"Shahahaha! Isn't this Nami?!"
A nauseating laugh echoed through the woods, shattering the already tense atmosphere.
The bushes rustled as more than a dozen tall Fish-Men of varying skin colors emerged.
At their head was a kissing fish-man with an elongated mouth.
He carried a spiked club, sweeping his contemptuous gaze over Luffy's group as if they were sewer rats.
"What's wrong, Nami?"
The Fish-Man underling wore a mocking grin, looking down his nose at them.
"What's with these humans who look like they'd collapse in a breeze? This isn't according to the rules."
"Did you bring them here? Hey, hey, don't tell me you're planning to bring these inferior creatures to rebel against Brother Arlong?"
As he spoke, the surrounding Fish-Men burst into piercing laughter.
"Shahahaha! Rebel? With these lowly humans?"
"Hey, Long Nose over there, your legs are shaking! Shahahaha! Don't tell me you pissed yourself!"
Faced with the undisguised malice and killing intent of the Fish-Men, the cold mask Nami had struggled to put on completely shattered in that instant.
It was the shadow that had hung over her heart for eight long years, a nightmare called despair.
"No... no..."
Nami's face went pale as paper, her body shaking uncontrollably. She wanted to explain, but couldn't form a complete sentence.
Instinctively, she tried to pull away from Victor, hoping to distance herself from these "intruders" and protect them.
But overwhelming fear and long-suppressed pressure robbed her proud long legs of all strength.
"Ah..."
Nami cried out as her knees gave way, and her body fell backward uncontrollably.
Yet the cold, hard ground she expected never came.
A warm, powerful arm steadily supported her back.
Nami looked up in panic and met Victor's calm black eyes.
"Careful, Miss navigator," Victor said softly.
That sight completely enraged the Fish-Men