"Shahahahaha! Well, if it isn't Nami?!"
A nauseating laugh echoed through the trees, shattering the already strained atmosphere. The bushes parted as a dozen tall fishmen with varied skin tones swaggered into the clearing.
Leading them was a Kissing Fishman with a protruding, elongated snout. He brandished a spiked mace, eyeing Luffy's group with the same contempt one might reserve for rats in a gutter.
"What's the matter, Nami?" The fishman officer smirked, looking down his long nose. "What's with this crowd of fragile-looking humans? This isn't exactly following the rules."
"Did you bring them? Hey, hey... you aren't thinking of using these lower-class species to rebel against Arlong-san, are you?"
The surrounding fishmen erupted into piercing, mocking laughter.
"Shahahaha! Rebel? With these pathetic humans?!"
"Hey, look at the long-nosed one over there, his legs are shaking! Shahahaha! Try not to wet yourself, kid!"
Faced with the undisguised malice and killing intent of the fishmen, the cold mask Nami had so painstakingly crafted collapsed instantly. This was the shadow that had loomed over her heart for eight long years—the nightmare known as "Despair."
"No... no..." Nami's face turned ashen. Her body trembled uncontrollably. She wanted to explain, to draw a line between herself and these "intruders" to protect them, but she couldn't form a single word.
She instinctively tried to pull away from Viktor's arms, but the sheer terror and the weight of years of accumulated pressure caused her legs—her pride as a navigator—to lose all strength.
"Ah—!" Nami gasped as her knees gave out, and she began to fall backward.
However, the cold, hard ground never came. A warm, powerful arm caught her firmly across the back. Nami looked up in a panic, meeting Viktor's deep black eyes, which remained as calm as a still lake.
"Careful now, Miss Navigator," Viktor said softly.
The scene infuriated the fishman across from them.
"You piece of filth!!" The officer roared, veins bulging on his forehead. "You filthy, lower-class human! Who gave you permission to touch Arlong-san's surveyor with your dirty hands?!"
"DIE!!"
With a roar, the dozen fishmen brandished their scimitars and maces, lunging toward Viktor and Nami like demons. They moved with savage momentum, their killing intent boiling over.
Nami's pupils shrank. Her instinct screamed at her to push Viktor away. "Run, just run...!"
Yet, Viktor didn't move an inch. He held Nami with a slightly stiff, protective posture and smiled.
"Don't be afraid, Nami."
"It's just that... someone else is even more pissed off than I am."
The moment the words left his lips—
Whoosh—!!
A black blur, fueled by pure indignation, tore through the air.
"Where did these... stinking scraps come from?!"
Black suit, blonde hair, curly eyebrow. Sanji's silhouette appeared mid-air, his one visible eye burning with an intense, literal fire. "Shouting and carrying on in front of a beautiful lady... you uncultured garbage!!"
"Collier!!"
BOOM!!
A brutal, precise kick slammed into the necks of the two leading fishmen. The force was so explosive that the fishmen—who were naturally ten times stronger than humans—didn't even have time to groan.
Their eyes bulged, their necks twisted at grotesque angles, and they were sent flying like cannonballs, crashing deep into the forest behind them.
"Wh-What?!"
Before the remaining fishmen could even process what had happened—
Chime—
The clear ring of a blade unsheathing vibrated through the clearing. A green silhouette cut through the battlefield like a phantom.
Zoro, though covered in blood-soaked bandages and stumbling slightly, wore a savage, asura-like grin that made the blood run cold. He held the Wado Ichimonji in one hand, his gaze as sharp as a hawk's.
"Perfect. I've been looking for a place to vent the frustration that Hawk-Eye guy left in my gut..."
Zoro moved in a flash, his blade shining like fresh snow.
"I'll use you small fry to cool off!"
Slash! Slash!
Several sharp strikes flashed. The fishmen wielding scimitars didn't even see the trajectory of the blade before blood sprayed from their chests, and they collapsed, screaming.
Zoro flicked the blood from his blade and slowly sheathed it, looking utterly unimpressed.
"Too weak. I didn't even get warmed up."
In the blink of an eye, more than half of the patrol was down. The fishman officer watched in horror, his hand trembling as he gripped his mace. "You... you monsters... who the hell are you?!"
He turned and saw the boy in the straw hat who had been standing still. Thinking he was an easy target, he roared and charged with his mace raised high. "Die! You straw hat brat!!"
Luffy stood there, making no move to dodge. His face was expressionless. At the very moment the mace was about to crush his skull, he threw a simple, direct punch.
POW!!!
His fist buried itself into the officer's face. Time seemed to stand still for a heartbeat. Then, the officer's entire face caved in. Before he could even let out a scream, his eyes rolled back, and he spun through the air like a ragdoll, slamming into the ground and falling silent.
Three seconds.
It took only three seconds. The situation that Nami had seen as an inescapable dead end was shattered in an instant by these three "monsters" with overwhelming dominance.
Silence returned to the forest. Beside them, Nojiko covered her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief. These fishmen who had terrorized the villagers and ruled for eight years... were taken out like ants?
"Phew..." Luffy retracted his fist and pressed down on his straw hat. He didn't spare a glance for the fallen fishmen. Instead, he walked toward Nami and Viktor, step by step.
He had dropped his usual carefree grin. His deep black eyes were filled with an unprecedented level of seriousness and resolve. He looked at the orange-haired girl shivering in Viktor's arms, his voice low and powerful.
"You want us to leave, Nami?"
"But you see..." Luffy reached out, pointing at the unconscious fishmen on the ground. His tone was firm and absolute. "I don't care how many reasons you have, and I don't care who the opponent is..."
"You're the only one I've decided on as my navigator!!"
"If these are the guys standing in your way..." Luffy clenched his fist, his eyes burning with conviction. "Then no matter how many times it takes! We're going to knock them all flying!!"
Boom—
Those words were like a heavy hammer, finally shattering the last wall of "strength" in Nami's heart. Eight years of grievances. The crushing weight of the 100 million Berries. The agony of having to smile at the monster who murdered her mother.
In this moment, faced with the unconditional trust and terrifying strength of her nakama, the dam finally broke.
"Ugh..."
Nami could no longer maintain her fake mask of coldness. She stopped struggling. She stopped pushing them away. Like a drowning person finally grasping a lifeline, she turned and clutched the fabric of Viktor's clothes with both hands.
She buried her head deep into the chest of the Vice-Captain who had always seen through her, yet always protected her.
"WAAAAAAH—!!!"
On this sun-drenched afternoon, on this land filled with nightmares, Nami let out a heart-wrenching sob, finally releasing all the pain she had carried for all those years.
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