"Robin, I'm giving you Signora's power. I hope you can make good use of her strength and not let me down."
After thinking it over, Arton ultimately decided to hand the card carrying Signora's power to Robin.
"Thank you, Captain."
Robin accepted the template, excited, and fused it into her body without the slightest hesitation.
Right after, a layer of flame and a layer of ice wrapped all around her.
A short while later, once Robin had fully merged with the power and the ice and fire around her had dispersed…
Arton and the many diary copy holders were shocked to find that Robin's skin, which had originally been a deep bronze, had turned remarkably fair—just like Signora's.
"Interesting. This is pretty similar to what happened with Kaya back then." Arton propped his chin on one hand, looking Robin over with great interest.
Back then, when Kaya obtained Tsunade's template, her bust had suddenly jumped up a whole size.
Now it was the same with Robin—right after obtaining a template, her body had already undergone a change.
"Does Captain prefer the fair-skinned version of me more?" Naturally, Robin had noticed the change in her body too. She lifted her head and asked Arton with a smile.
"If we're just talking about your looks, both the fair-skinned you and the bronzed you are very charming." Arton shrugged.
"In that case, if you ever feel like it, Captain, I can go get a tan~." Robin said with a laugh. "With this template, even if I darken again, I can probably go back to being fair pretty quickly."
Galette: "This woman actually treats a template like a beauty product?"
Nami: "Still… just getting a template and turning fairer on the spot is really tempting."
Uta: "If you ask me, Kaya's case was still better. Who cares about light or dark skin compared to bust size?"
Arton gave Robin a small nod, then turned to look at Ain. Right now, Ain was clearly disappointed over not getting Signora's template.
Seeing that, Arton walked over to her, rested both hands on her shoulders, and said, "Don't worry too much, Ain. I've already seen how sincere you are. The next time I obtain someone else's power and if that power happens to suit you… I'll consider you first and let you have it. That's my promise."
Since Ain had already gone that far, and had more or less proven her loyalty, Arton didn't mind treating her as a crewmate and preparing a template for her that could grant great strength.
"I understand, Arton." Ain nodded.
Even though she hadn't directly received Arton's template, having her recognized by Arton still filled her with joy.
At the very least, this way she now had a real chance of fulfilling her wish to save Teacher Zephyr.
Just as she was wondering whether she should seize the moment to keep using her charms to please Arton a bit more and deepen their relationship, Arton had already finished getting ready to head out.
He quickly strode to the door, turned back to Ain and Robin, and said, "Come on, let's go."
"Now, I think it's about time I reintroduced you to the members of the Flameblade Pirates. And, Robin, you'll also need a place to properly get used to your new power."
Robin naturally didn't refuse Arton's suggestion. After accepting Signora's template, she could feel for herself that she needed to train seriously.
A template's power was like a Devil Fruit's—if she didn't put in the training, she'd never truly master it.
Seeing Robin step forward to follow Arton, Ain could only push down the thoughts in her heart for now and leave the room with the two of them, heading toward the ship's deck.
Chapter 430: Facing Judgment, Hina Feels a Little Uneasy
Kujaku: "Ain didn't get Signora's template in the end. Does the Marines still have any chance of keeping her?"
Doll: "This is trouble. Even though Ain didn't get a template right now, just looking at her expression, it's probably going to be very hard for her to turn back."
Hina: "Is Ain going to become the second one after Tashigi? Then what about Hina…? How is Hina supposed to face the future?"
Murmuring to herself, Hina let out a long sigh.
Because of a World Noble's death, she'd been arrested on charges of dereliction of duty and sent to Enies Lobby, even though her final trial still hadn't taken place yet.
But as a smart Marine, she didn't believe she'd receive a fair trial at Enies Lobby. Yes, she did have the support of Marines like Gion, Doll, Kujaku, and even Garp.
But even for them, it would be extremely difficult to overturn the World Government's methods.
So Hina was far from optimistic about where her future was headed. Without meaning to, she had even thought about joining Arton's crew, just like Tashigi.
But in the end, she still couldn't bring herself to completely let go of that Marine uniform.
"Sigh, there's no point thinking about all that now. Arton's tens of thousands of miles away from Hina." Hina sighed as she spoke. "Even if Hina wanted to join his crew, there's probably nothing Hina could do."
Ever since parting ways with Arton, Hina had, more than once, imagined what it would be like if she were on Arton's crew.
Would Arton act like those vicious pirates and prey on others? Probably not.
From the day he set sail until now, Arton hadn't really done anything evil.
The only bad thing he'd done was choosing to fight back when the Marines tried to capture him and taking revenge on the World Nobles.
But that had been forced on him—Arton was just striking back.
And from what Arton wrote in his diary, Hina could tell Arton wasn't the type who enjoyed doing evil.
In Arton's eyes, his diary should just be a private journal no one else could see.
Arton had no reason to lie in his own diary.
So, Arton absolutely was the person his diary described him to be—a man with kindness in his heart, who repays grudges tenfold, and who loves beautiful women.
Even as a pirate, he probably wouldn't turn into a monster.
At least, not toward ordinary civilians. If anything, whenever he had the ability to, Arton would likely help those people he came across who were in trouble.
Yes, Arton's help wasn't without cost. The people who received his aid usually had to give something in return.
Some of the girls in those works Arton created might even be expected to satisfy some of his desires.
…
But even so, Arton never forced anyone. At the end of the day, it was just a fair trade.
Hina even felt that those diary copy holders who were mired in suffering would gladly offer up their own bodies in exchange for Arton's help.
To say nothing of others—just taking Princess Vivi of the Grand Line as an example: if she had a diary copy, Hina felt there was a good chance she'd be willing to give Arton everything, for the sake of her kingdom and her father.
Thinking that far, Hina let out a deep sigh.
All she could hope for now was that the trial at Enies Lobby would at least allow her to remain in the Marines—even if it meant starting over from the very bottom as a raw recruit.
But even so, Hina knew that hope was very slim.
....
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