214 Chapter 214: Young Again!?

"So, um, Captain, do you know where we're going?" Asked Trenza lightly, resting her hand on Sunaipu while walking beside Diddy, who would occasionally scan his surroundings using both his senses and observation haki.

"Nope, I just chose a random direction." Replied Diddy calmly as his tail swayed with each step while his golden brown fur softly fluttered against the wind, giving him a rather noble appearance.

"Eh, didn't you say the island was weird? I thought you could track the root cause with your senses." Said Trenza with a raised eyebrow as she looked at Diddy, who rolled his eyes before shaking his head.

"My senses aren't omnipotent; I can sense stuff if anything is left behind. We very well could've visited an island that used to be weird a few hundred years ago, and I wouldn't have known since any remnants have long since vanished." Stated Diddy with furrowed brows as he suddenly snapped his head towards the left, prompting Trenza to aim her pistol in that direction, only for a monkey to appear, walking far off in the distance through the thick foliage.

"Tsk, just a monkey. No wonder why it seemed so similar to a human." Mused Diddy lightly with a shake of his head as he continued walking while Trenza lowered her weapon and followed him.

"Hey, Captain, I heard from Scar that you've been training him; can you also help me? I'd like to not be so helpless if someone managed to get close to me, like what happened with that nurse." Asked Trenza curiously as she glanced at Diddy with a hopeful expression to subtly shiver in fear while rubbing the Scar on her nose she got from that fight.

"Hmph, no. I only agreed to train Scar since, one, it seemed interesting to do, and two, I could tell he was talented. However, you, Trenza, don't have a single talented bone in your body when it comes to anything physical. If it weren't for the fact Sea King meat naturally improves one's constitution, you'd still be exhausted after running merely 100 meters." Replied Diddy with a frown as he and Trenza walked through the densely packed vegetation, passing through the territory of numerous predators, thought none dared to get close when he saw or smelled his presence.

"Eh? W-Well, that's rude; you could've just said no." Muttered Trenza with a slight frown as she shook her head while Diddy ignored her words, only for him to suddenly stop while his nose twitched, causing her to grab Sunaipu again.

Stopping in my tracks, I sniffed the air a few times before squatting towards the ground and grabbing a dried-out leaf; intently looking at it, I noticed a wet spot; sniffing it a few times to ensure it was urine, I licked it, only to grin as I burnt the leaf.

'Cooking oil, the kind Trenza uses whenever she cooks. Someone has been through here, though the smell has dissipated.' Thought Diddy with a feral grin as he sniffed the air a few more times while ignoring the disgusting look Trenza was giving him.

Although there was no scent I could track, there was no need to, since not even a meter in front of me, I spotted another droplet of cooking oil on a broken stick; it was as if whoever did this was purposefully leading them to me; which I was more than glad to oblige them.

'The only problem is, why are there no footprints? The branch is broken, which means someone or something stepped on it, most likely a human, so they're not hovering or flying.' Thought Diddy with a slight frown as he intently looked at the ground, searching for any signs of footprints, only to narrow his eyes.

'Never mind, I found them; they're just so insignificant that even I almost missed them. It's like the person I'm tracking isn't a grown adult but instead a kid.' Mused Diddy with a curious frown as he stood upright and rubbed his chin while looking ahead of him.

"No, not even a kid, more like a toddler." Muttered Diddy lightly as he started following the cooking oil trail while Trenza followed him.

"Hmm, did you say something, Captain?" Asked Trenza as she glanced at Diddy, who ignored her, causing her face to twitch as she pointed Sunaipu at the back of his head.

"Just pull the trigger, Trenza; he'll most likely dodge anyways." Muttered Trenza softly as she stared at Diddy's nape with her three pupil-less eyes while walking through the dense vegetation

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"Ugh, my crew is so stupid! I told them several times not to buy meat from that sketchy butcher, yet they did, and look at them now!? Every single one of these is food poisoned! I can't believe it! And now I'm forced to stop and scour this island in hopes of finding them a doctor or some medicine!" Said a small toddler with pink hair wearing an oversized brown jacket that dragged on the ground while carrying a massive bone the size of her body through the forest.

"Tch, and not only am I the Captain, I'm only 10! What group of men sends out a 10-year-old girl to help them? Haa unbelievable! And now look, I'm all out of food! I knew I should've brought more than just one." Added the little girl in slight anger, she tossed the bone onto the ground before her body suddenly started to grow, followed by her bust and butt getting noticeably bigger while her brown coat finally fit perfectly.

"Haa, I've been walking around for a few hours already; I'm not going to find anything; this island is just a bust. Whatever, I might as well as continue; I still need to wait for the log pose to reset itself." Muttered the young girl, or I should woman, as she hung her head down while glancing at the log pose on her wrist.

Despite knowing my journey was most likely going to be uneventful, I continued to walk through the island, hoping to find something with signs of civilization, but my hopes were already incredibly low, so I didn't expect to find anything; though as I walked through the forest, I began to feel nervous, while my heart started to rapidly beat. At first, I didn't notice anything, but after a few minutes, I began to realize I hadn't spotted even a glimpse of wildlife in the last several minutes; not even insects were flying around.

'Alright, things are getting freaky, m-maybe I should return to the ship?' Thought the young woman in slight fear as she warily eyed her surroundings, never once spotting the pair of vertical slit eyes peering at her from a distance along with a trio of pupil-less eyes.

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"So, Captain, will we continue to tail her, or will we show ourselves?" Asked Trenza in a whisper as she watched the young woman walk through the forest while hiding within the canopy of trees, sitting on Diddy's back.

"You could kill her from here, right?" Asked Diddy; his yellow eyes tracked the woman's every move while Trenza scoffed.

"Hmph, of course, I could, Captain; by the time she hears the gun's shot, there would already be a bullet lodged in her brain." Replied Trenza confidently as she aimed Sunaipu at the woman's head while her finger rested upon the trigger.

Smirking at Trenza's response, I held her firmly in place using my tail before leaping out of the canopy, causing all the birds that were paralyzed in fear to swiftly fly away, which prompted the woman to look at the tree Trenza and I were just while we were floating above her.

"Yeah, there is definitely something weird happening; I-I'm leaving." Said the young woman as she glanced up at the canopy in the distance, oblivious to Diddy and Trenza, the former having softly and silently landed behind her.

'Devil fruit.' Thought Diddy as he squinted his eyes at the young woman while sniffing her scent.

Silently walking towards the woman, I came up from behind her and snaked my hand toward her neck, only finally realizing my presence when she saw the reflection of my nails against the sun, though by then, it was too late as my hand was already wrapped around her neck.

"L-Let m-me g-go!" Stated the young woman aggressively as she grabbed Diddy's wrist while he lifted her into the air, trying to remove his hand, though her strength wasn't anywhere near enough.

'Eh, she's quite good-looking; I could keep her as a sex slave.' Thought Diddy with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at the young woman, only to suddenly frown when he noticed himself shrink.

Looking down at my hands, I noticed I was rapidly shrinking, causing me to frown, only for me to widen my eyes when I realized what was really happening to me; releasing the woman, I backed away a little bit while Trenza hopped off my back as I looked down at myself.

"O-Oh my Captain, y-you're actually quite cute as a child." Muttered Trenza in surprise as she looked at Diddy, whose clothes no longer fit and hung off his body.

"Tch, great. Not only am I younger, but my strength is equivalent to my age; glad I'm not with Freyja right now. I'd be hard-pressed to fight against her with the way I am right now. Actually, what am I saying? That's a wonderful idea!" Stated Diddy with a click of his tongue as he looked down at his much younger self, only to wickedly grin at the thought of fighting Freyja.

'Hehe, fighting Freyja as my 8-year-old self? That would be wonderful. Forget sex slave; I'm keeping her as my prisoner!' Thought Diddy with a feral expression as he clenched his fist while his tail wagged excessively, which looked adorable from Trenza's eyes, causing her to walk forward and scratch behind his ear.

"Captain is so cute!" Muttered Trenza softly as she gently scratched Diddy, who growled in annoyance, though it merely enhanced his cuteness to her.