Since Arton couldn't be interviewed for the moment, then the next best thing was to interview the people around him.
On Arton's big ship, there were quite a few people who were very much worth interviewing.
After all, there were several people aboard whose bounties were over one hundred million.
And Morgans was also extremely curious as to why so many charming women were willing to stay by Arton's side.
"Sorry, I'm afraid I can't answer that question for you."
"Mr. Morgans, and you as well, Mr. Ace."
"If the two of you don't have any other business here, please leave our ship." After saying that, Nojiko also left the dining hall.
For a moment, only Morgans and Ace were left in the room.
"Sigh, as expected, it's really hard to wring anything out about Nojiko's ability." Morgans shook his head regretfully.
"A person's ability is their own secret. If others learn the secrets of your power, it can have a very serious impact on a fight."
"It's perfectly normal for Miss Nojiko not to want to tell you about her ability." Ace stood up and looked at Morgans as he asked. "More importantly, aren't you planning to leave, Morgans?"
"It's still early. I'm not planning to leave yet." Morgans shook his head. "For all I know, I might get a chance later to interview Arton about why he left in such a hurry."
"If you want to go, then go ahead, Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates."
"In that case, I'll head out a bit later too." Ace scratched his cheek as he spoke.
"Hm? Weren't you going to go after Blackbeard?" Morgans looked at Ace in confusion.
"You said yourself the last time you saw Blackbeard was quite a while ago. Without a direction, it's hard for me to chase him down right now." Ace patted his stomach as he spoke. "So I might as well stay here and replenish my strength."
He absolutely was not going to tell Morgans that he'd been drawn in by the food on Arton's ship.
And Arton was Uta's captain, while Uta was Luffy's older sister—thinking about it like that, Arton was probably "one of them" too.
Given that, Ace figured there was nothing wrong with lingering a while longer on a friendly ship and mooching a few more meals.
With that thought, Ace once again grabbed a plate from the table and started wolfing food down.
Seeing Ace act like that, Morgans could only shake his head speechlessly.
But when he thought about the powers Arton said Blackbeard possessed, he couldn't help feeling curious about what would happen if Ace actually did find Blackbeard.
If Ace were to lose to Blackbeard… that would definitely be a huge story too. Should I tag along with Ace for a while? As soon as the idea crossed his mind, Morgans quickly shook his head again.
Following Ace might indeed net him some big news but compared to Arton… Ace just didn't have as much about him worth focusing on.
If he wanted truly enormous stories, he still needed to follow Arton.
Thinking back to the intel he'd once received about Arton from Stussy, he even started entertaining thoughts of permanently staying aboard Arton's ship.
But in the end, there was no way he could actually live on Arton's ship full-time.
On this massive Flameblade Pirates ship, the only male presence that needed to be a permanent resident was Arton himself.
Even if Morgans wasn't technically human, he was still a male creature.
…
Flameblade Pirates.
In the corridor of the ship's interior.
"You!"
"You!"
Ain and Robin stood face to face, their eyes locked on the rival before them.
That's right—in each of their eyes, the other woman was a competitor.
Arton had just written in his diary about planning to draw the lottery, and now both of them were heading toward the captain's cabin. Obviously, they were trying to vie for the template Arton was about to pull.
Even though, according to Arton's own words in the diary, he still hadn't officially recognized Robin or Ain as his crewmates yet, both Ain and Robin felt that if they "happened" to be by Arton's side at the moment he drew the lottery, he might consider using the freshly drawn template on one of them.
Or perhaps, if they used a bit of their respective charms to tempt Arton, he just might be willing to entrust the power of that mighty template to them.
Chapter 418: Leaving the Chance to Ain and Robin
"You're heading to Captain Arton's room, aren't you?" After a brief silence, Ain asked Robin.
"You're doing the same thing, aren't you, Miss Ain?" Robin replied with a smile.
"B-but I was the one who got here first. Shouldn't it be my turn to seize the chance right now?" Ain took a deep breath and said.
"In something like this, I don't think there's really such a thing as first come, first served." Robin said. "Besides, if you were the one who arrived later, would you apologize to me just because I wanted to go before you?"
Hearing that, Ain was at a loss for words.
Robin shook her head and said, "At the end of the day, you and I both have our reasons that force us to rely on Arton, don't we?"
Ain pressed her lips together. She had no choice but to admit that what Robin said was true.
She needed power—enough power and enough variables to change the future of her respected teacher, Zephyr.
Robin needed Arton's strength to search for the Poneglyphs and to find the giant vice admiral who had once helped her.
With goals like those, there was no room for either of them to be polite to the other.
"Since neither of us has any reason to yield, let's compete fairly. If we keep staring each other down here any longer, Arton might finish his lottery draw."
"Once his mood has settled, even if we use a few little tricks, we might not be able to get what we want from him." Robin said to Ain. "Also, I don't want things between us to get too unpleasant. In the future, you and I might end up being comrades who can trust each other with our backs."
Ain's first instinct upon hearing that was to deny the whole trust each other with our backs part.
But when she thought about how both she and Robin genuinely wanted to stay by Arton's side, Ain had no way to refute Robin.
While Ain was momentarily dazed, Robin had already stepped past her and headed toward the captain's cabin.
Seeing that, Ain quickly followed.
At the same time, Uta, Nojiko, and Carina were standing not far away, watching every move Robin and Ain made.
Originally, they had all planned to go see Arton too, but when they saw Robin and Ain on the way, they all stopped.
"They've gone ahead. Are we still going?" Uta turned her head to look at Nojiko and Carina as she asked.
"Let's forget it. I am curious about what reward Arton will draw, but right now, I feel like we should leave this time to Robin and Ain." Carina shook her head as she spoke.
At the moment, she and Robin were basically in an alliance, so of course she was hoping Robin could use this chance to obtain a template and officially become a member of the Flameblade Pirates.
"I feel the same way as Carina." Nojiko said with a smile.
"All right then, since you both say so, how about we go have some tea?" Uta said, miming the gesture of drinking.
"Sure." Carina nodded.
"I don't mind either." Nojiko added.
Uta watched Carina and Nojiko walking off side by side, then glanced back in the direction of Arton's captain's cabin.
I've created this opportunity for you two—make sure you treasure it. The corners of Uta's mouth lifted slightly as she thought this.
The you two she referred to didn't just mean Carina and Nojiko; it also included Arton.
Right now, it was obvious Ain and Robin would choose to use a indecent methods on Arton.
Uta felt that if Carina and Nojiko were there, Arton might not be able to fully bring out his "potential."
As for herself—she'd already gotten Arton, so she didn't particularly mind.
....
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