Killing Colonel Rat**
Cast out from Arlong Park, Nami walked back to Cocoyasi Village like a ghost.
Her eyes were glazed, her spirit hollow.
Eight years of sacrifice—every map drawn in shame, every coin scraped from the jaws of pirates—had just been reduced to **a cruel joke**.
She didn't know where to go. What to do.
The world felt frozen, the air like shards of ice in her lungs.
---
Meanwhile, **Colonel Nezumi**—hooded, beady-eyed, and reeking of greed—had already arrived at **Nojiko's orange grove** with a squad of marines.
According to Arlong's tip, the 100 million Berries were buried right here—guarded only by a lone woman.
An easy score. A bloodless heist.
Nezumi could already taste the coins.
He swaggered into the grove, flanked by armed soldiers.
Nojiko didn't greet them with relief—only **revulsion**.
> ***"Squeak-squeak-squeak!"***
Nezumi chuckled, hands in his pockets, voice dripping with false cheer.
"You must be Nami's sister. Our investigation confirms she stole a vast fortune from East Blue waters and hid it here. By order of the World Government, I'm confiscating all stolen assets."
Nojiko's grip tightened on her flintlock spear.
"I don't know what you're talking about," she said coldly. "But tell me—since when does the Navy ignore *real* pirates just to harass a 'petty thief'? Is that **dedication**… or just cowardice?"
Nezumi didn't flinch.
"Squeak-squeak! Such a stubborn little thing."
He waved a hand. "**Search the cabin! Every coin! Every chest!**"
Marines surged forward.
"No—**wait!**" Nojiko cried—but they ignored her.
Just then—
"**STOP!**"
Panting, disheveled, **Nami** stumbled into the grove.
She forced her voice steady:
"I'm a member of the **Arlong Pirates**. Do you *really* want to make *him* your enemy?"
Even now, a sliver of hope clung to her—*if she could just scare them off, maybe she and Nojiko could flee. Start over.*
Nezumi leaned in, his grin venomous.
> "How do you think I knew you had the money here?"
Nami's blood turned to ice.
Her knees buckled. Tears streamed down her face as the truth crashed over her: **Arlong had betrayed her from the start.**
"**ARLONG! ARLOOOONG!**" she screamed—raw, broken.
Then, in a flash, she yanked the dagger from her belt and **stabbed it into the Arlong Pirates tattoo on her arm**.
Blood splattered—some even hit Nezumi's face.
His smirk vanished. Enraged, he kicked her hard in the ribs.
"**Search! Tear this place apart! Not a single Belly goes unclaimed!**"
Nami collapsed, sobbing silently.
After a moment, her hand crept back to the dagger.
This time, she raised it to her **neck**.
*She wasn't waiting for a hero. She was choosing an end.*
The blade gleamed—cold, final—descending toward her throat…
***—stopped.***
A large, calloused hand clamped around her wrist like iron.
> "OI, little thief cat. You look like you could really use some help."
Nami looked up—through tears—into the grinning face of a black-haired young man.
Behind him, Nezumi's voice cracked in panic:
"**Who are you?! I'm a Navy captain! Do you dare oppose the World Government?!**"
Nami turned—just in time to see a **massive black greatsword** pressed against Nezumi's throat.
At its hilt stood a silver-haired woman, eyes colder than steel.
The marines froze.
Yang Ning plucked the dagger from Nami's limp fingers and stood, smiling.
"You can't die yet. You haven't **returned our ship**."
"Huh…?"
Nami blinked—then spotted Willie peeking from the cabin.
*These were the pirates she'd just robbed.*
Her voice was hollow. "I already sold your ship. Do whatever you want with me."
She lay back, defeated.
*Another group of small-time pirates*, she thought. *They ambushed Nezumi, sure—but once Arlong finds out, they'll be shark food.*
She'd seen it all before.
But then—
***PFFT!***
A wet, sickening sound cut through the grove.
Nezumi's head **tumbled to the ground**, eyes still wide with disbelief.
Yang Ning flicked blood from his blade, genuinely puzzled.
> "Why *wouldn't* I dare kill him?"
He turned to Nami, voice sharpening.
"He colluded with pirates. He treated villagers like livestock. And you think I should spare him… because he wears a **uniform**?"
> "Those rules—trials, due process—they're for the *Navy*."
> **"I'm a pirate."**
Nami's heart **hammered**.
This wasn't the pirate she knew. This wasn't greed. This was **judgment**.
With Nezumi dead, the marines panicked—some drew weapons, others bolted for the trees.
Esdeath sheathed her greatsword and turned to Yang Ning, utterly serious:
"Should we kill them all?"
To her, raised on a nameless island, "Navy" meant nothing. "Government" meant less.
Yang Ning threw his head back and laughed—exaggerated, theatrical.
"**What?!** Are you mad? They're here on official business! I'm not some bloodthirsty maniac!"
Esdeath stared at him, confused.
*Didn't he personally slaughter every last one of Blood King's hundred men? Without mercy?*
Yang Ning caught her look and nearly groaned.
*Of course she'd remember that.*
He sighed internally:
*Those thugs had preyed on villages for over a decade—they deserved to die. And besides—*
*—he'd been farming system skill points. Pure resource optimization.*
*It wasn't about enjoying the kill!*
Still… maybe he *should* leave one marine alive.
After all—someone needed to tell the Navy exactly **who** had erased Colonel Nezumi from the world.