Chapter 100 – Carina ran away

"No, I wasn't scared."

"In fact, I have my own ways of dealing with them."

"But when I reached that island, I suddenly remembered other important matters."

"So I left temporarily."

"Now that we're prepared, we're planning to go there again."

"Besides, I think meeting Shanks' daughter is quite a fortuitous encounter."

"At least, it's much better than my last meeting with that Straw Hat boy."

"As a man who once had a complicated past with Shanks, I feel it's necessary to share half the treasure with Uta."

Buggy patted his chest, speaking to Arton and the others with a grand gesture.

Despite his words, when it came to giving away half of the treasure, Buggy felt a subtle pain in his heart.

But he had no other choice.

After all, without Arton, those powerful beasts would make it impossible for him to get close to the island's treasure.

"You're quite generous, aren't you?"

"In that case, let's go, Arton."

Uta shook Arton's hand and smiled.

"Yes, yes, it'd be a pity to miss out on treasure."

"Don't you agree, Kaya?"

At this moment, Carina couldn't help but step forward, throwing her arms around Arton's chest.

Finally, she looked expectantly at Kaya, hoping she would persuade Arton as well.

She understood Arton well.

While Arton liked treasure, he didn't crave it as much as she and Nami did.

Arton's interest in treasure inversely correlated with the amount of money already on the Sylvan.

Arton was a man who felt satisfied with enough Berries for their needs.

As long as there was enough treasure on the Sylvan, he wasn't too keen on treasure hunting.

Unless the treasure had something particularly special.

For instance, a beautiful woman.

These were the patterns Carina had observed as a maid around Arton for some time.

"Arton-san, why don't we just go?"

Kaya raised her head and gave Arton a gentle smile.

As close friends, she couldn't bring herself to say the opposite of what Uta and Carina suggested.

"Since Uta, Carina, and Kaya all agree," Arton said with a shake of his head, looking at the delighted expressions of Buggy, Carina, and the others, "I guess I have no choice but to go."

"Great, Arton. I believe this time we'll have a bountiful harvest," Buggy exclaimed excitedly, activating the powers of his Bara Bara no Mi once again. His hands separated from his upper body and floated in the air.

"Don't get too excited yet, Buggy," Arton cautioned. "Before we go, I need you to tell me more about the beasts you encountered."

As Arton spoke, his expression grew serious. Understandably so, if the opponent could indeed be the Golden Lion Shiki, it was a matter that demanded his utmost attention, even if Shiki's strength might have waned over time.

Buggy nodded slightly, and together with Alvida, who was smiling once more after hearing Arton agree, began to detail their previous discoveries about the treasure location.

Arton listened intently, nodding occasionally. By the time Buggy and Alvida finished, Arton was almost certain that the place they had found was the very site where Shiki conducted his experiments on vicious animals.

In the original storyline, Shiki had hidden himself after escaping from Impel Down, conducting research to enhance the ferocity of animals, with the intention of using them to wreak havoc across the East Blue.

While Shiki could conduct his experiments on Skypiea, Arton had every reason to believe that he would have other locations to test the combat abilities of his enhanced animals. The place Buggy and Alvida discovered could very well be one of Shiki's testing grounds.

"In the original story, Shiki was defeated by Luffy, who hadn't even mastered Haki at that time," Arton thought to himself. "Although this could be attributed to plot armor in the movie, I believe I have the strength to take on Shiki now. Moreover, there's still some time before we reach our destination. Perhaps during this period, I can obtain even greater power through the diary system. Yes, I definitely need to confront the potential Golden Lion."

Arton pondered this deeply, then said aloud, "Alright, I've decided. You two head back to your ship for now."

"Then you can lead the way, and we will follow your ship to the destination," Arton said, making the final decision.

Upon hearing this, Buggy and Alvida exchanged polite words before quickly returning to their ship to prepare for the journey.

"Thank you, Arton," Carina immediately expressed her gratitude to Arton after Buggy and Alvida left.

"Is it just a verbal thank you, Carina?" Arton raised an eyebrow, looking at Carina meaningfully. "Can't you give me some more substantial thanks?"

"Substantial thanks?" Carina glanced at Uta and Kaya on either side of Arton and asked uncertainly, "Now?"

"I think now would be fine," Arton nodded slightly.

"Um... still... oh, right, I have more cannonballs to carry," Carina felt the intense gazes of Uta and Kaya on her and quickly turned and ran off to another area.

***

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