Moonlight streamed through the broken warehouse window, casting a cold gleam across Nami's trembling fingers.
The instant she touched the parchment contract, soaked in fish brine, a choked sob slipped from her lips, as if her heart had been crushed.
Darius Flint, supporting her lower back, felt her weight—so light it was almost fragile—yet her skin burned unnaturally hot. Cold sweat dripped from his metallic palm, leaving a dark wet mark where they touched.
[Sea Stone pain amplification system activated.]
The system's voice cut sharply through the air, and a misty golden line appeared before Darius's eyes.
[Target contact area: 0.7 square centimeters. Current pain intensity: equivalent to being pierced in the ribs with Sea Stone. Pain will increase by 20% every ten minutes.]
Nami's nails dug into his arm, leaving small indentations on his metal skin.
Her lashes quivered violently, but she forced back her tears. Her eyes fixed on her bluish fingertips as a broken gasp escaped her throat. "It's… it's the same pain as when Arlong chained me with Sea Stone cuffs." The last words tore out between her clenched teeth, her voice trembling despite her defiance.
Darius's temples pounded. He could feel her heartbeat thundering against his palm, frantic like a drumbeat.
"System, how do I stop it?" he muttered under his breath, even as the beam of a searchlight swept across the warehouse walls outside. The sound of heavy, damp breathing—a Fishman's presence—was already close.
[The contract must be destroyed. Residual curse factors must be neutralized within seventy-two hours.] A misty light condensed into the form of a translucent sword. [But the host is currently—]
"Now!" Darius snarled. He bent and seized the contract from the ground.
The instant the parchment touched his palm, pain flared like salt in an open wound.
Only then did he notice the brine-soaked script was laced with fine Sea Stone powder, glowing with a faint, sinister blue under the moonlight.
His knuckles cracked as he clenched his fist. Darius pressed down with metallic strength, palms closing like a guillotine. Yet the parchment resisted, fibers tougher than expected, splitting into strands but refusing to tear completely.
"Damn it!" His veins bulged as he slammed his other palm against it, twisting with brutal force.
With a harsh crack, the parchment tore apart. Fragments laced with Sea Stone powder scattered across the floor.
Darius glanced at his hand. His metallic skin was bleeding where the powder had corroded it, leaving pitted holes. He ignored it. His eyes locked instead on Nami's face, watching her pained expression finally soften.
"Better?" he asked hoarsely.
Her lashes fluttered. Slowly, she released his arm and looked at her fingertips, color returning to them. But her relief vanished at the booming crash of the warehouse door being kicked open.
"Found them!"
The voice was guttural, followed by a screech of metal on wood.
Iron Hook Pete stood in the doorway, his body wrapped in Sea Stone chains. The night wind lifted the patch on his left eye, revealing a hideous scar. His mechanical hook scraped sparks against the floor. "Miss Nami's ransom deadline has been shortened to forty-eight hours." He bared his jagged teeth in a grin. "Of course, if Mr. Flint wants to pay instead…"
Darius tasted blood. Only then did he realize he had bitten his tongue.
In his arms, Nami stiffened. He felt the fear trembling through her body—but also something harder, a faint thread of resilience.
"Thirty million Berries," Pete sneered. "Tomorrow at noon. If you fail, this little thief's pain won't stop at her ribs."
The searchlight outside swung across Pete's face. Darius studied the hook at his arm joint. A half-rusted fish scale was stuck in the gears, producing a faint clack-clack noise with every movement.
The system whispered in his mind, marking the gear gap as critical.
His leg muscles tightened. His metallic foot scraped shallow marks into the ground.
Pete's hook inched closer to his throat.
Darius's pulse thundered, his breath synchronized with Nami's now steadier one. He remembered the system's warning: [The curse of Sea Stone requires blood to resolve.] At that moment, he felt the warmth of Nami's bloodied fingertips pressed against his chest.
The hook descended.
Darius's leg snapped forward. His metallic shin swept past Pete's hook in a deceptively soft motion—an opening strike of Bajiquan's Lifting Willow. The toe feinted at Pete's knee, forcing a block. In that instant, the calf twisted, heel driving forward with brutal force.
Pete's hook swerved off-target, scraping Darius's armor by a hair. The vibration left Pete's entire arm numb, rust dust spilling from the gear joint.
"Bastard!" Pete roared, sweeping his hook sideways. The blow carved chunks from the wall.
Darius pushed Nami aside, ducking close to Pete's ribs. He drove his metallic back into him with a Mountain Leaning Strike. The impact cracked scale armor and sent Pete staggering.
But the hook lashed back, coiling around Darius's arm. The Sea Stone chain clamped tight, numbing his veins. His Devil Fruit power stuttered.
[Warning: Sea Stone concentration 0.3%. Metallization stable at 70%. Suggest precise use of Penetrating Shot on gear joint.]
Darius's eyes locked on the leaking green mucous lubricant at the hook's joint. He raised two fingers, pale golden light condensing at the tips. With a sharp thrust, he unleashed a Penetrating Shot.
The beam struck the gap dead-on. The hook seized. Black smoke hissed from the armguard as the chain fused into a locked knot.
Pete cursed, tugging desperately, but Darius ignored him. He turned back to Nami, blood dripping from his corroded palm.
Her eyes fell to his wrist. She grabbed it—firm despite her trembling—and revealed the faint blue mark on her forearm, pulsing like a living wound.
Darius recalled the system's hint: the Saw-Tooth Fruit's ability might cut Sea Stone residue. His metallic arm glowed, saw-like ridges forming along its surface.
"Cut," Nami whispered, pressing his wrist against her arm. Tears brimmed in her eyes but her voice was steady. "I can endure it."
"Forgive me," he murmured. His saw-tooth arm pressed against the mark.
Agony surged into both of them. His arm burned as if ground by sandpaper. She shook violently, nails biting into her palms, but she made no sound.
The mark cracked, splintered, and finally dissolved into shimmering motes.
"It worked," Darius breathed, his arm receding to raw, reddened skin.
They shared a faint smile. Then heavy footsteps echoed outside.
A deafening roar shook the walls. "Pete! That little wench's in there, isn't she?"
Nami's face drained of color.
Darius recognized the voice—Johnny, Arlong's vicious enforcer. His saw-blades could tear through ship timbers like paper.
The warehouse door splintered, saw teeth gleaming in the gaps.
"Stay behind me," Darius ordered, his body sheathing in steel once more. He felt Nami's hand on his back. The fire inside him burned hotter than ever.
The door cracked open. A blade of light pierced the dark.
Darius flexed his wrist. His saw-tooth arm gleamed like a promise.
[New target detected: Saw-Arm Johnny. Sea Stone-reinforced saws confirmed. Fusion of Saw-Tooth Fruit suggested at thirty percent.]
Darius didn't need the prompt. He already knew.
He glanced back at Nami. Her eyes, reflecting his metallic form, burned brighter than any jewel.
He grinned. "This time, I'll carry it for you."
The door exploded inward.