Chapter 643 - 892 – At Least This Way, I Can Say I Spoke to Him

For the Flame Blade Pirates, encountering Zephyr was not something as simple as Arton having already met him.

Even Raki had spoken directly with Zephyr.

If Gion and Kujaku knew that, they would probably be utterly speechless.

But there was nothing to be done about it. Zephyr did not have a copy of the Sea Diary, and Arton had not recorded the matter of treating the people from Sky Island as companions in his diary either. Naturally, Zephyr had no way of knowing the truth.

To Zephyr, Raki was simply an ordinary Sky Islander.

After seeing Raki, he had probably only felt a little curious before quickly putting the matter out of his mind. After all, finding Arton and rescuing Ain was the most important thing to the current Zephyr.

If Ain learned about this, both Gion and Zephyr would probably feel somewhat conflicted.

Ain had actually gone out of her way to avoid Zephyr after spotting him from a distance.

Because of her previous actions, Ain had even gone to Arton afterward and let him vent properly in order to show her remorse.

What Arton had done to her could, in a sense, also be considered punishment.

Even though it was punishment, Ain felt it had actually been rather enjoyable.

There was no helping it. Some things between a man and a woman truly could be pleasurable.

"So, are we definitely going to Water 7 to take a look, Gion-nee?"

Kujaku took a deep breath and pressed down the strange thoughts swirling through her mind, her face slightly flushed as she looked at Gion in front of her.

"We really should go."

Gion nodded. "We don't know where we ought to be heading right now anyway. If Arton truly is in Water 7, I think Zephyr-sensei should be able to find him."

She was completely unaware of Kujaku's unusual state and was calmly analyzing the best way to locate Arton.

After thinking it over, going to Water 7 really did seem necessary.

Water 7 had its own methods of gathering information. If Arton truly headed there, Gion believed Zephyr would definitely be able to discover him.

However, she also knew what Zephyr was like. If he genuinely found Arton, there was a good chance the two of them would end up in a vicious battle.

That was not something Gion wanted to see.

If Zephyr fought Arton, not only would he be unable to keep Arton there, but with Zephyr's current strength, he was simply no match for Arton.

Worse still, it might deepen Arton's resentment toward the Marines.

Now that she thought about it, both Gion and Kujaku still intended to approach Arton in the future in hopes of establishing a certain degree of cooperation.

If Zephyr worsened Arton's impression of the Marines beforehand, the two of them might very well end up dragged into the fallout.

That was why Gion wanted to head for Water 7 no matter what.

She felt it would be best if she could discover Arton before Zephyr did.

That way, there would be a much greater chance of avoiding a fight while also allowing her and Arton to establish contact.

With luck, doing it this way might even make it easier for Arton to accept us as companions.

Gion had already thought it through. Once she met Arton, she would find some excuse to get rid of her clothes right in front of him. Perhaps that would be enough to satisfy him through simple visual stimulation.

Then, after showing him that side of herself, she could use the opportunity to have a proper conversation with Arton.

Gion even felt that simply communicating with Arton while returning to the state of nature might not be a bad idea.

At the very least, that way, it could still count as finally getting to talk to him.

If Arton knew what Gion was thinking right now, he would probably be utterly exasperated—and amazed that she had such a vivid imagination.

At the same time, he would be more than willing to have a proper conversation with her.

After all, Arton was quite fond of the characters he had used as models in his derivative works. If possible, he naturally wanted to get along well with the characters he had created those works around.

Unfortunately, the two sides belonged to different camps.

Of course, Arton would only be willing to talk with Gion if he knew what she was truly thinking and could be certain that her intentions were genuine. Without any way to verify that, he most likely would not want to make contact with her.

After all, Arton did not want to kill a character he himself had created derivative works about, yet he had no way to trust Gion either. Under those circumstances, his only option was to avoid her.

The same applied to Kujaku.

Truthfully, Arton genuinely liked a cute yet mature girl like Kujaku. If Kujaku had been the one he encountered first, the two of them might actually have been able to sit down and talk things out properly.

That was not to say Kujaku was necessarily more attractive to Arton than Gion. It had more to do with their respective strength.

As everyone knew, Gion was a candidate for Marine Admiral. Although she was not actually an Admiral, the fact that she had been considered for the position already proved she was an exceptionally powerful Marine.

If Arton came face-to-face with someone that strong, it would naturally be much easier for him to remain on guard.

For his own safety, Arton would choose the more extreme option and simply take Gion down immediately.

Things would be different with Kujaku, who was considerably weaker than Gion.

More generally, if the first female Marine Arton encountered had been someone other than Gion—such as Kujaku or Doll—he probably would have had a chance to communicate with them.

Unfortunately, Gion had been the one who found him.

If Gion knew about all of this, she would probably regret it quite a bit. Had she understood Arton's situation back then, she might have chosen to stay by his side for a while after finding him and then notify the other female Marines to come over.

Then those female Marines who possessed copies of the Sea Diary could have used a honey trap on Arton.

Under those circumstances, perhaps Arton really would have been persuaded to stay and eventually join the Marines.

Of course, Gion had now come up with a similar plan in hopes of getting Arton to join them.

"All right, let's head for Water 7 now."

"Should we notify the others?"

Kujaku asked.

Gion shook her head. "Let's ask around a little first. If there are any female Marines nearby, we can have them come over. If they're too far away, then forget it. Even if they rushed here, it wouldn't accomplish anything."

There was no point calling people over from too far away.

Besides, they did not even know for certain that Arton was in Water 7.

He might already be somewhere else by now.

Gion felt that talking with a few of the other female Marines through the group chat first would be the better option.

"All right. I'll go chat with the others in the group and ask what the situation is on their side."

Kujaku acted immediately, opening her Sea Diary System and finding the chat group.

Meanwhile, the others' discussion about Kalifa still had not come to an end.

...

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