Chapter 641 - 888 – No Way to Be Certain

Although Kujaku was still young, there was one thing she understood perfectly well.

As long as Arton still desired her, Gion, and even the other female Marines who possessed copies of the Sea Diary, then there was still a possibility that he would accept them.

And if the two sides could truly join forces someday, perhaps they could bring hammer-like punishment down upon the World Government, an organization riddled with far too many unreasonable practices.

If they could really make the Celestial Dragons disappear from the world altogether, Kujaku would be more than happy.

"Forget it. This isn't the time to think about all that. What matters right now is figuring out where that blonde woman is."

Kujaku paused briefly before continuing, "If she isn't a female Marine or a female pirate… Gion-nee, do you think she could be an agent from Cipher Pol?"

"A World Government agent?"

Gion's eyes immediately lit up at Kujaku's suggestion.

That was right. Someone who possessed a copy of the Sea Diary could be a female Marine, a female pirate, or even an ordinary civilian.

Kaya was a perfect example. Before joining Arton and becoming a pirate, she had simply been an ordinary young lady from a wealthy family.

However, if the blonde woman were just an ordinary civilian, Arton probably would not have made her kneel and beg for mercy.

After considering it from every angle, Gion felt that the woman Arton had photographed in the Sea Diary was most likely a World Government agent.

"If she really is a World Government agent, then she'd certainly have a reason to cause trouble for Arton. And Arton would likewise have a reason to make her kneel and beg for mercy, or even strip off her clothes as punishment."

Gion rubbed her chin as she murmured thoughtfully.

"So you think so too, Gion-nee."

Kujaku smiled and nodded.

Receiving Gion's agreement naturally pleased her. It was not merely that Gion had validated her reasoning—it also meant there was a greater chance that Arton had indeed encountered a female World Government agent who possessed a copy of the Sea Diary.

"This blonde woman is very pretty, and she has a great figure too. If Arton knew her before crossing over into this world, there's no reason he wouldn't have made her the heroine of one of his drawings."

Gion narrowed her eyes slightly.

"If she really is a World Government agent, can you think of anything else, Gion-nee? For example, where she might currently be."

Since there was no direct way to determine the blonde woman's location through the Sea Diary, Kujaku could only try to confirm it indirectly.

All she could do now was hope that they were not too far away from Arton. If so, they might still have enough time to reach his location and extend their invitation.

Of course, all of that depended on them actually finding the blonde woman first. Otherwise, everything else would be pointless.

Gion lowered her head and thought carefully.

She wanted to find Arton as soon as possible too, if only so she could properly apologize to him.

Unfortunately, the World Government employed far too many agents, scattered across every corner of the world. Under those circumstances, Gion had no way to pinpoint the location of the blonde woman in the Sea Diary.

"Sorry, Kujaku. After thinking it over, the only possibility I can come up with is that she might be the woman Arton once mentioned in the Sea Diary—Kalifa. Beyond that, I can't be certain."

…

"Kalifa, huh…"

Kujaku rested her chin on one hand and nodded thoughtfully.

"That does fit. This woman matches the Kalifa Arton once described in his diary quite well. Unfortunately, we still have no way of knowing exactly where she is."

Kujaku let out a long sigh.

She could understand why Gion was unable to provide anything more concrete.

After all, the Marines and the World Government were separate organizations. Even under normal circumstances, the World Government could barely be bothered to deal with the Marines beyond issuing them orders, much less share unnecessary information.

Naturally, they were even less likely to reveal information about agents currently carrying out secret missions.

Kujaku already knew that Kalifa was in the middle of such a mission for the World Government. Arton himself had revealed that fact in the Sea Diary.

"In that case, we might as well ask the other women in the Marine group chat. Maybe someone there can provide us with useful information."

"The female Marines' group chat? I suppose that's our only option."

Gion sighed and opened her copy of the Sea Diary, navigating to the group chat for female Marines.

The moment she saw it, however, she could not help thinking of Tashigi, Ain, and Hina again.

The three of them had once been members of this very group.

Now, because they had grown disappointed with either the Marines or the World Government, both Ain and Tashigi had already left the Marines and become part of Arton's crew.

Gion could even imagine that the two of them had already developed an extremely intimate relationship with him.

After all, the moment they decided to join Arton despite being Marines, they had most likely already prepared themselves to win his favor.

As far as Gion knew, Ain had indeed done exactly that.

To keep Zephyr's future from heading down the terrible path she had learned about, Ain had gone to great lengths to please Arton.

Arton had never uploaded any particularly explicit photographs of her, but Gion nevertheless suspected that Ain might already have become his woman.

Gion had no intention of blaming her for it.

Even she had to admit that what Ain had done was probably the most direct way to protect Zephyr.

Zephyr might not understand it now, but if the day ever came when the Marines and the World Government truly betrayed him, he would surely understand why Ain had made that choice.

…

Then Gion thought of Hina.

When Hina had first been captured by the World Government, she had not immediately left the group chat. The other female Marines had still been able to communicate with her through the Sea Diary.

But now, Hina had suddenly chosen to leave the group entirely.

Gion had never been able to understand why.

That doubt had remained with her all this time.

"Hina… have you completely lost faith in the Marines?"

Gion let out a quiet sigh.

If Hina had not become thoroughly disappointed with the Marines, why would she choose to leave the group?

After all, Hina was currently imprisoned and had practically no one else to talk to.

Surely the World Government couldn't have already killed her…

The possibility made Gion suck in a cold breath.

No matter what, she did not want something like that to have happened.

If Hina truly had been killed by the World Government, then Gion suspected she would become even more determined to cooperate with Arton and bring the World Government crashing down for good.

...

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