Carina felt relieved now that Arton had turned off the video recording function. She could safely ask him about their next destination. As for Tashigi and Hina, with the Flameblade Pirates keeping an eye on them, Carina wasn't worried they could leak information about where the crew was headed next. She was even less concerned about Tashigi, considering how things seemed to be unfolding. Tashigi joining the Flameblade Pirates looked like a done deal, so the one they really had to keep an eye on was Hina.
"We'll bring Hina along for the time being. Carina, I'm leaving her in your care," Arton said.
"As for our next port of call, we'll head to Loguetown—the place where the Pirate King was executed."
Arton spared a glance at Hina, then turned to the corpse of the World Noble.
"He may be dead, but there's no way I'm letting it end here."
"The Navy refuses to put a bounty on my head, right? Well, how about I hang this dead World Noble from the same scaffold where Roger was executed and see if that changes their mind?"
"Hmm… maybe I'll leave a sign next to the body too, something like, I'm still after that other female World Noble."
"Hehe, that way the looks on their faces will be even more spectacular. Although, that woman herself likely won't be worried—she'll just be furious."
A faint smile tugged at Arton's lips as he spoke.
"Y-yeah… the Navy and the World Government will definitely be shocked…"
Carina wiped a little sweat from her brow.
Killing a World Noble and then prominently displaying his corpse in Loguetown, right where the Pirate King was executed—well, that was practically a declaration of war on the Navy and the World Government. Carina understood that after this, not only would Arton receive a large bounty, but the Government would also dispatch powerful forces after the Flameblade Pirates.
'It'd be best if Captain Arton doesn't go giving away our location or next destination too casually in his Diary…'
'Otherwise, the female Marines who hold Diary Copies might track us down.'
Carina kept that thought to herself.
"Kaya, use your medical skills to keep the World Noble's body from rotting before we reach Loguetown," Arton said, then glanced back at Tashigi and Hina.
"As for these two, I'll leave them to you, Carina. We've been busy long enough—I need to rest."
Arton rubbed his neck and turned to head for the cabin. He was confident that with Carina's wit, she could handle Tashigi and Hina without needing further input from him.
"If you're going to rest, let me sing you a lullaby, Arton," Uta offered, preparing to follow him.
But Carina suddenly laid a hand on Uta's shoulder.
"Hold on, Uta. Arton's going to rest, but you can't skip out on giving Tashigi a welcome ceremony, right?"
She winked, and Uta immediately understood that Carina had something to discuss.
"Fine… I'll catch up with you later, Arton," Uta said, waving goodbye as Arton vanished into the cabin.
"Now, let's deal with you first, Miss Tashigi," Carina said with a smile. "You say you want to join us, correct? In that case, you must understand what you need to do."
Carina narrowed her eyes and pointed at the Diary Copy floating in front of Tashigi.
"Yes, I do," Tashigi replied.
Without waiting for further explanation, she opened her Friend List right in front of Carina and the others. After getting Carina's approval, she posted one last message in the Navy group chat, then deleted every female Marine from her friend list and exited the Women's Marine Chat group entirely. During this time, Carina and the others got a clearer picture of exactly which Marines held Diary Copies.
"Tashigi, you…"
Hina stared at the notification from her own Diary Copy, dumbfounded.
"Perfect. If you've joined us, it's only natural to change friends," Carina said, satisfied by Tashigi's decisive action. "Next, you'll join our little group chat."
With that, Carina invited Tashigi to the Flameblade Pirates' group.
"As for Miss Hina… we know you won't side with us. To ensure you don't leak our next destination, we'll have you take a nice nap for a while. Kaya, if you please."
Kaya produced a syringe from somewhere and injected Hina's arm. The sedative took hold, and Hina's eyes rolled back as she collapsed.
"Don't worry, it's only a sleeping agent," Kaya explained, noticing Tashigi's concerned stare. "We're aware of your connection to her, and since you're one of us now, we won't harm her. She'll stay asleep until Captain Arton decides to let her go."
"Thank goodness…" Tashigi breathed in relief.
"Alright, everyone, let's talk this over," Carina said. "With the World Noble's death, we're going to have plenty of trouble headed our way. Sure, Arton doesn't mind, but that's because he doesn't know about the Diary Copies. It's up to us, who do know, to help him cope with the fallout."
"Let's head to Kaya's infirmary and go over everything. We can deal with the World Noble's body in there, too."
Shouldering the corpse, Carina strode toward the cabin, with Nami, Uta, Tashigi, and the others following behind.
…
In the Women's Marine Chat Group.
[Sadi: This is really bad. That Arton guy actually killed a World Noble. There's no way we can get him to side with the Marines now. Even if we wanted to hide it, we couldn't.]
[Domino: Yeah. The World Government's intelligence is too good; it's only a matter of time before they find out. It's not a question of if, but when.]
[Ain: Not to mention, there might be Diary Copy holders in the World Government as well. They're probably already reporting the World Noble's death. Gion, can you think of any way out of this?]
[Gion: …]
[Ain: Looks like even you've got no plan right now. It's no surprise, though. A World Noble is a World Noble—if one even gets slapped, an Admiral shows up; now one's been killed outright. Who knows how Fleet Admiral Sengoku will react.]
[Hibari: Um, what about Miss Hina and Miss Tashigi? They've been taken prisoner. Plus, Tashigi stabbed the World Noble. What do we do now?]
[Ain: Hina's fate depends on Arton's mood. As for Tashigi… well, you all saw. She's probably one of the Flameblade Pirates by now.]
[Gion: Enough, Ain! Let's pretend we didn't see anything about Tashigi. After all, she's not the one who actually did the killing.]
[Ain: My, you really care about your subordinates, Vice Admiral Gion. But even if we try to ignore it, how does that help? @Tashigi, @Hina, can you respond at all?]
[Gion: They're both being watched by Arton's crew. They won't get a chance. In any case, we're all Diary Copy holders. We should cooperate. We can't reveal Tashigi's situation. The World Government itself has darkness in it, so is it really such a big deal to hide a few things here and there?]
[Ain: So you don't like Imu's existence, either, Vice Admiral Gion. I'd bet Tashigi striking the World Noble was also because of what she learned about Imu.]
[Tashigi: I'm sorry, everyone. I just can't be a Marine anymore. The screams of those villagers who died because of me keep haunting me. And after discovering Imu—someone who shouldn't exist, yet rules the World Government—I've begun to doubt the justice I can uphold in the Marines. It's time I looked for a new path.]
[Gion: Tashigi, you—]
[Tashigi has left the group Women's Marine Chat Group.]
[Hibari: Wh-what?!]
[Doll: Sigh…]
[Ain: Looks like someone was bound to leave first, anyway. I wonder if others will follow.]
[Gion: That's enough, Ain.]
[Ain: Yes, yes, I understand.]
…
Aboard the Sylvan, Inside Carina's Room.
"Now, Carina," Nami said from her seat on Carina's bed, arms folded. "Why'd you call us here?"
Everyone else looked to Carina, who sat by her desk.
"I don't need to tell you how the death of the World Noble—and hanging his corpse on the Pirate King's scaffold—will draw powerful enemies to us," Carina began. "Arton is strong, and we'll keep getting stronger ourselves, but neither he nor we have reached our full potential yet. We're not invincible."
"What's more, we know there are Diary Copy holders within the Navy and possibly the World Government. If Arton accidentally reveals our location, or where we're headed next, we could be in serious danger."
"To avoid these problems, we need a plan. At the very least, we need to make sure Arton either shares less—or ideally doesn't share at all—about our location in the Diary, to keep trouble from piling up."
Carina stopped speaking for a moment, letting her words sink in. Everyone listened intently, fully grasping the severity of the situation.
...
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