One Piece: The Arm of Fate

"…"

Nami stared blankly at the wanted poster, frozen in place.

Shano and Nojiko stood silently behind her, gently patting her shoulders in sympathy.

But after just two pats, the two glanced at each other and quickly turned away. Their bodies trembled slightly as they tried not to burst out laughing.

"Meow?"

Nuomizi perked up, climbed onto Nami's head, laid down, and tilted his head as he looked curiously at the wanted poster.

"Meow~"

Nuomizi nodded in satisfaction, tail tapping the photo as if to say, "Look, this meow looks amazing!"

"..."

A large, pulsing cross slowly appeared on Nami's forehead.

She took a deep breath, trying to suppress the anger boiling up, but her voice still trembled:

"Nuomizi…"

"Get down from there!!!"

She reached up to grab the smug Nuomizi, but the nimble little guy twisted away, landing on her shoulder with innocent blinking eyes.

"Meow?"

"Still pretending to be clueless!"

Nami gritted her teeth. "Why are you taking all the credit! What, do you think you have the Flame-Flame Fruit? Think you're worth 100 million Baileys? Are the idiots at Navy Headquarters blind or what?!"

She finally caught Nuomizi. His face was being smooshed and twisted so much he wanted to cry but had no tears.

Ayin, lying on the railing, wagged his tail gleefully.

Hehe, perfect. Now I don't have to take the blame anymore.

What's Senior Ayin so proud of?

Shano couldn't take it anymore and raised a leg—boot!—sending Ayin flying into the sea.

"You said all that, but the cat didn't understand a word of it."

Shano rescued the squished Nuomizi from Nami's hands and placed him on his own head with a smile. "See, you let him stick to you all the time and rarely separate—so the Navy probably thought the fire that day came from him."

"So basically, the Navy saw Nuomizi as the flamethrower… and you were the one holding it."

Smoker puffed on a cigarette and said lazily, "Tch. Cat tower."

"Go to hell, Smoker!"

Wham!

Nami lost it and punched Smoker on the head.

Smoker's nose swelled, his cigar flew out, and he held his bump in disbelief.

"What the hell?! You don't even know Haki—how'd you land that hit?!"

"I told you to control your cigars when you're mad!"

Nami clapped the dust off her hands. After letting out her anger, she felt better… until she saw her bounty was still only 80,000 Baileys. Her mood instantly collapsed again.

"There's still time to prove myself."

Nami walked to the bow of the ship, clutching the wanted poster, eyes fixed firmly on the distant sea. "There's still a chance. In the next fight, I'll—"

Wait, prove what?

Nami shredded the poster into bits and flung it into the waves, screaming at the sea with tears in her eyes:

"There won't be a next time! I'll never look at a bounty poster again!!"

Just wait for me, Navy Headquarters!

One day, I'll follow my brother to Marinford and turn the whole harbor into a sea of flames! Let's see if you can ignore me then!

"…That rage might've pierced the heavens."

Everyone looked at the orange-haired figure in front of them and shivered a little.

Seems like… it'd be best not to provoke her for the next few days.

"By the way, Smoker," Nojiko turned and asked, "What's your bounty? I skipped it earlier."

"It went up a bit."

Smoker glanced at his wanted poster. "One hundred and sixty million."

"Damn, still way more than mine!" Nojiko grumbled, then asked again, "What about Uncle Zeff and Robin?"

"Same as Gin—Zeff's bounty didn't change. He didn't do anything that day. Makes sense. As for Robin…"

Smoker flipped through the stack, raising an eyebrow. "Huh. Weird. Hers isn't here."

"No way. That can't be."

Nojiko looked too and was surprised—it really wasn't there.

"That adds up," Smoker muttered. "She didn't do anything, and she wore a local desert hat and sunglasses the whole time. Probably wasn't recognized by the reporters. So the Navy doesn't even know Robin was with us."

Robin quietly sipped her coffee and didn't speak.

"What, are you thinking—'I guess I'm still not a real crewmate. But that's okay. Someone like me with a dark past shouldn't drag the rest of you down…'"

Shano sat down across from her and grinned.

"Don't worry. It won't stay secret for long. I want to see the World Government's face when they find out you're on my ship. Let them rage—it's not like they can stop us."

"…"

Robin's fingertips trembled slightly. The surface of her black coffee rippled.

She looked up at Shano, wanting to say something—but no words came.

She had always been the observer in the shadows.

But this black-haired boy who pulled her onboard always saw right through her.

Just as a touch of self-pity bloomed in her heart...

"Captain, where are we heading next?"

Robin gracefully changed the subject with a smile. "If I remember right, the next stop on the Alabasta route is Jaya Island. Shall we go there?"

"Jaya Island?"

Shano thought for a moment.

If he remembered correctly, following the ocean current from there would lead to Skypiea—the sky island ruled by Enel.

He shook his head.

"No. The World Government is keeping a close eye on us. If we stick to that path, we'll probably walk into an ambush. Better to make some changes."

Gotta stay unpredictable.

He was sure Jaya was swarming with spies right now.

He could already imagine it: push open a tavern door, and boom—there's a dude in a baseball cap waiting at the bar.

"You've got permanent pointers for the islands around Alabasta, right?" Shano looked at Robin. "Here's what we'll do: exclude Jaya and anything backtracking like Drum Island, cover the names of the rest, and draw one at random."

Just spin the wheel of fate?

Nojiko's eyes lit up. "I love it!"

"Same here."

"Let's do it—mystery adventures are the best."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Wait right here."

Robin returned to her room and soon came back with a backpack.

Clatter—

More than a dozen labeled-up permanent pointers spilled out onto the table. The glass shells sparkled in the sun.

"Go ahead, Captain."

Robin chuckled and gestured. "Let fate decide."

"I've always had good luck."

Shano picked one, held it up to the sun, and watched the needle inside stabilize—pointing northwest.

"Alright! This one it is!"

Shano laughed and tossed the pointer in the air, catching it with a grin. "We're off to… somewhere! Who knows!"

…

Three days later—

The End continued sailing at full speed.

The Grand Line's weather was, as always, unpredictable.

The sky was sunny one minute; the next, black clouds swallowed the sea like a monster.

Boom!

Thunder and lightning began to flicker on the distant horizon.

"Looks like a nasty storm is coming."

Nami stood up from her lounge chair under the umbrella, gazing upward.

She stretched out her pale hand to feel the wind. Her expression turned serious. "It's worse than all the previous ones combined."

Just like Shano said.

His luck had been unusually good. In over a month on the Grand Line, they'd only encountered a few minor storms.

The End's hull, built from the legendary Adam wood, had always pulled through safely.

But this storm… felt different.

"Everyone listen up!"

Nami shouted, "Reel in the sails! Retract the main and secondary masts! Full turn to port!"

Even before her voice faded, rain started falling.

First just a few drops, then a downpour. Amid the thunder and lightning, it sounded like pearls shattering across the deck.

"Damn it!"

Smoker threw on a raincoat and ran to the rudder. "I'll steer! Nami, get off the deck—find shelter and give commands!"

"Got it!"

Nami climbed to the open-air dojo on the second floor and ducked under the eaves.

Her soaked orange hair clung to her cheeks. She brushed it aside, narrowed her eyes, and stared through the rain.

"The clouds are thinnest at ten o'clock! Head that way—we'll exit the storm zone fastest!"

"Understood!"

Everyone moved into action.

Smoker didn't hesitate. He turned the rudder in that direction.

Everyone trusted Nami's navigational instincts.

Even Smoker—trained at Marine HQ—had to admit, among everyone he knew, Nami's sailing talent was unmatched.

Crash!

Suddenly, the wind screamed and the sea surged. Huge waves hundreds of meters high roared toward the deck.

Swish!

A black blur—Kuina—leapt to the bow.

"Wind Barrier."

She whispered calmly and unsheathed her sword.

Clang—!

A violent gust of sword wind erupted.

In an instant, a twisting barrier of air formed above the deck. A massive wave slammed into it…

BOOM!!!

…but the impact vanished like it was nothing. Only a misty drizzle trickled down.

"Whoa, you neutralized it in one shot?"

Nojiko gawked. "You got that from the Gale Sword manual? That's insane!"

She had been preparing to freeze the wave herself, but wasn't confident.

Who knew Kuina could handle it alone?

"Well… I just figured it out yesterday. Good chance to test it."

Kuina smiled, but her breathing was heavy. Clearly, this technique used more stamina than "Steel Flash."

She still had a long way to go.

If she could master the true Wind Barrier, it could supposedly swallow all long-range attacks.

Someday…

She shook her head and looked toward Nami.

Under the eaves, Nami looked even more solemn.

Is it the worsening storm?

Kuina looked up.

The clouds danced with wild lightning, illuminating the sea like daylight.

The ocean roared like a monster, currents swirling into whirlpools.

"No! This current behavior shouldn't appear at the same time!"

Nami's eyes widened in realization. "It's a giant Sea King! The storm's too intense—it woke a massive creature from the seabed! It's lashing out in rage!"

As if on cue, the sea bulged.

A swelling over a thousand meters wide appeared, and the ocean began to boil.

BOOM!

A blue tentacle—over a hundred meters thick—burst from the water, crashing down on the End.

Not good!

Kuina moved to intercept but was flung away on contact, crashing into the deck.

"Kuina!!" Nami screamed in horror.

At that moment—

BANG!

The training room door exploded open.

A black figure shot out like a cannonball, cracking the deck beneath him before leaping into the sky!

"The Spear of Elbaf…"

Shano clashed with the falling tentacle.

He didn't budge.

Grinning, his Haki-covered fist smashed forward—

"Weiguo!!!"