"Mmh... Ni... Nika is dying..."
Nika, feeling a bit suffocated by the tight hold, thought hazily to protest. But upon looking up and seeing Nami's practically fire-spitting glare and the unpleasant gaze of the woman opposite, wisely swallowed her words.
She just patted Nami's arm with her little paw.
After catching her breath, not daring to trouble Nami, she bared her tiny teeth at Miss Doublefinger instead.
The two women's gazes clashed mid-air, as if sparks were flying.
"It seems we can't come to an agreement."
Miss Doublefinger shook her head regretfully, her eyes suddenly turning cold.
She casually discarded her smoking pipe, her body leaning forward slightly.
Then her figure blurred, charging at Nami with terrifying speed. Simultaneously, the tips of her ten fingers instantly turned pitch-black and sharp, transforming into ten gleaming, razor-sharp thorn spikes!
So fast!
Nami's pupils contracted. Almost instinctively, she raised her Clima-Tact.
She had paid good money for Usopp to work overtime crafting this.
Clang!
The Clima-Tact accurately parried the thorny fingers stabbing towards her face, emitting a metallic clang. The powerful force sent a numbing shock through Nami's arm, forcing her to retreat several steps.
"You can actually block it? It seems you're not entirely a useless ornament. But how long can this little toy hold out?" Miss Doublefinger showed slight surprise, then sneered.
As she spoke, her hands continued to thrust, the thorny fingers coming like a storm from all tricky angles.
Sharp spikes could emerge from any part of her body at any moment, making defense nearly impossible.
"A toy? You'll see about that in a moment."
Gritting her teeth, Nami swung the Clima-Tact, creating a tight defensive net. Combined with her agile footwork, she barely managed to fend off the attacks.
The Clima-Tact occasionally spat out small gusts of cold air or hot wind, disrupting the opponent's rhythm. But facing the relentless thorny onslaught, she was still in constant peril.
"Just surrender obediently, little girl."
"A battlefield of this level is no place for a young lady like you. Look at how pitiful you are. Why bother?" Miss Doublefinger said, sounding utterly at ease.
"Who are you calling 'little girl'?"
After a backflip dodging thorns aimed at her legs, Nami straightened up and thrust out her chest.
Miss Doublefinger: "..."
Women always have strange competitive streaks about certain things.
Nami suddenly laughed, sweat-dampened hair sticking to her cheeks. "You're right. I might not be great at head-on fighting. But who told you a navigator's methods are limited to brute force?"
She slammed the Clima-Tact into the ground, her hands quickly twisting the dials on it.
"Let me show you what a navigator's fight looks like!"
Nami began to wield the Clima-Tact in a dance-like manner, muttering under her breath:
"Hot bubble, cold bubble, mix! Sunny Weather!"
A warm, glowing, sun-shaped ball of light emerged from the tip of the Clima-Tact and floated leisurely towards Miss Doublefinger.
Miss Doublefinger: "???"
She instinctively popped the light ball with a thorn. Nothing happened.
"Cloudy Weather—Illusion Cloud!"
A harmless-looking, multicolored, bubbly cloud enveloped her.
Miss Doublefinger waved her hand to disperse the bubbles, the corner of her mouth twitching, feeling like she was being made a fool of.
"Are you putting on a circus act for me?"
"Sudden Downpour Weather!"
A small dark cloud instantly gathered at the tip of the Clima-Tact. A light drizzle began to fall, accompanied by weak electrical sparks.
Miss Doublefinger stood there, letting the fine rain dampen her hair and clothes. The expression on her face shifted from confusion to impatience, then to the kind of speechlessness reserved for looking at an idiot.
"Are... you finished?"
She had completely lost her patience, her gaze turning fierce. "It seems all you know are these laughable tricks. Game over!"
Her arms suddenly transformed into countless sharp thorns, like two giant spiked clubs, whistling through the air as they smashed down towards Nami with devastating force.
This strike had an extremely wide area of effect, almost sealing off all of Nami's escape routes.
"Really, always making trouble for Nika."
Nika's body suddenly enlarged, then she crashed into Miss Doublefinger from the side.
"A pet that can suddenly grow?"
Knocked aside, Miss Doublefinger felt her stomach churn.
She looked somewhat surprised at Nika, who now stood shielding Nami, then glanced over at Usopp and Chopper, who were locked in a heated battle not far away with Mr. 4, his beloved gun Lassoo, and Miss Merry Christmas.
"Your ship really is strange. So fond of keeping animals? And you have two tanukis."
Miss Doublefinger stood up.
"I'm a reindeer, you jerk! Look, I have antlers!" Chopper, in the distance, busy dodging Mr. 4's heavy club attacks, still found time amidst the chaos to turn his head and yell in exasperated correction, nearly getting hit by an attack from Miss Merry Christmas emerging from the ground.
Nika was also thoroughly incensed by the 'tanuki' comment.
Nika is a tanuki?
Address me as the esteemed Sun God, Nika!
Miss Doublefinger retracted her gaze, looking back at Nami and Nika, confidently displaying her sharp thorny fingers. "It's useless. I am a Thorn Human, having eaten the Toge Toge no Mi. My entire body can become the sharpest weapon. Attack is the best defense. If you don't want a few extra holes in your body, just surrender obediently."
Nika: "Hah? Weren't you just sent flying by me?"
"Let me handle this."
Nami stopped Nika, saying, "I'm going to make her take back what she just said."
What did she mean, 'why would Luffy have someone like her as a partner'?
I've eaten... well, I've been through more than you've eaten salt!
"Stubborn fool!"
Miss Doublefinger lost the last shred of her patience. Her figure vanished again, reappearing right in front of Nami in the blink of an eye. Her sharp thorny fingers stabbed straight for Nami's heart! "Thorn Finger!"
However, the expected sensation of piercing flesh did not come.
Her fingers passed right through Nami's body as if through a mirage!
What?!
Miss Doublefinger, her attack having found only air, stumbled forward a step, staring in shock at the Nami before her, who was gradually growing fuzzy and rippling like water.
"Mirage Tempo."
Nami's real voice came from behind and to her side, carrying a hint of cunning triumph. "Your attacks are indeed strong. But if they don't hit, they're nothing."
Being a coward didn't mean being brainless.
Nami was the smartest person on their ship.
Those seemingly comical weather performances earlier were not useless.
The temperature differences created by the hot and cold bubbles, combined with the desert's unique light refraction, had long been skillfully manipulated by Nami to form complex optical camouflage—a mirage—around her!
Using the illusion to confuse the opponent, while her real body hid within it.
"Just circus tricks!"
Miss Doublefinger was both shocked and furious.
Sharp thorns sprang from her arms, legs, and even her back, turning her into a human porcupine. She launched a frantic, indiscriminate assault on every suspicious spot around her!
"Thorn Dance!"
***
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