Zoro and Sanji, having seen Nami cuddled in Luffy's arms, each supporting Usopp on a shoulder, walked toward them.
"Both of the swords I borrowed broke, Luffy. Give me some money so I can buy new ones."
"Get a sense of the situation, Marimo. Save that for later."
"I just want to rest a bit, Luffy…but what's that over there?"
"…!"
Right after Zoro's and Sanji's words, Usopp glanced toward a spot a little distance from Luffy and Nami.
At the same moment Usopp spoke, Luffy wrapped an arm around Nami and spun around.
As a result, Zoro, Sanji, and Nami also turned their heads to where Luffy and Usopp were looking,
"Humans… you bastards…!"
"Arlong!"
Emerging from the shattered ruins of the building's debris, Arlong forced his way through and spoke.
Crawling on the ground with his left arm severed at the elbow, he revealed his gruesome state: only his head and left upper torso remained.
At the same time, from his torn wounds protruded pale purple flesh—his own skin color—writhing and wriggling.
The swollen masses of flesh took on the shape of limbs, and Arlong stood up, bracing himself on those makeshift legs.
"This is the power I've gained! It's not over yet!"
"I'll turn this place into a paradise on earth for Fish-Men…!"
The moment Arlong spoke, his swollen arm began to shrivel.
"W-Why is my body…!"
As his arm shrank, Arlong's entire body withered at once, and he collapsed to the ground.
The muscles that had once packed his torso also wasted away, leaving him looking like a short-limbed child.
Yet the skin was wrinkled everywhere, and there was no doubt that Arlong had become a tiny old man.
"What have you done to me, human!"
"You knew that drug would shorten my lifespan."
Not everyone who takes [Energy Steroids] ends up with white hair like Arlong.
To transform like Arlong, you have to take a massive dose at once, though your strength and regenerative abilities are far greater than when you take your usual dose.
Of course, the price is aging to the point of becoming an old man in an instant.
Now as a tiny old man, Arlong stood up, his spindly legs trembling.
He looked around at the fallen Fish-Men, including his lieutenants, and opened his mouth, tears streaming down his face.
"Do you humans hate us Fish-Men so much?! That's why you're this cruel…!"
"Freedom comes with responsibility."
"Ugh…!"
Luffy grabbed Arlong's face as he spoke and lifted him off the ground with one hand.
Arlong flailed his thin, short limbs, and Luffy met his eyes and spoke.
"Didn't you really know?"
"L-Let me go…!"
"You truly didn't know this would happen?"
At that moment, the world Luffy saw around him was not the shattered ruins of buildings but burning trees.
The fallen Fish-Men appeared as Marines in white uniforms.
The scenery shifted again, and Luffy, still gripping Arlong's neck, found himself inside a room.
In front of him stood a man well over two meters tall at a desk, silhouetted by the sunlight streaming through the window.
"Luffy… you really didn't know this would happen?"
"I told you, freedom comes with responsibility."
"If you won't bear the responsibility for the freedom you enjoy, you won't be able to do anything in your life!"
Recalling the man who had shouted down at him, Luffy looked at Arlong and spoke.
"It's been eight years. You could've thought something like this might happen."
"You really never once thought this could happen…!"
"Guh… H-Hands off…!"
Repeating the words of the man in his memories, Luffy squeezed Arlong's throat even tighter.
Tears streamed from Arlong's bloodshot eyes as he thrashed his short limbs in the air, still grabbed by the scruff.
"Stop it, Luffy."
"Nami…"
"I'm fine. You don't have to go this far."
"…Okay."
Hearing Nami's words, Luffy released his grip on Arlong's scruff.
The anger Luffy had unleashed at Arlong wasn't for Nami, but the act of letting go was.
Arlong, who had been suspended in the air, fell to the ground and sat up, looking up at Nami.
"Nami…"
"Don't get the wrong idea, Arlong. I don't hate you because you're a Fish-Man."
"I hate you because you killed my mother and tormented my village."
Nami walked up to the seated Arlong and continued.
"You hated and tormented people just because they were human."
"But I won't hate and torment someone just because they're a Fish-Man."
"I'm not a monster like you."
Arlong lowered his head at Nami's words.
Then he silently continued to shed tears.
****
"Marimo, you're hurt—are you sure you should be drinking?"
"It's almost healed."
That evening, on the day the Fish-Man Pirates were defeated, a festival was held in the village.
Sitting at a table amidst the festival, Zoro responded to something Sanji said across from him.
"Besides, unlike certain people, I didn't get hurt at all today, so it doesn't matter."
"Hah… fine, you're so great."
"But what were you doing not to be seen—were you off trying to pick up women?"
"I'm the cook, so I was cooking. Using that hunk of meat you and Luffy loaded onto the ship was tough—I can't handle any more hard work."
"But didn't you say that Luffy ate that sea-water-soaked meat?"
"I never said he ate all of it—how could he eat an amount equal to the entire Going Merry?"
"He ate as much as he could cram into his stomach, and we shipped the rest aboard."
"Where's Luffy? He's not eating meat?"
"He's sick of it and doesn't want any."
"The guy who used to gobble down my meat stew like it was a drink… he's sick of it?"
"I'm the one who took down a Fish-Man Pirate lieutenant!"
Zoro and Sanji turned their heads toward the voice—they saw Usopp standing atop the platform set up in the center of the festival.
"That's me, Captain Usopp… ugh, m-my legs…!"
"You're hurt—is that okay?!"
"I look cool, so I'm fine!"
"Hahahahaha!!!"
The villagers laughed and cheered as they watched Usopp's hesitant figure on the platform.
Even after a long time, the festival's fervor didn't die down.
The emotions felt by the villagers who had lived for this moment couldn't be extinguished so easily.
As the festival continued, the laughter of the villagers spread across the calm, wave-less night sea.
"Nami, is it okay if I don't go check on Luffy?"
"He hasn't been around since a while ago."
At the village center, countless logs piled high were burning, and Nami and Nojiko sat on a long log a little away from the blaze.
From there, Nojiko continued speaking to Nami, who had answered her.
"Aren't you interested in him?"
"W-What do you mean…!"
"Ever since you came back to the village with him, you've stuck to his side, just staring at his face."
"Other girls in the village have been talking about him a lot too… what are you going to do if you hesitate and someone snatches him away?"
"Snatched away…?!"
Startled, Nami bent forward, hugging her legs, as she sat on the log.
Nami bowed her head and remained silent for a while.
"Nojiko… just today, really… I just have to get through today."
"Get through what?"
"If I see Luffy's face right now…"
Breaking the silence that had lasted for some time, Nami lifted her head at Nojiko's words,
"I can't control my feelings… I think something terrible will happen…!"
She pressed her palms against both cheeks, which were flushed bright red, and spoke with wide eyes.
Her chest heaved as she gasped, rising and falling with each breath.
"So you really like him, huh."
"…Yeah."
Nojiko looked at Nami with a fond smile.
Meanwhile, Luffy—who was the subject of their conversation—stood at the edge of the village, far enough that the fire at the center looked small, watching the festival.
"It's nice to have fun, isn't it, Luffy?"
"It is, Prinprin."
Luffy replied, looking at Prinprin who stood beside him, watching the same scene.
"But as a Lieutenant Commander of the branch, that's the rank of a Major at Headquarters, so why do you keep using informal speech...?"
"Ah, no—do I remember wrong?! I feel like you said it was okay to call me casually before...!"
"I'm joking. I said it, so of course you remember."
"When you went to Headquarters with my grandfather, then returned here, we spoke a bit—so you remember me calling you that, Commander."
"Back then, you were a Colonel at the branch."
"Phew—I was worried I forgot. I'm not some mutinous punk like Nezumi."
"Aren't you going to enjoy the festival? Everyone's going to be happy to see a proper Marine after only seeing the likes of Nezumi."
"That's something you should say to the star of the festival—yourself."
"It's because of the smell of meat."
"Shoving plain grilled meat into my gut without a single spice leaves the scent of meat grease lingering in my nose."
"I'm here for a similar reason."
"The scent of my dead subordinates' blood still lingers in my nose—how could I possibly drink in a situation like this?"
Luffy turned and looked at Prinprin, who stared into the empty air.
Prinprin's unwavering eyes, as he gazed at nothing, were seeing the festival's scenery—and beyond it.
"From starting as a lowly Marine to becoming a Lieutenant Commander of the branch, I've faced death over ten times, and never once has my sense of justice wavered as a Marine sworn to uphold it."
"But no matter how much time passes, I could never get used to the deaths of my subordinates."
"So after becoming Lieutenant Commander, I used the excuse of hunting strong pirate crews to gather talented, loyal men from surrounding units to form my own squad."
"Although I outwardly claimed I wanted to create an invincible unit, my true motive was to be with a handful of strong subordinates who wouldn't die easily."
"That unit..."
"Yeah—they were recently wiped out by the Fish-Man Pirates."
"Every member of my unit, except me, was killed."
"That's not your fault—they were simply up against a stronger force."
"Don't get the wrong idea—I'm not going to become some idiot paralyzed by guilt over that incident."
"My subordinates fought for justice—who would dare deny that."
…
"But aside from that… I can't stand the idea of that resolve being forgotten so quickly."
He placed a fist over his chest and continued.
"A person's will is not a disposable thing."
"The fact that their will remains here in my heart at this very moment is proof of that."
"That alone proves that my subordinates' lives and struggles held true meaning."
"Thanks to that, I'm able to keep moving forward without stopping."
"Wouldn't it be okay to take a short break, even just to keep moving forward?"
"But there are still things to be done first."
"Tomorrow, I have to hand the Fish-Man Pirates over to the other unit I contacted, and find out if there are any other Marines besides Nezumi who collaborated with them."
"If I have that much time… I should at least search the nearby sea for signs of my men."
"At least until then, I doubt any alcohol will go down my throat… surely you understand that feeling, right?"
…
"I said too much… I'll head in first."
Luffy watched Prinprin's back as he headed toward the village, his expression somber.
'Maybe I should go to sleep too… but my Observation Haki won't let me sleep.'
'I can't ignore another lonely middle-aged guy.'
'Because that could be me in the future.'
Then Luffy walked down the path opposite to the one Prinprin had taken.
He walked for a while and eventually reached the edge of the island, where only one man besides Luffy was present.
"Bellemer, Nami and Nojiko have grown up so well."
"It's as if I'm seeing you from when you were alive."
There, Genzo knelt before Bellemere's grave, pouring liquor from a bottle onto the tomb.
"Excuse me…"
"Ah, it's you… what brings you out to this lonely place?"
"I was just wandering and ended up here."
"This is where Nojiko and Nami's mother is buried. She was my friend."
"You might not know, but about Bellemere… your crewmates at Nojiko's house earlier—"
"I heard all of it while I was in the bushes doing my business."
"…You sure have good ears."
'That was a lie. I know the story from the original, so I knew even without hearing.'
'Even outside the house, if you concentrate on your hearing, you can catch it, but only if you're relatively close.'
'There's no reason to let others see me… so of course I went far to the secluded bushes.'
'Still, it's a bit too much to explain… let's just say I heard it from somewhere close.'
While Luffy's thoughts—at odds with his serious expression—played out, Genzo turned his head and returned to Bellemere's grave to speak again.
"You're the saviors of Nami and our village, rescuing us who could do nothing and lived in fear."
"All we could do was put burdens on little Nami, though."
"Eight years… not just anyone could endure that."
"How do you think little Nami managed to get through until today? She held on to protect the villagers."
"If I may be so bold as one who isn't the one involved… I believe that it's thanks to inheriting Bellemere's will that Genzo-san and the villagers could endure."
"Do you really think so?"
"It's natural to become stronger when you have something to protect, but you need to always have something to protect to keep going, right?"
"Nami didn't fight alone. It began with Bellemere, then all of you and Nami, and today, we fought together."
"I think today's events are the result of Bellemere's will having been carried on until now."
"So that fight back then… did it have meaning?"
Listening to Luffy's solemn words, Genzo recalled the time when Bellemere fought the Fish-Man Pirates.
"Everyone, grab your weapons! If we don't fight, we're as good as dead!"
Defeated, Bellemere faced Arlong with his finger at her temple and shouted at Nami and Nojiko,
"My daughters… I truly love you!"
Genzo lowered his head with a somber expression as he remembered her smiling at her daughters until the very end.
'In the original manga, Prinprin only appeared for two or three pages before he and his men were taken out by the Fish-Man Pirates.'
'He appeared and left in such a short time that I'd completely forgotten about it until I saw him shipwrecked today.'
'Prinprin's men didn't even make it past one page before they were gone, but he's proving that their lives had meaning.'
Luffy thought that as he recalled the group in Marine uniforms,
"Do your best, Luffy. No matter what trouble you get into, we promised we'd stick together."
"That's right! We're always on your side! Don't you think so?"
"Of course!!!"
Luffy remembered them smiling at him and shouting, then he spoke.
'At this very moment, many people live giving their all—broadly for their families, and even more broadly for those around them.'
'It doesn't have to be recorded in books, even if it's not a story that spreads widely.'
'The will to live giving your best will be passed on through the people beside you.'
'Just as Prinprin and I inherited our subordinates' wills, and as Nami inherited Bellemere's will through the villagers.'
While Luffy thought this, Genzo lifted his bowed head, looked at Luffy, and spoke.
"I have no intention of standing in Nami's way."
"But that doesn't change the fact that the path you walk together is dangerous."
"So I'm making this absolutely clear right now!"
Genzo glared at Luffy, pointed at him with his finger, and spoke.
"If you ever take Nami's smile away, I will chase you down to kill you!"
"I have no such intention, but..."
"I'm not talking about you getting hurt on the road we'll walk together!"
"I'm warning you not to hurt Nami!"
…
"I said, do you understand?!?!"
"Understood."
"Ha… fine then."
Right after Genzo said that, and after a moment of silence, he spoke again.
"You should go back. I have things left to say here with my friend, just the two of us."
"...I'll see you later."
When Luffy heard Genzo's words, turned around, and headed back to the village, Genzo reminisced about the past.
"Don't come any closer, Genzo! You're scaring Nami and she won't stop crying!"
"No… I want to see her properly too…"
"Waaaahhh!!!"
"Then how about this?!"
It was shortly after Bellemere had taken Nojiko and Nami in.
Genzo looked at Nami, who was snuggled in Bellemere's arms on the bed, and stuck a pinwheel onto her hat as he continued speaking.
"How do you like it, Nami! This is called a pinwheel!"
"Genzo, putting a pinwheel on her hat like that…"
"Kyahaha!"
"…She's laughing?"
"Hahaha! She's actually smiling!"
Recalling baby Nami's face from that time, Genzo planted the pinwheel from her hat beside Bellemere's grave.
"You probably don't need this anymore."
Genzo sat on the ground and looked up at the starry night sky as he spoke.
The cheers and energy emanating from the village festival drifted past Genzo, who sat on the cliff's edge, and out to sea.
"Nami has a lot of reasons to smile ahead of her."
The night sky was clear, and the breeze was gentle.
The pinwheel turned slowly.