Smoothie: "Good… If this template suits Nojiko, then she won't compete with me for Tia Harribel's template, right?"
Yamato: "Woman, white hair, demon… An Akuma no Mi user counts as demon, right? So I could use this template, too. Wait, why am I thinking of myself as a woman? Damn it! This is all Arton's fault for messing me up…"
Gion: "Things are moving in a bad direction. Now Arton's picking up yet another powerful companion."
Doll: "Judging by how Nojiko's acted before, she might be the type of woman who's willing to do anything for points, just like Nami. She'll end up as strong as Nami soon enough, I guess. Well, depends on Mirajane's power. Arton sure treasures this Mirajane; presumably, she's quite strong."
Kujaku: "'Demon' attribute… So Mirajane's a demon? Then she's kinda the opposite of the Raiden Shogun."
Baccarat: "Kinda weird, though, that she's got both the gentle and short-tempered attributes. Maybe it means Mirajane has two different personalities?"
While the other women discussed, Nojiko's eyes lit up.
"A character template that suits me… Mirajane, huh. Arton really likes you, doesn't he? I wonder if, after I gain your power, Arton will like me enough, too."
Rather than thinking first about what kind of power Mirajane had, Nojiko cared more about how much Arton liked Mirajane.
[Video: Part of Mirajane Strauss's Skill Demonstration!]
"Take-Over Magic: Full-Body Take-Over!"
As soon as the white-haired Mirajane—clad in a red dress—finished speaking, a huge, pitch-black magic circle appeared overhead.
Raging magic currents blasted away nearby stones.
Once the magic stabilized, Mirajane's gentle appearance became fiercer: she grew demonic wings and tail behind her.
"Soul Extinction!" Gathering massive darkness in her hands, Mirajane unleashed an extremely powerful black shockwave.
In a flash, the colossal energy swallowed up her foes—and even blasted a gaping hole clear through a distant mountain!
When Arton uploaded Mirajane's skill-demo video, it drew everyone's rapt attention. Soon, just as in the past, they showed expressions of extreme astonishment.
Smoothie: "Indeed. There's no such thing as a weak Character Template from Arton."
Doll: "Blowing a big hole clear through a mountain… This is no ordinary power."
Black Maria: "This woman named Mirajane, her transformation before and after using her ability is similar to an Zoan-type Devil Fruit user… No, actually closer to a Mythical Zoan."
Ulti: "If Nojiko masters that power and Kaido sees it, he'll want to recruit Arton's gang even more."
Ginrummy: "Could I…could I possess power like that?"
Sadi: "Such a beautiful strength… I want that for myself!"
She watched jealously, feeling that Mirajane's power would suit her perfectly.
Domino: "A transformation-based ability that drastically increases power? And wait, she can transform into other forms, too?"
Gion: "Transformation—like a shapeshift, yes?"
Doll: "And each transformation has its own abilities, right? That's almost like Arton fusing with different partners."
As the spectators watched the demo video, Mirajane displayed different forms via Take-Over Magic. Though her appearances changed, the strength she displayed in each form astounded the Diary Copy holders. Their curiosity about Mirajane's power only grew, especially those in the Navy who wanted to prevent Arton from killing any Celestial Dragons.
Sensing their doubts, Arton, after the Mirajane skill demo ended, swiftly provided an explanation of Mirajane's abilities.
[Mirajane's Take-Over Magic lets her take over the power of monsters or beasts for her own use. It's divided into partial take-over, transforming only part of her body, and full take-over, transforming her entire body. This is indeed similar to those who've eaten Zoan-type Devil Fruits…]
[Huh! Actually, you could consider a Devil Fruit user a kind of demon. Might Mirajane's Take-Over Magic let her absorb a Devil Fruit user's power directly? If that's possible, Nojiko could become a multi-abilities user…]
[Mirajane's body can hold multiple monsters' powers. If the user's strong enough, maybe she could hold more than one Devil Fruit power, like Blackbeard Teach… I can research this in the future.]
Black Maria: "So that's the 'Take-Over Magic?' Such an odd skill…"
Baccarat: "Indeed, this 'Mirajane' template might let Nojiko use abilities from other ability users."
Kujaku: "If so, that would make Nojiko super dangerous. Wait, did Arton just mention Teach could use more than one Devil Fruit?"
Gion: "He's dropped quite a bombshell there…"
Whitey Bay: "That Teach really is a freak. Does he really have another Devil Fruit aside from the one he stole?"
Yamato: "That guy's a monster! Damn… If Ace faces him, wouldn't that be really dangerous?"
Doll: "We need to keep a close eye on Blackbeard in the future."
Monet: "If he really becomes a Warlord, I'd better remind the Young Master to be careful."
Smoothie: "Blackbeard Teach… That guy hid in the Whitebeard Pirates for so many years, and supposedly can use more than one Devil Fruit. Did he really leave Whitebeard's crew just to become a Warlord?"
Gion: "He might have other ambitions too. We definitely need to keep our eyes on Blackbeard Teach."
"How do you like it, Nojiko?"
"This power—do you like it?"
Arton spoke with a broad grin directed at Nojiko. Moments before, he had already handed her the Mirajane Template.
"It's very powerful," Nojiko replied, gazing at her hands and speaking with emotion. "I never imagined I could gain the kind of strength Nami has."
She wasn't lying. Earlier, when Arton drew the Arrancar template (Tia Harribel), Nojiko assumed she wouldn't get any template—at least not for a while. Yet who would've guessed? Arton happened to pull a beginner-level template perfectly suited to her just from a basic draw.
"Arton, thank you for trusting me. I promise I won't waste this power."
Nojiko turned her head, looking at Arton with utter seriousness.
"Mhm, naturally," Arton said. "I'm expecting big things regarding how far you can push this power, Nojiko."
"Hmm? What are you doing?"
While he was talking, he saw Nojiko leaning her head forward again. Surprised, Arton reflexively lifted his hands to gently hold her head…
"Ah, I was about to give you a kiss," Nojiko said, regret in her tone. "Looks like you blocked me."
Because she wanted to make the most of Mirajane's power, Nojiko felt she needed more points. And to get more points, she needed more interaction with Arton. She was about to go for it right then and there, never expecting Arton to hold her back so abruptly.
"Oh, I see," Arton said, nodding slightly, then turning to his side. "In truth, I didn't intend to stop you. But there's someone here who's been staring daggers at us for quite a while. If we really did that in front of him, I'm worried he might faint, not being able to handle it."
Nojiko blinked and followed Arton's gaze—only to see Genzo, the local constable of Cocoyasi Village, staring at them with his eyes practically popping out.
"Genzo, how long have you been there?"
Nojiko, seeing Genzo, didn't show the slightest alarm and instead greeted him with a casual smile.
"Uh, I've been around for a bit. Actually, I wanted to ask Arton to have a drink with me… But more importantly, Arton—what exactly is your relationship with Nami?"
Genzo looked at Arton seriously. From his perspective, the way Nami treated Arton seemed very suggestive. He half-suspected them of being in a romantic relationship.
Honestly, Genzo didn't think it would be a bad thing if Nami were dating Arton, given how excellent Arton was, having saved both her and all of Cocoyasi Village. But witnessing Nojiko and Arton's little moment just now left Genzo baffled. Could it be Nami and Arton weren't actually together, and that's why Nojiko was now flirting with him?
But if Nami and Arton had nothing going on, why did Nami keep stealing glances at Arton? It was impossible… Could it be that both Nami and Nojiko had fallen for the same man? Genzo's chest tightened at the thought. He'd always treated Nami and Nojiko like daughters.
"Oh, that… We're crewmates," Arton decided, wanting to spare the man from too big of a shock. He chuckled, then asked, "That reminds me—I haven't seen Nami for a while. Where did she go?"
"A crewmate relationship, huh," Genzo muttered with a slight frown. "As for Nami, she went to see the village doctor."
"Village doctor?" Arton blinked. "Ah, shoot, I forgot about that."
He immediately stood, looking as though he was about to leave.
"Arton, what are you doing?" Nojiko asked curiously, rising as well.
"Going to the doctor's. Nojiko, you know where the clinic is?"
"Of course, I'll show you."
"Great, I'll carry you—you guide me."
With that, Arton's right arm slipped around Nojiko's slender waist, his left hand scooping up her legs. In a princess-carry, he soared into the sky at tremendous speed, disappearing before Genzo's eyes in barely a second.
At that moment, Arton recalled that in the original story, after the Arlong Pirates were defeated, Nami visited a doctor to have her tattoo altered. Changing the tattoo typically required her to remove all protective clothing. "A perfect chance for altering her tattoo—how could I forget? No, I have to handle this myself," Arton thought. "Maybe I can take the opportunity to carve a succubus emblem on Nami's abdomen or something."
A grin spread across Arton's lips as the idea occurred to him. Meanwhile, Nojiko, held in his arms, blinked several times, perhaps trying to guess what was going through Arton's mind.