Chapter 626 - 858 – Ain Says She’ll Go Get Ready

Life Return allowed its user to quickly digest the food in their stomach, replenishing the energy their body had expended.

The original Kalifa didn't possess this ability.

After all, as one of CP9's elite agents, she didn't necessarily need it. Kalifa had mainly trained other skills and naturally hadn't focused on mastering Life Return during her CP9 training.

However, through the points Arton provided, CP9 had already grown stronger than before.

With that in mind, it wasn't particularly strange that she had trained in Life Return as well.

Although she still hadn't joined the Flame Blade Pirates and couldn't appear in front of Arton more often so he would mention her in his diary, Arton's diary had mentioned Kalifa's name a few times before.

Kalifa was secretly delighted that she had a pretty face capable of catching Arton's interest.

Compared to the other holders of voyage diary copies who still hadn't been able to join Arton's Flame Blade Pirates, Kalifa felt the odds of her name appearing in Arton's diary were already quite high.

That was enough to show Arton's interest in her.

As a woman, Kalifa naturally hoped that a man she was interested in would also be interested in her.

And judging by the current situation, Arton clearly met that standard.

That made Kalifa especially happy.

"Still, Conis already fought Arton for quite a while earlier."

"Even though we rested properly after fighting him, wouldn't it be a little too much for her to fight him with such an intense bunny-boxing style right now?"

Kalifa adjusted her posture, making herself more comfortable while also preventing any leaks. If anything spilled out, it would be far too wasteful.

She turned and voiced her doubts to Ain and Raki.

"Maybe the outfit Conis is wearing is giving her more strength?"

Raki tilted her head with a smile.

"Mm, that's certainly possible."

Ain nodded without thinking.

Seeing the three of them dressed as bunnies had clearly made Arton extremely happy.

Perhaps seeing Arton so happy had made Conis unconsciously tap into even more strength.

"Since Conis can manage something like this, I can't admit defeat either."

Ain took a deep breath and sat up.

She raised a hand to touch the scabbard in front of her, then the one behind her.

Whenever she fought Arton before, she had always used the former. Now she wanted to see whether she could use the latter to have a thoroughly satisfying battle with him.

"If you're really planning to do that, you'd better go clean yourself up first. Personal hygiene is very important."

Raki reminded her.

"You're right. I'll go get ready."

Ain's eyes lit up, and she immediately headed for the bathroom.

Raki and Kalifa couldn't help smiling at her enthusiasm.

As her companions, they were naturally happy to see someone becoming more like them.

And Arton, who was watching Ain prepare herself, was even happier.

His attacks became fiercer from sheer excitement.

...

"S-So... so amazing!"

Kalifa stared at Arton in disbelief.

At first, Arton had been forced to endure her attacks.

That had once made Kalifa think she had already managed to subdue him.

But now that Arton had started fighting back, she realized reality was nothing like what she had imagined.

Earlier, Arton had only endured Kalifa's attacks because he wanted to see what kind of moves she could use.

Once he stopped focusing solely on defense and began continuously striking back with his Kaioken-style punches, Kalifa finally understood the gap between an ordinary crewmate and Captain.

Fortunately, I'm not alone.

Kalifa glanced at Raki and Conis, then toward the bathroom.

She knew Ain must be in there getting ready.

Since she wasn't alone, Kalifa could safely leave the battlefield to the others.

"I can't do this anymore. I give up."

Kalifa exhaled, her body beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

She had only been holding on through sheer determination.

Now that she had given up, defeat came quickly.

"Who's next?"

Seeing Kalifa no longer able to stand against him, Arton flashed a confident smile.

He made his entrance with his weapon at the ready and looked toward Raki and Kalifa.

"Even if we have to keep taking turns fighting you, there are still some things we just can't do."

Raki sighed.

"We'll leave the rest to Ain."

Kalifa nodded.

Arton's performance right now left Kalifa somewhat intimidated.

She was afraid that if she ended up as soft and weak as Conis, her instincts might make her retreat.

In her eyes, this was only a temporary withdrawal for the sake of eventually winning.

Once she found another opportunity, she could still turn things around against Arton.

Of course, Kalifa knew perfectly well that defeating Arton in that way would be extremely difficult.

Even so, she felt she had to try.

Given the current situation, fighting for Arton was practically the same as fighting for herself.

"Ain?"

Arton raised an eyebrow and looked toward Ain as she emerged from the bathroom.

She wore a determined expression as she strode straight toward him.

"Oh? You're not going to dodge me? You're coming straight at me instead?"

Arton crossed his arms and smiled at the crewmate before him.

Ain felt a little uncertain when she saw his confident expression, but after gritting her teeth, she continued forward.

Fresh flowers, please...

"If I don't get close to you, Captain, how am I supposed to have any chance of defeating you?"

Besides, she had learned a technique from Kalifa, Raki, and Conis.

If she didn't try it now and make the technique truly her own, Ain was afraid she might forget it later.

And the best way to master a technique was naturally through actual combat.

So Ain now had every reason to clash with Arton no matter what.

"Since that's the case, let me see just how much you've improved, Miss Ain."

Arton opened his arms and settled into a fighting stance, ready to face her properly.

"Then I'm coming!"

Ain took a deep breath, leaped forward, and struck Arton with all her strength.

Faced with his crewmate's attack, Arton had no intention of dodging. Ain's powerful strike landed squarely on its target.

Unfortunately, the gap between Ain and Arton was still enormous. Even after taking the hit, Arton remained completely calm.

Ain herself was stunned.

"This really does feel different!"

she murmured under her breath.

...

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