"Vice Admiral Gion, have you found any trace of Tashigi and Hina yet?"
Smoker, holding the Den Den Mushi, asked Gion on the other end with a furrowed brow.
He was quite troubled at the moment.
He never imagined that by agreeing to let Tashigi go on a mission with Hina, due to noticing her recent poor condition, it would result in both of them going missing.
If he had any clue about their whereabouts, he would have already set out to find them.
"Smoker, calm down."
"I'm currently in the East Blue, and Vice Admiral Garp is also here."
"You have the task of guarding Loguetown."
"We will take care of finding Hina and Tashigi."
"Trust me, I am more suitable for this task than you are."
Gion spoke seriously to Smoker over the Den Den Mushi.
Previously, Arton's diary had hinted that a future young Yonko would emerge from the East Blue.
Therefore, Gion wanted Smoker to continue guarding Loguetown.
She aimed to capture this future Yonko before they could rise to power and imprison them without knowing their identity.
Additionally, even though Hina and Tashigi were captured,
thanks to the diary copy group chat, she could still maintain contact with them.
Thus, she was indeed more suitable than Smoker for the task of finding them.
"Vice Admiral Gion, have you already received some intel on their whereabouts?"
Smoker took a deep breath, calming his emotions a bit before speaking.
"Yes, I have found some information."
"In any case, you stay put in Loguetown."
"I will handle the situation with Hina and Tashigi."
Gion said, not giving Smoker a chance to respond before hanging up the Den Den Mushi.
Afterward, Gion quickly scanned through the new diary entries recorded by Arton, a sharp glint flashing in her eyes.
When she opened the chat group for the female marine squad, she indeed saw many messages.
[Doll: Hina, Tashigi, how are you doing now?]
[Ain: Yes, Tashigi, are you still safe? Are you in any danger?]
[Kujaku: Have you found your location? Everyone is searching for you, and if we know where you are, we can help.]
[Hina: Unfortunately, we only know that we were taken to the sky, thousands of meters high by Shiki. We haven't had the time or opportunity to find out our exact location.]
[Domino: This is troublesome. Without knowing your location, even Vice Admiral Garp in the East Blue won't be able to help.]
[Sadi: I can't believe you encountered Shiki just after Arton mentioned him. Did he do anything to you?]
[Hina: Everything Arton mentioned in his diary about Shiki is accurate. Shiki is indeed conducting experiments to make animals more violent! Our entire ship's crew was used to test the strength of these experimental animals.]
[Hina: Now, only Hina and Tashigi are still alive.]
[Tashigi: We owe our survival to the orange-haired diary holder. If she hadn't spoken on our behalf, we might already be dead.]
[Kujaku: There's another diary holder with you?]
[Hina: Yes, there is one, but it seems she is with Shiki's pirate crew.]
Hina then relayed what Tashigi had observed about Nami.
[Doll: It sounds like she might be a member of Shiki's crew, but she doesn't seem as cruel as the other pirates. Could she also be someone Shiki captured and kept for her value?]
[Sadi: Even if that's the case, she won't be of much use. It's good enough if she can keep herself safe. We can't expect this stranger to help Hina and Tashigi escape, can we?]
[Kujaku: You can't say that. Since she helped Hina and Tashigi once, maybe she'll help a second time. The question is, when will Shiki's second round of experiments begin?]
After hearing Hina and Tashigi's descriptions of Shiki's experiments, all the women understood that once the next animal experiment started, Tashigi and Hina might face death. Previously, they survived thanks to the efforts of numerous marines. But now, they didn't have many marine soldiers to help them.
[Gion: Don't give up, Hina, Tashigi. Arton's diary mentioned that he might have found Shiki's location. Perhaps the situation will turn around soon.]
[Sadi: So now we can only rely on Arton? That man is also very dangerous. If he finds out that Hina and Tashigi are marines, who knows what he might do. Vice Admiral Gion, haven't you been tracking Arton? Haven't you found his current location?]
[Gion: Unfortunately, this time Arton didn't mention the exact location in his diary, so it's difficult to pinpoint their current position.]
[Domino: This is quite troublesome. If Arton can recognize Vice Admiral Gion, he can probably recognize Hina and Tashigi as well. After all, they haven't even had the chance to disguise themselves.]
[Hina: Vice Admiral Gion is right. No matter what, if Arton does show up, the situation might change. When the time comes, Hina and Tashigi will adapt as needed. Before we bring Shiki to justice, Hina won't die easily.]
Hina thought about the soldiers who had followed her for so long and died, and she couldn't help but clench her fists.
Tashigi felt the same. She even thought that if she hadn't boarded Hina's ship, causing Hina's route to change slightly, perhaps Hina and her crew wouldn't have encountered Shiki. Then, none of this would have happened. Her hatred for Shiki was no less than Hina's.
While Hina and Tashigi were feeling down, an orange figure caught their attention.
"It's you!"
Tashigi and Hina stared in surprise at the visitor.
"Shh!" The visitor, Nami, put a finger to her lips and whispered, "You two be quiet. Don't let anyone notice."
After glancing around and ensuring that no one from Shiki Pirates had noticed her, Nami approached the cell where Hina and Tashigi were being held. She handed a small bundle to Tashigi, who was closest to her.
"These are some things to eat. Make sure to replenish your strength," Nami said softly. "Since you both have Arton's diary copies, you must have seen the latest entry. Arton might come here soon. You don't want to be too weak to escape when that happens."
"Thank you," Tashigi said, looking at the rice balls and bread in the bundle with excitement.
"Thank you. What's your name?" Hina asked, also grateful.
"I'm not helping you for free," Nami replied. "If you meet Arton, make sure he mentions me in his diary more often. The points I've earned from the diary are too few."
Hearing footsteps, Nami's expression turned anxious. She quickly added, "My name is Nami. Remember it!"
With that, Nami hurried away from the cell.
"Nami? That name sounds familiar," Tashigi muttered, frowning slightly.
"She's the girl from the village ruled by pirates. Arton mentioned her," Hina said, furrowing her brow.
"So it's her. Wait, I remember Arton also said that the pirate crew ruling Nami's village had ties with the Marines," Tashigi exclaimed, looking in the direction Nami had left.
For a moment, a wave of guilt washed over her for Nami.
At the same time, Tashigi's doubts about the justice of the Marines deepened.
As for Hina, after looking at the rice balls and bread in her hands, she sighed deeply.
Since learning that Nami's hometown was suffering due to the collusion between the Marines and pirates, the Marines with diary copies had been investigating the matter.
Unfortunately, without Arton revealing which Marine and pirate crew were involved, their investigation had made little progress.
Moreover, most of their attention was focused on Arton, further delaying the investigation into Nami's situation. Now, seeing Nami appear and bring food for her and Tashigi made Hina feel deeply troubled.
Even so, with this new information, Hina shared details about Nami in the female Marines' small group chat.
Gion, Kujaku, Ain, and others read the information Hina provided about Nami and fell silent.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
"Arton, we hit the jackpot."
"There really is so much treasure here."
"As agreed, we can split it evenly."
"Then we can leave this place."
Buggy, grinning from ear to ear, approached Arton, his face full of joy.
At this moment, all his previous disdain for Arton had vanished. After Arton and his crew had eliminated the beasts and helped him obtain the treasure, Buggy found Arton more and more agreeable.
"Buggy, you can discuss the division of the treasure with my partner, Carina."
"Besides, I plan to stay here for a while longer."
"So after the treasure is divided, you can leave first."
Arton paused his diary writing and spoke to Buggy.
"Huh?! You still plan to stay here?"
"But there's nothing left here."
"Wait, you don't want to see the floating sky island, do you?"
Buggy's eyes widened in surprise as he looked at Arton.
***
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