Carnival

The battle between the two had reached a stalemate.

Arlong was extremely confident in his teeth, relentlessly attacking Luffy with his sharp fangs. After Luffy knocked his teeth flying, Arlong actually did it again, grabbing the fallen teeth in his hand and using a move he had named the Iron Teeth Technique to launch another attack on Luffy. In the end, the Iron Teeth Technique did not last long before Luffy blocked it with some fish-man he had pulled over from who knew where.

After that, Arlong dived straight into the sea. Taking advantage of the fish-men's natural ability to move twice as effectively underwater, he kept leaping out of the water and stabbing at Luffy with his saw-like nose.

At first, Luffy was somewhat flustered, but later he made use of his rubbery flexibility, stopping Arlong's assault with his stretched fingers before slamming him hard onto the floor!

Arlong flew into a rage and flung Luffy away. Then, through a wall, he pulled out an enormous saw blade lined with sharp teeth. As he swung it at Luffy, he moved the battle from the ground floor toward the rooftop.

Everyone turned to look toward the roof as well.

At that moment, Zero noticed Nami's shoulders trembling slightly and could not help asking, "Nami, what's wrong?"

"That is... the room where I drew nautical charts."

Nami's voice trembled too. Zero could only sigh and place a hand on her shoulder. The sight made Sanji's teeth itch with jealousy, but there was nothing he could do. He could only silently walk aside and cry.

Before long, Luffy's stretched rubber leg smashed through the wall of the rooftop room, and sheet after sheet of yellowed paper fluttered down with it.

As though she understood Luffy's intention, Nami's eyes reddened once more. Covering her mouth, she turned and buried herself in Zero's arms, sobbing. Sanji, who had only just managed to compose himself, turned his head back and immediately burst into another storm of tears.

Not long after, Luffy stretched out his rubber leg and punched through the roof of the room where the two were fighting, then came crashing down!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!

Amid a series of deafening crashes, Arlong Park began to collapse from the bottom up as it shook violently. Everyone scattered at once.

"Luffy, are you okay?"

"Big Brother Luffy!"

"..."

Nami lifted her head from Zero's embrace at that moment. Seeing Zero looking at her with concern, she felt a little embarrassed, but her attention was drawn back to the collapsing ruins the next instant.

"It's okay. Luffy will definitely be safe!"

As if Zero's words carried unimaginable magic, Nami had barely settled down when a figure suddenly emerged from beneath the rubble.

"Nami—you are my partner!"

Hearing Luffy's powerful shout, Nami stared fixedly at him and felt an unprecedented sense of safety in her heart!

And so, the battle ended amid everyone's cheers as they tossed Luffy high into the air.

Straw Hat Pirates VS Arlong Pirates, Straw Hat Pirates win!

Afterward, Colonel Nezumi arrived with a group of Marines, but the awakened Roronoa Zoro gave them a thorough beating. Then Nami, who had pulled herself together, forced them to deal with the aftermath of the battle. They really were unlucky to have walked right into the line of fire.

And after this battle, the Straw Hat Pirates officially entered the Marines' field of vision!

After defeating the Arlong Pirates, the island held a carnival party.

Luffy entered his bottomless-pit mode and had been stuffing himself from the moment the party began. Usopp ran up onto a high platform and bragged about his experience defeating the fish-man officers. As for Sanji and Roronoa Zoro, one was either hitting on women or on his way to hit on women, while the other was being treated by the island's doctor.

Meanwhile, before a simple grave somewhere on the island, Zero stayed by Nami's side and told her about everything that had happened while she was away. When he spoke of fighting one of the Shichibukai, she repeatedly cried out in surprise.

Genzo and Nojiko had come by to visit, but when they saw Zero and Nami together, they merely watched quietly for a while before silently leaving.

Suddenly, Nami seemed to remember something and asked Zero, "Zero, how did you know about me being with the Arlong Pirates?"

Ah, she still asked about it after all.

Zero lamented inwardly that he could not escape this question. His eyes shifted, and he simply looked seriously at Nami's face. "Ahem, actually, I ate a Devil Fruit too. As long as I touch someone, I can see what they have experienced. When I touched you, I saw fragments of your time with the Arlong Pirates, so..."

"Really? That's amazing, Zero!"

"I was lying! Hahahaha!"

"..."

Nami stared at Zero's laughing face with a dark expression. She had not expected someone normally so serious to make this kind of joke.

"But still, thank you all!"

Zero stopped laughing and scratched his head somewhat awkwardly.

"You are our partner, after all. And Luffy was the one who defeated Arlong in the end. The one you should thank most is our captain!"

"That may be true, but if you hadn't firmly made me trust you all from the beginning, I wouldn't have found the courage to resist Arlong. So don't refuse my thanks!"

Zero still wanted to say something, but Nami suddenly raised a finger to her lips. He could even clearly smell the faint, unique fragrance lingering on her hand.

By the time he came to his senses, Nami had already lowered her hand. She looked out at the sea before them and only slowly spoke after a long while. "Zero, it's really wonderful having all of you around!"

"Yeah!"

The carnival party lasted three days.

By the fourth day, Luffy and the others had already packed up food and were preparing to set out on their journey again.

Johnny and Joseph said farewell beneath the ship, saying they were returning to the bounty hunter trade. They promised to meet again at sea someday if they had the chance.

However, what puzzled everyone aboard was that Nami had yet to appear on the ship. Sanji dejectedly said that there was no point in boarding without Nami, while Luffy was still seriously questioning Sanji about not finding the ham slices he had asked for, driving Sanji into another rage.

Amid the noise on the ship, Zero merely watched silently in a certain direction on the island. Only when that beautiful figure appeared did his eyes light up.

"Everyone, set sail!"

After saying that, Nami suddenly broke into a run, weaving back and forth through the villagers who had come to see them off. At last, she made a lifelong leap and barely landed on the ship's railing.

Later, when the villagers saw Nami lift her shirt and wallets fall from her body, they finally realized that their wallets had been stolen by her. They could not help flying into a rage at Nami, who had already boarded the departing ship.

"Nami, you sure left them with a great impression! Hahaha!"

Zero laughed and shook his head, while Nami mischievously stuck out her tongue in response.

Amid laughter and cheers, their journey began once more.