle combat properly."
Hearing that, Ain nodded again and again.
"Yes, Captain is right."
"You really mustn't casually use the ability to turn back time."
Raki spoke.
"If you use the ability to turn back time and your body ages…"
"Then you won't be able to get close to Captain anymore, will you?"
Robin propped her cheek on one hand and spoke.
"Miss Robin!"
Ain stomped her foot, embarrassed as she looked at Robin.
Although she really did want to get closer to Arton, there were so many people here right now. She was far too embarrassed to discuss something like that in front of everyone.
Faced with Ain's complaint, Robin only smiled and didn't say anything more.
Instead, she was a little curious about when Ain would be able to train Ultear's template to the point where she could use it at one hundred percent.
After all, once that happened, Ain would be able to dress like Ultear and serve Arton together with her.
"Although, now that I think about it, Ultear is human. Even if Ain activates Ultear's template at one hundred percent, there shouldn't be too much of a change."
"Her figure and Ultear's both belong to the voluptuous type, and they both have long, straight black hair."
"Even if she can't activate Ultear's template at one hundred percent, Ain could probably just change into Ultear's clothes and reach a state where she looks very similar to Ultear."
That was what Robin thought to herself.
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.