"W-Who are you? Why... are you here?"
Ulti's voice was feeble and frail, but it still carried a sharp undercurrent of vigilance.
"I'm just some poor guy whose fate got twisted," Trace replied, shrugging nonchalantly under her wary gaze.
Ulti didn't quite understand his cryptic words, but her heart still involuntarily eased a little.
At least he could talk.
He looked human.
Not like those brainless, flesh-eating undead monsters their father created!
The horned girl said nothing at first, but Trace couldn't help himself.
"Hey, don't you feel like this conversation's kinda spooky? Mind if I light a fire?"
Since arriving in this world, this was the first person he could actually talk to. After being bottled up for three or four days, his social dam burst.
And honestly, the cave was driving him nuts.
Dark. Damp. Creepy. A snarling horned girl. A single flickering flashlight beam.
It was straight out of a horror film.
Ulti gave a small nod, watching as Trace calmly gathered junk around the cave and built a small campfire.
The warm glow immediately pushed back the cold shadows of the prison and brightened the air. Her pale complexion even looked a bit better—though that might've been his imagination.
"As for your first question, I'm just a poor shipwreck survivor who got stranded on this zombie island."
Sitting cross-legged on the cold stone floor, Trace spoke with calm indifference.
"In return, would you mind telling me who you are?"
Of course, Trace already knew who they were.
Ulti. Page One. Children of Kaido.
He even remembered the pattern on Ulti's pink-and-white lace mask from over a decade later!
But still, this was his chance—to chat, pass the time, and maybe dig out some intel on their mysterious father that had only been mentioned briefly in canon.
Ulti pursed her lips but didn't respond. Instead, she asked softly, "You haven't answered the second question."
Exactly what he'd been waiting for.
And so, Trace launched into a full-on monologue—about Kaido roaring overhead, about the zombie hellscape he'd wandered through, and about the Marines bumbling through it all. He left out only two things: his system screen, and his real origins.
"That giant, fire-breathing dragon king—!"
"Some idiotic Marine jackass—!"
"Undead rising from the ground to attack me—!"
By the time he was done, Ulti's head was spinning. Even Page One, lying silently behind her, started twitching a little.
But surprisingly, all that ranting worked in his favor.
It made him look... harmless.
Talkative. Chatty. Not a threat.
And slowly, Ulti let down her guard. She started sharing bits of her own story.
Trace perked up. He was getting canon-breaking intel straight from the source.
Two demon-blooded siblings. Born in the Vodka Kingdom. A shattered family. Their father—a Paramecia-type Virus-Virus Fruit user—obsessed with immortality, had experimented on his own kids.
And five days ago, he'd disappeared without a trace.
When she spoke of her father, Muzan, her voice dropped, skipping over major chunks. But Trace picked up what he needed.
"…What a scumbag of a father," he muttered.
Men who abandoned their families for power weren't rare on the Grand Line.
But turning your own children into test subjects for virus experiments?
That was next-level human garbage.
"Don't insult my father!"
Ulti's eyes flared with anger.
Even Page One, barely conscious, glared at Trace with weak determination.
"Fine, I'm sorry," Trace said, clearly not meaning it.
He smacked his lips—his throat was dry.
Unscrewing the cap of his water canteen, he instantly felt two pairs of eyes lock onto it.
Correction: lock onto the water bottle.
He swayed it back and forth.
So did their gazes.
Finally, unable to bear it, Ulti interrupted his little game.
"Could you… give us some water?"
Her cracked lips trembled. "My brother hasn't had a drop in days."
Trace watched as Page One reached out a frail hand and tugged at Ulti's sleeve.
Clearly, she hadn't drunk anything either.
This kid just cared more about her brother.
Trace's nose tingled. He took a sip first to show it wasn't poisoned, then tossed the canteen into the cage.
Ulti caught it—barely. It nearly toppled her over, but she turned quickly, cradled Page One, and gently fed him water.
"Slow down… save some for yourself… oh!"
Trace suddenly remembered something.
He rummaged in his pocket and pulled out the Special Rice Ball handmade by Tanjiro Kamado.
Taking a small bite first to prove it was safe, he tossed it into the cell.
"This one's handmade—by a big brother, for his little sister. Feed your brother some too. Maybe it'll help."
Ulti caught it. The aroma hit her hard, but she resisted.
She tore off tiny pieces and fed them gently to Page One.
Whether it was the brotherly warmth of Tanjiro or the sisterly care of Ulti, something worked.
After water and rice, Page One visibly regained energy.
But when they were down to the last bites, he sealed his lips shut.
If he had more strength, he'd probably force-feed his sister the rest.
"You better finish that rice ball, kid," Trace said, "I've got something else I can give your sister. Something more... suited to her tastes."
It was a sincere warning—Trace didn't want the Special Rice Ball's "child-attraction" trait to kick in on Ulti.
He had no desire to be labeled a lolicon.
But unfortunately... the phrasing came out wrong.
Page One didn't understand it.
Ulti, older and sharper, absolutely did.
Or misunderstood it completely.
She popped the rest of the rice ball into her mouth in a huff, face turning pink from warmth or rage—it was hard to tell.
Trace's mouth twitched.
If this were a normal little sister, maybe he'd feel kind of proud being looked at like that.
But a horned ghost girl giving you that look?
It felt more like she was choosing your coffin size.
Horned girl… ghost… demon...
Trace's eyes suddenly lit up.
He remembered last night's strange fishing catch—
[Nezuko Kamado's Bamboo Muzzle]
[Item Effect 2]: The saliva within is tainted by Nezuko's demonic energy; has a mild healing effect. Bonus effect for demon-type beings.
This item… actually worked?