"Ahhh!"
Hearing a rapid-fire string of squeals in his mind, Harry could almost picture a teenage girl bouncing up and down in sheer excitement just to vent it all out:
"Did… did my body really do that? Harry, you… who on earth are you?"
"A mage," Harry said, strolling along at an unhurried pace while taking in the scenery of the beautiful island. "We can use all sorts of spells to produce all sorts of effects. Like what you just saw—that was the most basic kind of lightning magic."
"The most basic?" Nami sounded doubtful.
She didn't even know what magic really was, but just from the fact that Harry's lightning let her frail body utterly crush fish-men, that kind of explosive boost didn't look "basic" in any way.
Nami suspected Harry was lying to her. There was no way that was beginner stuff!
…Of course, there was also the terrifying possibility that it really was basic.
If that was true, Nami didn't even dare imagine how absurdly powerful Harry's world must be—maybe even the strongest monsters of the seas wouldn't stand a chance against just any mage over there.
On the rest of the walk, other than telling Harry local stories and pointing out sights on the island, Nami no longer worried about whether he could defeat Arlong while using her body.
Arlong was far stronger than his underlings, sure—but Harry wasn't weak either. Maybe he really could win.
And with the Marines doing nothing, Harry was the strongest person she'd ever seen.
If even Harry couldn't beat Arlong… then she'd still have to scrape together 100 million Beli.
And even if she did gather 100 million Beli, Arlong might not keep his promise and spare Cocoyasi Village.
Yes—Nami was smart enough to have always known that was possible. But it was the only hope she had, so she kept pushing the thought aside without even realizing it.
…
Arlong's base lay at the heart of the island. After a short walk, Harry finally saw the place for himself.
Around the outer perimeter rose a towering fence made from thick logs tightly woven with sharp fish bones. Tattered fishing nets and faded pirate flags hung from it, snapping and rattling in the sea wind.
Every so often along the fence line stood a watchtower, fish-men stationed on top with flintlock rifles in hand, eyes sweeping the surroundings with cold vigilance.
Behind the heavy iron gate at the center of it all stood the main structure, squatting in the middle like a beast.
It was built on massive coral rock, its walls assembled from thick wooden planks. The boards were scored with deep scratches and stained with old, mottled blood.
And Harry's main target—Arlong—was lounging beneath the building on a sun chair, basking lazily as if the world belonged to him.
The moment Harry saw Arlong, he glanced down in surprise at Nami's long, pale legs.
They were trembling—just slightly.
Harry himself felt not a shred of fear. Clearly, this was Nami's body reacting on instinct.
From that alone, it was obvious: Arlong had carved a massive shadow into Nami's heart.
A thin crackle of current flashed. The trembling stopped at once—Harry used precise control of electricity to suppress the body's reflex. In Nami's silence, he continued forward.
What he intended to do was simple.
He would tear Arlong apart. He would completely smash this evil den to pieces—and rip that shadow out of Nami's heart until nothing remained.
For him, that wasn't difficult at all.
…
As Harry approached, a fish-man on the watchtower spotted Nami and spoke with a flat, icy tone.
"Go in. Boss Arlong's inside."
But Harry didn't enter right away. He lifted his head to look at the fish-man above, rubbing his chin as he considered the best way to kill Arlong.
Walk in and assassinate him up close?
Or start at the gate, carve his way through with unstoppable force, and split Arlong in half while the fish-man watched in horror?
Was there even a choice?
If this was revenge for Nami—if this was about shattering the fear that haunted her—then it had to be the most brutal, direct, and inescapable method possible.
…
Up on the tower, the guard captain saw that Nami didn't move after hearing him. Instead, she looked up at him as if she were studying him.
Unease crawled up his spine.
As one of Arlong's closest men, he wasn't like the others—he was sharp, sly, and that was exactly why he'd been made captain of the guards.
And from that brief reaction alone, he sensed something was wrong.
For some reason, Nami no longer showed even the slightest trace of fear toward Boss Arlong.
What was going on?
Had Nami eaten some powerful Devil Fruit while traveling, and now she'd come back for revenge?
His expression tightened. He decided to test her.
"Nami! What are you doing? Get your ass inside—now. Don't keep Boss Arlong waiting. Or else, today, a few more villagers from Cocoyasi are going to 'disappear' for no reason at all!"
That threat snapped Harry's attention into place.
He bared his teeth in a bright grin at the fish-man.
"Thanks for the reminder. If I don't deal with you quickly, the people on this island could be in danger, so…"
In the next instant, the fish-man only saw an impossibly brilliant streak of lightning.
Then his entire body seized up—numb, locked, breath cutting off as life vanished from him.
The commotion instantly drew the attention of the other guards. They shouted in alarm:
"What was that?! Nami shot out lightning and killed the captain in one hit—don't tell me she ate the legendary Rumble-Rumble Fruit?!"
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit was said to be among the strongest Logia-type Devil Fruits. Its user could turn their body into lightning, control lightning, and generate it for attacks.
They could even become lightning itself—moving at the speed of light—and unleash terrifying high-voltage blasts capable of obliterating an entire island!
If Nami really had eaten the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, then even with a weak body, she'd still gain an outrageous leap in power.
The moment they realized how dangerous "Nami" was, the fish-men tensed up.
One of them—an eel fish-man—was the vice-captain. With the captain dead, he naturally took command.
Forcing himself to stay calm, he shouted to the others:
"Everyone, be careful! Don't get hit by her attacks! Her stamina's trash—she can't keep using a Devil Fruit power for long! Even if she ate the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, as long as we grind her down, we can still kill her easily!"
That roar steadied the rest. They raised their flintlock rifles in unison and pulled their triggers at "Nami"!
Inside her own mind, Nami didn't dare make a sound—afraid of distracting Harry and getting her body riddled with bullets.
If she got hit, Harry might be fine—he could just leave her body.
But she couldn't.
If she got shot, she'd be done for.
In the next moment, out of the corner of her vision, Nami saw a mysterious green circular sigil bloom around her entire body.
And then—everything slowed.
Even with lightning boosting her, her speed was already extreme—she could see bullet trajectories clearly.
But now, with that green light accelerating her again, the bullets in her sight crawled like turtles.
Harry guided Nami's body forward at an easy pace, stepped up to one of the bullets, pinched it between his fingers, and casually flicked it back toward the fish-men.
After that, he ignored them and kept walking.
When Time Alter ended—
A barrage of sharp whistles tore through the air.
Every bullet flew back even faster than before, punching into fish-men skulls one after another, drilling straight through.
In the blink of an eye, every guard fish-man was dead.
The noise at the fence—panicked shouts, flintlock fire—was far too loud to miss. It drew the attention of every fish-man inside the base.
Harry didn't make it far before a swarm of fish-men came rushing at him.
They moved with practiced coordination, circling him tightly and leaving no gap to escape.
Faces twisted, eyes bulging, they stared at Nami as if they wanted to rip her apart with their bare hands.
But they didn't attack right away.
They were waiting for someone.
Soon, a tall figure pushed through the crowd. He caught the metallic tang of blood in the air, and when his gaze swept over the gore and bodies by the fence, his expression changed drastically.
Arlong whipped his head toward Nami, thick veins bulging along his forearms. His fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white as he snarled through his teeth:
"Nami! You filthy little brat! I don't care what you did—killing this many of my brothers… today I'm going to tear you into pieces and avenge them!"
Hearing Arlong's hysterical roar, Harry's face remained utterly indifferent—like all he'd heard was the buzzing of some irrelevant insect.
When someone is too weak, everything they do—furious screaming, wild posturing—looks like nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum in front of a real powerhouse.
Harry stayed calm, raising one hand slightly, palm up, as if grasping something out of thin air.
The air shuddered violently.
A sword of lightning—blinding, crackling, humming with violent energy—slowly formed in his hand.
Harry gripped it. No hesitation. No extra words.
His arm moved in a single, light swing.
A dazzling slash of light burst from the blade.
Wrapped in rolling thunder and overwhelming lightning, it expanded into a gigantic sword-wave dozens of meters high—like a lightning dragon tearing free of its chains—howling straight toward Arlong!
A moment ago, Arlong's face was still twisted with rage.
But when he saw that terrifying sword-light rushing at him faster than he could react, his arrogance froze solid—replaced by pure disbelief.
His eyes widened so far they looked ready to pop out. His pupils shrank to pinpricks, as if he'd seen the most horrifying thing in the world.
"How is that possible?"
"You're… a great swordsman?!"
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