[Didn't expect this at all… I actually pulled Serval, a template that can control lightning and music.]
[Hold on—did I seriously use a normal pull? Not a premium one, not a special one?]
[This is wild… I pulled a Pathstrider template.]
Yamato: "Huh?! Arton's diary updated again?"
Ain: "Captain… he did it? He really pulled another template?!"
Stussy: "As expected of Mr. Arton… his luck is disgusting. Listen to that tone—he's really satisfied."
Kalifa: "That's not satisfied. That's 'over the moon.'"
Smoothie: "Someone who controls lightning…? He already has the Raiden Shogun template. A second lightning user shouldn't get him this hyped—unless this Serval is special."
Gion: "Because she's a Pathstrider…? But what even is a Pathstrider?"
Doll: "From the sound of it… Pathstrider is even rarer than heroic spirits."
Kujaku: "Don't tell me his luck is really that good. Is the Navy about to gain yet another terrifying enemy?"
Ulti: "Hurry up and pull up the demo already! Show the powers!"
Whitey Bay: "Arton's resting right now. If he doesn't have his crew around, why would he even bother demonstrating anything?"
Makino: "Yeah… that makes sense."
[If we're comparing Serval and the Raiden Shogun… it's tricky, since they're from different worlds. But pure current strength wise, Serval should be weaker than the Raiden Shogun.]
Nami: "See? Obviously my template is stronger."
[But Serval is a Pathstrider. And as a Pathstrider… the ceiling of the Serval template is absolutely higher than the Raiden Shogun's.]
[Sure, the original Serval—even if she trained like crazy—might never surpass the Raiden Shogun. But if one of my partners gets Serval's template… they might actually do it.]
Nami: "Wha—?!"
Whitey Bay: "So it really is because of the Pathstrider thing…"
Ulti: "Ugh! This guy… hyping it up that much? Annoying!"
[Thinking about it… every template I've pulled so far—whether it's Yoriichi Tsugikuni at the peak of mortal limits, Shirou Emiya as a legendary heroic spirit, or even Raiden Shogun, a god of Teyvat—those powers all belong to a planet, a world, a set of local rules.]
[But Serval is different. Because a "Path"… that's not a world-level thing.]
[That's the stars.]
[That's the universe.]
[That's cosmic, star-sea scale power.]
Gion: "What?!"
Stussy: "The stars…? You're telling me 'Paths' reach that level?!"
Kalifa: "Th-That's… isn't this getting a little too absurd?"
(A/N: Their world didn't exactly popularize cosmic concepts… but that didn't mean people like Gion, Stussy, and Kalifa—Navy and government types—had no idea what space and the universe were.)
[So what is a Path? A Path is the road an Aeon walks.]
[When a mortal—intentionally or not—steps onto a Path governed by an Aeon, they become a Pathstrider, someone who practices that Path's ideals.]
[So what is an Aeon? A mysterious, higher existence—like a living celestial body.]
[An Aeon is a universe-level god that can erase worlds or create worlds, wandering the star-sea itself.]
[Even a world god like the Raiden Shogun… is nowhere near an Aeon that walks the cosmos.]
[Because compared to a god of one world… an Aeon is a god acknowledged across countless worlds.]
[To the Raiden Shogun, a single continent is barely even worth mentioning—let alone an entire star cluster.]
[Mmm… and thinking about it now? Those bastard Celestial Dragons are really something.]
[With faces that damn pathetic, they still dare call themselves descendants of gods.]
[It's an insult to the word god.]
[I honestly want those Celestial Dragons to witness an Aeon's might—see if they'd still run their mouths after that.]
[And Imu sitting at the top of the World Government… if she knew Aeons existed, I wonder if she'd still act so untouchable.]
Chapter 511 - The Ladies Get Spooked
Cinnamon: "T-This… this has to be a joke, right?"
Galette: "So the Path is some kind of road-like power… opened by an Aeon?"
Reiju: "And an Aeon is… a cosmic-level god?"
Nami: "Hey, hey, hey—this is getting ridiculous. Are you saying the Raiden Shogun would be a mere mortal in front of an Aeon?!"
Gion: "If what Arton wrote is true, then these Aeons are way too absurd…"
Boa Hancock: "Aeons…?! Do beings like that really exist?"
Whitey Bay: "Damn… If gods like that exist, then the Celestial Dragons—calling themselves the descendants of gods—are basically a joke."
Makino: "No wonder Arton looks down on the Celestial Dragons. He knows Aeons exist."
Domino: "I still can't believe it. Gods that can destroy worlds… or even create them—do they really exist?"
Sadi: "No idea. But the Serval template he got might prove it indirectly. And… I don't think he's lying."
Domino: "Right. Arton doesn't know we have diary copies. Everything he writes in his diary should just be what he genuinely believes."
Stussy: "So Aeons really exist…? If I could, I'd honestly like to see one."
Kujaku: "This is going to get messy, isn't it? Serval's template is definitely going to make the Flameblade Pirates even stronger."
Gion: "Who's he going to give a template like that to—himself… or Ain?"
…
Flameblade Pirates — Lookout Room
Ain jumped to her feet, practically ready to shove the lookout duty onto Tashigi and sprint straight to Arton—using any method necessary to get her hands on Serval's template.
But after two rushed steps, she stopped.
"What's wrong, Ain?" Tashigi asked, confused.
"H-Hey, Tashigi… if Serval's template is really that insane…" Ain forced out, her voice bitter with doubt, "do you think Captain would even give it to me? He'd probably keep it for himself, right?"
"…I don't know," Tashigi admitted.
Arton had said Serval's template might not be as strong as the Raiden Shogun's at the start—but the Path's power had limitless potential. With potential on a cosmic level, Tashigi couldn't say for sure whether Arton would keep a template like that.
After all, out of all the templates he'd drawn, this was the first one that clearly carried universe-tier growth.
"…Forget it," Ain sighed, sitting back down. "Serval's template might not even suit me anyway. I'll just stay here."
Even so, the way her eyes kept flicking toward the door completely sold her out.
Just then, new text appeared in the diary. Ain and Tashigi immediately focused on it.
[Let me check the requirements for using Serval… Tch. Yeah—figures. I can't use this template.]
[What a waste. Serval's a woman, and my attribute points just can't meet three conditions.]
[Whatever. Even if I can't use it myself, I can still hand it to a partner—and use it indirectly through magic reception.]
[Besides, I might pull another Pathstrider template later. If I could draw something like Jing Yuan—an Emanator walking the Path of the Hunt—that would be amazing.]
Kujaku: "Thank goodness… Arton can't use Serval's template."
Doll: "I guess this is the best bad outcome we could've hoped for. Serval has huge potential, but her current power still isn't on the Raiden Shogun's level. If it's not Arton himself, then even if someone else gets Serval's template, they probably won't be able to bring out power beyond what Nami can do right now with the Raiden Shogun template."
Gion: "And besides Arton… we barely even understand what the Path is. Even if he explains it to his partners, they won't fully grasp it. After all, the Path is a universe-tier power."
Chapter 512: There's Someone on Sky Island Compatible with the Path?!
Gion, Doll, Kujaku, and the other female Marines were completely shaken by everything Arton had written in his diary.
They still didn't want to accept the idea of the Path—and they really didn't want to acknowledge Aeons—but they also knew one thing: Arton wouldn't lie in his diary. And up to now, he hadn't left any record of lying in it either. Almost everything he'd written eventually ended up being proven true.
So deep down, they did believe the Path was real.
And the fact that Arton couldn't use Serval's template gave them a sliver of hope.
As long as whoever got Serval's template didn't have enough talent, Gion and the others believed that person would never truly become some universe-tier existence. That was what they desperately wanted to be true.
Sure, Points could help someone grow into their template—but to reach a universe-tier level without relying on talent? That would require an insane amount of Points.
Gion, Kujaku, and Doll didn't believe anyone could get that many Points from Arton in such a short time.
"So… is Ain going to get Serval's template?" Gion murmured.
At the same time, Ain—who had just sat back down—shot to her feet again, eyes locked on the diary copy, praying she'd see Arton write that she was compatible with Serval's template.
Tashigi glanced at Ain and silently prayed for her too.
Kalifa: "Ugh, this is killing me. If only I could be at Arton's side right now… then I could fight for Serval's template too."
Whitey Bay: "Seriously… I regret not running into Arton sooner and harder every day. A Path with that kind of potential—if I had it, could I use it to reach the stars?"
Yamato: "Damn, that power's nuts. If I got it, I could probably slam my old man into the ground."
Sadi: "Ugh… even I want that template now. Is there any way to get a template without joining the Flameblade Pirates?"
Domino: "If you bend over and aim your ass at Arton, maybe you'll have a shot."
Sadie: "Don't joke like that, Domino."
Domino: "…Still, I'm curious. Who's this Jing Yuan Arton mentioned? And what exactly is the Path of the Hunt? And Emanator—what does that even mean?"
Sadie: "Who knows. If Arton went out of his way to mention him, Jing Yuan has to be strong."
Makino: "An Emanator… does that mean an especially strong Pathstrider? And the Path of the Hunt… so there are different types of Paths?"
Whitey Bay: "That's a great summary, Makino. I was thinking the same thing."
New text appeared in the diary:
[To use Serval's template, you need at least three matching attributes from: "beauty," "female," "lightning," "music," "rock," "mechanical," and so on.]
[As for Ain… sigh, that's a shame. She only matches "beauty" and "female." She's short by exactly one.]
[If it were Nami, she'd actually be compatible with Serval's template. But she already has the Raiden Shogun template—more than enough to develop for a long time. I'll leave Serval for someone else.]
Nami: "Yeah… it's a shame, but Captain's right. The Raiden Shogun template is already more than enough for me."
Nami knew herself—right now, she wasn't even close to bringing out the Raiden Shogun's true power.
In that situation, she couldn't exactly shamelessly demand Serval's template too. She had no justification.
Then the diary updated again.
[Wait—speaking of which, isn't there someone on Sky Island who's compatible with Serval's template?]
[Looks like I'll need to meet her later and see if there's a chance to bring her into the Flameblade Pirates.]
Raki: "!!"
Conis: "!!!"
Gion: "What?!"
Doll: "No way… that's that convenient?"
Stussy: "So there are diary-copy holders on Sky Island too?"
Nami: "And it's someone who might actually be compatible with Serval's template…"
Uta: "So basically… we're about to get another sister?"