"He's asleep."
Kaya looked at Arton's serene expression, then at the diary copy's content, and the expressions of Carina and Uta.
She quickly understood the situation before her.
Although she felt a bit shy about Arton sleeping on her lap, Kaya ultimately did not push Arton away.
She just quietly watched Arton's side profile.
And she watched for several hours.
Even with Tsunade's template, Kaya gradually felt her legs going numb.
Uta had been observing Kaya and Arton's situation all along.
Noticing Kaya's condition, she immediately walked over.
"Kaya, let me take over for you."
"You go help Carina with the ship."
Uta smiled.
"Eh, is that okay?"
"Arton...when he's asleep, he sometimes isn't very well-behaved."
Kaya pursed her lips, blushing slightly, and pointed at Arton, who had completely turned his body and was now burying his face in Kaya's lap pillow.
Obviously, Arton wouldn't sleep in one position the entire time he was asleep.
While sleeping, Arton would constantly change positions.
One could say that Arton had already rolled his face all over Kaya's lap pillow.
Even though Kaya was wearing a long skirt, and there was a layer of fabric between Arton's face and her skin, she could still feel Arton's breath on her skin.
But Uta was wearing a short skirt.
If they switched now, Kaya thought Uta might find herself in an even more embarrassing situation than she did.
"Hehe, it's fine."
"It's just a lap pillow, no big deal."
"This guy has helped me a lot. Letting him sleep on my legs is no big deal."
Uta waved her hand, smiling.
Through Arton's diary, Uta knew that Arton wanted to try her lap pillow to see how it compared to Carina's and Kaya's.
Since Arton had this idea, Uta thought he would eventually succeed in trying it.
Given that, she might as well let Arton try it sooner.
...and let Arton take pictures of him using her lap as a pillow and upload them to earn points.
"I see. I understand," Kaya nodded slightly and eventually agreed.
At that moment, Arton, who was lying on Kaya's lap, suddenly raised his right hand, directly touching Kaya's chest.
Kaya blinked, looked at Arton, then at his hand, and blushed deeply, not knowing what to say.
"Hehe, Kaya, you were right," Uta smiled and said softly, "This man really doesn't have a good sleeping posture."
"Do we still need to switch?" Kaya asked shyly, looking at Uta.
"Of course, we agreed on it," Uta nodded with a smile, stepping forward to help Kaya, and they finally managed to switch places.
As soon as Arton's face touched Uta's warm skin, he woke up due to their movements.
"Hey, you're awake, Arton?" Uta greeted him with a smile and a wave.
"Uta," Arton smiled back, then looked at Kaya, who was blushing and staring at him.
Although he didn't know what had happened while he was asleep, Arton could guess some of it just by looking at Kaya's apple-red face.
"Do you want to sleep some more?" Uta asked, smiling. "Don't worry, I'll wake you up if there's any danger."
"If there's any danger, I'll wake up on my own," Arton replied with a smile.
While he might have appeared unaware of his surroundings while sleeping, it was only because he didn't sense any malice. If any malice appeared, his skill, Transparent World, would alert him immediately and wake him up.
Arton didn't elaborate further. He turned over, adjusted his posture slightly, placed a hand on Uta's soft leg, and pressed half of his face against her skin.
Uta didn't say anything, just smiled warmly at Arton.
Seeing Uta's expression, Kaya couldn't help but feel a bit emotional.
Just like Uta, Kaya is also a woman, but Uta's behavior is much more open and brave than hers.
What Kaya doesn't know is that Uta behaves this way only towards Arton. With other men, her behavior is almost the same as Kaya's.
"By the way, Uta, I just remembered something," Arton suddenly said.
"What do you want to say, Arton?" Uta asked.
"Do you remember the last time you stepped on my back?"
"Stepping on your back? I remember, why?"
"Last time, you fainted because of using your Sing-Sing Fruit, and the back stepping was interrupted."
"Ah, I see. You want me to continue it, right, Arton?"
"You're really smart, Uta."
"So, do you want me to continue it now?"
"Hehe, hold on. I haven't rested enough yet. We'll talk about the back stepping later."
Arton said, rubbing his face against Uta's leg. He didn't want the comfort of Uta's lap pillow to end so soon.
While enjoying the feel of Uta's skin, Arton took several photos of her lap pillow and uploaded them to his diary.
[Photo: Uta's Lap Pillow Angle 1]
[Photo: Uta's Lap Pillow Angle 2]
[Photo: Uta's Lap Pillow Angle 8]
Charlotte Cinnamon: "So many photos of lap pillows again. Arton really likes resting on women's legs."
Vivi: "If I could meet Arton and let him rest on my legs, I could gain power too."
Nojiko: "Eight photos, 40 points. That's really enviable."
Nico Robin: "A woman with beautiful legs and a good figure would definitely be popular with Arton."
Camie: "A lap pillow! Would Arton really like the tail pillow of a mermaid?"
Gerth: "As a giant, I might be too big. If Arton wants a lap pillow, my legs alone might be larger than his entire body. I wonder if he'd like that."
Kujaku: "40 points. At this rate, Uta will quickly become stronger."
Gion: "A red-haired woman, combined with Elizabeth's template and the Sing-Sing Fruit, if she intentionally tries to gain points from Arton, she could become very powerful in a short time."
Hina: "Not just Uta, Kaya and Carina have also been gaining points frequently since joining Arton."
Ain: "Uta, Kaya, and Carina are relatively reserved. If those diary holders who are purely pirates find Arton, they will do everything they can to get points from him."
Doll: "If it were me, I might deliberately act out scenes from those books with Arton... This way, Arton would probably take a lot of photos and videos."
The numerous diary holders, seeing the series of eight photos of Uta's lap pillow, and remembering the many photos Arton took during Kaya's lap pillow, felt either jealous or serious.
Just as Doll and other navy women thought, many female pirates were already planning to do whatever it takes with Arton for their own purposes. Their goal was to gain points and templates like Yae Miko's.
Uta also saw the photos on the diary. Noticing Arton waiting for her response, she smiled slightly and said:
"Alright, let's do the back-stepping later."
"This time, I won't use the Sing-Sing Fruit."
"I'll help you with the back-stepping in the real world."
"So I won't faint halfway."
"But let's be clear, you have to lie down properly and not look back."
Uta usually wears a short dress, and Arton often has the habit of looking up when she and Carina are in the air. To avoid Arton taking any embarrassing photos during the back-stepping, Uta decided to remind Arton seriously before starting.
Though Uta knew this might not be effective.
"Hehe, we'll see about that."
Sure enough, Arton gave a vague answer with a smile.
Seeing this situation, Uta could only sigh softly.
Then, she rolled her eyes and began to tickle Arton in his sensitive spots.
In no time, Arton was wide awake, playfully wrestling with Uta while lying on her lap.
Meanwhile, Kaya had already approached Carina.
Hearing Arton and Uta's playful banter, she initiated a private chat with Carina through the group chat function.
[Kaya: Carina-san, is Uta-san really going to step on Arton-san's back?]
[Carina: Since she agreed to it, she'll probably do it.]
[Kaya: Is she doing this to earn more points?]
[Carina: You must have seen the photos Arton uploaded to the diary, Kaya. I think Uta does want more points since she needs more power to prove herself to Shanks. But I think she's doing it for more than just points.]
[Kaya: Is it to thank Arton-san?]
[Carina: That's part of it. But I guess Uta also has a faint liking for Arton.]
[Kaya: Liking?]
[Carina: After all, Arton prevented Uta's future death and gave her the chance to meet and reconcile with Red-Haired Shanks. Also, Arton's drawings about her have played a significant role.]
[Kaya: Those embarrassing works?]
[Carina: Yes, although those works are quite embarrassing and can make people angry. But once you accept Arton's works and stop getting angry about them, these things might help the person develop feelings for Arton. Even though Arton's works are somewhat too straightforward, in a way, they are a direct expression of his affection. Some might even be curious about what it would feel like to interact with Arton as described in the doujinshis.]
***
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