"Morgans, do you really think what you're saying is realistic? If I could, I honestly would love to actually know Arton." Stussy covered her forehead and sighed as she spoke.
If she could get to know Arton, Stussy would be able to use a few methods to make him mention her name more often in his diary.
That way, even if she were far away from Arton, she'd still be able to earn a large amount of points through her own diary copy and become stronger.
If she could grow strong enough, then when she had to face Vegapunk's choices in the future, she might be able to respond to them much better.
But in reality, because Stussy was carrying out missions for the World Government, she couldn't just up and leave the Happy Street of the present world whenever she felt like it, which meant she didn't have the option of going to meet Arton herself.
"Morgans, you must've forgotten, so I think it's necessary to remind you a little." Stussy took a deep breath and spoke into the Den-Den Mushi. "The reason I've been feeding you intel about Arton is because I want you, when I can't track Arton's whereabouts myself, to give me information on where he is."
"Right, you did mention that before. So you're saying you really don't have any relationship with Arton?" Morgans asked curiously.
"Of course not." Stussy replied.
Her tone was so firm that, for a moment, Morgans actually started to doubt his own theory.
"But that doesn't add up. If there really isn't anything between you and Arton, then how did you guess what I said to him back when I was on his ship?"
Morgans scratched the back of his head and asked suspiciously.
"Hehe, that's my secret." Stussy chuckled. "Morgans, stop trying to pry. I'm not going to tell you."
As if she'd ever tell Morgans about the diary copies. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't actually put it into practice. The diary system's built-in restriction against spreading information about it was limiting her at every moment, everywhere.
"You really are just as annoyingly infuriating as ever, you know that?" Morgans let out a long sigh.
"Alright, enough sighing. Tell me—how are you planning to make this up to me?" Stussy asked.
Having Arton know she existed was, in a way, a good thing. After all, that meant the odds of Arton mentioning her in the diary copies had gone up. But that didn't mean she'd just let Morgans off without giving him a bit of grief.
If she let this slide completely and allowed Morgans to get even bolder, who knew what he might say in the future that would make Arton form a bad impression of her.
If that happened, it would really be a loss.
Though Stussy felt that with Arton's ability to understand the past and the future, he probably wouldn't be so easily swayed by a few offhand remarks from Morgans when it came to judging someone.
"Alright, alright, I admit I was in the wrong this time." Morgans said. "Once I get back to the New World, I'll send you a proper apology gift."
"Hehe, that's more like it. So, what did you call me for this time?" Stussy asked.
"Right, I almost forgot why I called."
"Stussy, I've already written up the story from that interview I did on Arton's ship earlier."
"Get your Berries ready to buy my masterpiece. This time, my news is definitely going to shock the entire world."
Chapter 458 – Crocodile Falls Into Deep Thought
"Ho? You've already finished writing the related story this quickly. As expected of the Big News King, huh."
"I'm guessing you've already had the newspapers printed and sent out, and the news birds are on their way around the world by now."
After hearing Morgans' words, Stussy spoke with keen interest.
"Hehe, as expected of you, Stussy—you really do understand me. In any case, you're the one who tipped me off about Arton in the first place, so I can give you a discount." Morgans said. "If you're interested in my latest story, I can tell you in advance, so you'll be a little prepared for how this world is going to change next."
"Change the world, huh. Sounds like you're pretty confident in your article." Stussy chuckled. "In that case, I'll be all ears."
She had no doubts about Morgans' words. After all, the way Arton had acted earlier on the pirate ship, and the things he'd said, had already revealed quite a bit of information about himself.
Even though that intel about his abilities was Arton deliberately misleading the outside world, it still matched the powers he'd shown in front of everyone.
It wasn't hard to imagine that those who didn't have diary copies would very likely believe Morgans' write-up about Arton in the newspaper.
And when you added in the news about Blackbeard Teach mixed in there… that information was enough to change how people viewed Devil Fruits.
In a sense, it really did count as news capable of changing the world. After all, people's perceptions would definitely shift once they learned of Morgans' description of Arton in the news.
"Alright then, I'll tell you now…"
Morgans cleared his throat and slowly began to explain his great work to Stussy.
At the same time, the newspapers carrying that story were already being carried across the seas by the news birds, scattered to every corner of the world.
As time passed, almost every diary copy holder saw Morgans' newspaper.
Doll: "This Morgans really did write up everything he saw and heard with Arton… No, not everything—he definitely held some of it back."
Kujaku: "He clearly doesn't want to offend Arton, so he left out the parts Arton forbade him from reporting. After all, there are probably going to be even more big scoops coming from Arton in the future."
Gion: "Even if it's only a partial report, just these descriptions of Arton's supposed 'Devil Fruit powers' are already enough to shock the world."
Smoothie: "Morgans really bought Arton's story, huh—he actually believes those special abilities of Arton's are a Devil Fruit power."
Cinnamon: "If we didn't have diary copies, we'd probably believe Morgans' version too."
Sadi: "Sigh, Director Magellan is definitely going to take what's in the paper at face value. Can't be helped—Domino and I have no way of talking about the diary copies."
Domino: "In a way, this is the diary system protecting Arton as the system's owner. It's frustrating, but I can understand it."
Kalifa: "So Morgans focused on the battle between Nojiko and Teach, huh—and even laid out both of their abilities. Hehe, two different dark-type powers in the same report… that's going to be a real headache for those World Government geezers."
...
Grand Line.
Desert Kingdom of Alabasta.
"So even Morgans believes Arton has the power to remodel Devil Fruits into Mythical Zoan abilities and grant them to his crew. Still, that does match what the article says about Nojiko's ability to extract Devil Fruits from other Devil Fruit users' bodies."
"Could all of this news actually be true?"
Crocodile held a cigar in his hand, staring at the newspaper in front of him as he sank into deep thought.
....
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