Arlong Park.
“Shahahahaha!!!”
The brutal laughter of Arlong echoed through the park as he reclined in his massive chair, the long saw-like nose casting a sharp shadow over his grin.
The Fishman captain was in high spirits, basking in the admiration and fear of his subordinates after what he considered yet another demonstration of human weakness.
“The resistance from those humans yesterday was truly amusing,” he said with disdain, his jagged teeth flashing as he spoke.
“But in the face of absolute power, resistance is nothing more than meaningless struggle.”
A dark red sun tattoo stretched across his chest like a declaration carved into flesh itself an emblem of Fishman supremacy.
To Arlong, Fishmen were born superior in every way that mattered: strength, endurance, dominance.
Humans were nothing more than livestock waiting to be harvested.
Enslaving them, crushing them, extracting wealth from them these were not crimes in his eyes, but natural order.
“Boss!
That Marine has brought important information to report!”
A Fishman rushed in urgently, breaking the flow of his laughter.
Arlong’s expression shifted slightly, annoyance flickering across his face.
That greedy human coward rarely brought anything worthwhile unless it involved profit or leverage.
“What is it?”
“An outsider has opened a strange shop in Cocoyasi Village,” the Fishman reported quickly.
“And Nami has been seen entering and leaving that place multiple times.”
At that, Arlong paused.
Then his grin slowly widened again.
“Oh?
That Cat Burglar is acting up again?”
He leaned forward slightly, eyes glinting with amusement.
“Kuroobi.
Go remind her of her position.
Tell her to stop wasting time on meaningless distractions.”
“As long as she collects the remaining 100 million Berries, I will mercifully grant Cocoyasi Village its freedom.”
“Shahahahaha!!!”
The laughter filled the hall once more.
But there was never any truth in those words.
Freedom was never the goal.
Nami’s talent for navigation and cartography made her far too valuable.
Her maps would one day guide Arlong’s influence far beyond East Blue.
Cocoyasi Village itself was also a stable source of monthly tribute an efficient system of extraction.
And then there was Captain Nezumi, the Marine rat who ensured everything remained hidden from higher authority.
There was no reason to break a system that profitable.
Kuroobi, the braided Fishman officer, nodded calmly.
“I understand.”
He had already been monitoring Nami closely for some time, especially since her repeated visits to the village and now this mysterious outsider.
Arlong waved him off without interest.
An outsider opening a shop meant nothing.
A single human could not possibly threaten him a pirate who had survived the Grand Line and returned stronger than ever.
In this weak sea known as East Blue, no one could stand against Arlong.
As for Nami, she would be dealt with once her usefulness expired.
After all, only money had true value.
Meanwhile, on the other side of Cocoyasi Village.
Nami walked home with an unusually light step, humming softly under her breath.
Her backpack felt heavier than usual, but not in a way that bothered her.
Inside it lay the consequences of her visit to that mysterious shop and the power she had gained from it.
“Too bad… I can only buy ten jars within seven days.”
She clicked her tongue softly, a hint of regret in her voice.
If not for the restriction, she would have stayed longer, opened more jars, gathered more abilities.
If she had enough, she might have reached a level where even the seas themselves could no longer restrain her.
Just as she approached the path leading home, a figure stepped into her way.
“Kuroobi.”
The voice was calm, heavy.
“The Boss told me to warn you.
Don’t entertain unnecessary thoughts.”
“Focus only on collecting 100 million Berries.
That is your only purpose.”
The Fishman stood several meters away, posture controlled but ready.
As a master of Fishman Karate, he was confident in his strength, yet cautious of unknown variables.
Nami’s expression stiffened slightly.
So Arlong already knows.
Of course he does.
Nothing in Cocoyasi Village escapes his control.
But more importantly, they still didn’t understand.
They still thought that shop was just an ordinary, suspicious business.
Not the source of what she had become.
Before she could respond with her usual carefully constructed mask, Kuroobi’s gaze shifted sharply downward.
It locked onto her backpack.
“…What’s inside that bag?”
His voice turned colder.
“That outsider’s shop.
You’ve been going there repeatedly.”
“If you obtained weapons firearms, explosives you are required to hand them over immediately.”
His hand lifted slightly.
“Do so, and I might even speak in your favor to the Boss.”
Something inside Nami cracked at that phrase.
Speak in her favor.
Officer.
Favor.
A bitter memory surged up—years of being forced to obey, to draw maps, to steal, to smile without reward, without recognition.
Back then, no one called her an officer.
No one offered her “favor.”
Only orders.
Only chains.
Only control.
But something had changed.
She was no longer the same girl trapped in silence.
She had stepped into another world entirely.
A world where lightning obeyed her will.
“I don’t need your favor.”
Her voice was quiet, but sharp.
Kuroobi narrowed his eyes.
“…What did you say?”
Nami exhaled once.
Then she moved.
“Chidori!!!”
The air exploded with sound.
“Zzzzzzzzz!!!”
A scream of thousands of birds tore through the atmosphere as blinding blue lightning erupted from her right hand, twisting and condensing into a violent sphere of energy.
The ground around her trembled under the pressure, air itself crackling as if rejecting the force being born inside it.
Kuroobi reacted instantly, stepping back.
His instincts screamed danger.
That wasn’t normal electricity.
Not natural.
Not even standard Devil Fruit output.
In that split second of hesitation, Nami moved.
She surged forward.
Her body blurred.
Fast…too fast.
The lightning in her hand extended forward as she aimed directly for his abdomen.
Kuroobi twisted at the last moment, narrowly avoiding a direct strike, but the stray electricity still tore across his side, burning through his defenses and leaving blackened scorch marks in its wake.
He retreated immediately, increasing distance.
His expression darkened.
“Nami… you ate a Devil Fruit?”
“So that outsider is the source of this power.”
He understood now.
But that only made things more concerning.
However, the power felt unstable.
Unrefined.
Newly acquired.
Which meant
She wasn’t experienced yet.
“I will report”
He began to turn away.
“Chidori Sharp Spear.”
A calm voice cut through the air behind him.
Before he could react, a compressed spear of lightning shot forward at a speed beyond perception.
A deafening impact erupted.
The world flashed white-blue.
“GAAAAHHHH!!!”
Kuroobi’s scream ripped through the air as his body was engulfed in violent electricity.
Muscles locked, vision shattered, consciousness breaking apart under the overwhelming surge.
Then silence.
His body collapsed heavily onto the ground, smoke rising from charred flesh.
Nami stood still, breathing slightly uneven, her hand slowly lowering.
A second attack had already begun forming instinctively but she stopped.
Because it wasn’t necessary.
Kuroobi had already fallen.
Just like that.
No drawn-out battle.
No struggle for survival.
Only One strike.
Two techniques.
And absolute silence afterward.
Nami stared at the motionless Fishman officer.
“…This is power?”
Her voice was quiet.
But her eyes were no longer confused.
They were focused.
Controlled.
Awakened to something vast beyond her previous limits.
“As expected of a Devil Fruit…”
Yet somewhere deep inside, she understood instinctively
This wasn’t only the fruit.
It was the shop.
And this was only the beginning of something that Arlong Park had not yet realized it had already lost control of.