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For the current sea, every time the Flameblade Pirates gained a new crewmember, it was enough to draw the attention of a lot of interested parties.
After all, the Flameblade Pirates had already made a name for themselves on the seas.
And practically every member of the crew had displayed incredibly powerful Devil Fruit abilities.
Those powers that looked like Mythical Zoan-type abilities were something even the big-name pirates of this sea cared a great deal about.
Morgans had gotten word that, in particular, one of the Four Emperors, Kaido, was extremely fixated on this trait of the Flameblade Pirates.
There were even rumors that Kaido had already sent one of his most trusted lieutenants to invite Arton and his companions.
If not for the lack of time, Morgans had actually planned to go verify this rumor himself.
In short, Arton had indeed managed to make the big shots of this sea pay attention to every single one of the Flameblade Pirates' crew members.
Whether it was the Marines, the World Government, or other pirates.
Now that Robin had become a member of the Flameblade Pirates, all those interested parties would definitely be wondering whether Arton was going to grant her some powerful Devil Fruit ability as well.
If Morgans could publish a piece explaining Robin's new powers before she showed them to the world herself… He was certain that the sales of his next issue would absolutely smash his usual numbers.
Thinking about that, Morgans licked his beak.
He had to admit—he was tempted.
Arton had been watching Morgans this whole time; one glance was enough for him to see right through the bird's intentions.
As expected, you really have to stay on your guard with Morgans… Arton thought to himself.
This was the kind of guy who would even dare to screw over the World Government if it meant getting a huge scoop.
Arton was sure that, if his side didn't still hold massive news value for Morgans, the bird would never have agreed to the conditions from earlier.
Maybe I should have Robin hold back a little, Arton thought as he turned to look at her, opening his diary's video recording function at the same time.
Since this was Robin's first time showing off her new power, he definitely wanted it recorded in his diary.
[Doll: "Arton finally turned his diary back on. Is he going to show Robin's ability? I wonder how far she can push Signora's power…"]
Without question, Signora's power was strong. Even if it wasn't quite on the same level as Raiden Ei's, it was still more than enough to make people in this pirate world tremble.
And Robin's traits overlapped with Signora's template in far too many places.
That made Doll, as a Marine, a bit uneasy.
After all, Robin had intense hatred for the Marines and the World Government.
[Kujaku: "Is that Fire Fist Ace? Is Robin going to fight him?"]
[Gion: "It should just be a spar." ]
[Whitey Bay: "Uh… I do want to see Robin's new ability, but having Ace act as her opponent… isn't that kind of rough on him?" ]
Yes, Ace was powerful. But the power Signora had shown earlier had left too deep of an impression on Whitey Bay.
If she had any say in the matter, she wouldn't want anyone she cared about facing off against one of Arton's crewmates—even if it was just a practice bout.
That said, whatever was happening on the Flameblade Pirates' ship was not going to change just because of Whitey Bay's feelings.
"Ace, shall we begin?" Robin took a deep breath and spoke to Ace.
By habit, she started to raise both hands in front of her chest, preparing to use the familiar pose for her Hana Hana no Mi.
But halfway up, she let her arms fall back down.
Right now, her goal was to practice the power granted by Signora's template—this wasn't the time to be using the Flower-Flower Fruit in combat.
Besides, Ace was the user of the Flame-Flame Fruit.
As a Logia user, he wasn't someone Robin—who still didn't know how to use Haki—felt she could handle with just the Hana Hana no Mi.
Chapter 434: Robin's Compatibility Shocks Everyone
"Alright, since we've talked this far… Then let's fight and see how it goes." Ace spoke to Robin. "But I'll say this first—I don't want to hurt you. If you feel like it's enough at any point, you can call it off. Any time you want."
Since she was Uta's companion, Ace naturally didn't want to seriously injure Robin.
"Thank you, but… I feel like I'm pretty strong right now. Hurting me won't be that easy."
The corners of Robin's lips lifted as she stepped forward. Frost bloomed from where her foot landed and then surged up, wrapping around her entire body.
"What?" Ace stared blankly at the scene in front of him.
"Ice? That's not the same as the ability intel lists for Robin. So she has already been given a stronger power?" Morgans swallowed hard, glanced at Nojiko, then at the ever-unbothered Arton.
Crack!
The ice encasing Robin shattered.
The Robin who appeared again in front of everyone had once more undergone a drastic change in appearance.
Her once jet-black hair had turned golden, and the desert-style outfit she'd been wearing was now a classic mature Western-style dress—the exact same kind Signora wore.
[No surprise it's Robin—she actually drove Signora's template at one hundred percent right off the bat.]
[As expected, she really is incredibly compatible with Signora's template.]
[Looks like we might be in for quite a show.]
[Hmm… that said, Ace is the Second Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. He shouldn't go so far as to actually lose to Robin, right?]
[If he does lose, does that mean I've basically picked up a treasure for free?]
Arton rapidly jotted down his impressions in the diary while staring straight at Robin in her fused-Lady state.
He had to admit, Robin right now was stunningly beautiful. The ice and snow swirling around her only added a regal, ice-queen elegance to her presence.
Robin had already been very beautiful to begin with, and now that she'd merged with Signora's aura, Arton could only find her even more captivating.
Just thinking about Robin, in her Lady-fused form, crouching under his desk to serve him made Arton feel a thrill of excitement.
And if she really managed to master Signora's power over flames as well… Then he'd finally get to experience what it truly meant to feel "frozen and burning" at the same time.
Of course, beyond that, if Robin could actually beat Ace right now—that would only prove that the Flameblade Pirates had gained yet another powerhouse.
If that really happened, it wouldn't just mean he'd picked up a treasure—he'd have picked up a huge treasure.
At the side, Ain glanced at the newly appearing diary text, then at Arton's face, and let out a long sigh.
Even as the one who had competed with Robin for Signora's template, she couldn't help but concede defeat in her heart.
At the very least, she herself wasn't confident she could push Signora's template to this extent in such a short time after acquiring it.
I just hope there'll be a template that suits me in the future…Only by gaining more power will I be able to help Teacher Zephyr later on.
Right, besides templates, I also need to find ways to make Arton write my name, put my pictures, and record videos of me in his diary as much as possible.
Only by earning enough points that way can I obtain more strength.
Ain resolved silently in her heart.
At the same time, Gion, Doll, Smoothie, and the other diary copy holders scattered across the sea were equally shocked by Robin's performance.
More than a few people almost had their jaws hit the floor.
Especially those who hadn't thought much of Robin before—seeing her shine this brightly now filled their hearts with complicated emotions.
After all, even among diary copy holders who considered themselves chosen geniuses, not many could say with confidence that, on the very first day of receiving a character template, they could already trigger full template fusion mode the way Robin just had.
Some of them had already realized that even if Robin wasn't strong yet, as long as she was given enough time, she might truly become one of Arton's right-hand figures.
In terms of raw strength, and in terms of strategy and planning.
At the end of the day, what made Robin stand out even more than her power was her intellect.
At least, that had been the case back when she hadn't yet received the Genshin Lady template from Arton.
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