Chapter 638 - 882 – Why Rush Things?

"Captain, are you really leaving?"

Kalifa crouched on the ground, holding Arton's hand with a reluctant expression.

"What else am I supposed to do? We're wrapping things up here, so it's about time I left, isn't it?"

Arton shrugged, then added, "Or are you planning to use some other position to deal with me right now?"

"Even though I've eaten a Devil Fruit, Devil Fruits aren't supposed to restore stamina, are they?"

Arton had no doubt that when Kalifa used the Bubble-Bubble Fruit against him, she might eventually develop a few techniques that would help conserve her stamina.

The problem was that Kalifa did not need to conserve stamina right now—she needed to recover it.

After all, during their earlier sparring, Kalifa had already exhausted herself.

Under these circumstances, Arton felt that she was in no condition to keep sparring with him.

If he forced her into another match, then after sunrise Kalifa might start considering skipping work so she could continue serving as a secretary and helping with the shipbuilding.

Worse still, if Rob Lucci and Kaku saw her having trouble walking, those two might become so upset that they stopped taking the shipbuilding seriously.

That was something Arton absolutely did not want to see.

Rob Lucci and Kaku were both excellent shipwrights. If they failed to properly help build his ship, Arton would find it quite regrettable.

The ship itself might also end up less perfect because of their absence.

"Kalifa, you don't want Rob Lucci and Kaku seeing you unable to walk properly tomorrow either, do you?"

"Mm!"

Kalifa pursed her lips.

She was still somewhat reluctant to let Arton go, but she knew he was right.

If she really forced Arton to stay just because she wanted to experiment with the Bubble-Bubble Fruit, then tomorrow she might genuinely embarrass herself in front of Rob Lucci and Kaku.

After all, even though the Bubble-Bubble Fruit could help conserve stamina in certain ways when she used it against Arton, using the fruit itself still consumed energy.

Given how little strength she had left, there was only one likely outcome if she forced herself into another sparring session with Arton.

"Fine. It looks like I really will have to wait until next time."

Kalifa sighed.

"No need to worry. There'll be plenty of time in the future."

Raki rested a hand on Kalifa's shoulder and smiled.

"We'll have lots of opportunities to spend time with Captain, won't we? Since that's the case, why rush things now?"

"You're right."

Kalifa nodded at Raki's words, suddenly feeling much more at ease.

It wasn't as though she would stop following Arton after joining with him now.

Once everything in Water 7 was settled, she would naturally leave the city together with him. At that point, they would have plenty of time to spend together.

Arton might have many companions and be unable to devote too much time to each one of them, but Kalifa could always take the initiative and seek him out herself.

Wouldn't that give her plenty of chances to have a good time with him?

Kalifa glanced around the massive shipyard, the corners of her lips unconsciously curling upward.

The ship they were building was enormous. Kalifa was certain it would have plenty of space aboard for her to spend time alone with Arton.

Although Raki had not seen the blueprints Iceburg had sent over, and Iceburg had no intention of showing them to Kalifa either, Kalifa had still caught glimpses of certain details with her sharp eyesight.

She knew perfectly well that once the ship was completed, it would contain a large number of recreational rooms.

And given the current size of the Flame Blade Pirates, many of those rooms would undoubtedly remain empty for quite some time.

When that happened, Kalifa figured she could drag Arton into one of those vacant rooms whenever she wanted.

Or perhaps they could arrange for something like a rocking horse and ride it together.

As for her justification, Kalifa had already thought of one.

I'm a Bubble-Bubble Fruit user, aren't I? Since its powers let me clean the ship quickly, I can use cleaning duties as an excuse to secure access to those empty rooms. Then I can conveniently bring Arton along with me whenever I go into one.

Just imagining it made Kalifa's mouth water.

"Hm? What are you thinking about, Kalifa? Why do you look like you're drooling?"

Arton raised an eyebrow at the woman before him.

"Hehe, I suppose I am a little hungry. But you weren't planning to leave me unsatisfied, were you, Arton?"

Kalifa wiped the saliva from the corner of her mouth for the moment, choosing not to tell the man in front of her what she was really thinking.

She wanted to wait until the right moment before properly showing Arton what she had in mind.

No—rather than explaining it, it would be better to show him through her actions.

"Heh. What if I told you I intended to satisfy you?"

Arton smiled as he rested the hilt of his longsword against Kalifa's cheek.

"Mm. Stop joking around."

Kalifa clasped her hands together and begged for mercy.

After thinking it over, she decided it would be better to simply come to work as usual.

Just as Raki had said, there was plenty of time ahead.

"Stop!"

Arton suddenly called out to Kalifa.

She froze at once, still holding her hands together, and looked at him in confusion.

"Captain, what are you doing?"

Kalifa glanced at Arton as he posed with both hands as though taking a photograph.

"Taking a picture of you. I want to record how you look right now."

"Ah?"

Kalifa's eyes widened.

"Don't mind me. I'm just interested in taking pictures by hand."

At that moment, Arton had already activated the Sea Diary System's photo function and smiled at Kalifa.

He thought Kalifa did not know he possessed the Sea Diary System, and therefore assumed she might misunderstand his hand gesture and what he had just said.

What he did not know was that the moment Kalifa heard he wanted to take a picture, she immediately understood exactly what Arton intended.

He clearly wanted to use the Sea Diary System to photograph her.

Although Kalifa was happy, being photographed by Arton while clasping her hands together and begging for mercy felt a little too embarrassing.

Just as she was about to ask whether she could change poses, Arton lowered his hands and ended the photo.

"All right. I'm done here. Have a pleasant night, you two."

Arton smiled and waved to both women before vanishing from the spot in a flash.

At the same time, the clothes Arton had set aside earlier disappeared along with him.

...

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