"Looks that way for now," Monet said with a resigned nod before continuing:
"Arton's diary never explicitly said he wants us to join his crew.
We're the Young Master's subordinates, so fundamentally we can't just become Arton's crewmates."
"Even if we wanted to board Arton's ship, he might not be willing to take us.
Viola, on the other hand—given how highly Arton speaks of her in his diary—has a pretty good chance of becoming his companion."
"If… and I stress if Viola does join Arton's crew, even if she doesn't get a character template from him or a pile of points, his strength alone poses a significant threat to us."
"Sugar, you saw it yourself—Hawkeye Mihawk lost to Arton."
"Sure, Arton only beat him by leveraging that "Blank Character Template" switching ability, but it still proves how terrifying Arton is."
"Remember that data on 'Emiya Alter' Arton posted?"
"The version of Unlimited Blade Works that detonates inside an enemy's body… it's too frightening to ignore."
"Even if the Young Master could defend against it, he'd still be injured. And Arton has only been in our world for, what, under a month?"
"He's already so powerful. I don't even want to imagine how strong he'll be by the time his ship arrives at Dressrosa."
"So, although Viola's plan is right out in the open, we've no choice but to go along with it."
Sugar shuddered at Monet's words, recalling Arton's battle with Mihawk. Even just watching through the screen had filled her with dread.
If Arton hadn't already known her face, she might have tried to sneak up on him and turn him into a toy who followed her orders. But the problem was—Arton did know what she looked like. He knew her ability. He'd even sketched out how she might appear if she weren't stuck in a child's form by the Hobby-Hobby Fruit.
Under those circumstances, Sugar figured that even with a disguise, it'd be tough to fool Arton. After all, Gion's recent failure was a cautionary tale.
Deep down, Sugar also feared that even if she managed to turn Arton into a toy, he might still use his character templates to break free of the Hobby-Hobby Fruit's curse.
"But… how do we keep the Young Master from punishing Viola's father, King Riku?"
"If he's dead set on it, we won't be able to stop him," Sugar asked, worry written all over her face.
"Viola's got a plan for that, too," Monet replied, waving the letter in her hand before continuing.
"She wants us to tell the Young Master that Arton is her man. Maybe knowing Arton is the one who defeated Shiki will make him spare King Riku."
"She even added a note—Arton beat Mihawk, too—clearly something she only found out recently."
Sugar's eyes went round as saucers; she never would've guessed Viola would write such a thing in her letter.
"But the Young Master might not believe it," Sugar said hesitantly.
"Maybe not," Monet admitted. "But if I tell him that back when I was undercover near King Riku, I heard Viola mention Arton, then it changes the situation."
Sugar's jaw dropped.
"You… you can do that?!"
Monet fell silent for a moment, apparently thinking something through.
"Perhaps I can tweak the story a bit," she said. "Sugar, what if I tell the Young Master that I met Arton back when King Riku was still in power, when I was undercover here?"
"That I established some sort of relationship with Arton, and he might be open to working with us."
"Do you think the Young Master would let me leave temporarily to go look for him?"
Sugar blinked, looking confused and alarmed.
"Sis, you plan to set sail in search of Arton?"
Monet nodded heavily. "Viola said that if we can keep King Riku alive, then even if she brings Arton here to Dressrosa later, they won't really kill us."
"But that doesn't put my mind at ease. Since she's gone off to find Arton, there's no reason I can't do the same. Maybe—just maybe—I can beat her to him."
"As you know, Vergo is an undercover Marine at Headquarters. Through him, the Young Master might learn the potential value of collaborating with Arton. And there's another point I can't get off my mind: in Arton's diary, he mentioned he might end up in Impel Down."
"If I can't figure out why, I won't sleep well. Perhaps if I show up in front of Arton, he'll give me the details about why the Young Master is supposedly going to be locked up there."
She remained quiet for a moment, feeling rather conflicted. In truth, she had no desire to use herself as bait to find Arton, nor did she have any plan for exactly how to broker a deal between Doflamingo and Arton once she found him. But Viola's sudden departure forced her hand. At the very least, she had to keep Viola from finding Arton first.
Sugar said nothing for a good while. Though her body was frozen in a child's form by her Devil Fruit, her mind was sharp. She understood that in these circumstances, someone had to either stop Viola or go after Arton themselves. So she couldn't really object to Monet's idea.
Monet opened her copy of the diary. Staring at the ongoing, five-plus-minute-long recording of Uta's singing and dancing, she instinctively calculated how many points Uta was racking up.
"Soon, the Seven Warlords' positions will undergo a major reshuffle," she said quietly. "And the Young Master is definitely going to be one of those affected. One way or another, the time has come when we can't just sit by and do nothing."
Taking a deep breath, she opened the 'book' Arton had drawn featuring Monet. The pages were so explicit they could make any woman blush, and Monet remained silent once more.