Suddenly, Xia Chen opened his eyes. His golden pupils were gone, replaced by blood-red ones.
In an instant, an incredibly powerful killing intent enveloped the surroundings, making everyone's heart clench.
Looking somewhat anxious, Luffy couldn't help calling out.
"X-Xia Chen?"
Xia Chen's gaze instantly turned toward him. At that moment, Luffy felt as though he were facing Death itself, and the immense pressure instantly drenched his back in sweat.
Xia Chen spoke to everyone in a trembling voice:
"Y-you guys hurry and find Nami and the others. Let me recover alone for a while."
Xia Chen's mind was filled with savage killing intent, which was gradually threatening to swallow his reason.
Just now, he had even felt the urge to kill everyone here. Fortunately, he had temporarily restrained that killing intent through sheer willpower.
Otherwise, everyone here would have suffered!
But he wasn't sure how much longer he could suppress it, which was why he wanted them to leave so urgently.
"But..." Luffy wanted to say more, but Xia Chen cut him off.
"Go!"
After a moment of silence, Luffy slowly stood up and said, "Got it!"
Then he added, "Zoro, Sanji, Yosaku, let's go!"
With that, Luffy jumped straight off the ship and headed in a certain direction.
After glancing at Xia Chen, Zoro and the others followed Luffy.
Xia Chen had to have a reason for sending them away. Just as Luffy trusted Xia Chen, he too believed Xia Chen would handle it.
He was so strong, after all!
Once everyone had left, Xia Chen felt his consciousness growing increasingly hazy.
At this rate, he would definitely lose control and kill everyone.
With that thought, Xia Chen dashed straight toward the shore, not forgetting to curse the system along the way.
"Damn system, what kind of shitty bug is this?!"
Once he reached the shore, Xia Chen plunged headfirst into the sea.
The instant he entered the water, he could no longer control his killing intent at all.
Savage killing intent completely occupied his eyes, and his body underwent a tremendous transformation as well. The clothes he wore instantly turned a flowing black.
It was just like how Luffy's clothes turned white after he transformed into Nika.
At the same time, black flames appeared behind Xia Chen and wreathed him, remaining alight even underwater.
His hair also changed from its original black to blood-red.
He looked like a demonic god who had walked out of hell.
Meanwhile, many sea beasts that didn't know what was good for them heard the commotion and swam over.
Xia Chen's bloodthirsty eyes stared at them, filled with savage killing intent.
What followed was a brutal slaughter...
Meanwhile, everyone with Luffy had fallen silent.
They had just argued with Nami and run into Johnny, who had also told them that Nami had killed Usopp.
Thus, a heavy atmosphere now hung over them.
Until...
"What are you guys doing here?"
Hearing the familiar voice, everyone turned toward it, their faces filling with surprise.
"Usopp!!!"
Some time later~
"So you're saying Nami stabbed herself to save you?" Zoro asked.
"That's right!" Usopp nodded.
Then silence settled over them for a few more seconds before Luffy stood up and said:
"Since that's what happened, then... let's go take back our navigator!"
"Got it, Captain!" Zoro said with a crooked grin.
Then the group headed toward Arlong Park.
Meanwhile, Nami sat slumped on the ground, her eyes filled with helplessness and despair.
No matter what she did, she couldn't stop the villagers from marching off to fight Arlong. They didn't want her to bear all of this any longer.
Even though she herself had said she was willing.
At the thought of all the villagers eventually dying at Arlong's hands, Nami broke down completely.
She raised the knife in her hand and repeatedly stabbed the Arlong Pirates tattoo on her arm, letting out cries of despair.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
Suddenly, Nami realized something had grabbed her arm, preventing her from moving it, and she looked back.
She saw a completely different-looking Xia Chen holding her arm and looking at her, his blood-red eyes devoid of any emotion.
Seeing Xia Chen looking utterly different apart from his face and build, Nami froze and couldn't help asking blankly:
"Xia Chen, wh-what happened to you? How did you end up like this?"
"It's nothing. Some dumbass thing malfunctioned, and now it's causing a bit of trouble!"
His way of speaking was clearly that of the Xia Chen Nami knew, yet at this moment, he felt like a stranger.
It was simply because Xia Chen's tone was utterly cold, without any of its former feel.
Suddenly, Xia Chen crouched down and pulled her into his arms.
"Don't worry. I'm here!"
"Nami... Arlong has made you suffer all this time and robbed you of happiness during the best years of your life!"
"But those days are over! I'll go take care of everything!"
After saying that, Xia Chen slowly stood up and turned his head.
"Just be our crew's navigator. You're not getting away!"
With that, Xia Chen shot straight into the sky and flew rapidly toward Arlong Park.
Watching Xia Chen recede into the distance, Nami could no longer hold back her tears, which flowed like a burst dam. She murmured:
"Thank you, Xia Chen!"
At the same time, an inexplicable feeling began to grow in her heart.
"Hey, Nami! There you are!"
Suddenly, Nami heard a voice behind her and couldn't help turning to look.
The instant she saw Luffy and the others, a faint smile appeared on her lips.
She had now faced her own heart and would never again lose this hard-won bond with her companions!
Besides, she knew Xia Chen. If he said he would handle it, he definitely would!
So...
Nami waved to everyone. "Guys, I'm over here!"
Seeing the smile on Nami's face, everyone was stunned. Hadn't she been looking miserable just a moment ago?
How had she become like this now?
Without thinking too much about it, Luffy ran straight over and said to Nami:
"Nami, let's go beat Arlong together! Let's give Cocoyasi Village its freedom back!"
"No need!" Nami said, shaking her head.
"Huh? Wh-"
"Xia Chen's already gone over!"
When he first heard Nami's response, Luffy was about to ask why, but her next sentence made him swallow his words.
"Xia Chen went? That's great! He'll definitely take care of it!"
Luffy spoke happily. As far as he was concerned, Xia Chen was so strong that once he stepped in, whatever Fish-Men were here would definitely be no match for him!
But...
"Y-you said Xia Chen went over?" Zoro asked from the side, looking rather troubled.
"Yeah. What's wrong?"
Nami was a little puzzled. Was there a problem with Xia Chen going over?
Zoro's expression shifted several times before he finally said slowly:
"I don't think Xia Chen's in quite the right state right now!"
"Back on the ship, he suddenly started running around clutching his head, and the instant he opened his eyes, I felt killing intent stronger than anything I'd ever felt before!"
"So something must have happened to him. Did you notice anything different about him just now?"
"Now that you mention it..."