Meanwhile.
Not far away on the horizon, a Marine warship happened to cross paths with the Going Merry's route.
Pirates and Marines were mortal enemies.
However, the quality of Marines stationed in the East Blue generally wasn't very high.
Unless you happened to run into Garp while he was returning from Marine Headquarters for a vacation.
In that case, you might as well obediently let yourself get arrested.
"Lieutenant Commander Rody! We've spotted a pirate ship!"
"Oh? Give me the telescope."
The Marine lieutenant commander named Rody had been dispatched from Marine Headquarters.
Colonel Morgan of the 153rd Marine Branch had apparently been defeated by some pirate.
That was somewhat unusual.
Had some unusually powerful pirate appeared in a backwater like the East Blue?
Although the possibility was low, Marine Headquarters had still sent a lieutenant commander as a precaution.
Many people considered the East Blue the weakest sea.
But veteran Marines knew perfectly well that some of the most famous figures on the seas had been born in the East Blue.
The Pirate King.
The Hero of the Marines...
Even the leader of the Revolutionary Army!
Any one of those names was enough to scare someone to death.
Rody swept his gaze over the pirate ship ahead before glancing at the wanted posters in his hand.
None of them matched the pirate flag.
Freshly minted pirates?
Running into Lord Rody was your bad luck.
"Prepare to fire!"
Forget the East Blue.
Even on the Grand Line, very few pirate crews were willing to directly challenge the Marines' powerful warships and heavy cannons.
Unless they were ships belonging to great pirates.
"Hey! Can you two still move?! Luffy! Zoro!"
Usopp started shouting.
The Marine cannons were already aiming at them!
"Usopp, we're counting on you."
Zoro waved a hand.
He couldn't move his body at all right now.
【Automatically adjusting the plan according to the executor's current physical condition. Engage the Marines in battle...】
F-Fight?!
Luffy's eyes nearly turned green.
Every cell in his body was groaning and protesting.
Shouldn't this be rest time?!
【Warning. Punishment countdown...】
Fine!
You win!
Luffy gritted his teeth and forced himself to push his body up.
【Your physical energy has undergone intensive training. Your physical strength has increased. Armament Haki Proficiency +1.】
【Your body has undergone sufficient tempering. Passive Talent activated: Rapid Recovery.】
"Hm? I can get something like this too?"
Then something ridiculous happened.
Zoro had just watched Luffy become every bit as exhausted as he was.
Yet suddenly, Luffy sprang upright with a kip-up.
Then he gave Zoro a look.
"Man, when it really matters, I guess the captain still has to step up."
Luffy grinned.
"You just get some rest, Zoro."
Luffy felt an endless stream of strength surging from every part of his body.
His cockroach-like tenacity had been trained into him since childhood.
He could vaguely remember Grandpa throwing him into a bottomless ravine, abandoning him in a dangerous forest, and even tying him to balloons before sending him flying into the sky.
This talent had practically been waiting to awaken!
As the saying went, a great teacher produced a great student.
Luffy's foundations had been built by none other than his grandfather Garp, the Hero of the Marines.
Whether someone became a Marine or a pirate, the most important thing on the seas was vitality.
If your vitality wasn't tenacious enough, then fighting someone far above your level could easily end in defeat.
Or even death.
But if your vitality was strong enough, you could stand back up again and again.
And break through your limits again and again.
Luffy's vitality had undergone another small breakthrough.
Facing the cannonball flying toward him through the air, he grinned.
"Gum-Gum... Balloon!"
He sucked in a huge breath of air, causing his abdomen to inflate.
The cannonball slammed into him and was immediately bounced straight back.
The Marines on deck watched the cannonball they'd just fired come flying back toward them.
Their eyes nearly popped out.
"W-What's going on?!"
"He's a Devil Fruit user!"
Rody immediately recognized what was happening.
He was a lieutenant commander from Marine Headquarters, after all.
His expression turned serious.
A Devil Fruit user had actually appeared in a little place like the East Blue?
Probably another lucky bastard who'd stumbled upon one.
If cannonballs were only going to become weapons for the enemy, then they'd switch to boarding combat!
"Bring us alongside them!"
Rody roared.
Meanwhile.
All that noise had already awakened Nami.
Bang, crash, boom, first thing in the morning.
Were they seriously not going to let anyone sleep?
Though, to be fair, she'd slept somewhat restlessly last night.
The name Arlong was practically a nightmare to her.
The moment she'd seen Bell-mère's photograph, she'd remembered the scene from all those years ago.
Bell-mère protecting her and Nojiko.
And Arlong personally killing her.
That was why she'd reacted so violently.
Afterward, Luffy's unusually serious expression kept appearing in her mind.
Companions.
To a certain extent, Nami despised that word.
She'd grown up surviving on the seas.
How many pirates had she seen call each other companions one second, only to shove a knife into the other's side the next?
Girls tended to think more carefully about these things.
If Nami had been some innocent little fool, a slave trader probably would've captured her and sold her to some noble long ago.
How else could she have managed to gather nearly a hundred million Berries entirely by herself?
But she could genuinely feel that Luffy considered her a companion.
And that was exactly why Nami felt so conflicted.
After years of lies and schemes, someone had suddenly appeared and offered her complete sincerity.
Nami realized her heart had softened.
Normally, she would've already found an opportunity to sneak away with the treasure.
Luffy had said companions were supposed to help each other.
But Arlong's strength had been deeply carved into her mind.
Over the years, countless Marines had come to capture Arlong and his crew.
Many of them had been sent to the bottom of the sea, ship and all, before they could even meet him.
Could Luffy and Zoro really help her defeat Arlong?
Could they free the villagers of Cocoyasi Village?
And at the same time...
Could they free her from that nightmare?
If they were any other pirates, Nami might've deliberately led them into conflict with Arlong and his crew.
Whoever won or lost wouldn't matter to her.
It would just be dogs tearing each other apart.
But...
Luffy's smile appeared in her mind.
She simply couldn't bring herself to do it.