Four days later.
Several hundred meters off Cocoyasi Village, Shiratori Riku was on deck, straining his muscles. With his stamina and fatigue already restorable through the Restoration Fruit, there was no longer a need for breaks. He could train endlessly.
Kaya was also exercising, sticking to the basics.
And Nami? She was soaring freely through the sky, finally relieving Riku of his duties as the ship's temporary helmsman.
Because—
"Flight mode."
She had created a small island cloud, lifting the ship itself into the air. Now she guided it across the sky.
An airborne pirate crew.
She wasn't yet strong enough to sustain it long—only a few hours at a time before her stamina gave out. But with Riku and Kaya restoring her energy, in theory, Nami could fly the ship around the entire world.
"Nicely done, Nami," Riku praised.
"Hmph!"
Her cheeks puffed as she snapped back. "Why don't you make island clouds to carry the ship? You have the Cloud-Cloud Fruit too! I'm exhausted here!"
The two girls didn't know why Riku also had their powers. Better that way.
Still training, he answered matter-of-factly, "Because this is your training. Remember, Arlong is yours to deal with."
"Mm!"
At the mention of Arlong, Nami grew solemn.
A week's training hadn't raised her base power much, but her control of the Cloud-Cloud Fruit had skyrocketed.
She swore she could kill Arlong a hundred times over. The fruit suited her perfectly.
With real strength came confidence. Half her fear had already burned away, leaving only hatred.
Riku continued. "Against enemies, don't hold back. Don't be an idiot who just knocks them flying and then throws a banquet..."
"Got it, nag, nag, nag," Nami muttered, rolling her eyes. She'd heard it a hundred times.
Just knock Arlong away? Impossible.
He had killed her mother. The Arlong Pirates wouldn't satisfy her unless they were utterly destroyed.
"Kaya, you too," Riku said.
"Mm. I understand."
She clenched her fists, determination shining.
"You just need to sit on the cloud and see blood. You can't beat fishmen yet," Riku told her.
She needed to witness the battlefield.
"You two, go!"
Riku seized control of the island cloud from Nami, floating the ship above Cocoyasi Village.
"Huuh!"
Nami inhaled deeply, then began shaping clouds one after another. She fashioned a small cloud to carry Kaya, and together they dove down.
...
Cocoyasi Village.
In a modest garden, Nojiko was watering orange trees when she glanced up.
"That... is that a ship?"
Her eyes widened.
It wasn't flying high—close enough that from the village it just looked like a mass of cloud. But from farther away, one could see the vessel perched atop it.
Nojiko saw both. And she saw an orange-haired figure streak past in the sky.
That figure was unmistakable.
"Nami? How is that possible?!"
She rushed forward, only to freeze as a man stepped into her path.
Riku waved casually. "Nami's sister, right? A pleasure. I'm taking you."
"If no one sees, it doesn't count. Go ahead, scream for help."
Nojiko: "..."
At that moment—
Inside Arlong Park, dozens of fishmen feasted.
"Takoyaki's ready! Come eat!"
Hachi scampered about, juggling six arms.
Arlong bit down on a piece, stroking his sawlike nose with laughter. "Ha ha! By now, Nami should be back. I wonder if that pathetic human managed to scrape together the money."
Kuroobi sneered. "As expected of lower lifeforms. A single promise is enough to fool them."
"Boss Arlong," a cadre chuckled, "if we steal her hundred million, what if she kills herself in rage? Such a waste of a fine navigator."
"Suicide? Then the whole village can bury her," Arlong snarled coldly.
"Just as I thought..."
A sharp, icy voice rang out from above, freezing the banquet. The fishmen looked up.
Nami stood on a drifting cloud, gaze colder than ever, fists clenched.
"You... you're Nami?"
Arlong was stunned. Where did this courage come from?
Wait—
"Arlong-nii! Look at her hand!" Hachi cried out. "It's turning into cloud!"
"Shut up, I see it!"
Arlong's eyes narrowed in fury. Her hand had become cloud, linking to the sky itself.
"So that's it. You dared defy me because you ate a Devil Fruit!" he roared.
Fury. Jealousy. Hatred.
Of course he knew what Logias meant. He remembered Admiral Kizaru's hunt for the Sun Pirates—every casual move shaking the world, waves of light too powerful to endure.
That kind of being, he could never resist.
If she truly was Logia, even touching her would be impossible.
"Damn it!"
His eyes went red.
"All of you! Strike the water! Drown her!"
WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH!
The fishmen pounded the pool. Jets, streams, and spheres of water launched upward.
But the higher they flew, the weaker they became.
"Pathetic!"
Nami's eyes chilled further. With a flick of her hand, a wall of cloud blocked the barrage.
"Listen well, Arlong!"
"These eight years of pain—feel them for yourself!"
"I will give you a grand funeral!"
No more words.
She unleashed the island cloud she had prepared.
"Island Cloud Descent!"
The massive cloud, compressed countless times over the past days until it was heavy as a mountain, plummeted.
The shadow swept across the park, the air itself shrieking.
Arlong and his men froze in horror.
They had no power to shatter it.