"Fire Fist, Fire Gun, Flame Mirror…"
"Fire Bomb, Firefly, Fire Dragon Blast, Fire Lily!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!
December 1, Year 1510 of the Sea Circle Calendar.Sixis Island.
Even after they found the Devil Fruit, the four of them weren't in a hurry to leave.
Nami was desperate to return to Cocoyasi Village, defeat the Arlong Pirates, and save her home, but El persuaded her to stay on Sixis a little longer—to develop the power of the Mera Mera no Mi first.
The strength of a Devil Fruit depends on two things:
The user's stamina
The user's imagination
Stamina is the energy that fuels the fruit's abilities—like MP in a game.Imagination determines how those abilities are used.
From a powerless girl to suddenly becoming the strongest combatant on the ship, Nami obviously had no idea how to properly develop such an ability.
Fortunately, she had a reincarnated cheat of a captain called El.
He didn't make her copy Ace's techniques exactly, but after having Nami imitate some of Ace's basic moves, he started borrowing from another "memory" of his—from a manga called Naruto, teaching her to mold her flames like jutsu, starting with simple forms and then evolving toward more complex techniques.
"The biggest advantage of a Logia user," El explained, watching Nami practice, "is that as long as they have stamina, any part of their body can release and control their element."
"For example, a man who ate a swamp-type Devil Fruit can spit out swamps from his mouth. Another man who ate an ice-type fruit can spit out ice blocks, or exhale freezing air that turns everything to ice."
"Same for you. You're now a woman of flame—a fire person. As long as you spend stamina, you can exhale scorching heat or spit flames from your mouth."
"And once you release those flames, they're yours to control within a certain range."
"You can twist them into all kinds of forms with your imagination, or spread them into a sea of fire, then compress that fire into one massive fireball…"
After Nami tried out another series of moves, El continued his lecture like a patient tutor.
"What's even more important is this: every high-level Logia user is basically synonymous with a natural disaster."
"With a wide enough area of effect, they can recreate calamities over a massive range. The cost in stamina is often ridiculously low compared to the destruction caused."
"For example, your Mera Mera no Mi. Even though your flames are still at the orange stage, you can already ignite most things easily. All you need is to convert enough of your stamina into fire and release it. Once it burns the environment, it creates more flames for you, for free."
"So in places that favor your element, you can create your own battlefield with minimal cost—and fight where you have the advantage."
"…I understand, Nii-san."
Nami listened quietly, then nodded seriously.
"Good. I've already taught you all the basics you need for now."El reached out and gently patted her head, then said something that made Nami jump with joy:
"Next… we head to your hometown and turn those Fishmen into grilled fish."
"That's great! Thank you, Nii-san!"
Nami almost tackled him, jumping into El's arms.
Unlike the last time she cried with relief, now Nami had untied the knot in her heart. The lively, mischievous girl she had been before her adoptive mother's death was beginning to return.
After all… she'd already been reshaped by El, little by little.
This age was when a person's nature and beliefs developed the most.El's kindness was something all three girls could feel, deep in their bones.
There was no way they could escape his influence now.
It was probably a good thing Nami was still young. If she were older, she might never come back from this—except as someone who'd willingly entrusted her whole life to him.
When El and Nami returned to the ship, the small sailing boat finally lifted anchor after more than a month and left Sixis Island behind.
For Nami, who had now "finished her training," there was only one goal left.
They didn't stop at any island along the way.
Their destination—Cocoyasi Village.
Boom—!
A week later.
Their small sailing ship finally re-entered the waters near Cocoyasi Village.
If they sailed a little further, they'd be able to see the island where Nami's hometown was located.
At this moment, Momoo—the giant sea cow brought from the Grand Line by the Arlong Pirates—was patrolling the surrounding sea, on the lookout for any ships that might approach Cocoyasi Island by mistake.
With a splash, Momoo surfaced directly in front of their ship, roaring as it prepared to ram forward.
"Fire Fist – BOOM!"
A massive column of fire erupted from Nami's fist, crashing into Momoo's upper body.
Orange flames wrapped around the massive sea beast, and the fire that spilled onto the sea boiled the seawater on contact, filling the air with hissing sounds and white steam.
Zzzzzz—!
Whoosh—splash!
But Momoo was still a sea beast from the Grand Line. Its body was enormous, and only the upper half had been engulfed in flames.
Nami had only been a Mera Mera no Mi user for a short time. Her control and firepower were still immature—her flames still in their orange stage, far from the deep crimson of true hellfire.
Burning a sea monster to death in one hit on the ocean was still a bit too much for now.
With a pained bellow, Momoo dove desperately into the sea, using the seawater to extinguish the flames clinging to its body.
At that moment, El moved.
His body blurred, turning into a black afterimage as he leapt from the deck and dove toward the ocean like an arrow.
Before his body even hit the water, the sword in his hand flashed—a streak of cold, snow-white light.
Like a meteor, the slash cut across the surface of the sea and vanished.
A heartbeat later—
The water in front of the ship split.
A trench appeared out of nowhere—more than 20 meters wide and over 500 meters deep, cutting straight through the sea.
From above, the three girls could see it clearly.
In the ocean that had been carved apart by El's flying slash, Momoo's enormous body, still scorched black in places, had been cleanly sliced in half. Both halves fell lifelessly toward the exposed seabed as water roared around them.
The trench appeared quickly—and healed just as quickly.
Within moments, the sea returned to normal.
Only this time, the water in the area had turned a faint, spreading red.
And two halves of a giant sea beast floated to the surface.
"…Lower the ladder," El's voice drifted up from below the hull.
"Ah—right!"
The three girls finally snapped out of their shock.
Looking at each other, they could see the same thing in one another's eyes—
Awe.
"Nii-san… he got even stronger again," Carina murmured.
Nami stared at the bloody sea, then down at her own hands.
"Can I really beat him…?" she whispered, half to herself.
PS : Author's Note
Mera Mera no Mi (Flame-Flame Fruit)
Logia-type Devil Fruit that allows the user to create, control, and transform into fire.
Grants elementalization into flame, making the user immune to most physical attacks.
Momoo
A giant sea cow (sea beast) originally from the Grand Line.
Used by the Arlong Pirates to patrol and attack ships that stray near Cocoyasi Village.
Seastone
A rare mineral that has the same passive energy as the ocean.
Negates the abilities of Devil Fruit users and weakens their strength when they are in close contact with it.
Elementalization
A unique defensive property of Logia-type Devil Fruit users.
Allows the user to transform their body into their element (fire, smoke, lightning, etc.) and let attacks pass through harmlessly.
Physical attacks cannot damage the user unless:
The attack uses Armament Haki,
The attack utilizes Seastone,
The attack involves seawater, or
The element itself is naturally countered.
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