The morning sun had barely crested the distant hills when the peace of the tangerine grove was shattered by the tramp of boots and the rattle of muskets. A long line of uniformed men marched down the dirt path toward the small, humble farm that stood proud in the middle of the field. Their uniforms bore the symbol of the Marines, but the grim look in their eyes and the smirks on their faces spoke of no justice.
At their head walked a thin, rat-faced man with sharp eyes and a perpetual sneer named Captain Nezumi. His coat dragged behind him in the dirt as he walked without care for where he stepped, trampling tender tangerine blossoms under his feet.
Nami and Nojiko stood side by side on the farmhouse porch. Nojiko's hands were clenched into fists, white-knuckled. Nami took a step forward, heart pounding, but trying to stay composed.
"You're Captain Nezumi," she said through clenched teeth. "What do you want here?"
Nezumi grinned. "We've received a tip that stolen money has been hidden here. We're here to seize it, as per Marine law."
"That's absurd!" Nojiko shouted. "There's no money here! This is our home, our livelihood—"
"I don't care," Nezumi said, waving a piece of paper dismissively a fabricated warrant with barely legible ink. "Interfering with an official search will be considered as an act of obstruction. So I suggest you don't get in our way."
He snapped his fingers. "Search everything."
The Marines surged forward like a mob. Shovels, crowbars, and brute force tore into the soil and trees. Rows of tangerine trees were trampled underfoot. Wooden crates were smashed apart. Flowerbeds were dug up. The warm scent of citrus was soon overtaken by the sharp bite of upturned dirt and sweat.
"No! Stop it!" Nami cried, running into the grove.
A burly Marine shoved her hard, knocking her to the ground. "Stay back, thief."
"I'm not a thief!" she screamed, eyes welling with tears. "This farm is everything we have! You're destroying it!"
But her protests fell on deaf ears. Another Marine brought down a shovel on the roots of one of the oldest trees, tearing it from the earth. Nojiko threw herself over another tree trunk, trying to shield it, but was dragged away by two soldiers.
Cassandra had moved the money the previous night, hiding it far from the farm in a rocky alcove she found searching for a good hiding spot. She knew from her memories, that Nezumi would come, but she hadn't foreseen just how casually he would destroy what Nami held most dear. This wasn't a Marine operation, it was a vendetta disguised in uniform.
Back on the field, Nezumi wiped his brow with a silk handkerchief, grumbling under his breath. "Nothing. You mean to tell me there's no money here?"
"No, because we don't have anything!" Nojiko shouted, hair in disarray, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "This is our home, not a treasure hoard!"
Nezumi's smile returned, but it was colder now. "Very well. If we can't find the money…"
He turned to his men, voice like a dagger. "Burn it all down."
The Marines hesitated. "Sir?"
"You heard me," he hissed. "Burn everything. If they want to hide government money, let them search for it in ashes."
"No NOOOOOOOO!" Nami cried, grabbing one Marine by the jacket. "Please! Don't do this! Please!"
The man shoved her away again and another lit a torch. In seconds, the dry underbrush caught fire and flames leapt hungrily from the base of the trees. The fire spread like a demon, devouring the orange and green grove, that Bellmère had once planted with love.
The scent of burning bark and citrus was suffocating. Smoke billowed up into the sky, dark and thick, casting a grim shadow over the land. The fire danced in the reflection of Nami's wide, tearful eyes.
Nojiko knelt in the soil, her hands pressed to the dirt, whispering prayers and apologies to the scorched trees.
Nami's shoulders shook. She looked around, at the Marines laughing, at the fire consuming her home, at Nezumi's satisfied expression.
It was all too much.
Her legs gave out beneath her.
"No," she whispered, her voice cracking. "Please… someone… help…"
The wind carried her words away.
A tree collapsed with a thunderous crack, sending sparks into the air. A tangerine basket caught fire and exploded in a small burst of flame. Marines stomped through the destruction like boys in a tantrum, tossing broken limbs of trees over one another, piling more wood into the blaze.
Nojiko ran toward the fire again, only to be tackled into the dirt by a soldier.
"NOOO!" Nami shrieked, now fully on her knees in the dirt. Her hands clawed at the soil, unable to do anything but tremble and weep. Her heart, already bruised by years of sacrifice, now broke completely.
She screamed.
It wasn't just a cry, it was a plea. A desperate, soul-wrenching scream for salvation.
"HELP!!"
It pierced the air, echoing over the scorched field.
Back on the Going Merry, Luffy's head jerked up from where he sat on the deck. His eyes sharpened.
"That was Nami," he said quietly.
Sanji lit a cigarette, but the tip trembled slightly. "They're hurting her."
Cassandra was ready to move and to cut some Marine assholes.
Luffy stood slowly, stretching his limbs, a quiet fury brewing behind his clenched teeth.
"We're not letting them get away with this."
Flames crackled through the tangerine grove. Black smoke curled upward, blotting out the morning sky. The Marines had split into groups, some still overturning soil, searching for the nonexistent stash of treasure, while others tossed torches into the trees with sneering laughter.
The blaze was spreading fast now. Leaves hissed as they blackened and curled. Wooden crates burst apart in fiery snaps. Nami clutched her arms, kneeling in the dirt, choking on the smoke as she watched everything she had tried to protect fall apart. She could not understand where her buried treasure went, but sadness and dispair were the only things on her mind.
Nojiko held her hand, eyes burning with grief and fury.
Then, without warning, a boom rang out.
One of the largest Marines was suddenly hurled across the burning grove like a cannonball, crashing into a stack of water barrels with a splintering explosion. Every head turned. Confused shouting broke out.
A fist slowly retracted.
Luffy stood in the middle of the chaos, his expression unreadable.
His shadow loomed behind him in the smoke, as his straw hat tilted forward. His usually carefree posture was gone. Now he stood with his shoulders squared, fists clenched.
He took one look around, the trees burning, the Marines wrecking what remained of the grove, the dirt-covered ground, the smoke… and Nami.
She was still kneeling, tear-streaked, trembling in the ash, her voice hoarse.
"Luffy… please… help me."
Nezumi stepped forward, his sneer widening. "Who the hell are you? I'm Captain Nezumi of the Marines. You assaulted my men. For that you'll face military—"
CRACK.
Nezumi didn't finish the sentence. Luffy's punch landed square in his face, knocking him off his feet. He crumpled into the dirt with a dull thud, unconscious before he hit the ground.
Silence followed for a heartbeat.
Then Sanji exhaled smoke and dropped his cigarette. "About time."
He lunged into the nearest group of Marines, leg whipping through the air like a blade. One soldier went flying into a tree trunk. Another was sent spiraling across the firelight with a broken nose.
Cassandra didn't speak. Her eyes burned coldly as she moved between enemies with frightening grace. Her swords hissed as they cut to kill or to disable her enemies. She sliced into arms, legs, weapons and throats carving a path through the chaos. One Marine tried to draw a pistol, but Cassandra's blade swept low and removed his hand from his arm, sending his weapon clattering to the ground.
Luffy stretched a punch across the field, grabbing a Marine mid-run and slamming him face-first into a pile of smoldering crates. Sanji flipped over a fallen tree to bury three Marines under it and kicked two more into unconsciousness with a mid-air spin.
The Marines, trained or not, had no hope. One by one, they fell, groaning, dazed, dead or crawling for cover.
Smoke clung to the air, turning the battlefield into a hazy hellscape. But the screams had changed, they were no longer triumphant, they were now terrified.
Within minutes, it was over.
Cassandra stood with her swords dripping with blood, sap and soot. Sanji dusted off his jacket. Luffy exhaled and looked back at Nami. She hadn't moved.
Then a sudden shout broke the quiet.
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Nezumi had come to his senses, blood running from his mouth, eyes wild with fear. He crawled backward on all fours before scrambling to his feet and running.
"I'll warn Arlong! You're all dead! You hear me?! He'll—"
BANG.
The shot cracked across the grove like a thunderclap. Nezumi staggered, his head jerking to the sideand dropped lifelessly into the soil.
Behind him, still standing with her arms locked and body trembling, was Nojiko. Smoke drifted from the barrel of the old, well kept rifle in her hands. It was the very one Bellmère gifted her years ago and used to teach Nojiko how to shoot.
She didn't say a word. Her face was twisted in rage, her breath shallow. For a long moment, only the fire and the quiet creak of wood breaking under the heat could be heard.
No one stopped her. No one judged her.
The rat was dead.
Sanji silently walked toward the crates and began kicking apart the remaining torches, dousing the flames. Cassandra lifted buckets and poured water on the trees, that could still be saved. Luffy yanked whole burning trees from the ground and threw them into the nearby stream.
They worked without speaking, each face set in grim determination.
But much of the grove was already gone. Rows of Bellmère's trees, the memories of her love, her work, her sacrifice were reduced to cinders.
Amid the ash and ruin, Nami still sat, shoulders shaking. Her hands were curled tightly into her chest, her eyes squeezed shut.
The smoke, the fire, the destruction all of it had broken her walls, her composure, her cleverness. Her forced strength was shattered.
She knew who Nezumi was. He takes bribes from Arlong to cover his sins. So there was only one way Nezumi knew about the money.
"Please…" she whispered again. "Luffy, Cassandra, Sanji… help me…"
Footsteps crunched softly in the soot.
Luffy crouched beside her and, with utmost care, removed the straw hat from his head.
The hat was his most beloved treasure, his symbol. It was the one thing he'd never let another person touch.
He placed it gently on Nami's head.
Her eyes widened.
"Of cooooouuuuuurse" he screamed as loud as he could.
Nami let out a choked sob, clutching the hat like a lifeline.
Cassandra stood by, silently watching. She could see the shift in Nami's heart, the bond that had been forged in fire.
Luffy rose without another word.
He didn't smile.
Sanji cracked his neck and flicked the last ember off his cuff. Cassandra sheathed her blades with a metallic hiss.
The three of them walked together through the broken grove, stepping over fallen Marines and shattered trunks.
The flames were dying. The wind picked up, scattering ash across the field like snow.
Their silhouettes disappeared over the hill, heading for the eastern coast.
The villagers alarmed by the fire started to arrive at the scene. Genzo the leader looked very grim at the saddness before him.
No words were passed between him and the girls he saw as his own daughters.
They didn't need to. It was very obvious what had happened.
All of them stared at the three shrinking figures. Everyone knew, where they were heading to and what they were going to do.
When the three reached the iron gates of Arlong Park, Luffy didn't hesitate.
BOOM.
He kicked the gate open with a deafening crash that echoed across the coast.
"Who of you bastards is Arlong?"
The battle for Cocoyashi Village had now begun.