"Sorry, Conis," Arton said, looking over at her with genuine guilt. "If you're angry, just say so. I can take Raki and Uta back to my ship right now."
Uta's first time could still be written off as an accident, but this time—with Raki—Arton honestly couldn't even come up with a good excuse to give Conis.
If this happened, it was because he'd been careless.
But it also wasn't like it came out of nowhere.
After all, as someone who knew the One Piece plot inside and out, he also knew what kind of person Raki was.
Arton was sure Raki wasn't the type to harm him—she wasn't going to become an enemy of the Flameblade Pirates.
Add in his trust in Uta…
All those reasons stacked up, and he'd ended up not stopping them in time—until Raki had already taken his sword from Uta's hands.
"N-no, it's okay, Arton-san," Conis said quickly, shaking her head. "It's my room… you can use it however you want."
As she spoke, she stole a shy glance toward the bed—like she was saying that even that was fine too.
Arton's eyes widened a little despite himself.
"…Is it just me, or are you acting kind of off too, Conis?" he asked, half-suspicious now. "You don't happen to have something you want to ask me for as well, do you—"
He broke off with a soft inhale, voice catching.
"Mm—Raki, you've got a strong mouth. Yeah, right there… that part really does need some proper maintenance."
Hearing Arton say that, Raki's whole body practically lit up with excitement.
If he could say something like that so naturally, then he'd accepted her—at least to some extent.
In an instant, she felt strength flood back into her limbs.
"Ahem—sorry. I spaced out for a second," Arton coughed, forcing himself back on track as he looked at Conis again. "Conis. Tell me—do you also have something you want to ask me for?"
After Raki's example, plus Conis's bizarrely calm reaction, Arton would've had to be blind not to notice something was up.
"A-actually… I'm the same as Raki," Conis blurted, taking a deep breath and dumping everything out in one rush. "I-I also want you to help me… help everyone."
"As long as you can help… I'll do anything. Even… even if it means leaving with you—sailing out to sea."
The moment she finished, Conis's legs went weak and she sank to her knees on the floor, like saying that much had drained her completely.
Thankfully, Uta had already taken the two bowls of pumpkin noodles earlier—otherwise Conis might've dropped and shattered them right there.
"…So it is like that," Arton muttered, eyes narrowing. "Now I'm starting to wonder if someone on my crew is pulling strings."
His gaze slid straight to Uta—because honestly, with Uta's personality, she was suspicious as hell.
"Ahem. Don't look at me like that," Uta said, clearing her throat. "I'm doing this for your own good."
Then she puffed her chest out proudly.
"Be grateful, Captain. I'm not like Carina and Nami—I never wanted to keep you all to myself."
"In fact, because I know exactly what you like, I'm even willing to help you expand the Flameblade Pirates' crew."
"So?" Uta grinned smugly. "See? I really am the best, aren't I?"
"…Wow. Thank you so much," Arton said dryly, shaking his head.
Then he turned his attention back to Conis.
"So," he asked, voice gentler now, "have you really thought this through, Conis? If you come with me… that means you'll be leaving your home for a long time."
Chapter 550: Should Do a Stress Test
Conis was willing to join the Flameblade Pirates.
Naturally, Arton was thrilled about that.
After all, he'd wanted to invite Conis into the Flameblade Pirates from the start—and have her receive Serval's template.
If she got Serval's template right now, Arton even wanted to see whether Conis might be able to use it to spar with Enel a little.
Even though Enel was a Logia Devil Fruit user—able to turn his whole body into lightning to move and fight—Serval's lightning was driven by her Path.
Even if Serval couldn't achieve true elementalization, Arton still believed the lightning produced by a Path would be stronger than the lightning produced by a Devil Fruit.
Of course, that was just Arton's own thinking.
If possible, he really wanted to see two different kinds of power clash right in front of him—so he could personally witness which one was superior.
"I'm willing, Arton-san," Conis said.
"To be honest, after hearing Uta-san and the others describe the Blue Sea…"
"I'm also really curious about the scenery outside. If possible, I want to go out there and see it."
"Me too," Raki said, licking the sword blade as she spoke to Arton.
"…Alright. I believe you," Arton nodded.
He did believe what they were saying.
Sure, Sky Island was wondrous, but the Blue Sea was vast beyond comparison—full of fresh experiences and breathtaking scenery that absolutely dwarfed what Sky Island had to offer.
If Raki and Conis had heard about all that from Uta and the others, then yeah—it made sense they'd start wanting to see the outside world.
"Alright, since you've both gone this far…"
"I can't exactly refuse."
"I agree to your proposal. After we finish things on Sky Island, I'll take you with us when we leave."
"Great!" Conis leapt up excitedly.
Raki looked like she wanted to jump too, but after glancing at the sword she was holding with both hands, she decided to use her actions to show Arton how happy she was instead.
Which led to Arton looking at her and feeling like she was about to peel an entire layer off the blade's skin.
"Alright, alright—stop the maintenance there," Arton said, patting Raki on the head.
"Let's talk business."
Since Conis had clearly expressed her desire to join his crew, and since Arton also wanted to see Conis use Serval's template to trade a few moves with Enel—then it was better to hand the template over to Conis as soon as possible.
The earlier he gave it to her, the sooner he could start guiding her on how to use the template's power.
Conis was, after all, just an ordinary person, and she only matched three attributes that corresponded to Serval's template.
If he wanted Conis to use Serval's template smoothly and flexibly, Arton figured he'd probably have to spend some time teaching her.
"Alright… since Arton is saying that…" Raki said, clearly eager to see what would happen next, and she hurriedly set down the "weapon" Uta had handed her earlier.
But just then, Uta stepped forward, placing both hands on either side of her chest.
"Don't rush, Arton~"
"After you do maintenance, you've gotta run a stress test, right?"
"Come on—there are top-tier tools right here. Don't you want to do a nice pressure test?" Uta asked.