The sea at night was extraordinarily beautiful.
Sitting on the beach, El and Kuina talked about everything and nothing—about swordsmanship, strength, and the futures they wanted to carve out. By the time Carina and Nami finally found the two of them, the sky was already turning pale with dawn.
By then, everything in Cocoyasi Village had been resolved.
Nami now stood beside them with a clean white bandage wrapped around her left shoulder.
"Did you get hurt?"
El frowned slightly as he looked at the bandage on Nami's arm.
The elementalization of a Logia user was a passive ability, much like his own constant heart-reading. As long as a normal physical attack could pierce the skin or draw blood, the user's body would instinctively shift into their element and nullify the damage.
For example, Nami could still feel pain if she tripped and fell, but if a sharp stone or blade actually pierced her skin as she fell, that body part would automatically turn into flame and the attack would phase right through.
Even the user themselves couldn't injure their own elemental body. Nami could poke herself and feel it, but if she seriously tried to cut herself with a knife, the blade would just pass through fire.
Any attack that would normally break the skin and spill blood would trigger elementalization and be negated.
So El was genuinely curious.
How did Nami manage to get injured badly enough to need a bandage?
Did the village tattooist secretly own a Sea Stone needle set or something?
"Hehe… I just figured it out too, so I… deliberately soaked my left shoulder in seawater so my passive ability wouldn't trigger."
Nami grinned proudly.
"Good idea. And good perseverance."
El already knew the answer the moment he asked—her thoughts were as clear to him as ever—but he still gave her a big thumbs up.
Soaking the wound in seawater would indeed prevent her elemental body from protecting that area, allowing the tattoo needle to actually pierce her skin.
But seawater was salty.
That kind of pain would be several times worse than a normal injury.
The fact that Nami endured that on purpose showed just how much her will had grown.
Now that her hatred had been avenged, the final knot in Nami's heart had completely unraveled. With the potential of the Mera Mera no Mi added on top of her own inner strength, El was almost certain:
Unless Carina or Kuina experienced some sudden awakening and jumped straight into Haki, the second person in their crew to awaken Haki would almost definitely be Nami.
Combined with her innate ability to sense the sea breeze and predict weather changes hundreds of miles away…
Once they left this island, El had already decided—he would train Nami to awaken both Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
The next morning, at the port of Cocoyasi Village…
After loading all the farewell gifts from the villagers onto the ship, Nami stood at the rail and waved with a bright smile.
"Goodbye, everyone!"
"Goodbye, Nami!"
"Nami, make sure you take care of yourself out there! Eat properly and stay healthy!"
"If you ever get tired of adventuring, remember you can always come back home!"
"Don't forget us!"
"Write letters!"
The villagers all waved back with reluctant smiles, voices overlapping over the sound of the waves.
"Hehe… Got it!"
Nami shouted back, still smiling from ear to ear.
Now that her heart was truly free, leaving the village wasn't scary or painful anymore. She was finally looking forward—to sailing the unknown seas, to drawing her map of the world, and to seeing how far she could go with her own strength.
By the way…
Because Arlong's rule had only just begun and had not yet taken firm root, he hadn't started colluding with Colonel Nezumi of the local marine branch.
Because of that, El couldn't be bothered to make a detour just to kill a minor marine like Nezumi.
Still, to prevent any unforeseen trouble, Nami—on El's advice—left a Den Den Mushi (a phone bug) with Nojiko before they left.
If pirates ever took over Cocoyasi Village again, or if outside forces tried to bully them, the four of them would rush back from the Grand Line and settle things.
After leaving Cocoyasi Village, life aboard the ship quickly returned to its usual rhythm.
Carina, as always, buried herself in books. She quietly devoured information—history, geography, economics, pirate rumors—and steadily expanded the knowledge base that made her such a terrifying strategist.
Kuina, on the other hand, spent every day in brutal training.Morning, noon, and night, she crossed blades with El.
Under his "gentle" tutelage, her white training clothes were often more shredded than a beggar's rags by the end of the day, which made it increasingly hard for El to keep his concentration focused on swordsmanship.
After each spar, Kuina would go off for additional physical and fundamental training without being told.If she wasn't swinging a sword, she was doing push-ups, squats, or weighted runs.
Nami, meanwhile, had become the most "unfortunate" one on the crew.
To raise the temperature of her flames and extend how long she could sustain them, El forced her into a strict physical training routine every day.
On top of that, he also wanted to help Nami awaken Haki.
But the moment he actually tried to start, El had to give up—for now.
Without Armament Haki, he couldn't land a proper hit on Nami's elemental body, and as a result, Nami couldn't cooperate in the usual "push your life to the edge" kind of training used to awaken Haki.
He could only put that plan on hold and prepare to help her after he awakened Armament Haki himself.
Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, it was December 11, 1510 S.C.
Months after they had last left, the ship returned once more to Loguetown, the place where this little crew had first come together.
After docking, the four of them headed straight for the central streets.
First stop: the bank, to withdraw a decent amount of Belly.
Next: the hospital, to top up their medical supplies.
Then: a clothing store, to buy new training outfits that could survive El's and Kuina's daily abuse.
After that, they hit both the weapon shop and a specialized navigation shop:
From the weapon shop: several barrels of ordinary swords, spare weapons for training and emergencies.
From the navigation shop: a special compass used only in the Grand Line—Log Pose.
Loguetown, as it was now, was still far from the orderly town it would become under Smoker's iron rule.
Many merchants and companies who dealt in gray and black markets had branches here, feeding off the chaos.
The navigation shop that sold Log Pose was one of those shady businesses.
Not only did they stock Log Pose, it was one of their top sellers.
To bleed dry as many first-time Grand Line pirates as possible, the shopkeeper had even put up a flashy display at the entrance, advertising "Essential tool for Grand Line navigation!"
The price of a Log Pose was dozens of times higher than that of a normal compass.
But one party was willing to sell, and the other was desperate to buy.
Even knowing they were being ripped off, the four of them could only grit their teeth and pay.
After finally finishing their food and water resupply, the four left Loguetown that very same day.
Their bow turned toward the horizon—and the entrance to the Grand Line.
PS :
Kuina Shimotsuki – Daughter of Koushirou, heir of the Shimotsuki sword lineage.
Koushirou Shimotsuki – Dojo master of Isshin Dojo in Shimotsuki Village.
A low-key Master Swordsman.
Possesses both Observation Haki and Armament Haki.
Bell-mere – Nami and Nojiko's adoptive mother.
Killed by Arlong when Nami was a child.
Colonel Nezumi – Marine officer of a local branch.
Log Pose – A special compass required to navigate the Grand Line.
Loguetown – "Town of the Beginning and the End."
Birthplace and execution site of Gol D. Roger.
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