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Every beautiful crewmember was precious to him — Logan wasn't about to play favorites.
Everyone gets a share.
As the three women gasped, the sound of mahjong tiles clicking slowly filled the room.
The ship drifted off course.
A week passed in a flash.
High above, Nami formed a small island-cloud and used it to carry the Merry through the sky, freeing Logan's hands entirely.
On deck, Kaya was sweating buckets, busy with physical training. Her cheeks were flushed and she looked downright cute.
Nami, though, had been training like crazy these past days to prepare for the fight with Arlong.
She was exhausted.
Sick-to-her-stomach exhausted, like she might throw up.
Whenever she pushed herself to the point of nearly passing out, she'd have Kaya use a Healing Fruit to clear the negative effects, then throw herself straight back into developing her weather powers.
Kaya felt for her. The side-effects could be removed, but the pain of training was real and brutal.
Nami just smiled without a care.
Compared to those eight nightmare years, this pain was nothing.
If it meant taking down Arlong, freeing Cocoyasi Village, and avenging Bellemere, she'd pay whatever price was required.
Over these days Nami focused mainly on two weather elements: clouds and lightning.
Lightning was offense. Clouds were defense.
She'd gone from tiny sparks and wisps of cloud to beefier bolts of lightning and full island-clouds that could hold the Merry aloft. She kept pushing the limit.
When she got too tired, Kaya removed the lingering negative effects, and Nami kept going. It was an endless loop.
Seeing the destructive power in the lightning Nami produced, Logan praised her: "Not bad, Nami."
Nami turned, hands on hips, brow raised. "I'm gonna make Arlong wish he'd never been born."
Logan nodded, satisfied. Fired up. Good.
In just a few days, Nami improved at lightning speed. Her affinity with the Weather Fruit was almost perfect. When it came to sensing wind, rain, clouds and thunder, she was nothing short of a genius.
No wonder even the Golden Lion tried to snatch her back as a navigator.
Logan had thought about slowing the ship down to give her more training time—after all, fear comes from lack of firepower. The stronger Nami got, the less fear she'd feel toward Arlong.
He'd worried for nothing.
Maybe the hate she harbored for Arlong had unlocked potential; Nami's power exploded overnight. At this point she could take Arlong down.
Now, when her lips formed his name, there was only roaring hatred and bone-deep cold in her eyes.
Seeing Nami drenched in sweat, Kaya stepped up and carefully used the Healing Fruit to remove her fatigue.
"Thanks, Kaya," Nami said with a sweet smile.
"No problem," Kaya replied, smiling. "Nami, we're almost at Cocoyasi Village. Stop training for now."
Nami wiped the sweat off with a towel and nodded.
Logan suddenly remembered something and called out a warning: "Nami, don't go easy on the enemy. No half measures—finish the job."
Don't be like some idiot who only knocks them away.
"I know," Nami said, nodding with hatred in her voice.
Go easy? No way. Unless she turned Arlong's crew into sashimi, her grudge wouldn't be satisfied.
Before long, the island-cloud was hovering over Arlong Park.
"Nami, you go down there. I'll cover you from up here," Logan said, taking control of the island-cloud and holding it steady.
Nami took a deep breath, her lower body transforming into cloud as she dove toward Arlong Park.
Inside Arlong Park, Fish-Man Arlong was chatting and laughing with a man who looked like a rat.
Colonel Rat (Nezumi) was grinning as Arlong pushed a huge crate of Berries his way. He rubbed his whiskers happily.
"Pleasure doing business," Colonel Rat said.
Arlong laughed, arms spread wide. "Hahaha, Colonel Rat, with you helping me, this whole sea belongs to us."
For years he'd lorded over this region, doing whatever he liked, and he could still act carefree because he had the navy — specifically Colonel Rat — in his pocket.
Sure, the Colonel was greedy, but the payoff made it worth it.
Colonel Rat nodded with a sly smile. How much could a low-ranking navy officer make from risking everything? That crate alone was years of wages. As for the people Arlong killed—who cared? There were always more people, as long as the money kept coming.
Their laughter froze when a small dark shape appeared over Arlong Park.
"What a bunch of trash," a cold voice snapped. Arlong and Colonel Rat looked up, puzzled.
They saw Nami's face — cold as frost.
"Nami?! What the—!" Arlong blurted, stunned at the sight of Nami with her lower half turned into cloud.
The well-traveled Arlong recognized devil fruit powers at a glance. A Logia-type devil fruit — a natural element user.
This was bad.
Without Haki, he couldn't touch a Logia user's body.
Damn it! Nami had a Logia-type devil fruit.
Things were not looking good.
As Arlong and the other fish-men stared in shock, Nami descended, her cloud forming back into legs and arms.
Arlong's face hardened. He glared at her, wary. "Nami, what are you doing here? Have you collected the one hundred million Berries yet?!"
"One hundred million Berries?!" Nami's cold eyes swept across Arlong and his men before settling on Colonel Rat.
So the navy was in on this too. No wonder.
At that moment everything clicked in Nami's head.
"In that case... you all can die!!!"
"....."