Chapter 77 – Black Maria’s plan

On the other side...

Wano Country.

[Ulti: Why do I feel like it would be Kaido-san who starts a war with the Navy, Black Maria, what do you think?]

[Black Maria: With the captain's personality, if there's a war of that level, he definitely won't miss it. After all, he has always been trying to end his own life.]

[Ginrummy: Then... what should we do?! We can't just sit around waiting for the war to start, can we?!]

[Black Maria: Of course not! There may already be other major powers who know about the war, and they might have already started setting out to find Arton. So, we can't just do nothing. If those people find Arton and gain power through him, we might end up at a great disadvantage in the upcoming war.]

Initially, Black Maria wasn't so eager to go looking for Arton. After all, getting Kaido's permission to leave Wano isn't easy. And the distance from the New World to the East Blue is indeed too far. Finding Arton is a very difficult task, given that the four seas and the first half of the Grand Line are under Navy control.

But now that she knows Kaido is likely to participate in the war, Black Maria can't care less. Knowing that Arton has the power to quickly strengthen others, she doesn't want to head into the war having almost not benefited from Arton's help.

[Ulti: But how should we go about finding Arton? If we don't have a good reason, Kaido-san won't allow us to go all the way to find him, right?]

[Ginrummy: Yeah, Black Maria-sama! And even if we find Arton, he might not be willing to follow us to Wano.]

[Black Maria: Let me answer your question first, Ulti. Indeed, without being able to inform Captain Kaido about the Diary, it is difficult for us to find a convincing reason to go to the East Blue to find Arton. However, that's if Arton isn't famous yet. Once he becomes somewhat known, our chance will come.]

[Ulti: Why is that?]

[Black Maria: Ulti, you mentioned before how Arton, Uta and Carina used a fusion technique that seemed like they were using a Mythical Zoan type Devil Fruit power, right?]

[Ulti: Yes, what about it?]

[Black Maria: Do you think, with Captain Kaido's interest in Zoan type Devil Fruit users, that he would ignore Arton?]

[Ulti: He would definitely be interested.]

[Black Maria: "Since the captain will care, he might want to bring Arton's crew into the Beasts Pirates. If he sees that both Carina and Uta appear to possess powers akin to Mythical Zoan Devil Fruits, he might be even more inclined to recruit Arton's crew. When the time comes, if we take the initiative, we might just get the chance to leave Wano to search for Arton."]

[Ginrummy: "If a pirate crew suddenly had three or more members with Mythical Zoan abilities, it would definitely catch the captain's attention."]

[Ulti: "Alright, assuming you're right. But Arton isn't famous yet, right? So that means we can't set sail yet, can we?"]

[Black Maria: "Indeed! But I don't think it will be long before Arton becomes well known across the seas. Before we get the chance to sail out, let's discuss how we can convince him to join us when we do meet Arton."]

[Ulti: "What's there to talk about? We should just knock him out and drag him back to the Beasts Pirates, just like we do with those who are captured for labor."]

[Black Maria: "That approach might not work on Arton."]

[Ulti: "Why wouldn't it work? Are you saying I'm weaker than Arton?"]

[Black Maria: "Ulti, I know you're strong, but Arton is special. Don't forget, with his system, he has the ability to breakthrough suddenly."]

[Ulti: "..."]

[Ginrummy: "Black Maria-san, how about I try to charm him like my character in the book?"]

[Black Maria: "Hehe, that's exactly what I was thinking, Ginrummy, Ulti, let's seriously consider our strategy."]

[Ulti: "What? You want me to do those things? Impossible, absolutely not! Why not just use some of the beautiful geishas in Wano to deal with Arton?"]

[Black Maria: "That's an excellent suggestion. Even though Arton's works don't feature those geishas, if we bring them before him, he would probably be very pleased, especially with Komurasaki."]

Black Maria raised her head to look out the window.

There, a luxurious palanquin was making its way down the street.

Black Maria knew that it carried Komurasaki, known as the most beautiful woman in Wano.

"This woman's beauty should be enough to captivate Arton."

As Black Maria pondered, a breeze lifted the curtain of the palanquin, briefly revealing Komurasaki's face.

"Is that... Arton's diary?" she exclaimed. "Komurasaki has one too?!"

Black Maria's eyes widened, and she stood up from her seat. At that moment, HIyori happened to look up in Black Maria's direction. The sight made her heart beat faster, just as Black Maria could see the diary in front of HIyori.

[Black Maria: I've encountered something here, we'll continue discussing the plan to invite Arton later.]

After leaving a message in the Beast Pirates' women's group chat, Black Maria gracefully walked towards HIyori's palanquin.

"The situation is getting more interesting," she mused.

The bearers stopped as Black Maria approached, but she ignored them and went straight to the side of the palanquin, saying through the window to Komurasaki, "Miss Komurasaki, don't you think we could have a private conversation?"

After speaking, Black Maria deliberately moved her diary in front of HIyori as if afraid she wouldn't see it.

HIyori's lips curved into a slight smile, and she responded, "Of course, Miss Black Maria."

With that, HIyori stepped out of the palanquin and walked with Black Maria to an empty room nearby.

***

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