As it turned out, Giolla had been right. If the chase continued, Nami's Weather Egg would indeed be overtaken by the submarine.
After all, the endurance of the two was not on the same level.
However... Nami had never intended to drag this out for too long!
The moment she realized the clouds in the sky were usable, Nami stopped fleeing.
"Huh?"
Seeing Nami come to a sudden halt, looks of confusion crossed the faces of the Donquixote Family grunts at the same time.
Is she... giving up?
"Could it be that thing of hers ran out of power?" one of them asked tentatively.
"It must be!"
Another excitedly chimed in, "Otherwise, there's no way she'd just give up!"
"Quick, charge! Take her down!"
Thinking they had figured out Nami's situation, the subordinates charged toward her in excitement.
Yet before they could get very far, they sensed something was wrong.
Why... did the sky grow dark?
"Hey!"
"Why did it turn black all of a sudden?"
Gazing up at the sky that had abruptly become overcast with dark clouds, question marks popped up over all their heads at once.
Could it be about to rain?
"Everyone~"
Slowly raising an arm, Nami gave them a playful smile and said, "It's a thunderstorm today, so be careful of lightning strikes, okay~"
With that, she gently waved her arm, beginning to channel the Thunder Power in the sky with her ability.
In the next moment—
BOOM!!
Terrifying lightning crashed down from above, striking the Donquixote Family's submarine with pinpoint precision and reducing it to wreckage in a single blow!
The enemies hit aboard were all knocked out cold with their eyes rolled back as they sank into the sea.
This scene deeply shocked Giolla back on the Thousand Sunny.
Why could that woman still summon lightning?
Hadn't her ability already been neutralized by her?
Just how on earth did she do that?!
"Hey, Cat Burglar!" Giolla glared at Nami furiously and demanded, "How the hell did you do that?"
"How were you able to strike this old lady's ship and subordinates with lightning?"
"Because my ability is special, of course," Nami said with a chuckle.
"Are you kidding me?!"
"Weren't you rendered incapable of using your ability?"
"That's true, but I never said I didn't create cloud clusters in advance~" The corners of Nami's mouth curved upward.
At this moment, Nami was immensely grateful to her cautious past self.
If she hadn't created a cloud cluster in advance back then, they would be utterly helpless right now.
"Created cloud clusters in advance?"
Giolla froze for a moment, her expression turning ugly. "In other words, you anticipated early on that we would come looking for you here?"
Otherwise, there was no other way to explain why she would have prepared cloud clusters ahead of time.
This time, Nami didn't bother explaining, merely offering Giolla an enigmatic smile.
Yet that look only served to confirm Giolla's suspicions.
"As expected of the cunning Cat Burglar," Giolla spat through gritted teeth.
It made sense; if the other party didn't possess at least that much of a brain, she wouldn't have dared to cause trouble for their Young Master.
"All right, now it's your turn."
Nami raised her arm to point directly at Giolla from afar and said, "What comes next will be my strongest attack."
Hearing this, Giolla's expression instantly changed.
Although she didn't know how powerful that strongest attack would be, she didn't believe her body was tougher than a submarine.
So... she absolutely could not take this attack head-on without preparation!
With that in mind, Giolla unleashed her strongest offensive form without hesitation.
"Then let me show you my supreme masterpiece!" Giolla roared. "Art of Heaven!"
Hum—
The next moment, massive amounts of artistic gas materialized around Giolla, swiftly converging around her and soaring into the sky.
Her body slowly floated into the air, appearing as though it were transforming into something bizarre.
Seeing this, Nami hesitated briefly before giving up on the idea of launching an attack right away.
After all, unleashing such a technique aboard the Thousand Sunny might end up destroying the ship, so it was better to let the enemy move away from it.
However, her instincts urged her to return to the pirate ship quickly. She called out loudly to Brook and Chopper to head back first, while dashing toward the pirate ship herself.
By the time all three were back aboard, Giolla had vanished without a trace.
"Cat Burglar, you missed your last chance to attack me!"
Concealed entirely within the cloud of artistic gas, Giolla laughed maniacally. "Next, I'll show you what true art really is!"
BOOM!
In an instant, the world transformed!
Under the power of Giolla's Devil Fruit Ability, the entire area was reshaped into a domain belonging purely to art.
The sky vanished; the sea vanished.
Were it not for the bizarre colors of that artwork, the surroundings would have plunged into pitch-black darkness.
The sight thoroughly shook Nami and her two companions.
"What in the world is this?!"
Staring at the completely altered domain around them, Brook cried out in disbelief, "Why has everything turned out like this?"
Where was the sea?
Where was the sky?
Where was the sunlight?
Why had it all disappeared?!
"Hey, look at that!"
Chopper pointed in sheer terror at the colossal figure before them. "Is that the woman from before?"
How had she grown even bigger than the Giant Race?
"It's her..."
Nami swallowed hard reflexively. "But why has she grown so massive?"
She could actually make her body this huge?
Did the Art Fruit really possess such an absurd ability?
"Miss Nami, what should we do?" Brook said with a hint of panic.
An enemy like this would be tough to cut down even if he were in peak condition.
"Isn't it obvious?"
Nami clenched her fists and declared, "There's no other choice but to keep fighting!"
Right now, she could still sense the clouds outside. So... it wasn't an impossible fight!
"Keep fighting?"
Giolla burst into uproarious laughter, as if she had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
Then, with a cruel sneer, she said, "Cat Burglar, what do you take this old lady's art for?"
"Who gives a damn about your art!" Nami snapped. "Art this, art that, it's so annoying!"
Ever since stepping foot on their ship, this woman had been endlessly blabbering about art, but... had the bastard never considered that her art was hideous?
It was truly hideous!
"Cat Burglar, how dare you mock my art! You're asking to die!"
"The one who's going to die is you!" Nami yelled. "Have a taste of the Thunder Power!"
"Strike down!"
As her voice rang out, a terrifying bolt of lightning crashed down toward Giolla, its power far more immense than the strike that had obliterated the submarine!
Sensing the sheer force of this attack, Giolla's face drained of color.
To think this little brat could still summon lightning after I cut off the outside world...
In that case, let's see whose art is more brilliant!
With that thought, Giolla channeled all her strength into defense, preparing to weather Nami's attack by force.
In the next moment—
BOOM!!
A pillar of lightning descending from the heavens struck Giolla's position with absolute precision. In the blink of an eye, the terrifying force obliterated the domain Giolla had created, shattering the darkness here once and for all!
Shatter the darkness with thunder!
"This is impossible!" Giolla roared in pure disbelief.
Why was this brat's Thunder Power capable of destroying her artistic domain?
Just why?!
With that lingering disbelief, Giolla was caught by the ensuing aftershocks of the lightning. Her body convulsed before she completely lost consciousness.
The moment she passed out, everything she had turned into art reverted to its original form.
"Hooray!"
"My body is back!"
Seeing his body restored, Chopper leaped up in sheer joy.
"Indeed, the feeling of having my bones back is simply wonderful." Brook rubbed his body in excitement, then looked down and touched the Thousand Sunny, remarking, "And the ship—the ship is back too."
That way, Franky and Merry wouldn't be furious over what happened to the pirate ship.
Meanwhile, Nami stroked her slender waist, which had returned to normal, and sighed, "I really do prefer my original figure after all."
As she spoke, tears even welled up in the corners of her eyes.
Being turned into a 2D drawing earlier had felt utterly miserable.
"Yes, I think Miss Nami's original figure is magnificent too," Brook chimed in, leaning over. "Miss Nami, would you be so kind as to let me see your pan—"
Nami: "??"
WHAM!
Slamming a fist onto Brook's skull, Nami bared a Shark Mouth and bellowed, "What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you bastard?!"
"Yo-ho-ho-ho-ho~"
Having been pummeled, Brook wasn't upset in the slightest; instead, he lay on the deck basking in the sensation.
Being beaten in his own original body felt delightfully nostalgic.
Right at that moment, the unconscious Giolla plummeted from midair, landing squarely on the deck.
"Huh?"
"She didn't fall into the sea..."
Looking at the unconscious woman, Nami showed a look of surprise.
Giolla had clearly been positioned over the ocean earlier, yet after losing consciousness, she had somehow landed back aboard the pirate ship?
What a stroke of luck...
"What should we do with this one?" Chopper asked, looking up at Nami.
Nami pondered for a moment before replying, "Tie her up first. Maybe she can serve as a bargaining chip when dealing with Doflamingo."
If Robin's group ran into any unexpected trouble, their side could negotiate using one of the enemy's people.
"I agree with Miss Nami!" Brook nodded.
Having an extra contingency was always the right move.
"Then we'll need to restrain her with Seastone Chains," Chopper said. "Otherwise, she might turn the chains into art and escape."
"Right, exactly."
Nami pointed toward the cabin and said, "Go ahead, the Seastone Chains are over there."
"?"
"Me?"
Chopper stared at Nami dumbfoundedly. "I'm a Devil Fruit Ability User."
As a Devil Fruit Ability User, touching Sea Stone would sap him of all his strength.
"And you think I'm not?" Nami retorted crossly.
"Oh right, you are too..."
Realization dawned on Chopper, and he scratched his head. "Wait, all three of us are Devil Fruit Ability Users, so how are we supposed to handle Seastone Chains?"
"Can't you wear gloves, you idiot?!"
"Oh..."
"Hurry up and go!"
Watching him scurry off, Nami shook her head helplessly, at a loss for words with the little guy.
After shaking her head, Nami directed her gaze toward Dressrosa.
She wondered how things were going on their end.
"Man, that's intense~"
Watching the contenders slaughtering each other frantically in the ring, Luffy remarked, "I wonder if there are many strong guys in Block C."
"Don't worry, you won't be disappointed," Cavendish said with an amused smile.
"That's good."
Luffy grinned, looking forward to the battles ahead.
Just then, the announcer's voice boomed from the high platform.
"To think an alliance would form in the arena! What an incredible turn of events!"
"An alliance?"
"Yes!"
Seeing the crowd surrounding and protecting Fighting King Elizabello II, Luffy asked curiously, "Is that allowed?"
Doesn't that count as a foul?
"Though it's an unsightly tactic, teaming up in a battle royale isn't against the rules," Cavendish said. "Otherwise, someone would have stepped in to stop it."
"Interesting."
Sitting off to the side, Meiser chuckled and said, "Have they forgotten that only one person can emerge victorious from this block?"
"I doubt they've forgotten." Hearing Meiser's words, Cavendish offered a playful smirk and said, "Still, eliminating the excess competition first isn't a bad strategy—at least for the weak."
This time, Meiser merely nodded without saying anything further.
Just as Cavendish had noted, banding together early on was indeed a sound approach for the weak.
Then, Meiser shifted his gaze to Bartolomeo, who had been lounging lazily at the edge of the ring the entire time.
"What's with that kid?" Meiser asked curiously. "Is he really that confident?"
Did he believe no one could beat him even if he just lay there?
"He's always like that," Cavendish said, looking at Bartolomeo with disdain. "He's used to looking down on everyone."
Cavendish then pulled out Bartolomeo's dossier and continued, "If he walks out of here alive, I'll finish him off with my own hands!"
"Why?"
"Because that guy, just like Straw Hat Boy, is an insolent rookie who doesn't know his place!" Cavendish spat through gritted teeth. "So I have to take him out!"
Hearing Cavendish's explanation, a drop of cold sweat appeared on Luffy's brow. Just how much does this guy despise us...?
Noticing Luffy's reaction, Meiser couldn't hold back a burst of laughter.
"Then you'd better give it your all. Those guys are pretty good at running away, after all~" Meiser chuckled slyly.
"Hey!"
Luffy stared at Meiser in utter disbelief. What was this guy babbling about?
Cavendish first glanced at Luffy in confusion, then grinned back at Meiser. "Don't worry, I'll definitely catch them."
With his strength, once he caught up to those rookies, he would wipe them out to the very last man!
Seeing Cavendish look so brimming with confidence, Luffy felt his headache growing worse.
What kind of mess was this?