Arton and his crew had shown overwhelming might—a fact on which every Blackbeard Pirate present Doc Q, Lafitte, Van Augur, Burgess, and the rest—quietly agreed.
Yet, having witnessed the Dark-Dark Fruit's natural supremacy over other abilities, they were equally convinced that—even if Arton could defeat Hawkeye or the Shiki—he could never beat Teach. After all, Arton was a Devil-Fruit user, and any Devil-Fruit user was fodder for the captain who wielded darkness itself.
Teach threw back his head and roared, "Ze ha ha ha! If that blue-haired woman and that Marine girl have rare Fruits like Carina and Nami—well, I'm beginning to suspect Arton's collecting powerful Fruits the same way I am… and he's been at it for years. How else could every woman around him be a first-rate ability-user?"
"Heheh, women again… women everywhere," Teach chuckled, accepting the newspaper from Lafitte. "That man really does whatever he pleases—just my kind of pirate."
Reading the article a second time still left Teach astonished—not at the two new women, but at Arton's audacity. Killing a World Noble and announcing it to the world was "doing whatever he pleased" in its purest form.
"Even Roger and Whitebeard never pulled something this crazy," Teach mused. "Either Arton's a complete madman, or he trusts his own power to an absurd degree. If it's the latter, taking his Fruit—and his crew's Fruits—won't be easy."
His eyes lingered on the photograph where Conqueror's Haki had split earth and masonry. The caption claimed Marines had been left unable to move.
Van Augur asked, "Captain Teach, does that mean we're not targeting Arton?"
Burgess looked genuinely let down; he coveted Arton's power—especially that fusion trick that let Arton borrow another person's strength. Honestly, Teach wanted it himself—becoming a multi-Fruit monster at will was far too tempting.
Teach shook his head. "He shattered walls and the ground, and the Marines couldn't even twitch—that shows how strong his Conqueror's Haki is. And because the reporter could snap photos mid-battle, it means Arton controls that Haki with pinpoint precision. In today's world, only Red-Hair might match that. Even with the Dark-Dark Fruit, I'd still need a real effort to shut him down. Now is not the ideal moment."
A sly grin crept across his face. "But Arton killed a World Noble and taunted the Navy and the World Government. They won't let it slide—they'll send top forces after him. If we become Warlords of the Sea first, we can ride along with the Navy and deal with Arton together. Then stealing his power gets much easier."
Lafitte tipped his hat. "An excellent plan. So we proceed as before, yes, Captain?"
"Ze ha ha ha! Exactly. Stick to the plan and the world will be ours." In a swirl of black mist, the newspaper vanished into Teach's darkness, as though he had devoured Arton, Nami, Carina, and the rest instead of mere ink and paper.
…
Revolutionary Army Base.
Dragon rapped the conference-table. "Everyone, you've read the paper. What do you think of Arton?"
Unlike usual, a faint smile sat on the Revolutionary leader's face; Sabo and the other officers looked just as pleased.
Sabo grinned. "What's there to say? The man's got guts. Honestly, I'd like to meet him right now—maybe even make him an ally."
Heads nodded all around; the sentiment was unanimous. The Revolutionaries, sworn enemies of the World Government, detested World Nobles. Arton's clean kill and public confession felt like a ringing slap across the Government's face—music to revolutionary ears.
Lindbergh, commander of the South Army, added, "He may be a pirate, but since he set sail he hasn't done anything evil. He hates World Nobles and wields enormous power. Sabo's right—someone like that belongs with us."
The two other commanders agreed at once.
Dragon turned to the towering figure who had managed to return for this meeting. "Kuma, what's your opinion?"
The crowd followed the sound and turned toward that founding member of the Revolutionary Army.
Whether it was an illusion or not, they were startled to see what looked like a faint smile on Kuma's face. That was extraordinary—ever since they had known him, Kuma had always been implacably cold, to the point that, in their eyes, the likelihood of Kuma smiling was lower than even Dragon's.
Yet a closer look revealed that Kuma's expression was as stern as ever, and for an instant everyone thought they must have imagined it. Only Dragon knew it had not been a hallucination: he remembered all too well how Kuma had once been tortured by the World Nobles. If anyone present was delighted by a World Noble's death, it was surely Kuma.
"We can try inviting Arton to join the Revolutionary Army. No—rather, someone among us has already gone to invite him. Dragon, you should know that."
Kuma spoke calmly. He was aware of Belo Betty's and Koala's mission. In fact, Koala had phoned him once, asking whether he could paw her straight to Arton, but at the time Kuma could not conveniently return to base and the matter had been shelved.
Remembering it now, he felt a pang of regret—perhaps if he had made time back then, Arton might already have been approached.
"What? Someone's already on the move?"
"How come I never heard of it?"
"Who went? Will she succeed? Arton may be the world's greatest swordsman, but that doesn't mean he'll join us even if he hates the Navy and the World Nobles, right?"
"How can you say that? Arton killed a World Noble, and our aim is to overthrow the World Government—maybe we really can become one family."
"That's right, even if Arton doesn't want to join us, we can at least cooperate."
"I still hope he does join—our morale would soar sky-high."
"Exactly! Let's just pray our envoy can persuade him. By the way, who is it? She'd better have the silver tongue for the job."
As soon as Kuma's voice fell, the conference room buzzed with discussion.
"Everyone, settle down," Dragon said. "Kuma is correct—someone has indeed gone ahead to find Arton. No need to guess: it's Belo Betty, who operates in the same East Blue as he does. Koala happened to be on assignment with her and went along."
At that, Dragon could not help admiring Belo Betty's foresight. When she had first asked leave to seek Arton, he had not yet slain a World Noble, and Dragon had been puzzled by her plan; but out of trust he had granted permission. In hindsight he felt fortunate—this greatly increased the Revolutionary Army's chances of forming ties with Arton.
"So it's Belo Betty and Koala," someone said, visibly relieved. "Belo Betty's persuasion is legendary—she wields the Pump-Pump Fruit, after all. Convincing people is what she does best. And Koala's skills are no joke either. With the two of them on the case, success is practically guaranteed."
"Yes! When they succeed, we'll gain another top-class ally." Smiles spread across many faces in the room.
"It seems no one objects to inviting Arton," Dragon concluded. "Then it's settled. Still, the East Blue is vast. I need all personnel there to keep an eye out for the Sylvan—Arton's ship. That way we can help Belo Betty and Koala reach him."
Those responsible for East Blue duties nodded vigorously, and the moment the meeting ended they threw themselves into the task.
…
Meanwhile—just like the Blackbeard Pirates, the Red-Hair Pirates, and the Beasts Pirates—every major power on the seas had obtained, through its own channels, the newspaper detailing what Arton had done in Loguetown. Even ordinary citizens had caught wind of the story, sparking reactions that ranged from exhilaration and admiration to terror and disbelief. Some refused to accept the news; others were ecstatic, convinced it was true and hoping a World Noble really had fallen to Arton's blade.
Among them, the most agitated—indeed, the most furious—was, of course, the other World Noble Arton had named: Saint Shalria.
...
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