Baccarat muttered to herself, her gaze fixed on the story in her Diary Copy where she was the female lead.
"Bathing in a pool made of gold, then diving underwater to get close to Arton with my mouth… Too bad I'm a Devil Fruit user and can't re-enact the plot you created.
"But it's fine—so long as you give me a life of luxury, I'll fulfill whatever parts of your story I can manage."
"Or, if you find a way to negate my Devil Fruit's weakness, I'll make that underwater approach in a golden pool come true for you."
With that, Baccarat ran her scarlet tongue slowly across her lips.
"Still not quite flexible enough, huh? Hopefully Arton won't mind if I'm a bit unskilled at first."
She tapped the tip of her tongue lightly, murmuring under her breath.
…
Meanwhile, Arton's newest diary entries caught everyone's attention:
[Uta is getting cuter every time I look at her. She's definitely the kind of girl I'd want to marry and bring home.]
[Speaking of which, Red-Haired Shanks shouldn't have a problem with me and Uta tying the knot, right?]
[Hmm... Well, if he does have a problem, I'll just beat him into agreeing.]
[Then again, considering how much Shanks cares about Uta, if she insists on being with me, I doubt he'd object. Out of the four current Emperors, Shanks seems to be the one who cares most about his child.]
[Wait, Whitebeard also truly cares about his "sons." Shanks and Whitebeard are totally different from Big Mom and Kaido.]
[But even so, if I had to pick the worst parent, it has to be Big Mom. She's got the most kids but cares the least about them. In a way, that's kinda ironic.]
[Even Kaido strapping explosive chains on his daughter can't compare to Linlin, right?]
Smoothie, Pudding, and the others remained silent. Much as they hated to admit it, thinking of Big Mom's past behavior left them with no grounds to argue against Arton's words.
Meanwhile, Yamato, who was mentioned indirectly, felt a twinge of discontent.
"Ugh! How could he say Kaido is any better than Big Mom?!"
"If anyone's unfit to be a parent, it's Kaido!"
She glanced at the explosive shackles on her wrists, recalling the decade or two of torment she'd endured. A wave of bitterness rose in her chest.
Just then, as if Arton had heard her thoughts, his diary entries mentioned her again.
"Huh?! Big Mom can kill her own children without batting an eye?"
"Wow, so that's a thing, huh…?"
"At least Kaido only locked me away… Not that it makes it any less awful!"
"Hold on a sec—what's this?! Arton literally just said he wanted to marry Uta, and now he's saying he wants to marry me? But I'm a guy!"
Yamato jumped to her feet, her shout echoing throughout Onigashima.
[I really don't get how Linlin's kids can tolerate her. She's moody and doesn't care about their lives at all. Whenever she's mad, she might just wipe them out… Sheesh, if it were me, I'd treasure any beautiful daughter.]
[Speaking of which, Kaido's daughter Yamato isn't half bad either. Man, it'd be awesome if I could marry Yamato.]
Reading Arton's notes, Custard, Galette, Pudding, and the others went silent again. They all knew how dangerous Linlin could be—leaving her side wasn't something anyone could do lightly. Even if they did leave, an Emperor's power meant they might get hunted down.
Staying in Totto Land can sometimes be an act of helplessness.
[Then again, it makes sense that Linlin's children can't just up and leave Totto Land. After all, the entire realm is filled with little homies created from her soul, watching over everything. Without a piece of Linlin's Vivre Card, even if her children wanted to leave, they couldn't. Unfortunately, ever since Lola left home without permission, Linlin took back all the Vivre Cards she'd given her children.]
Galette: "Arton even knows about that?! Well, given his powers, it'd be stranger if he didn't know."
Whitey Bay: "Interesting. So Big Mom's supposed family unity through blood ties was a sham from the beginning."
Doll: "In the end, Linlin's pirate crew is no different from any other ruthless pirate crew—fear is what holds it all together."
Gion: "Still, there must be some who genuinely remain loyal to Linlin within the Big Mom Pirates."
Pudding: "Lola… It's been so long since I've heard her name. I wonder how she's doing now. If Arton knows about this, maybe he could help me leave the Big Mom Pirates too… set me free like Lola…"
[Speaking of which, that woman Lola should still be stuck in a state where her shadow was stolen by Moria. She's probably trying to figure out how to get that shadow back from him. I wonder if Moria realizes that one of his stolen shadows belongs to a Yonko's daughter. Heh, if that little fact slipped out, I bet Linlin would send someone to take care of Moria. Then Moria might lose his position as a Warlord even sooner.]
Pudding: "W-what?! How could that happen? Lola's shadow was stolen? Is she okay now? Wait—if Lola also has a copy of Arton's diary, couldn't she gain strength from being mentioned in it? Then she could reclaim her shadow from Moria, right?"
Galette: "All that's happened to Lola is surprising, but… that Alvida woman, who used the Smooth-Smooth Fruit to get prettier, didn't managed to get a Diary Copy. I doubt Lola, who looks the way she does, would get one too."
Custard: "Indeed. Arton only draws, shall we say, 'books' and photo sets for the pretty ones. If, in that old 'notebook' from before he came to our world, there wasn't a 'book' or a set about Lola, she wouldn't have a Diary Copy now."
Cinnamon: "Before hunting for Arton, maybe we should pay Moria a visit."
Smoothie: "Interesting. Moria, huh? I'll remember that name."
Doll: "That Moria sure is stirring up trouble for himself."
Hibari: "Arton's earlier diary entries hinted that two of the Warlords would be replaced by Blackbeard Teach and Buggy. Doflamingo might be one of them…"
Monet: "…Which means Moria could be the other one to get replaced."
Gion: "Even if Lola betrayed her mother, if the Big Mom Pirates learn that Lola's shadow was stolen by Moria, they'll probably come after him anyway. That could end up costing him his Warlord status. But was it originally part of history that Moria would be taken out by the Big Mom Pirates just for stealing Lola's shadow?"
***
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