Wyper was completely stunned.
As the current captain of the Shandian warriors, he'd always had absolute confidence in his strength. In the entire Shandian tribe, he believed he was the strongest—no question. Even across all of Skypiea, aside from Enel, Wyper was confident he could defeat anyone… including Enel's four priests.
But right now, with Raki gripping his wrist, he had a realization. …Am I not even her match?
Just from her grip alone, Wyper felt a crushing pressure.
"Raki… how strong have you gotten?" he asked, genuinely curious.
He'd heard rumors that Raki had gotten stronger. He believed them—she really had been training hard. But he'd never taken it too seriously. In his mind, it was just normal growth—nothing worth making a fuss over.
Now, though… it felt like the situation was completely different.
"This isn't the time for that, Wyper," Raki said, shaking her head. Her expression was grim as she lifted her gaze toward the sky.
Wyper frowned and followed her line of sight.
The next instant, his entire body froze.
The other Shandians who'd followed Wyper noticed him going still and looked up too—then immediately understood why.
"You've gotta be kidding… that person is flying in the sky?!"
"No—she's stepping in midair, like she's… kicking off air!"
"Since when can a human jump off the air like that?!"
"She's from the Blue Sea, isn't she?!"
"This is way too freaky—she's not even using Skypiea's dials!"
"Wait… is that why Raki stopped Wyper?!"
The Shandians burst into overlapping chatter, every word filled with shock at the newcomer—Ain.
Some of the quicker ones had already prepared to fight. Wyper included.
"Who are you?" Wyper demanded, lifting the bazooka on his shoulder and aiming it straight at Ain.
Before the last word fully left his mouth, he pulled the trigger.
Raki—who recognized Ain at a glance—went tense all over.
Ain simply tilted her body and avoided the rocket with ease.
She glanced at Wyper, then at Raki… and at the Diary Copy floating beside her. A faint, complicated emotion flickered in Ain's eyes.
"I can't say I don't understand your trouble," she said softly.
She'd been in a situation just like this once.
Back at Reverse Mountain, when Arton and the Flameblade Pirates were trying to pass through, her teacher Zephyr had led a force to stop them from entering the first half of the Grand Line. And she—more than anyone—had desperately wanted to stop Zephyr from attacking Arton.
But what happened? Arton stopped Zephyr's entire unit by himself.
And it was also then that she chose to let Arton capture her—so she could stay with the Flameblade Pirates, at least for a while.
Ain exhaled.
"…Fine. I'll help you."
Maybe it was that shared sense of helplessness that stirred her sympathy. Either way, Ain stepped on the air again—Geppo (Moonwalk)—and shot toward Wyper, Raki, and the Shandians like a bullet.
Wyper and the others didn't even have time to react.
They were hit by Ain's Return-Return Fruit ability.
Their eyes widened in horror as their bodies began rapidly rewinding in age—shrinking, softening, reversing in an instant.
In the blink of an eye…
Except for Raki, every Shandian warrior—Wyper included—had been turned into a child.
Chapter 518: Ain — "I Only Did What Needed to Be Done"
"Why did my body get smaller?!"
"You've gotta be kidding… I'm a grown man—how the hell did I turn into a kid?!"
"It was that woman! She did it—whatever she used was freaky as hell!"
The Shandians stared up at Ain, suspended in midair, panic and fear splashed across their faces.
Wyper—now a child as well—glared at her with a grim expression. What worried him wasn't just her ability to turn adults into kids…
It was her speed.
When Ain struck just now, he couldn't even track her movement. He hadn't been able to react at all before getting hit.
Raki, watching Wyper and the others reduced to helpless children, finally let out a quiet breath of relief.
They'd been stopped. At least now… they wouldn't be able to go disturb Arton.
Ain remained in the air and spoke calmly to Raki. "So what now?"
"Are you leaving like this… or are you coming back to the ship with me?"
Raki answered instantly. "Please let them go. I'll take responsibility for everything. I can apologize to your crew."
Even if Wyper hadn't successfully attacked the Flameblade Pirates—Ain had stopped them on the way—that didn't change the fact they had attacked.
Raki wanted to bury this incident as fast as possible. If they were even a second late and Arton started treating the Shandians the way he treated the Marines… it would be a disaster.
"No, gh—!" Wyper tried to speak, but—
BAM!
Raki punched him on the head.
The force was so brutal that Wyper's eyes rolled back and he passed out on the spot.
Then she grabbed him by the arm and tossed him toward the other Shandians, who stared in shock.
"Take Wyper back. We'll talk after I return."
"B-But—"
"No but." Raki cut them off with a sharp wave. "You don't want Wyper getting hurt, do you?"
Right then, Ain spoke—perfect timing.
"She didn't attack us earlier, so I can promise you this: I won't harm her."
"And we happen to be short a guide. Once we're done with her, you'll see her again."
Raki shot Ain a grateful look, then turned back to her people with a hard, decisive gaze.
"You heard her. Go back. Don't do anything unnecessary."
The Shandians glanced at each other.
In the end, they nodded—then hurried off in the direction they'd come from, carrying the unconscious Wyper with them.
They didn't have a choice.
Wyper was out cold, the opponent was terrifyingly strong, and with Wyper down, Raki was now the most senior warrior among them.
They had no reason not to obey her.
After rushing away at full speed, the Shandians quickly disappeared from Ain and Raki's sight.
Raki turned back and looked at Ain. "Seriously… thank you."
"If you hadn't stepped in, I honestly don't know how I would've talked them down."
Ain's expression stayed calm. "I only did what I needed to do."
"Anyway—let's add each other. A contact method."
With a flick of her hand, Ain summoned her Diary Copy.
Raki couldn't have wanted that more. Drawing from experience—she'd already added Conis before—she quickly added Ain as a contact.
Some things were just safer to talk about through the Diary Copy.
Raki absolutely did not want her conversation with Ain overheard by Aisa's Mantra.
If that happened… she'd have no way to explain herself cleanly.