In Arton's eyes, Conis was very different from the rest of the girls in his crew.
She was pure, cute, and full of life.
Among all the girls whose charm leaned more toward being sexy, Conis stood out on her own.
Granted, Arton did prefer sexier girls.
But having someone like Conis around once in a while—a sweet, innocent girl like her—felt pretty damn nice too.
Especially when Conis was squatting or kneeling in front of him, all shy but still trying to be a little bolder. In moments like that, Arton found her especially adorable.
Ahem. That got a little off track.
All in all, Arton definitely had a soft spot for Conis right now.
That was why he was willing to spend time and effort specifically picking opponents for her, training her combat instincts, and laying a foundation for her future at sea.
Because compared to Skypiea, the Blue Sea was a far more dangerous place.
Compared to Skypiea, it was ten times more dangerous—no, a hundred times more dangerous.
If Conis didn't prepare herself properly, Arton was worried she wouldn't be able to adapt to life on the Blue Sea.
That part, though, was something Arton was worrying about too much.
Because of the Diary Replica, Conis had already learned more than enough about the Blue Sea.
And she also understood that as long as she could get enough points through Arton, even someone like her—someone who wasn't naturally good at fighting—could slowly become strong enough.
No, not slowly.
Quickly.
You could even say that if she handled things the right way and earned enough points from Arton, she'd become strong in a very short amount of time.
Maybe strong enough that no one in this world could ever look down on her again.
Because of that, Conis had already fully prepared herself for life sailing on the Blue Sea.
The kind of adjustment problems Arton was worrying about simply weren't going to happen.
What Arton didn't know was that Conis—who had already silently accepted and grown used to the works he had created around her—had become deeply curious about the contents of those books.
Especially after she had already experienced kneeling in front of Arton together with Raki.
That only made her even more curious about the things written in those books.
Other than kneeling in front of Arton, what would all the other situations in those books actually feel like?
Conis was very curious about that now.
There was no helping it. The scenes Arton described in those works were just too enticing.
That's right—those scenes were originally created by Arton to satisfy his own fantasies.
When Conis first read them, all she felt was embarrassment.
But now, she had started secretly appreciating what was inside them.
Sometimes, she even got worked up because of the contents.
If Arton knew Conis was thinking like this, he'd definitely be caught off guard.
But after that, he'd also be thrilled as hell.
And then he'd absolutely sit down with Conis and have a very serious, very thorough discussion about everything in those books.
Maybe after discussing and exchanging opinions on all that material with her, he'd even use Conis as the template for creating even more works.
Of course, whether he'd first have some hands-on interaction with Conis as a test run before drawing anything else… well, that would depend on the situation.
"Arton-san... Arton-san?"
"What's wrong?"
Conis's voice suddenly rang out by his ear, pulling him back from his thoughts.
"Sorry, sorry. I was just thinking about something interesting," Arton said with a grin.
"Is that so?" Conis tilted her head adorably, completely unaware that all of Arton's earlier thoughts had been revolving around her.
"So, your name is Arton, right?" Wyper asked, keeping his voice as low as possible. "What you meant earlier was that Enel already heard us?"
"That's right," Arton answered casually.
He didn't share Wyper's tension at all.
After all, even if Enel really did come charging over right now, Arton had plenty of ways to make him regret it.
And at this point, whether they went to fight Enel or dragged Enel over here to fight didn't make much difference anyway.
"How do you know that?" Wyper asked.
"Heh. I've got the same ability as that little girl in your tribe," Arton said, the corner of his mouth lifting.
Wyper stared at him, completely stunned.
Chapter 592: Wanting to See Enel's Defeat with Their Own Eyes
"Y-You know Aisa?!" Wyper nearly dropped his weapon from sheer shock at Arton's words.
He couldn't help it. Aisa was basically a secret of the Shandians.
And yet Arton had named her without the slightest hesitation.
More importantly, Arton had never even been to the Shandian village.
There was no way Wyper could hear that and not start believing what Arton had said.
That meant Arton really did possess the kind of ability that let him observe the Shandians' home from far away.
And once he accepted that, he gradually started believing what Raki had been saying too.
Arton really might have the power to stand against Enel.
"Anyway, just keep that little thing for yourself," Arton said with a shrug. "There's more than one way to deal with a Devil Fruit ability. At the end of the day, against a truly strong ability user, that little rock of yours wouldn't matter much anyway."
After all, even in the original story, Luffy could still use Haki while wearing Seastone.
Seastone suppressed his ability, but it didn't stop him from using the strength he had trained into his body.
Of course, Enel was still nowhere near that level.
And when it came to fighting Devil Fruit users, in real high-level battles, Haki was the true answer.
If that weren't the case, then why would top-tier physical fighters use Haki against powerful Devil Fruit users instead of just carrying Seastone around?
Conis didn't have Haki, of course.
But Arton believed her template would be more than enough to heavily restrict Enel.
After all, the Path was a far more advanced power than Haki.
There was no reason Haki could work against Devil Fruit users while the Path couldn't.
"Looks like there's nothing else to do here," Arton said, turning toward Conis. "Shall we keep going?"
"Mm." Conis nodded with a sweet smile.
There was no way she was going to refuse Arton's suggestion.
The moment he opened his arms to her, she decisively stepped into his embrace.
Then, right in front of the stunned eyes of Wyper, Gan Fall, and the others, Arton lifted off into the air, carrying Conis straight toward Enel's location.
"H-He can fly too?!" Wyper stared wide-eyed as Arton and Conis disappeared into the distance, then turned in utter disbelief to look at Raki.
"I told you, didn't I?" Raki said with a shrug. "Captain Arton's abilities are strong. Way stronger than you can imagine."
Her eyes held a trace of envy as she spoke.
If she could have chosen, she would've wanted to be the one in Arton's arms right then.
Of course, what she wanted even more was to be the one going to fight Enel.
After all, Enel had brought her, her friends, and her people nothing but fear and trouble ever since she was born.
If she'd had any way to deal with him, she would've beaten him down herself a long time ago.
No, that's not right, Raki thought. Conis is my sister now.
If that's the case, then her beating up Enel is basically the same as me beating him up.
That thought brought the smile back to her face.
"Wyper, let's go too," Raki said. "You want to see Enel lose, don't you?"
"Of course," Wyper replied with a nod.
At this point, there was nothing else to think about.
As soon as Raki started heading deeper into the forest, Wyper hurried after her with the rest of the Shandian warriors.
Gan Fall called over his steed as well and took to the sky.
Fortunately, Arton hadn't flown at full speed toward Enel.
That meant they still had time to catch the main event.
Chapter 593: The Diary Video Comes Back On, and the Women Can't Help Caring
[Arton's Diary!]
[Got delayed for a bit, but I'm finally going to deal with that bastard Enel.]
[Even though Conis hasn't trained for long, and she still isn't that skilled with her abilities, I think she'll be fine. A power like the Path should be able to harm the elemental body of a Logia user.]
[Not to mention, the template Conis currently has is Serval's template, and Serval also controls lightning.]
Gion: "Hm? Arton started writing in his diary again? Does that mean the fight's about to start?"
Smoothie: "I thought the battle over there had already ended. So it still hasn't started yet?"
Cinnamon: "Arton was probably busy training Conis's combat experience. The delay was most likely spent on that."
Whitey Bay: "Arton really is sweet, huh. Not only did he give Conis a template, he even took the time to personally teach a girl who couldn't fight how to fight."
Makino: "But Conis didn't know how to fight before. Is it really okay to let her go up against Enel already?!"
Whitey Bay: "Relax. Arton definitely made preparations. Besides, that Enel guy doesn't look like a real powerhouse. If he went to the New World, he probably wouldn't survive a single day."
Kujaku: "In Arton's eyes, the power of the Path can even deal with a Logia?"
Sadi: "If that's true, then I really do want to see it. Arton, can't you just start a livestream?"
Domino: "If he did that, Conis would get even more points. For those of us on the opposite side, that definitely wouldn't be a good thing."
And yet, the exact thing Domino was worried about still happened.
Of course Arton wanted to record Conis's first real battle.
Years later, this might become the kind of exciting memory he'd want to look back on fondly.
Ulti: "There's a picture now? Eh! So that long-eared guy is Enel? Damn, he's ugly."
Koala: "He looks exactly like the arrogant type. Disgusting."
Belo Betty: "He kind of gives off a Celestial Dragon vibe. People like that should just die."
Kujaku: "What a shame. Once he goes down, Arton's going to get another Logia Devil Fruit."
That was something every holder of a diary copy had already thought of.
Sure, compared to the templates on Arton's side, Devil Fruits didn't look all that impressive anymore.
But that was only true for ordinary Devil Fruits.
If it was a top-tier Logia like the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, then that was a different story.
At the very least, compared to some templates, the Rumble-Rumble Fruit definitely wasn't weak.
If it were developed properly, it could still turn someone into a powerhouse.
That was exactly why some of the Marine women couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Unfortunately, no matter how worried they were, there was no way for them to just teleport to Arton's side and stop him from going after Enel.
All they could do was watch helplessly as Arton and Conis went off to rack up more achievements.
…
"So you've finally arrived. I was getting tired of waiting."
The moment Arton and Conis descended from the sky, Enel rose from his throne with a smile on his face.
He was smiling, but his whole bearing was dripping with arrogance.
One look was enough for Arton to be certain.
Enel was exactly the kind of person he hated.
If he weren't trying to train Conis, Arton would've already rushed up and punched him in the face.