Kaito and Hancock had finally noticed the long-petrified figure of Elder Nyon.
Staring at the shocked expression frozen on the stone statue's face, Kaito asked curiously,
"Hancock, did you use your ability just now?"
Hancock looked just as puzzled. She shook her head and replied,
"No, I didn't. I haven't used my power at all."
Kaito got out of bed and walked over to Elder Nyon's statue. He raised a finger and lightly tapped her head twice—thunk, thunk.
From the feel of it, the quality of this stone wasn't bad. At the very least, its hardness was satisfactory.
Hancock leaned lazily against the headboard, giggling at Kaito's actions. She said softly,
"Kaito-sama, bring Elder Nyon over to my bedside. I want to see what's going on."
"Alright."
Kaito didn't physically move the statue. Instead, he sat back down next to Hancock and activated his Deva Path ability. The stone figure of Elder Nyon floated gently through the air, slowly drifting toward Hancock.
As Elder Nyon floated toward her, Hancock once again leaned her head against Kaito's shoulder. She truly didn't want to leave his side for even a second.
She reached out and touched the statue, then lightly tapped it with her finger. A series of pink heart-shaped ripples spread out from the point of contact, and Elder Nyon was restored from her petrified state.
Her expression remained the same as it had been before she was turned to stone. The moment she returned to normal, she started flailing her limbs midair with exaggerated excitement, which made Hancock frown slightly. She even felt the urge to throw her out the window like she used to.
After all, she had finally gotten to enjoy this blissful time with the Kaito-sama of her dreams. She didn't want this old crone ruining it.
Still, with Kaito right beside her, she decided to keep her composure and only gave a verbal scolding.
"Can't you be quiet? You're going to disturb Kaito-sama!"
Kaito gently squeezed Hancock's delicate hand, signaling that she didn't need to be so harsh. He didn't mind at all.
Hancock's cheeks turned bright red. She immediately buried her face into Kaito's chest like an ostrich, hiding her embarrassment.
Elder Nyon didn't take offense at Hancock's attitude—she was long used to it.
Now, floating in the air, she studied Hancock and Kaito with an aunt-like smile on her face. In her eyes, this handsome man and beautiful woman made for a perfect pair.
And Kaito was one of the Navy's most sought-after Admirals—possibly the strongest man in the world. With his protection, Amazon Lily would be safer than ever.
At this thought, Elder Nyon's expression twisted into something odd. She cupped her wrinkled cheeks and sighed emotionally,
"Ah… love is such a wonderful thing! I once had a sweet, sweet romance too!"
"…"
Kaito didn't know what to say. He stared at Elder Nyon's short, wrinkled figure and silently lamented the bizarre aesthetic of the One Piece world.
In this world, no matter how beautiful a woman was when she was young, once she aged, her appearance would undergo a complete reversal—ugliness in full force.
Vice Admiral Tsuru was one of the few exceptions. The rest… were hard to look at: Dadan, the mermaid granny from the Sea Train, Big Mom, and now, Elder Nyon.
Elder Nyon had once been the former former former Empress of Amazon Lily. There was no way she had looked this short or this awful back in her prime.
But once age took hold, it didn't just exaggerate appearances—it shrunk their entire body like they'd been put through a drying machine.
There's a saying on Earth: "Time never defeats beauty." But in this world, the more beautiful you are, the harder you fall—and the fall is total.
Kaito couldn't help but think about the beauties around him. In a few decades… would they end up like Elder Nyon too?
He wouldn't ever look down on them. But now that his body had evolved into something akin to an Ōtsutsuki, his lifespan was bound to far exceed that of normal humans. His aging process would also slow dramatically.
He didn't want to imagine a future where he still looked youthful while all the women beside him had turned into little old hags like Elder Nyon.
That mental image made Kaito shiver involuntarily. Hancock, feeling him tremble, thought he was cold and quickly pulled the blanket from her own body to cover him.
Kaito gently stroked her long, silky black hair and gazed at her stunning side profile. He silently vowed that he would never let that future happen.
He raised his hand and placed it over his right Rinnegan. One of the tomoe embedded within housed the power of the Op-Op Fruit. It would grant him the power to change all of this.
Devil Fruit awakenings were nearly impossible for most, but for Kaito, they were as easy as eating or drinking.
He had already awakened the Goro Goro no Mi, the nekomata fruit, and the Ashura fruit. Awakening the Op-Op Fruit wouldn't be a challenge.
The only reason he hadn't awakened it yet was because he wasn't fully confident he could avoid the "life for life" clause tied to the Immortality Operation.
Sure, he had the ocular jutsu of Konohanasakuya-hime, which granted absolute healing powers—but it only worked as long as he retained at least a sliver of consciousness.
If the Immortality Operation required an instant sacrifice, he might not have time to activate it. And his body, while strong, wasn't yet a true Six Paths body. He couldn't regenerate like Madara.
With that in mind, Kaito's eyes narrowed. His left eye only needed three more Devil Fruits to be completely filled. Once that happened, his body would evolve again.
He refused to believe that the Immortality Operation from a single Op-Op Fruit could claim his life.
Kaito continued staring at the floating Elder Nyon, his expression shifting from light to dark, confusing and intimidating her. She didn't even dare breathe, thinking she had somehow angered this Admiral.
Seeing that Kaito hadn't spoken for a long time, Hancock reluctantly rose from his embrace, gently nudged him, and said,
"Kaito-sama, what's wrong?"
Her voice snapped him out of his thoughts about the Immortality Operation. Seeing Hancock's worried face, Kaito reached out a finger and playfully tapped her delicate nose, smiling as he said,
"It's nothing. I was just thinking about how to keep you all by my side forever."
"All of us?"
Hancock immediately caught the subtle plural in his words—you all.
She remembered when she visited Navy Headquarters and saw those two other beautiful women—Kalifa and Ain—always by Kaito-sama's side.
So that's who he meant.
She understood that a man as amazing as Kaito-sama couldn't belong to just one woman. Though she told herself that, a flicker of sadness still welled up in her heart.
What she didn't notice was that, as her emotions shifted, her long black hair—like a waterfall—suddenly began to ripple and stir without a single breeze.