The top floor of Arlong Park.
Charts, walls, books....
Everything was destroyed.
Shatter the cage. Destroy the shackles.
If this place was Nami's nightmare, then he would smash it to pieces!
For someone with a carefree personality like Luffy, the only nightmare from his childhood was his grandfather, Garp.
Someday, he would also throw a punch at Garp and shatter that nightmare too!
[Physical energy has been compressed and trained. Your body strength has increased. Busoshoku Haki proficiency +1]
[Physical energy has been compressed and trained. Your body strength has increased. Busoshoku Haki proficiency +1]
[Congratulations! Through compression training, your Busoshoku Haki level has increased to Lv.1]
Busoshoku Haki Proficiency: 0/10000 (Lv.1)
[You have acquired the Busoshoku Haki application technique: Hardening]
...
"The reward time directly leveled me up?"
Luffy was momentarily stunned, finally understanding why it was called 'reward time'.
Reward time should be about rewarding yourself hard!
He hadn't even realized it; the proficiency had just been shooting up.
"This power..."
Luffy looked down at his hand.
It was hard.
His fist had hardened!
He quickly grasped the general nature of this power.
But using this power consumed a massive amount of stamina!
It was his first time using this power, and he hadn't managed his stamina well. Combined with the fact that using Second Gear was already incredibly taxing, a sudden feeling of exhaustion washed over him.
The smile quickly vanished from Luffy's face.
Hungry. So hungry. Extremely hungry.
The steam around Luffy dissipated. He fell backward, completely unable to move.
As he fell, he felt himself caught by a soft body, arms wrapping around his waist.
Luffy turned his head and saw Nami's face.
"You idiot."
"I'm not an idiot!" Luffy retorted after a moment's pause, his voice full of dissatisfaction.
The sky was ablaze with sunset, the fiery red clouds illuminating half the world. Scattered navigational charts drifted down like falling leaves.
Nami's gaze followed these fading things. A certain lock deep in her heart seemed to open.
The final image lingering in her mind was the figure relentlessly throwing punches before Arlong Park.
"You're so heavy."
Nami, holding the exhausted Luffy, clearly struggled with his weight, a note of complaint in her voice.
She simply sat down, letting Luffy's head rest on her lap.
The light of the setting sun fell on her face, her orange hair seeming to take on a golden-red hue.
"You're just too weak, Nami."
Luffy's voice was lazy. He felt completely drained of strength, unless a huge pot of meat appeared before him!
"I just finished fighting! I'm so hungry my stomach's touching my back. I need twenty, no, fifty servings of roast meat to recover!"
"There will be meat. Let's have a banquet tonight, wait for Zoro and the others to arrive," Nami said softly.
"Let me treat your wounds first."
"I think we can just go straight to the banquet," Luffy said, suddenly perking up, his previously limp body gaining some strength.
"An injured person should accept treatment honestly."
"It's just exhaustion. Those stupid fish-men were too weak."
"Your hands are bleeding," Nami said, her expression turning serious. "At sea, any injury can be fatal. Until we have a doctor on board, you have to listen to me about this."
Hearing this, Luffy couldn't find a reason for refutation.
In his eyes, apart from her little fondness for money, Nami had no other flaws.
She was kind, attentive, valued relationships, and was a girl who, despite occasional minor violence, seemed very gentle.
That's why he had firmly chosen her as his nakama. Thinking this, Luffy didn't argue further.
"Thank you, Luffy," Nami said suddenly.
"Are you really Nami? You'd actually say something like that? This isn't a trick to skimp on my meat later, is it?"
"Give you an inch and you take a mile, huh?" Nami was speechless, pinching his cheek.
The stretchy, rubbery feel of his skin even made her a little reluctant to let go.
Remembering his desperate, life-risking demeanor earlier, how he turned Arlong Park into ruins...
"What kind of idiot are you?"
Nami took Luffy's hand; it looked like a bloody mess.
The surging emotions in her heart were mingled with an unexplained flutter, a quickening of her pulse.
"Where did you get the idea that I'm not an idiot?" Luffy retorted. Since childhood, those were the two words he'd heard the most.
Shanks and his crew said it.
A certain brat from his childhood said it too. That Uta!
"Can you stand up now?" Nami asked suddenly.
"Can I lie here a little longer?" Luffy blurted out.
For some reason, this position was very comfortable.
And without that voice urging him on, this was practically heaven.
"Is it comfortable?"
"A bit."
"You pervert."
Nami put on a stern face, leaning down to pull on Luffy's cheeks with both hands.
They were even closer now. Nami could feel his warm breath brushing against her neck.
"Hey, Nami, why are your eyes all red?" Luffy quickly stood up, grinning playfully at her. "See, I told you I was fine."
Nami looked at Luffy, her nose stinging.
The tears she had been suppressing instantly broke through the dam.
"What kind of idiot are you?"
Suppressed sobs could no longer be controlled, spilling from deep in her throat.
"Huh?"
Luffy's collar was grabbed, pulling him forward by the sudden tug.
"Let me lean on you for a bit. Just pretend you didn't see anything, didn't hear anything...."
Nami's words were intermittent. She followed the trend of the moment, moving the hand gripping his collar to press against his chest, then buried her burning face in the crook of Luffy's neck.
Sobs could no longer be restrained. Her shoulders trembled slightly with each cry.
.....
"Nami, we've come to help you!"
"After enduring for so many years, let's fight it out with Arlong and his crew!"
"Wait, Nojiko, what are you doing?"
A large group of villagers was stopped by Nojiko at the entrance.
"The Arlong Pirates have been wiped out."
"This good news shouldn't be for us alone. Let the others know too."
"To celebrate today, let's prepare a banquet!"
Nojiko announced the news to the villagers.
Nojiko, who had hurried over following the sounds and the traces of the battle's aftermath, had just witnessed that scene.
Her first instinct was to rush forward, but she stopped herself.
That Nami, who had forced herself to become incredibly strong ever since Bellemere left, locking her fragility away in the chart room, had finally found someone to confide in.
The only place she could cry was that tiny room.
A warm, tearful smile slowly spread across Nojiko's lips.
Now, it seemed there was one more place.
In that straw-hat-wearing boy's arms.
....
Meanwhile.
"It's already over?"
When Zoro and the others entered the village, the moment they were identified as the Straw Hat's crew, they were greeted with incredibly enthusiastic welcomes.
They began to question their own identities.
Aren't we pirates?