"You're not wrong," Whitey Bay said with a nod.
"Before meeting Arton, raising your strength a bit really would help when it comes to joining his crew."
After all, not everyone was going to get into Arton's pirate crew as easily as Conis had.
From what Whitey Bay understood about Arton, he probably wouldn't reject people he'd written about himself, but it was obvious his enemies would only get stronger and stronger from here on out.
In that kind of situation, Arton might very well start raising his standards.
Even if he still accepted everyone he'd written into his stories, when it came to handing out templates, he might start prioritizing the stronger crew members first.
"That's why I'll have to keep troubling you for training, Miss Whitey Bay," Makino said.
"That part's no problem."
Whitey Bay nodded, then added, "If Arton has any doubts about your strength, I can even speak up for you myself."
"But don't forget what you promised me. If the need comes up, you're helping me entice Arton too."
As she said that, Whitey Bay smiled slightly and ran her tongue over her lips.
The look on her face made it immediately clear to Makino what she meant.
Even though Arton's works featuring her and Whitey Bay rarely showed multiple women getting close to him at once, they both knew Arton definitely had a thing for playing with more than one woman together.
If that weren't true, he wouldn't bring up that kind of content in his diary every so often.
"I know, Miss Whitey Bay."
Makino took a deep breath and answered seriously.
She was still shy about it, but since she'd already made up her mind to set out to sea, she didn't want to shrink back now.
"I'm glad to hear that."
"If the two of us act together, I'm sure we'll be more than enough to attract Arton."
"After all, both you and I have pretty great figures."
Whitey Bay smiled as she spoke, her gaze sweeping over Makino's body.
She had to admit it—after all this training, Makino really had become more womanly.
Now she didn't just have the gentle charm she'd always had. There was also a fresh, spirited edge to her.
Even as a woman herself, Whitey Bay had to acknowledge Makino's appeal.
"Thank you for the compliment. Your figure's amazing too, Whitey Bay," Makino said with a smile.
"It's just a shame we still don't know when Arton will finally get to enjoy bodies this good."
"If only I'd made it to the East Blue earlier…"
Whitey Bay let out a sigh, then turned her attention back to the still-active diary livestream.
…
Skypiea.
"So this is the Rumble-Rumble Fruit."
"Just like every Devil Fruit, it really does look pretty bizarre."
Arton took the Rumble-Rumble Fruit from Nojiko and gave a small sigh of amazement.
Then he turned to Nami, Raki, and the others.
"So? Any of you interested in eating the Rumble-Rumble Fruit?"
"It's still got a tiny bit of use left in it."
The moment he said that, every last one of them shook their heads without hesitation.
Come on—they already had templates. Why would they need a Devil Fruit now?
Seeing their reaction, Arton looked a little puzzled.
"The ones who already have templates are one thing," he said.
"But the rest of you—the ones who don't have templates yet—you really don't want a Logia?"
As he spoke, his gaze settled in particular on Raki.
Chapter 609: Raki Says She Doesn't Want to Eat the Rumble-Rumble Fruit
Gion: "So Arton really is planning to give that Logia Rumble-Rumble Fruit to one of his crewmates?"
Doll: "It may not compare to some of the stronger templates, but the ability to turn elemental still makes it better than plenty of ordinary templates."
Kujaku: "If Raki really gets that fruit and starts using it against Marines who can't use Haki, that's going to be even more troublesome."
Watching Arton through their diary copies, the female Marines could only sigh in frustration—and envy.
The frustration came from the fact that Arton's pirate crew might be about to gain another dangerous member.
The envy, of course, came from the possibility that Raki might get the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
After all, that fruit was top-tier—good enough to stand beside the powers of monsters like Sakazuki, Borsalino, and Kuzan without shame.
If someone in the Marines got a fruit like that—and if that Marine happened to have talent on the level of Sakazuki—then the Marines might very well produce another admiral-class monster.
Of course, Gion, Doll, and the others could only think about that kind of thing.
There was no world where Arton would hand the Rumble-Rumble Fruit over to them.
"This thing is way too valuable. How could I possibly accept it?"
Raki hurriedly waved both hands at Arton.
It wasn't a template, sure, but it was still an incredibly powerful treasure.
Just from the fact that Enel had been able to rule Skypiea with the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit alone, anyone could tell how ridiculous it was, and right now, there were still plenty of people in Arton's crew who hadn't had a chance to receive a treasure from him yet.
For a newcomer like her—someone who had only just joined—to receive the Rumble-Rumble Fruit now…
Raki honestly felt too embarrassed to accept it.
"What's the big deal? This thing isn't worth much to us."
"Though Nami does look like she'd really love to sell it for cash."
Arton laughed and glanced over at Nami.
"Well, it is a Logia Devil Fruit," Nami said with a grin. "Just thinking about it is enough to know how amazing it is."
Then she continued, "But I also know selling it to someone else could cause us trouble."
"If the Marines got their hands on it, they might end up raising a very strong enemy."
"So yeah, I think we should keep it for one of our own."
Hearing that, Nojiko nodded in agreement.
"Right now, everyone in our crew is either already a Devil Fruit user or already has a template."
"Raki, on the other hand, doesn't have a Devil Fruit or a template."
"So if you need it, you can accept the captain's kindness."
The other Flameblade Pirates present all nodded too. Clearly, none of them had any problem with Arton wanting to give the fruit to Raki, but faced with everyone's goodwill, Raki looked even more awkward.
"What is it, Raki?"
"Don't tell me it's because this came out of Enel…"
"So you just don't want to eat this Devil Fruit?"
Arton asked curiously.
"As expected of Captain Arton—you saw right through me."
Raki let out a soft sigh and said quietly:
"You might not know this, Captain, but Enel used his lightning power to torment the Shandians over and over again."
"To be honest, when it comes to this Devil Fruit that came out of him… I just can't feel comfortable about eating it."