Chapter 98: A Bitter Fight Against Mr. 5

"So we've been recognized?"

He curled his lip, lay back in the rattan chair with disinterest, and said, "Not bad eyesight; looks like I'll get a good night's sleep tonight without having to fight."

"Captain, it seems two people haven't left yet," Smoker beside him frowned. "Moreover, they're heading straight for us..."

Boom!

Before his words had even faded, the male figure raised a hand, and dozens of meters away from the Curtain Fall, the sea surface suddenly erupted in a ball of fire, sending a water column shooting into the sky!

"Hey, pirates."

Mr. 5 pushed up his sunglasses and spoke coldly, "Where is your captain, Siano? Tell him to roll out here. That shot was a warning. Surrender on shore immediately and obediently, or the next one will blow your ship to pieces!"

A surprise attack right off the bat?

And daring to threaten the captain by name like that—how utterly rude!

Everyone's tempers flared at once; they rolled up their sleeves, ready to act, while Siano let out a light "Huh?" and eyed the two fellows with keen interest.

So it's these two?

They rank quite high within Baroque Works, worth far more than those ordinary agents, but as for their strength...

"How could such minor characters trouble our captain to act personally?"

Smoker, cigar dangling from his mouth, stepped forward. "Leave them to me to clean up."

"And me!" Nami raised her hand high. "I want to try too!"

These past few days, watching everyone on the ship strive in their cultivation, she had grown restless herself.

She had begun conducting all sorts of experiments on the sea to test her abilities, indeed devising several moves that, in her view, were both cool and powerful.

Unfortunately, no one had time to spar with her; she could only play with Ah Yin, but after being burned a few times, he grew unwilling to engage, leaving her hands itching terribly now.

Wasn't this the perfect opportunity to test her power?

"No snatching, then."

Sister Sister Guyina, having already drawn Wado Ichimonji, sheathed it again and sat back down. "Then I'll leave it to you. Do well, Nami."

Nojiko had also prepared to step in, but seeing Nami rarely take the initiative to attack, she smiled and stepped aside.

"Don't worry; that explosion-head who looks so strong is mine. As for that rookie, classmate Smoker! You take care of the girl!"

Nami bumped her fists together, eager to begin.

Heh heh, it would be best if some reporter or other were hiding on the island to snap a photo, letting those fools at Marine Headquarters witness her true strength.

Either don't issue a bounty at all, or if you do, make it higher; eight thousand Berries is simply too stingy!

"Then I suppose I should remind you."

As the two were about to go ashore, Siano held up a newspaper and began flipping through it, confirming news about the Alabasta royal family while saying lazily, "That man is a user of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit; any part of his body can explode."

"So what?" Nami scoffed. "I'm still going to burn—"

"You might not have seen clearly the explosion on the sea just now; he used a booger he picked out as the bomb."

"..." Nami's expression instantly froze.

"A boo-boo-ger?!"

Her eyes widened, her voice cracking as she cried, "You mean that explosion was... Ugh—"

The moment she thought about preparing to punch that explosion-head with her fists, Nami's face turned deathly pale; she spun around abruptly, grabbed Smoker's sleeve, and shouted:

"Smoker, I suddenly feel that woman floating in the air suits me better! Swap! We must swap!"

"..."

Smoker spread his hands helplessly. "As you wish."

Using boogers as bombs was indeed disgusting, but dealing with such a fellow wouldn't take long; rather than letting a girl suffer the headache, he might as well handle it himself.

Whoosh! In the next instant, he transformed into a cloud of white smoke and flew straight toward Mr. 5.

Nami followed closely behind; taking advantage of the ship having docked, she leaped up and landed steadily on the shore—

Then her complexion changed instantly; clutching her foot, she hopped back and forth, gritting her teeth and howling, "Ow, ow, it hurts, it hurts! My ankle is about to break!"

"You're underestimating me too much!!"

Miss Valentine stared dumbfounded, then, unable to bear it any longer, bared her fangs and roared, "What kind of pirate crew are you running, sending a brat like you to be my opponent!"

"No choice!" She advanced with imposing momentum, raising her parasol high. "Then I'll knock you, little brat, into the sea first, and make them send someone more worthy..."

"Coming this close, are you?"

Nami, who had been bowing her head while holding her foot, suddenly looked up, a cunning smile curling her lips. "Then you're being far too naive..."

Before Miss Valentine could react, Nami abruptly straightened her body, pressed her legs into a bow stance, pressed her palms together at her waist, and ignited blazing flames in her palms:

"Flame—Style—Qi—"

She had gotten this name from stories her older brother told when she was little! Anyway, it involved continuously compressing the flames, compressing them further, until the energy was condensed to the extreme, nearly beyond her own control, and then suddenly—

"—Art!!!"

Boom!!!

A scorching fireball instantly detonated between the two, the sound of the explosion echoing across all of Whiskey Peak!

Miss Valentine was blown back several meters by the shockwave, crashing heavily into a building, shattering the wall to pieces; her parasol fell to the side, instantly burned down to nothing but its frame.

"Cough, cough... You cunning little brat!"

After struggling for several full seconds, Miss Valentine finally managed to crawl up, her entire body black as if she had gone cotton-picking, and she shrieked in fury:

"You're a Devil Fruit user too, yet you resort to such despicable tactics!"

Nami proudly flicked her short orange hair. "That's called tactics~; neener neener, who asked you to be so easily fooled?"

"Damn it!" Miss Valentine stamped her foot in rage. "It's time I let you brat witness my abilities too; behold—"

She leaped violently into the air, and upon floating twenty to thirty meters high, her body suddenly became incredibly heavy, diving downward at astonishing speed.

"—'Ten Thousand Kilogram Press'!"

"... You haven't mastered Haki yet?"

Nami glanced up, didn't move an inch from her spot, and let Miss Valentine press down on her, her lips curling in disdain.

Tsk, only ten thousand kilograms? That's ten tons, right?

With just this much weight, big brother could long ago wield a tree of similar size like a club.

Boom!

The ground cracked into massive spiderweb-like fissures, a perfect hit! Just as Miss Valentine was about to cover her mouth and laugh triumphantly, a wall of flames suddenly surrounded her.

And within this fire wall, Nami's face appeared, smiling as she said, "Sister Lemon, your little trick seems completely unable to threaten me?"

What the hell kind of ability is this?!

Miss Valentine retreated two steps in terror, suddenly seeming to notice something; her expression changed drastically. She could no longer bother to tangle with Nami, her body suddenly becoming countless times lighter as she floated toward the sky—

"Hmph, trying to escape?"

Nami suddenly clapped her hands together, "I anticipated this move of yours... Fire Phoenix!"

Whoosh—!

All the flames that had been circling her body suddenly shot upward in an instant, swirling around her.

First came the long tail feathers, then the magnificent wings, and finally the proud, raised phoenix head—

In just two short seconds, a fire phoenix with a wingspan exceeding ten meters and an elegant posture rapidly coalesced into form and took flight!

Cry!

The fire phoenix let out a clear cry from its head, flapped its wings, and soared with incredible speed, catching up to Miss Valentine in the blink of an eye.

The latter kept glancing back; seeing this scene, her face instantly turned pale and bloodless, and she frantically controlled her body to dodge left and right.

But how could her speed compare to the fire phoenix controlled by Nami?

She only managed to let out a terrified scream of "Don't come over!" before being completely engulfed by the blazing Xiong Xiong flames, falling to the ground while screaming in agony.

Clap, clap!

Nami clapped her hands: "Hehe, done! Hey, Smoker, how's it going on your end? I finished mine in less than three minutes, so don't tell me you can't even beat me... Eh?"

She had just turned her head when she stared in shock to see Smoker already squatting on top of Mr. 5.

The latter was tied up like a zongzi, unable to move a single finger, while at Smoker's feet lay two burnt-out cigarette butts.

"That's the third cigarette."

Smoker flicked off the ash, glanced at his watch, and said, "I think I only used twenty seconds? Looks like I'm still the faster one."

Damn it!

That guy got to show off! Even though we are both Logia-type users, it seems her development and mastery of the Devil Fruit is still far from good enough to be taken seriously!

"This is your first time fighting someone face-to-face."

A familiar voice came from not far away, "And you fought a high-ranking agent of Baroque Works, finishing in under three minutes. Not bad at all."

It was Siano and the others; after watching this brief battle drama, they all followed onto the shore.

"Brother!" Nami grabbed Siano's arm, looked up, and said with a grin, "Hearing you praise me like that makes me feel much better. So, can I be a combat mainstay from now on?"

You want to compete to be a combat mainstay too?

"If you are willing to start learning Body Technique and Haki with everyone else right now, then there's no problem." Siano glanced at her.

"Then I'll pass."

Nami hung her head in dejection; cultivating Body Technique was too tiring, she couldn't stand that kind of torment, and besides, she had to draw sea charts and control the course every day, leaving her with no free time.

"Captain, how should we deal with those guys hiding in the shadows?" Smoker glanced toward the distance.

He was the only one on the ship currently possessing Observation Haki, able to roughly sense that people were hiding in nearby cellars and behind walls.

"Since they sensibly retreated, there's no need to bother with them."

Siano shook his head slightly, then shifted his gaze, landing on Mr. 5.

This guy hadn't fainted; he was just shaking like a sieve in fear after realizing the gap in strength.

"Don't you think this guy looks a bit like Aokiji? His hairstyle is similar too." Siano, out of nowhere, suddenly said this to Smoker.

Kuzan?

Smoker paused, looked him over carefully for a moment—thick lips, forehead wrinkles, an afro, round small sunglasses... Hiss, he actually does look quite a bit like him.

"Hey."

Siano had already squatted in front of Mr. 5, patted his face, and said with a smile, "Who sent the two of you to deal with me? Crocodile?"

(End of this chapter)