Chapter 10: Steel Skin and the Vermilion Wing!
The courtyard of Arlong Park had become a sauna. The massive cloud of white steam generated by the collision of divine fire and compressed water hung heavy in the air, obscuring vision and making it difficult to breathe.
Beneath the surface of the pool, Arlong felt a tremor of genuine terror run through his gills.
The heat radiating from the surface was intense enough to make the water uncomfortably warm. But it wasn't just the temperature that terrified him. It was the implication.
Fire? Arlong thought, his mind racing as he lurked in the murky depths. A human who can conjure fire from his bare hands? He must be a Devil Fruit user!
In the Grand Line, Devil Fruit users were common. But here in the East Blue? They were myths. Monsters.
I can't drag this out any longer, Arlong realized, clutching his regenerating jaw. If I let him keep attacking from a distance, I'll be boiled alive in my own pool. I must finish this quickly, in one decisive strike!
A fierce, desperate glint flashed in his pale yellow eyes. He had one advantage left: his environment.
Using the thick steam covering the surface as a smokescreen, Arlong silently broke the water's surface at the far edge of the pool. He moved with the stealth of a true apex predator, his blue skin blending into the shadows.
He circled to Suzaku's blind spot, his powerful leg muscles coiling tight.
Die, human!
"SHARK ON DARTS!!"
Arlong roared, launching himself from the wet pavement. He didn't fly straight this time; he spun. His massive body became a blue drill, rotating at terrifying speed to maximize piercing power.
He wasn't aiming with his nose this time. He opened his massive jaws wide, revealing rows of serrated, regenerating teeth that could crush cannonballs.
He aimed directly for Suzaku's exposed right arm.
"You're finished!!" Arlong screamed through the rotation, his voice distorted by the speed. "I'm a Fishman! My biting force is enough to crush steel beams! Say goodbye to your arm!"
The attack was fast—faster than sound, fueled by desperation and rage.
"Suzaku!!"
Nami saw the blue blur rushing out of the mist. Her face went pale. She knew the destructive power of those jaws; she had seen Arlong bite through stone pillars for fun.
"Oh no! Rem, quickly! Help him!"
Nami instinctively reached out to grab the maid's sleeve, urging her to intervene.
However, Rem remained perfectly still. The sea breeze ruffled her maid headdress, but her expression was as tranquil as a frozen lake. She didn't even flinch.
"Please don't worry, Miss Nami," Rem said softly, her voice cutting through Nami's panic. "Lord Suzaku has his own plans. A King does not need his hand held."
Crunch?
No.
CLANG!
The sound that echoed through Arlong Park wasn't the sickening wet tear of flesh being ripped from bone.
It was the high-pitched, resonant ring of metal striking an indestructible anvil.
Time seemed to freeze.
Arlong, suspended in mid-air, his jaws clamped tight around Suzaku's forearm, froze. His eyes bulged out of their sockets.
He had exerted every ounce of his monstrous strength. His jaw muscles were spasming from the effort. These teeth could tear through the hull of a Marine battleship.
But now?
They couldn't advance a single millimeter.
It felt as if he were biting down on a rod of pure diamond encased in iron. The feedback shock traveled up his teeth and rattled his skull.
"Wha... what...?" Arlong mumbled around Suzaku's arm, his voice muffled and trembling.
He looked closer.
He hadn't even touched the human's skin.
Between his razor-sharp teeth and Suzaku's flesh was an extremely thin, yet visibly impenetrable, layer of black energy. It coated Suzaku's arm like a second skin, gleaming with a dark, metallic luster under the setting sun.
Suzaku slowly lowered his head. He looked at the Fishman attached to his arm with an expression of mild curiosity, as if inspecting a particularly ugly bracelet.
He rotated his wrist. The black sheen flowed like liquid metal, hardening instantly against the pressure.
"Sure enough," Suzaku murmured, a satisfied smile playing on his lips. "Combat really is the best catalyst."
He could feel it. The dormant energy in his body, stimulated by the threat and his high attributes, had surged to the surface.
"With my current physique transformed by the Vermilion Bird, and the combat experience integrated from Rem... how could I not awaken it?"
[System Notification:]
[Skill Unlocked: Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki) - Basic Level]
[Description: Invisible Armor. The manifestation of spirit into weaponry.]
Suzaku looked up at Arlong. The Fishman was still desperately exerting force, veins bulging on his forehead, sweat pouring down his face as he tried to pierce the black defense.
"Did you really think," Suzaku asked, his tone dripping with mockery, "that with your little commotion in the water, you could ambush me?"
His eyes flashed red.
"My Observation Haki saw your desperation before you even left the pool."
"Im... Impossible..." Arlong released his bite and stumbled back, terror finally overtaking his rage. "Black arm... Harder than steel... You... who are you?!"
"Just a creditor collecting a debt," Suzaku replied.
He shook his arm, dispelling the Haki.
"However... seeing as you helped me confirm my growth, I'll act mercifully."
Suzaku raised his right arm high into the air.
The atmosphere changed instantly. The moisture in the air evaporated. The temperature spiked, causing the wet ground to hiss.
"I will give you a quick end. A warrior's death."
He reached deep into his bloodline. He didn't just summon fire; he shaped it. He poured his will and his biological energy into the limb, transforming it.
"Vermilion Secret Art..."
FWOOSH!
Blazing, golden-crimson flames erupted from his right arm. They didn't just burn; they condensed, taking the shape of a magnificent, dazzling wing made of pure plasma.
The heat was intense enough to distort the light around him. The seemed to screech in the air, a phantom cry of a mythical beast.
"PHOENIX WING SOAR!"
Suzaku swung his arm down.
It wasn't a punch. It was a slash of holy fire.
SWISH—!
A scorching streak of light, sharp as a laser and hot as the sun, tore through the twilight.
Arlong didn't even have time to scream. He didn't have time to raise his sword. He barely had time to register the light.
He only felt his vision tilt.
The entire world suddenly began to spin upside down. The sky was on the bottom; the ground was on top.
In his fading, dizzy consciousness, he saw a strange sight.
A massive, headless blue body was standing rigidly in place on the stone pavement.
Wisps of beautiful, golden flames were burning at the severed neck, cauterizing the wound instantly so not a drop of blood spilled.
Is that... me?
The final thought flashed through his dying mind.
As his vision darkened, the image of Arlong Park faded. In its place, he seemed to see the distant, blurry lights of Fish-Man Island. The coral forests. The sunlight filtering down from the roots of the Yarukiman Mangrove.
That homeland he had tried to recreate with blood and terror. The homeland he could never return to.
Jinbei... I...
Then, darkness completely swallowed his consciousness.
Thud.
Arlong's head hit the ground with a heavy, final sound. It rolled once and came to a stop at Nami's feet. The expression on his face was one of permanent shock.
A second later, the headless body collapsed.
Crash.
Silence descended on Arlong Park.
The monster of the East Blue, the nightmare of twenty villages, was dead.
Suzaku exhaled a breath of hot steam. The flames on his arm dissipated into sparks, vanishing into the night air.
He turned his head slightly, looking over his shoulder.
"Rem."
"Yes, Lord Suzaku."
"I'll leave these small fry on the ground for you to handle. Make sure they never wake up to threaten this village again."
Rem nodded slightly. She stepped forward, her heels clicking on the stone. Her gaze swept over the forty unconscious Fishmen lying haphazardly on the ground—the ones Suzaku had knocked out with his Conqueror's Haki earlier.
She hesitated for a moment, a finger tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"Rem will deal with these scumbags... Hmm, perhaps 'fish-scum' is more appropriate terminology?"
Suzaku's face darkened slightly upon hearing the pun. "There's no need to fuss over such terrible jokes. Just get to it."
"Understood, Lord Suzaku. You've worked hard."
A faint, blue magical glow appeared from her hand. The heavy, spiked flail materialized from thin air, the chain rattling ominously.
Rem gripped the handle. Her eyes were devoid of cruelty, but also devoid of mercy. She was simply a maid cleaning up the trash.
"Wind magic," she whispered. "El Huma."
Ice spikes materialized in the air, hovering over the unconscious pirates.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
She began the work of clearing the area. It was efficient. It was brutal. It was necessary.
Suzaku, meanwhile, turned away from the carnage. He walked over to Nami, who was standing frozen, staring at the severed head of her tormentor.
He stopped in front of her, blocking the gruesome sight with his body.
"How about it?" Suzaku asked, a gentle smile playing on his lips. "I didn't lie to you, did I?"
He leaned in slightly.
"I said I'd deal with the Arlong Pirates. And now... the deal is done."
Nami slowly lifted her head. Her eyes were wide, red-rimmed, and filled with a chaotic mix of emotions—disbelief, relief, shock, and a joy so overwhelming it felt like pain.
She looked at Arlong's body. Then at the crumbling wall. Then at the young man standing before her, looking as if he had just finished a light workout.
The shackles that had bound her heart for eight years... snapped.
"Mm..."
She sniffled, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.
"Thank you... Suzaku."
"Thank me for what?"
Suzaku shrugged, his smile turning somewhat roguish.
"You owe me over a hundred million Berries now. Plus interest. As my Navigator, you're going to be working for me for a long, long time."
He patted her head.
"Besides, how could I leave a talented employee in the hands of a shark who doesn't even know how to treat a lady?"
"Hey!"
As soon as money was mentioned, the sadness vanished from Nami's face instantly. The "Cat Burglar" persona resurfaced like a reflex.
She pointed an accusing finger at the leather satchel lying in the dirt near Arlong's body—the one Kuroobi had dropped when he fainted.
"The money is right there on the ground! Pick it up yourself!"
"Oh, that?" Suzaku glanced at the bag. "That's my spoils of war for defeating Arlong. That goes into the Captain's treasury. It can't be used to pay off your personal debt."
He crossed his arms, deliberately putting on a stern face.
"I haven't even charged you for the emotional damage of being yelled at earlier. That's already a discount out of respect for you being my Navigator."
"Who agreed to be your Navigator, you jerk!!" Nami stomped her foot, her face flushing red. "You're worse than a pirate! You're a loan shark!"
"Isn't your dream to draw a map of the entire world?"
Suzaku suddenly dropped the teasing smile. His expression became serious, his golden eyes locking onto hers with an intensity that made her heart skip a beat.
"Nami. Look at this sea."
He gestured to the ocean visible through the broken gates.
"Staying in the East Blue forever... playing thief and hiding in this village... won't make that dream come true. You need a ship. You need a crew. And you need a Captain strong enough to take you to the end of the world."
He extended a hand toward her.
"Come with me."
Nami stared at his hand.
She thought of Bell-mère. She thought of the map room she had burned in her mind a thousand times. She thought of the freedom she had craved since she was a child.
"You... how do you know my dream?" she mumbled, momentarily speechless.
Then she remembered that he had met Nojiko before. Her sister must have told him everything.
She let out a soft "hmph," turning her head away to hide the fresh tears welling up in her eyes. Her tone softened, losing its sharpness.
"Hmph... Even though you're also a jerk... and a brute... and unreasonable..."
She reached out. Her hand, smaller and callous-rough from years of wielding a staff and a quill, grasped his hand firmly.
"Still... thank you."
She paused, her voice very soft yet clear as a bell in the quiet night.
"Thank you for liberating this village. Thank you for saving my life."
She squeezed his hand, a brilliant smile breaking through the tears—the first true smile of the "Navigator Nami."
"For that... I'll reluctantly agree to be your Navigator. But don't think I'll work for free!"
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