[That said, becoming famous across the seas, crossing blades with the powerhouses of this world of navigation, and beating the crap out of a Celestial Dragon really are pretty great experiences.]
[But if I had to pick the best experience, it's still the emotional high of running into beautiful pirate-world heroines like Uta, Tashigi, and Carina.]
[Who would've thought the characters I once wrote on the page would come to life so vividly before my eyes—and even become my crew?]
[I can only hope that from here on out, I get to meet more and more of the seafaring beauties from this world, the ones I've drawn in my stories, and invite them all to join the Flameblade Pirates.]
[That said, I've already stood against the Marines, killed one Celestial Dragon, and I'm planning to take out another one who screwed me over badly.]
[Under those circumstances, wanting all the women I've written to become my companions is probably impossible.]
[At the very least, those beautiful girls within the Marines and World Government shouldn't have any way of becoming my crewmates.]
[Tashigi—and now Ain—are exceptions that happened by accident. Someone like Gion, Doll, Domino, Sadi, Vice Admiral Tsuru's granddaughter Kujaku, or even Hina, who seems to be in trouble right now, and Kalifa, who's currently undercover… they probably have no chance of becoming my companions.]
Smoothie: "Oh my, so Arton really went and listed that many Marines and World Government personnel who very likely have diary copies."
Gion: "This is really bad."
Doll: "I honestly didn't expect this. We still don't know enough about which pirates might have diary copies, and now our side's information gets exposed first."
Hina: "...Even if being locked up and reading other people's diaries helps pass the time, seeing this kind of news… Hina really doesn't know whether to be happy or sad."
Belo Betty: "Let's call it a pleasant surprise. We actually get a clean list of who in the World Government is a secret agent."
Koala: "That may be true, but what if someday Arton also exposes which of us in the Revolutionary Army have diary copies?"
Kalifa: "So now the fact that I'm one of Arton's original heroines is basically official. Anyone with half a brain is going to assume I have a diary copy. But there's one thing you got wrong, Arton. Now that I know the future, I really want to run into you."
Whitey Bay: "All we can really say is… good job, Celestial Dragons. They successfully shoved Arton into direct opposition with the Marines and World Government the moment he arrived in this world, which gives us pirates far more chances."
Ulti: "The real question is: what method should I use to drag this Arton guy into the Beasts Pirates? Ugh, I can't think of anything!"
[Back to the point: beating up Celestial Dragons means I've completely taken my stand against the Marines and World Government. But that actually makes it harder for non-Marine, non–World Government women to join the Flameblade Pirates.]
[Even a lot of pirates are terrified of Celestial Dragons and don't dare lay a hand on them. Now that I've killed a Celestial Dragon, those beautiful women who aren't part of the Marines or World Government might shy away from becoming my crewmates as well.]
[If there's anyone who'd be genuinely happy I beat down the Celestial Dragons, it'd have to be that beautiful empress. But she doesn't really have the conditions to join my crew either. Man, this is kind of a headache.]
Boa Hancock: "Is this man… talking about me? If it's me, then indeed, I can't join the Flameblade Pirates. But in light of the fact that you dared to lay hands on a Celestial Dragon… I-I suppose I can show you slightly better treatment."
Paula: "Killing a Celestial Dragon will make some people stay away from Arton? Heh. If they didn't know about the diary system and its power to rapidly strengthen people, then sure, some girls might keep their distance. But since everyone does know about it now, the number of people who truly avoid Arton will be in the minority."
Mikita: "E–even if Marine Admirals are really scary, as long as we can get a template from Arton, we'll eventually be able to reach Admiral-level strength too, right? Or even go beyond that?"
Gion: "Knowing how Arton's system functions, the only women who'll definitely never have the possibility of joining the Flameblade Pirates are probably those who truly cling to justice—or who simply refuse to submit to anyone."
Kujaku: "Those who crave power and despise the Marines and World Government will only be more eager to become Arton's companions."
Stussy: "Even the Revolutionary Army, whose goals are different from the pirates, would probably be willing to approach Arton if it meant gaining more power to fight the World Government."
Belo Betty: "If Arton didn't know who we were, we could've just pretended to join the Flameblade Pirates. But since he does know, maybe we should be more straightforward with him."
[Still, not being able to make so many beautiful women from the Marines and World Government my companions really is a bit of a shame.]
[If those Celestial Dragons hadn't attacked me back then, maybe I really would have become a Marine. After all, Gion happened to be in the East Blue at the time and even extended an olive branch to me.]
[Sigh, what a pity. A long-legged beauty like that, and she ends up on the opposite side. If only she could, like Tashigi, abandon the darkness and join me as my crewmate.]
[But that's not really possible, and it's not like I count as "the side of light" anyway.]
Gion: "..."
Koala: "So in the end, are we supposed to be thanking those two Celestial Dragons who attacked Arton? No, no, what am I saying—how could we ever thank Celestial Dragons!"
Kujaku: "Even now, Arton's still thinking about us? Then… do we still have a chance to invite him?"
Doll: "No chance anymore. The Marines and World Government have already branded Arton a full-fledged enemy. For us, the only real use of being one of his written characters is that if we end up fighting him someday, he might hold back."
…
Undersea Prison.
Sadi and Domino were sitting together, watching as Arton wrote his diary and chatting at the same time.
"Domino, do you think if I ever ended up fighting Arton, there's a chance he'd just go ahead and violate me outright?" Sadi turned to look at Domino and asked.
"Arton doesn't like forcing women, so I don't think he'd violate us," Domino replied calmly. "But if we become his enemies, the chances of him beating us up are pretty high."
"That's true… assuming he could actually beat us, that is." Sadi grinned. "Given our positions, if he really ends up in this prison, it'd mean he's already been captured. At that point, it should be pretty hard for him to get the better of us, right?"
"Once he's down here, we just need to keep a closer eye on him," she went on confidently. "We'll definitely be able to stop him from getting any stronger—and from escaping."
As she spoke, Sadi burst into a delighted laugh.
In her mind, scenes from the works Arton had created with her as the template popped up one after another.
There were all sorts of S-and-M techniques in those works that she had never even heard of before.
The more she thought about using those techniques on Arton himself one day, the more Sadi's body couldn't help but tremble.
Chapter 474: Captain Isn't That Easy to Hurt
"Right, right—there's even a chance we could use Arton to make ourselves stronger. What do you think, Domino?"
"I don't think much of that idea."
"Why not?"
"If you want to use Arton to power yourself up, he has to write entries in the Diary System," Domino said. "But every time he writes, there's a chance he gets stronger. So this plan of yours is never going to work."
"Well… when you put it like that, you're not wrong…"
"Besides, it's still an unknown whether the Marines can even manage to send Arton to Impel Down in the first place," Domino went on, shaking her head. "And for now, we can't leave to carry out missions either. So we really shouldn't overthink it. Let the Marine side worry about all that."
"Tch… that doesn't sound like something you would say at all," Sadi said in surprise. "You haven't been possessed or something, have you, Domino?"
"I'm just telling the truth," Domino replied, still perfectly composed.
"Alright, alright, I give up," Sadi huffed. "I'll just keep watching Arton's diary."
She shook her head, then refocused on Arton's diary.
"Huh? Why isn't that guy Arton doing anything? The diary's not updating at all. He probably hasn't gotten today's reward yet."
"He's probably had his attention diverted by the people around him," Domino answered.
"Oh, right. Those women are all very crafty," Sadi said, then frowned thoughtfully. "But now that you mention it, Arton's resistance to their tricks seems to be getting stronger and stronger. Do you think there'll come a day when they don't make it in time to stop him from writing down his exact coordinates in the diary?"
"That'll depend on what kind of methods the women in the Flameblade Pirates can come up with," Domino said.
As she spoke, scenes from the doujins based on her flashed unbidden through her mind—especially the ones where she threw everything she had into distracting Arton's attention.
Tch, that man really is something else, she thought. He went and drew me as some kind of crazed pervert.
When I meet him, I'm definitely going to give him a proper piece of my mind.
…
Flameblade Pirates.
Lookout room.
He's holding out pretty well… In the past, Arton would've closed his diary by this point, Uta thought as her hand kept moving. Looks like Carina was right—Captain's willpower really is getting stronger. From now on, it's going to get harder and harder to distract him.
Thinking that, Uta simply opened her mouth and bit down.
"Ugh—! What are you doing?!" Arton's eyes flew wide as he looked at her.
"Who told you to zone out?" Uta huffed, folding her arms with a little snort.
"You don't have to bite me for that," Arton said. "If you're going to wake me up, I'd much prefer a gentler method. I was seriously worried you might've damaged it."
"With your abilities, there's no way you'd get hurt that easily," Uta replied with a grin. "Besides, when I bite you every now and then, you do enjoy it, don't you?"
"…Can't exactly say you're wrong," Arton muttered, scratching his cheek, at a temporary loss for words.
"Anyway, enough about that. Let's get started," Uta said. "As for that lookout duty you're so worried about… the rookie I mentioned is already here."
The moment her words fell, there was a knock on the lookout room door, followed by a gentle, familiar voice.
"Captain, everyone—may I come in?" Robin asked softly from outside.
....
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