In the end, Sengoku still couldn't quite relax.
With the combat strength Arton's crew had shown so far… was a single Marine admiral really enough? To be safe, Sengoku felt it was better not to let Kuzan charge in too deep on the front lines.
After all, to put it bluntly, this mission was mostly just to make a show for those above.
If Kuzan failed in an operation to arrest the Flameblade Pirates and ended up having his ability taken by Arton, the Marines would be taking a massive loss.
"I understand, Sengoku-san." Kuzan nodded, turned, and walked out of the room, heading toward the coast.
Sengoku glanced at Kuzan's back, then turned back to the others and spoke. "Well then, let's continue…"
…
On the other side, aboard the Flameblade Pirates' ship.
Captain's cabin.
"Captain, does it… feel good like this?"
Ain was lying across Arton's lap, setting her weapon exactly where all those pictures said it should go, cheeks faintly flushed as she spoke to him.
No wonder her face was red; the heat between her chest and his body was just too high.
It made Ain feel like her whole upper body might melt away at any moment.
Thankfully, she'd just finished putting her oral practice to good use a while ago and had built up some experience.
So even switching to this different way of pleasing Arton now, she could still manage to talk.
"Mm, it's pretty good," Arton said. "You were a little stiff at first, but I've gotta admit—you've already picked up the trick. Still, if you could use both of your weapons together, that'd be even better." He let out a sigh, his gaze dropping to Ain's lips.
The moment she heard that, Ain understood exactly what he meant.
Those doujin had already given her a thorough education in this field.
"I understand." She gave a small nod, lowered her head again, and focused on this brand–new task, feeling out every detail.
Arton reached down and stroked Ain's head.
He had to admit, while Ain didn't have Robin's kind of mature allure, her pure, adorable side was something Robin couldn't imitate.
Ain doing something this bold, with that kind of shy earnestness, stirred Arton up in a different way entirely.
Just as he was about to close his eyes and leave everything in Ain's hands, a series of knocks sounded at the door.
Along with the knocking came Carina's voice.
"Captain, are you in there? Can I come in?" Carina asked.
"Miss Carina…" Ain jumped, hurriedly lifting her head to look at Arton.
Sure, she could hide under the desk like in those scenes, but Carina had mastered Observation Haki.
From outside the door, she probably couldn't sense everything happening in the room, but once she came in, it'd be a completely different story.
"Don't stop yet. Finish this round first," Arton said, and at his words, Ain immediately nodded and sped up her offensive.
Arton didn't make things difficult for her either—he let his strength surge, and Ain felt a powerful wave crash over her in an instant.
Even so, thinking of Carina still waiting outside the door, Ain quickly pulled herself together, crawled out from under the desk, and swallowed hard.
At Arton's signal, she smoothed out her clothes as best she could, then walked toward the door, ready to open it and let Carina in.
Creak…
With the sound of the door swinging open, Carina appeared before Ain and Arton, a newspaper in hand.
Carina first glanced at the red–faced Ain, then at Arton, a beautiful smile blooming on her lips.
"Looks like you two are getting along very well. Sorry to interrupt you," Carina said. "But I just got Morgans' latest news piece, and I thought it'd be best if you had a look at it, Captain."
With that, Carina wore a dazzling smile, swung those long legs of hers, and walked over to where Arton was sitting.
Then, with practiced ease, she settled herself onto Arton's lap.
Arton raised an eyebrow; if he really focused on it, he could even feel Carina deliberately shifting her body left and right against him.
Good thing he was a man who could withstand a bit of testing, or he'd have already gone down in defeat.
…All right, honestly speaking, he'd never been the type who could easily resist the temptation of a girl he liked.
The only reason he could still stay this calm now was mostly because Carina was holding back a little.
And besides, Ain had just given him a thorough service not long ago.
That was the real reason he was able to endure Carina's seduction right now.
Ain, standing off to the side, watched Carina's movements and couldn't help feeling strangely nervous.
"Let's get back to business, Carina," Arton said with a smile, giving her waist a little pinch. "Something must've happened if you came knocking on my door, right?"
"Oh, right, I almost forgot what I came here for." Carina nodded, then spread the newspaper in her hands open in front of Arton with a bright smile.
"This is… a report about Blackbeard?" Arton glanced over the paper and couldn't help sighing in admiration. "Morgans really is fast."
"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Carina said. "But I'm guessing the reason he's being so enthusiastic this time is mainly because the one he interviewed was you, Lord Arton."
"Can't be helped. What can I say, my popularity's just that high right now." Arton tilted his head back, sounding quite pleased with himself.
"U-um… did Morgans' article mention anything Captain didn't want getting out?" Ain asked tentatively.
"The fact that you're worrying about that means you really have blended in with us, Ain," Carina said, glancing back at her. "Relax, Morgans didn't print anything that shouldn't be made public."
Hearing that, Ain let out a long sigh of relief. As for "blending into" the Flameblade Pirates—well, how could she not?
She'd already had a proper taste of Arton's flavor. By the standards she used to have for her future husband, Arton was already the only candidate left.
Sure, the fact that Arton clearly wasn't a one-woman man was a bit different from how she'd originally pictured things, but at this point, she really didn't have the luxury of caring about that too much.
"Anyway, Morgans is still pretty reliable," Carina said. "At least for now."
"For quite a while going forward, Blackbeard's definitely going to become a target for a lot of people." She paused for a beat, then shifted her gaze back to Arton and went on. "But even if Blackbeard's going to be targeted…"
"The ones people will go after more will definitely be us."
"His ability is special, sure—but it's nowhere near as special as ours. Captain, do you have any plans for what we do next?"
Arton shrugged, looking completely unconcerned.
"What plans could I have? We just keep living how we've been living," he said. "Our special abilities have already spread all over this sea."
"It's not like the people who've got their eye on us just found out yesterday, and besides, what they're trying so hard to figure out now is only the information I want them to know."
....
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