Nami's skills as a thief were top-tier, but luck was not on her side tonight.
Even a beaten-down captive can be sensitive to sound. Just as Nami had silently unlatched the window and crept inside, one of the prostitutes—bruised and battered—suddenly woke up. Her eyes met Nami's, and she opened her mouth to scream.
Nami lunged to silence her, but the movement was enough.
On the bed, Captain Bakal's eyes snapped open.
Bakal the Butcher was a man who valued his gold above his life. He was paranoid to the core; he slept with one eye open specifically because he didn't trust the women he brought on board.
Seeing a masked figure in his cabin, Bakal didn't ask questions. He roared in fury, grabbing the woman clinging to him and hurling her across the room like a ragdoll.
"Thief!"
Nami dodged the flying woman, who crashed through the wooden wall and flew out onto the deck. But Nami couldn't avoid what came next.
Bakal sprang from the bed with the speed of a tiger, launching a devastating punch. Nami barely had time to cross her bo staff in front of her chest to block.
CRACK!
Bakal was a pirate worth 15 million Berries. His raw physical strength was ten times that of an ordinary man. Nami's wooden staff snapped like a twig.
The punch smashed through her guard. Fortunately, the staff had absorbed just enough force to deflect the blow from her heart to her right shoulder.
If that fist had hit her chest, her internal organs would have ruptured instantly. As it was, Nami felt her shoulder bone nearly shatter. She was lifted off her feet and blasted backward through the hole in the wall.
Nami was tough—tougher than any normal girl—but she was still human. She gritted her teeth against the agony, twisting her body in mid-air to land on her feet, skidding across the deck.
The woman Bakal had thrown wasn't so lucky. She lay motionless on the planks, her fate unknown.
"Nami!"
Darian sprinted onto the scene, his chest heaving. It had taken him ten seconds to run from the stern storage room to the bow on the large galleon.
He saw Nami clutching her shoulder, her face twisted in pain.
"Are you alright?!" he shouted, rushing toward her without thinking.
Nami looked up, her eyes wide. She was relieved he hadn't abandoned her, but mostly she was terrified for him.
"Darian, run!" she screamed. "Don't worry about me! Get out of here!"
But Darian didn't listen. He reached her side, kneeling down to check on her.
BOOM!
The entire ship shuddered as a massive weight landed on the deck. Bakal stepped out of the ruined cabin. He was a towering giant of muscle and scars, wearing only a sheet wrapped around his waist, holding a massive broadsword that looked like it weighed a ton.
"So you have an accomplice!" Bakal's voice boomed like thunder. "You rats dare to covet my treasure? Do you think my title is just for show?"
"Hmm... what's going on?"
The two drunken guards by the railing finally stirred, blinking groggily at the commotion.
"Waste!"
Bakal didn't even look at Darian or Nami. Enraged by the incompetence of his own men, he strode over to the guards.
Schwing!
With two brutal, fluid motions, he decapitated them.
Squelch. Thud.
Blood sprayed across the deck. Two heads rolled onto the wood, eyes still wide with confusion.
Darian froze.
The firelight flickered, but the image was burned into his retinas in high definition. Two living, breathing humans had just been slaughtered like cattle right in front of him.
Darian was a modern man. He had never seen a dead body, let alone a murder. The shock was instantaneous and overwhelming.
Thump.
His legs gave out. He collapsed to his knees, his strength evaporating. His stomach churned violently, bile rising in his throat.
"Darian! Move!" Nami yelled, grabbing his arm with her good hand.
But Darian couldn't hear her. A ringing noise filled his ears. He opened his mouth to speak, to scream, but no sound came out. He was paralyzed by raw, primal fear.
"Hahahaha!" Bakal laughed, wiping blood from his blade. "I thought the thief who dared to rob me was some big shot! Turns out he's just a virgin who's never seen blood! What a piece of trash!"
Bakal's amusement faded quickly, replaced by a cold, murderous glare.
"This trash dares to steal from me? Disgraceful. Die."
He began to walk toward them, dragging the heavy sword across the deck, sparks flying.
"Damn it! Damn it! Move!" Nami screamed, pulling at Darian's shirt. "We have to go!"
But Darian was locked in a state of acute stress response. His brain was firing millions of signals—Run! Fight! Freeze!—causing a total system crash. His body trembled uncontrollably, but he couldn't lift a finger.
Bakal was ten steps away. Then five.
"Idiot! It's all your fault! We're going to die!"
Desperate and terrified, Nami did the only thing she knew. She clenched her fist and slammed it into Darian's head with all her might.
THUMP!
Pain. Sharp, stinging pain.
The blow jolted Darian's brain back online. The paralysis broke.
He looked up. The giant butcher was towering over him, raising the blood-soaked sword.
Darian's survival instinct kicked in. He didn't try to run. He didn't try to fight.
His hand was still clutching the strange, pink, cucumber-shaped fruit.
With a feral desperation, Darian jammed the Devil Fruit into his open mouth. He didn't chew. He didn't taste. He shoved the entire thing down his throat in one violent, choking motion.
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