"Come here. Let me take those cuffs off."
Kaito Arisawa rose after taking the key and stepped toward Neferpet. Without hesitation, he unlocked the seastone shackles binding her wrists.
Click.
The moment the cuffs separated and fell away, Neferpet's expression shifted. For the first time since entering the room, her face showed a trace of relief.
The reaction was entirely natural.
Seastone did more than suppress Devil Fruit abilities—it forced the body of an ability user into a constant state of weakness. Even without activating her powers, the simple return of physical strength felt like emerging from a prolonged illness.
Her shoulders loosened slightly as vitality returned to her limbs.
"Alright," Kaito said evenly. "Now you can take your revenge. Robin, take her and deal with the captured pirates."
"Thank you… meow."
"Understood. I'll handle it," Robin replied calmly.
She, too, clearly understood the value of recruiting a Mythical Zoan user.
Without further delay, Robin led Neferpet out of the training room.
Nearly an hour later, the two returned.
Neferpet's appearance had changed significantly.
The torn, dirty clothing she had worn before had been replaced. From a glance, Kaito recognized the outfit—it belonged to Robin.
The clothes hung slightly loose on Neferpet's comparatively petite frame—she stood at only about 1.56 meters—but they were clean and far more comfortable than what she had worn before.
It was obvious Robin had taken her to wash as well. Her white wavy hair was still slightly damp, and her delicate face carried a faint flush from bathing.
She looked softer. Younger. Almost fragile.
But her eyes—
Her eyes had not changed.
They remained lifeless and sharp at the same time, heavy with something dark and oppressive.
Kaito understood.
After reading her memories, he knew that the disasters she had experienced had completely reshaped her. The innocence of a noble daughter had been stripped away. What remained was a heart that had fallen into darkness.
Though it might not be morally admirable to admit, that darkness did not displease him.
He was a pirate.
He was not a righteous man.
A naïve girl would have been out of place among them.
After briefly reporting that the captured pirates had been dealt with, Robin left again. There was much to manage—inventorying the looted treasures, calculating distributions, and issuing rewards to crew members who had distinguished themselves.
Neferpet remained behind.
Kaito had resumed sword meditation, but as she stood before him, he relaxed his posture. Straightening one leg and bending the other, he leaned back slightly on his hands and looked at her with a faint smile.
"How did revenge feel?"
"Very good… no. Very happy, meow."
Even as she said she was happy, her face remained expressionless.
Perhaps she truly felt satisfaction—but grief did not vanish so easily. The noble girl she once was no longer existed.
"That's good," Kaito said calmly. "Then first—welcome to the War Pirates."
He withdrew his hands, stood upright, and extended his right hand toward her.
Neferpet hesitated for only a moment before taking it.
The War Pirates were pirates as well—but they were not her enemies. And regardless of circumstance, they had saved her from slavery.
Her heart had darkened, but her reasoning had not.
In fact, suffering often forced maturity.
After the handshake, Kaito released her hand and studied her thoughtfully.
"Kitten," he said casually, "show me your ability."
"Kitten?" Neferpet tilted her head slightly.
He smiled faintly. "You don't like it? It's a nickname. Calling you by your full name feels too distant."
She shook her head.
"It's fine… meow."
The nickname did not bother her. In truth, she did not dislike it.
After expressing her acceptance, she activated her Devil Fruit power.
A low hum filled the room.
Her petite body began to change rapidly.
Her ears sharpened and lengthened into feline points. Her pupils narrowed into vertical slits. Her frame stretched upward, growing taller—nearly two meters in height.
White fur rippled across her body, and behind her, nine long tails unfurled and swayed slowly through the air.
In the span of a breath, her image transformed completely.
The girl who had seemed small and fragile moments ago now stood tall and imposing—her proportions refined, her presence fierce.
She no longer resembled a young girl.
She had become a regal predator.
Kaito's eyes lit up.
"So it's not juvenile form," he thought. "That makes training far easier."
For Zoan users, there were generally three standard transformations: human form, beast form, and hybrid form.
However, there existed a fourth phenomenon—often referred to as juvenile manifestation.
Unlike Paramecia and Logia types, Zoan abilities were closely tied to the age of the user. If the user was not yet physically mature, then their beast form would likewise reflect that immaturity.
Just as there was a vast difference between a human child and an adult, the same applied to animal transformations.
An underdeveloped Zoan form could not fully bring out the fruit's potential.
The clearest example was Kozuki Momonosuke.
In his youth, he could only transform into a small, playful pink dragon. But after being aged artificially, his dragon form matured as well—becoming a massive creature comparable in size to Kaido's.
Neferpet's transformation, however, did not suffer from that limitation.
Though her human form appeared young, her Mythical Zoan manifestation had already reached a fully developed state.
That alone confirmed the terrifying potential of the Nine-Lives Cat Demon.
And Kaito—
Kaito was already calculating how to shape that potential into power.
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