One Piece Thundergod Marine

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Several days later, at G-10's underground prison:

"Ensign Nami, this way please!"

An orange-yellow glow refracted through the convex lenses on the walls, casting light into the cell. The brightness irritated Zoro, who squinted his eyes open and furrowed his brows.

"I told you not to call me that!" 

A familiar voice echoed, and Zoro finally regained his senses, lifting his head from the crucifix-like stand he was bound to.

"Nami?"

Around the corner, the soldier leading her seemed a bit uneasy. In the Marines, unless superiors had a particularly close relationship with their subordinates, no one addressed each other by name; ranks were always used.

"Understood. I'll just call you... Aneki Nami then!"

"Aneki my foot, you idiot!" 

Nami's lips twitched as she turned her head, refusing to look at him anymore.

"Alright, you're not needed here anymore. Leave us. I need to talk to them alone."

With that, Nami took the torch and lit the oil lamps.

Woosh...

A trail of fire snaked up along the oil trough, illuminating the previously pitch-black underground space.

In the faint firelight, Zoro could make out Nami standing outside the iron bars, wearing a clean, sharp Marine uniform with a Justice cloak draped over her shoulders. He smirked.

"You're okay, Nami? That's good to see."

"....."

The words Nami had rehearsed were stuck in her throat. After a long silence, she finally said, "If you're trying to appeal to me for mercy, you don't have to bother."

"Fleet Admiral Sengoku has already promised that if you give up being a pirate, you can return to East Blue and continue as a pirate hunter."

"Fleet Admiral?"

Zoro chuckled, "That title... seems like you're still not used to your new identity, Nami."

"I'll... get used to it eventually," Nami said with a somber expression. After a pause, she finally asked the question that had been troubling her for a long time: "You know it well, don't you, Zoro?"

"I betrayed everyone... I'm a traitor, so why did you protect me back then?"

Back on the ship, Zoro had been the first to question her. But when Dante had swung his blade at her, Zoro was also the first to rush in and defend her.

Wasn't that contradictory?

"About that, if you feel guilty, I think you really don't need to," Zoro said after a moment of silence. He closed his eyes, conserving his strength, and spoke slowly, "I never said you were a traitor."

"And that idiot never said it either."

As long as the captain didn't think she was a traitor, then she was still their comrade.

"I wasn't protecting you, Nami. I was protecting my comrades and upholding the rules on the pirate ship."

"That's all."

It was... that simple?

Nami was speechless, staring at Zoro in shock, unable to comprehend his reasoning.

"Zoro, I'm so hungry..."

A weak mumble came from one side of the room.

Zoro's forehead was covered in frustration lines, and he sighed, "If you're hungry, go find Sanji. I can't cook!"

"But Sanji isn't here, and I don't know where he went. He's supposed to be the cook, yet he's letting everyone starve."

Luffy mumbled, complaining as he lay there.

Nami: "....."

Zoro: "....."

What the hell are you talking about?! In a place like this, does it even matter if he's the cook? What's he supposed to cook— cockroaches with saliva?

(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

"Huh? Nami?! Why are you here too?!"

Only now did Luffy realize that someone was standing outside the cell.

"....."

Nami sighed deeply, looking up to the heavens. 

This guy... is hopeless.

"I'm here to persuade you, Luffy," Nami said, calming herself. She hadn't forgotten why she was delaying, waiting for the commendation orders before coming to visit.

"Persuade us? What do you mean?"

Luffy sat up, rubbing his cheek. Suddenly, his eyes widened in disbelief as he rubbed them again. 

"Whoa, Nami! Did you already steal their clothes? Did you find the keys?"

No, absolutely not... what the heck?!

"Take a good look, you rubber monkey! This is my officer's ID!" 

Nami, half exasperated and half on the verge of a breakdown, pulled out a white-and-blue identification badge from her pocket, slamming it against the bars. 

"I'm Nami, a Marine soldier, rank: Ensign. Got it?!"

Luffy stared seriously at the ID, scrutinizing it carefully, then tilted his head. 

"Ensign? What does that mean?"

Nami: "..." 

"I forgot this guy can't read…"

"It's probably not just about him being illiterate," Zoro added seriously.

With a sigh of defeat, Nami leaned against the bars, explaining wearily, "Luffy, I'm a Marine now. A real Marine."

"Nani?! You're not a pirate anymore?!" 

This time, Luffy finally understood, his eyes widening to the size of saucers, and his jaw metaphorically dropping to the floor.

"Not just me… I want all of you to be the same," Nami said, taking a deep breath as she looked around the cell.

Due to a certain someone's vast resources, the prison bars in the G-10 branch were made of Seastone. 

As a result, Luffy and Chopper, being Devil Fruit users, only needed to have their hands and feet bound in chains, which were then attached to the wall. 

Zoro, on the other hand, was firmly secured to a crucifix-like stand, suspended in mid-air. 

As for Usopp, who wasn't a Devil Fruit user... the reason he was also just shackled with chains was a little more painful to explain.

"Why? Can you explain your reasons?" 

Noticing something in Nami's demeanor, Luffy's expression turned serious for once.

Despite his usual carefree nature, Luffy had a unique ability to stay focused and resilient when it came to important matters—a rare, sharp tenacity that few could match.

"Well, it's simple… I never wanted to be a pirate, Luffy," Nami said, shaking her head. 

"The current pirate era is different from before. Setting sail now is way too risky— one wrong move and the ship could be destroyed with lives lost."

"There are better ways to make sea maps. Why should I become a pirate?"

"And you all..." Nami's eyes swept over each of them.

"Zoro, don't you want to become the world's greatest swordsman? Mihawk is a Shichibukai, right? He's not just a regular pirate. There's no need to challenge him as a pirate."

"And Chopper, you want to become the best doctor in the world, right? Do you know how much medical knowledge the Marines have that isn't shared with the outside world? Don't you want to learn it?"

"And you, Luffy..." 

Nami's eyes reflected a moment of struggle. 

"You just want to be the freest person on the seas, don't you? So why does it have to be as the Pirate King?"

Usopp: "Um…"

"You're wrong, Nami," Luffy said, shaking his head. "The Pirate King is the freest person. The freest person *is* the Pirate King."

'Fine... no one's listening to me…' Usopp sulked in the corner, drawing circles on the floor with his finger.

"Wait, no— it's the Sea King!" 

Luffy suddenly shouted, quickly correcting himself.

"Now is not the time to be nitpicking about that, you idiot!!!" 

Bang! 

Nami slammed her fist on the bars, and Luffy immediately sat up straight.

"Yes, I got it!"

"But, Nami…" Luffy suddenly looked up, grinning mischievously. 

"If we can't even decide what kind of people we want to be, how can we ever call ourselves the freest people?"

"You…!!" Nami stammered.

"That's a rare moment of wisdom from you, Captain," Zoro said, smirking. 

"If we can't do what we want, what are our dreams? Just a joke?"

"It could cost you your life!!"

"I'm not afraid of death!" 

Chopper stood up, limping out of the dark corner, his gaze firm as he looked at Nami. 

"Nami, the doctor once told me, death isn't scary— what's scary is not having the courage to face death."

"Knowing something is wrong and not standing up to change it— that's more terrifying than death."

"If there's a sickness that can be cured, I have to cure it. If there's something that can be changed, I have to change it. If there's a dream that can be realized, I have to pursue it. That's what true medicine is!"

"You guys..." 

Nami was utterly shocked, staring at their clear, determined eyes. She felt something deep inside her being moved.

Just then...

"Hey, everyone, there's food today!"

The group turned around to see Sanji approaching. 

Luffy's nose was in the air, racing faster than his eyes. 

"Wow, Sanji! Did you finally cook something?!"

"Yeah, the chef of the Soryu is busy today, so I used the leftover ingredients in the kitchen to make a meal and brought it back... Turns out the guard outside was pretty easy to talk to."

Sanji carried a tray in one hand, a cigarette dangling from his lips as he chuckled. 

"Eat up. Don't worry— there's no condition that you have to give up being pirates to eat."

Then, turning dramatically, he knelt on one knee beside Nami, holding out an elegant sashimi dish made from expensive sea fish. 

"Nami-san~~~! I prepared this special sashimi just for you. Would you like to try it?"

Glancing at the bread in their hands and the pot of lumpy vegetable soup...

Luffy, Zoro, Chopper, and Usopp all screamed in unison, baring their teeth in fury: 

"So much for leftover ingredients!!!" 

(End Of Chapter)