Thinking about all the big shots in the pirate world getting led around in circles by his fake info, Arton couldn't help but smile.
Seeing that, Carina and Ain both showed faint smiles of their own.
As fellow diary-copy holders, how could they not know what Arton was thinking?
Everything that had been leaked out there was nothing more than fake intel Arton had released on purpose to cover up his real abilities.
If the Flameblade Pirates' enemies actually believed all that, they were definitely going to suffer for it later.
And even if they didn't believe it, that was fine too. So long as the Flameblade Pirates had enough time to develop, there was no way they wouldn't grow stronger.
After all, both the captain and crew of the Flameblade Pirates were blessed by the diary system's peculiar functions.
In terms of growth speed, there was simply no one in this world who could compete with them.
"Since we don't have to worry about the news anymore, let's talk about something else," Carina said. "Captain, we've already reached the location you specified. Are we supposed to wait here for that Knock Up Stream you mentioned?"
"Knock Up Stream? Does that mean we're about to head for that mysterious sky island?" Ain asked curiously, looking over.
Ain might have joined the Flameblade Pirates a bit later than the others, but that didn't mean she hadn't been listening carefully to everyone's discussions onboard.
So of course she knew that Arton had set Sky Island as their next destination.
In fact, ever since Nojiko had taken Bellamy's Devil Fruit, the Flameblade Pirates' ship had been lingering in these waters, all to wait for the chance to ride the current up to the sky.
According to Arton, since they'd come all the way here, they had to follow tradition and ascend to Sky Island via the Knock Up Stream.
"Of course. There's something up on Sky Island that I need," Arton said with a nod to Ain. "So no matter what, we have to go at least once."
"So for now, we just drop anchor and wait here?" Carina asked.
"Yeah. As long as we're fine on supplies, we'll stay put for the time being," Arton replied with a nod to her. "If we wander too far and miss the Knock Up Stream, I'd be pretty disappointed."
Hearing that, Carina let out a quiet sigh.
In her opinion, the Flameblade Pirates really shouldn't stay in one place for too long.
Otherwise, they'd risk being locked onto by certain… interested parties.
Especially now, right after Morgans had just published a fresh batch of news on Arton.
Naturally, the Marines and the World Government were bound to react.
For all they knew, a Marine admiral might already be on his way to hunt Arton down, but since Arton had already made his stance that clear, she really didn't have any way to argue it.
"Alright then, we'll do as Captain says and stay here for a while," Carina said with a nod. "Let's wait for the Knock Up Stream to appear."
She paused for a moment, then continued, "Speaking of which, it's almost time for a meal. Captain, are you going to keep resting a bit longer, or do you want to eat first?"
Arton thought for a moment before answering, "Let's go eat. Resting for too long isn't good either. Carina, Ain—let's go together."
As he spoke, he gave an upward push with his legs, sending Carina's body up into the air. She landed lightly and steadily out on the deck.
"Got it, Captain," Carina said with a smile.
"Understood, Captain," Ain replied.
She had just finished thoroughly savoring Arton earlier, and what she'd received from him could definitely be called highly nutritious.
Even so, she still wanted to eat some proper food. However, when she thought about the color of white rice, other things popped into her mind on their own.
Before she knew it, a wave of embarrassment rose up in her chest.
Fortunately, Carina's attention wasn't on her right now—otherwise, there was no way she wouldn't have noticed something.
Chapter 470: Uta Invites Tashigi to Dance With Her
Time flew by quickly. In the blink of an eye, several days had passed.
Arton was in the lookout room, staring out the window at the sky outside, bored out of his mind.
"Captain, are you… feeling unhappy?"
Tashigi, who was up in the lookout room with Arton monitoring him to keep him from revealing the Flameblade Pirates' location, asked with some confusion.
"I can't help it, this is just too boring. I originally thought the Knock Up Stream would show up pretty quickly, but here we are and there's still not the slightest sign of it. I'm this close to just flying up there myself."
Arton pointed up at the sky as he spoke.
"I… I see…" Tashigi gave an awkward little laugh.
Comforting people wasn't her strong suit. Even after hearing Arton's complaint, she had no idea what to say. In that case…
Tashigi steeled herself, took a few steps forward until she was right in front of Arton, and wrapped her arms around his waist.
"If Captain is feeling bored, y-you… you can use me…" Tashigi's face turned bright red as she spoke in a tiny voice.
"Mm… that does sound like a pretty good idea. If you do something meaningful when you're bored, it doesn't feel as boring anymore, right?" Arton's interest immediately stirred.
Hearing that, the blush on Tashigi's face deepened even more.
Just as she was about to reach out and take action, though, a very familiar voice to both Arton and Tashigi rang in from outside the window.
"Hey now, in broad daylight, and in the lookout room of all places… the two of you were seriously thinking about doing that kind of thing? Isn't that a bit much~?"
Along with the voice came the sound of the lookout door being pushed open.
Arton and Tashigi looked up. Standing in the doorway was none other than the Flameblade Pirates' most popular star, Uta.
"Well, well, if it isn't our ship's big celebrity, Uta-sama. What wind blows you up here today?" Arton spread his arms wide and walked over to greet her with a smile.
"Oh, please. Just now your heart was clearly all full of Tashigi, Captain."
Her words said that, but as Arton came up to her, Uta still gave him a big hug.
Arton could clearly feel her generous weapons up front squashing and shifting enthusiastically against him.
"How could that be? There's always a special place for Uta in my heart." Arton said with a grin.
"Hehe~, fine, I'll let you off the hook for that one." Uta chuckled, then turned her gaze on Tashigi.
Faced with Uta's teasing look, Tashigi silently screamed inside and shyly dropped her head.
"Alright, no need to be that embarrassed," Uta said, waving a hand. "Even if other people don't know what's going on between you two, I do. Besides, you also know what's going on between me and Captain."
"I just happened to hear what you were saying and came over to remind you this is the lookout room. If you two really started the main event up here, it'd definitely draw a crowd. I'm guessing that's not something you want to experience, right, Tashigi?"
As soon as Uta said that, Tashigi's mind instantly filled in the scene.
In an instant, her face turned as red as an apple. Even if she was no longer a naive young girl, Tashigi's experience was still very limited, and she'd been a shy, straight-laced Marine officer before all this.
She was never going to turn into one of those loud, carefree female pirates.
Just imagining herself being publicly gawked at like that made her want to die of embarrassment.
"But you know~ I'm sure Captain does want it." Uta smiled. "So I've got a proposal: how about you bring me along? I'll guide you both into a dream."
She spun in place in front of Arton and Tashigi, her skirt fluttering as she turned.
"Lately I came up with a new dance—one I can do directly on top of Arton. I just so happen to want to give it a good test run with him. If you're up for it, Tashigi, you can learn it too, how about it? Or better yet, why don't we both dance on Arton together?"
Uta finished her spin right in front of Tashigi and, with a bright smile, made her suggestion.
....
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