High above the sky, Nami and Karina felt the freedom of flight for the very first time.
Looking down upon the endless ocean and the tiny villages scattered across the land, their worries were swept away in an instant.
If only they had strength like Souta Kiryuu—then they, too, could live so freely, so recklessly, with no chains to bind them.
For the first time, beyond thoughts of stealing and earning money, both girls felt the desire to become stronger.
Under Nami's guidance, Souta charged forward, carrying them across the skies toward Cocoyasi Village.
Hours later, Souta descended into Nami's tangerine grove, invisible until the last moment before shifting back into human form.
The sudden appearance of three figures in the orchard made Nojiko jump in fright. But when she spotted Nami, she clutched her chest and let out a long sigh of relief.
"Nojiko! We can finally get rid of Arlong and his gang!"
Nami leapt to the ground, rushing forward to embrace her sister tightly. Tears welled in her eyes, spilling over like years of pent-up grief and exhaustion.
She had carried the burden of an entire village on her shoulders for far too long.
"We all know how much you've been sacrificing in silence..."
Nojiko's own tears fell as she held her younger sister.
Watching this scene, Karina was stunned. For the first time, she saw that the sly, cunning "cat burglar" Nami also had this vulnerable, hidden side.
Maybe life hadn't been as easy for Nami as she pretended.
Suddenly, a large hand ruffled Karina's violet hair.
"This kind of bond... it's something precious, isn't it?"
Souta's words carried a rare weight of emotion, and Karina blinked in surprise. This infamous world criminal—who bore the title of a monster and executioner—suddenly felt more like an older brother next door.
Wait... he wasn't even that old. He was a victim, too—a failed experiment turned survivor. Yet through killing Celestial Dragons and waging war, the world had painted him as nothing but a savage beast, a warlord cloaked in blood.
"Souta... you're not at all like the kind of man I imagined you to be."
Karina felt no resistance to the hand on her head. Instead, warmth seeped into her chest—iron-blooded cruelty hiding a thread of gentleness. His heart wasn't as frozen as the world believed.
When Nami finished releasing her tears, she hurriedly pulled Nojiko to formally introduce Souta Kiryuu.
Though she didn't know how Nami had come to meet such a terrifying figure, Nojiko instinctively bowed deeply, trembling with fear.
"No need to be so stiff." Souta laughed casually. "I've glimpsed one possible future, and I like strong-willed girls like Nami. Helping you... let's just call it a rare moment of kindness."
He strolled past them, picking up a wilted flower crown-straw hat from beside the house and placing it on his head. Then, with the three girls staring at him in confusion, he tied one of Nami's drying shirts around his face like a mask.
"Alright then. Time to deal with Arlong's crew. I'll stun them—you all handle finishing them off or binding them."
Souta chuckled lightly, and even went so far as to grab a tangerine-patterned bedsheet from Nami's room, draping it over his shoulders like a cape.
The "Farmer Hero" had officially arrived.
"That... that's my shirt!" Nami shouted, her face burning red. He had taken one of her personal tops and tied it across his face!
"Don't worry about the details. I'm pressed for time. Though..." Souta sniffed lightly. "The tangerine scent is rather pleasant."
Without further comment, he urged Nami and Nojiko to gather weapons and call upon the villagers. His role would be to act quietly, like a farmer-hero working from the shadows.
Soon, Nojiko had rallied trusted villagers. With kitchen knives, axes, and farming tools in hand, they prepared to rise against Arlong.
"You're sure you won't even need to fight them yourself?" Nami asked nervously, her eyes flicking again and again to the shirt covering Souta's face. Every time she saw it, her chest tingled strangely, as though someone were pressing soft lips against her skin.
"In the New World, even pirates worth two hundred million are defeated with a single glance from the Four Emperors," Souta said lightly. "Compared to that, Arlong's twenty million bounty is nothing."
"Defeated... with a glance?"
Nami was stunned. Even Karina's eyes lit up at the thought. For the truly strongest men in the world, tyrants like Arlong were nothing more than insects.
But as Cocoyasi's villagers gathered, Arlong's men quickly noticed.
Even with Nami and Nojiko standing firm, Officer Genzo and other villagers who had lost family to the fishmen trembled, their weapons nearly slipping from their hands.
"What are you humans doing?"
"Ahahaha! You actually plan to resist us?"
The fishmen howled with cruel laughter, eyes glinting as they prepared to make an example of the villagers.
The sound of their mocking nearly broke the villagers' courage. Even Nami, Karina, and Nojiko clenched their fists in fear.
But Souta was there.
Boom.
A single pulse of Conqueror's Haki rippled out.
The laughing fishmen dropped like flies, eyes rolling back, bodies crashing to the dirt.
"My advice? Don't show mercy. If I leave and they recover, the ones who suffer will be you."
His calm words shocked Nami and Karina alike. He had truly brought them down with nothing but a look.
"Kill them all! Don't hold back!!"
Karina—unbound by the same attachments as the villagers—was the first to scream. Her cry broke the tension, and Cocoyasi's people, red-eyed with rage, surged forward, hacking at the unconscious fishmen.
The villagers who had lost family didn't hesitate—rage drowned out reason as they cut down their tormentors.
Nami and Nojiko's hearts trembled at the sight.
Yes, Arlong had killed their foster mother, Bell-mère. But Bell-mère, a former Marine, had raised them with kindness and instilled in them a sense of compassion. Neither sister wanted to become butchers.
But Souta's cold voice shattered their hesitation:
"Criminals like these are beyond redemption. Especially the ones who slaughter family—they deserve nothing but death."
If the fishmen were spared, if they returned later to massacre Cocoyasi anew, then Nami and Nojiko would bear the blame for that blood.
"You filthy humans! You dare kill my brothers? I'll slaughter every last one of you!!"
Arlong himself roared as he appeared, his three lieutenants—Hachi, Kuroobi, and Chew—at his side. Behind them surged dozens, maybe hundreds, of enraged fishmen.
The killing intent pressed down like a storm. Nami, Nojiko, and the villagers felt their blood run cold, their limbs locking in terror.
This was no skirmish anymore.
It was war—humans versus fishmen.
And in war, mercy had no place.