"Ace really did get shaken. Makino, you lost." Whitey Bay shook her head and looked at Makino.
"Mm, I lost." Makino let out a sigh as she spoke.
"So, you have to grant me one condition." Whitey Bay said.
"I have to grant you a condition?" Makino asked in confusion. "But you never mentioned anything like that before."
"Since we made a bet, of course there has to be a stake." Whitey Bay said with a smile. "Relax, I won't ask for anything you can't do."
"Alright then, since you're putting it that way."
Makino knew she couldn't win against Whitey Bay in this, so she could only sigh and nod to her.
"I'd already thought this through before. Even if Arton didn't write it in his diary… When Arton granted Signora's template back then, Robin and Ain must have been helping Arton with doing something lewd."
"They might even have done it together, since they were competing at the time. I'm thinking… why don't we serve Arton together in the future too?"
"For example, we could lick him together or something." Whitey Bay said.
"What?" Makino's eyes flew wide open.
"You don't know what I'm talking about?" Whitey Bay said playfully. "Come on, think about those doujins of his."
"I–I didn't mean it like that." Makino shook her head.
Yeah, right—she'd already seen those pieces Arton had drawn. Of course she understood what Whitey Bay meant.
"So that's it—you're just embarrassed." Whitey Bay patted Makino on the shoulder and said, "You don't have to be that shy. When you followed me out to sea, you should've steeled yourself for this already, right?"
Makino pressed her lips together and said, "T–That's true enough, but we don't have to go that far."
"Doing it together and all… that's just way too embarrassing."
Hearing that, Whitey Bay shrugged and said, "That can't be helped."
"Ain and Robin probably already teamed up on Arton. All that'll do is ratchet Arton's threshold for this kind of enjoyment higher and higher."
"If we don't push the limits a bit, we'll never be attractive enough to Arton. Makino, trust me—I can be your best partner."
As she said this, Whitey Bay lifted both hands and gave Makino's shoulders a firm smack.
Makino's face instantly turned the color of a red apple, and for a moment she didn't even know what to say.
Just then, she noticed new text appearing on her diary copy and hurriedly said to Whitey Bay, "Miss Whitey Bay, let's talk about what you said later."
"Look at this first—Arton's started writing in the diary again."
"What? He's started again?"
Sure enough, once Whitey Bay heard that, she immediately turned her gaze back.
"For real, Arton's writing again."
…
[Signora's ice might not be as powerful as her flames but one way or another, this ice of hers carries the Ice Empress's blessing.]
[The Ice Empress is a god on the same level as Raiden Ei, and any ice connected to her freezing the flames of a Flame-Flame Fruit is basically no big deal.]
[I just hope Robin can grow up faster. That way, she might be able to use this ice power to thoroughly humiliate Kuzan.]
[Mm, if a scene like that really happened, it'd be pretty fun to watch.]
Whitey Bay: "The Ice Empress's blessing? Signora's ice actually has a trait like that?"
Gion: "The Ice Empress is a god just like Raiden Shogun?!"
Kujaku: "Doesn't that mean Robin's potential is even greater?"
Smoothie: "As expected, Robin really did get an exceptionally good template."
Stussy: "Having Robin use her ice powers to humble Kuzan, huh… that does sound pretty amusing fufu."
Chapter 448 – Ace: I Really Don't Want to Take a Punch
Doll: "So Signora's template also carries traces of a god? That really is surprising."
Ulti: "Damn it, if only I could get a template like that. No—what I need is a template even stronger than Signora's template Robin got."
Yamato: "Even if it doesn't measure up to Raiden Shogun, this template is still crazy strong. It's way, way more powerful than the Mythical Zoan Fruit I ate."
Kalifa: "But even though, according to Arton, Signora's ice power comes from a god, he's also said that Signora's more impressive power is that scorching flame of hers."
Gion: "Right now, the ice Robin has shown is already enough to freeze Ace's flames. If she completely masters Signora's flames too, wouldn't she be able to suppress Kuzan's power with ease?"
Paula: "You're amazing, Miss All Sunday. Even if you only displayed that kind of power while in Fusion Mode with Arton, you're totally different from how you used to be."
Vivi: "So this is the power she gained in exchange for her resolve. If I showed my charm to Arton the way Robin did, would Arton mention my name more often in the diary copies too?"
Mikita: "Damn, it's kind of annoying letting Arton take advantage, but power that strong is just too tempting. Still, when you think about it, Arton's handsome and ridiculously strong. If he's just a little bit pervy, that's not really a big deal..."
Galette: "When it comes down to it, in this survival-of-the-fittest world, the strong just have more say when it comes to choosing partners—just like Mama."
…
"Nami, you can end it now."
After finishing his diary entry, Arton turned his head to look at Nami, who was standing near the edge of the Plane of Euthymia.
He could clearly see that Nami no longer had enough stamina to keep the Plane of Euthymia going.
If she pushed any further, the Plane might collapse outright and dump Nami into a weakened state.
"No problem." Nami nodded and smiled.
She had already been planning to withdraw the Plane of Euthymia. Now that even Arton had said so, she naturally had no reason to keep forcing herself.
As she put away the power of Raiden Ei's template, the entire space began to shift.
Before long, everyone realized they were back on the pirate ship where they had been originally.
Morgans watched this change with fascination and jotted it all down in the diary, already planning for future coverage.
Nami's name had already spread far and wide because of her battle with Mihawk. Plenty of big shots around the world were keeping an eye on Nami.
Now that Nami had revealed a power similar to the Unlimited Blade Works Arton had once shown, Morgans was sure that if he turned this into a news story…
It would absolutely pull in a massive wave of attention for him.
As for Ace, even though he was also amazed at the change in environment…
The result of the last fight had been so absurd that he still hadn't recovered. He just stood there blankly in front of that frozen fireball, seemingly trying to stir the flames inside.
"How's your body holding up?" Arton helped Robin over to sit down to the side and asked.
"I… I'm alright." Robin nodded as she spoke. "Thank you, Captain."
"As long as you're fine. Just remember to train properly from now on." Arton patted Robin on the shoulder, then turned and walked toward Ace. "Hey, are you still in a daze?"
"If you still don't believe you've already lost… I can always punch you once. That way you'll definitely know whether you're dreaming or not."
Arton said, lifting his fist toward Ace.
"Uh, let's not do that." Ace shook his head and continued. "That last move already drained a lot of my strength. I really don't want to take a punch from you."
You've got to be kidding—he'd already used up so much, while Arton clearly still had gas in the tank.
The last thing he wanted now was to take a punch from Arton. If it were a proper fight, that'd be one thing but taking a random punch for nothing? Yeah, no thanks.
"Good, as long as you understand." Arton chuckled, then raised his hand and tapped that ice sphere.
Under his overwhelming power, the ice ball was knocked clean off the ship and fell toward the sea a full kilometer away.
"Speaking of which, you're still planning to go after Blackbeard next, right, Ace?" Suddenly, Arton turned to ask Ace.
....
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