Mike rose and bowed, voice low, "Thank you, Lord Rody, for taking me in."
"Go with that pirate and count the ship's coffers," Rody said, slipping an arm around Nami as he turned from the hold.
"Yes, Lord Rody," Mike answered, saluting Rody's retreating back.
They stepped out onto deck. Rody settled into the great chair and drew Nami close. She watched the scattered corpses and thought back to the first time she met him in Cocoyasi Village, how the Great Axe Pirates had been felled the same way, then Arlong's gang and the Marines after them. The method of death was repeated, swift and absolute.
Nami rested against Rody's chest, eyes shining with hope. "Rody," she said, voice trembling, "those pirates deserved to die, but some of the Marines, aside from Captain Nezumi's lot, might be good people. From now on, if possible, please don't kill those who are simply following orders." She had been raised by Belle-Mère, so despite the presence of monsters like Nezumi, she believed most Marines were fundamentally decent.
Rody, who had just been reviewing the system prompt that recorded Disk's death, looked down at Nami in his arms. "Alright. If they do not attack me first, I will not start the killing." He stroked her orange hair with one long finger.
"Thank you, Rody," Nami murmured, laying her head against his chest.
"Lord Rody, we have finished inventorying the ship's goods," Mike reported, holding out a strangely patterned fruit and a book. "There is this fruit, and this manual."
Rody glanced at the fruit in Mike's hand. It looked like a Devil Fruit. He gestured for Mike to continue.
Mike nodded at Rody's signal. "The ship carries 128 million Berries total. One hundred million came from raiding the Bruce family, twenty-eight million from pillaging villages. In the captain's cabin we found a Devil Fruit and a book on Haki application."
Nami peered at the fruit and the book with curiosity. She remembered Arlong's dying words, calling Rody some kind of Devil Fruit user. She turned to Rody, eyes bright, "Rody, your slashes must be from that Devil Fruit, right?"
"No," Rody said. "I have not eaten a Devil Fruit. I am not a fruit user. There are many races in this world. Some can wield flame or lightning by nature."
"You mean there are races that actually use fire and lightning? Incredible," Nami breathed.
Mike continued, "The Devil Fruit, people say, is the incarnation of a sea demon. Whoever eats it gains strange powers, but only the first person to finish eating the fruit acquires the power. If someone nibbles it and another swallows the rest, the second person gains nothing. A person can only eat one fruit. Eating a second will cause them to explode and die. Each fruit is worth many million Berries. Those who eat one are called Devil Fruit users."
"He explained the three types," Mike went on, showing the book. "Paramecia grants strange supernatural effects, Zoan grants the abilities of animals, and Logia turns the body into natural elements that ignore ordinary attacks."
Nami widened her eyes. "So if you eat a Logia you can become an element and avoid damage?"
Mike nodded. "Yes. As for this Haki manual, I am not an expert, but it was found beside the fruit so I brought both."
Rody took the fruit from Mike and opened the book. Mike explained Haki as best he could. "Haki exists mainly in the Grand Line. It divides into three kinds: Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror's Haki. Armament Haki is essential to stand against powerful Logia users. It is relatively straightforward to learn compared to the others. A sufficiently strong body can awaken it in battle. Armament hardens blades and the body like armor, and at higher levels it can concentrate and flow, thickening defenses or attacking an enemy's interior." Mike added, "Wano's flowing cherry technique is an advanced Armament trick."
"Observation Haki lets you sense enemies out of sight, their positions and numbers, even predict their next moves. At its apex it can briefly foresee the near future. Sky Island's heart-net is like that."
"Armament and Observation are latent powers in everyone, but most people do not perceive them, or cannot guide them. Conqueror's Haki is different. It is inherent. If you are not born with it, you will never truly have it. You cannot train to gain it, only learn to control what you already possess, and it strengthens naturally as you grow."
Rody turned the fruit in his hands, the skin patterned like an animal head. Then he looked at Nami. "Do you want to eat it? It seems a Zoan, an animal type. Zoan fruits often possess a will of their own. If the awakening fails, the animal will take over the person and they become a beast. I would rather you try a Logia if you ever eat one."
Nami blinked, the reflection of potential riches flashing in her eyes. "If it's so dangerous, let's not eat it. We can sell it for at least a hundred million Berries." She could not hide the dollar signs in her look.
"We already gathered a lot of Berries from this ship. Keep the fruit for now. When we find a Devil Fruit compendium we'll identify which animal this Zoan belongs to," Rody decided.
Nami sighed but nodded. "Alright."
"Mike, see to the bodies and pack the valuables," Rody ordered.
"Yes, Lord Rody," Mike replied, bowing.
Rody wrapped his arm around Nami and leapt back onto his own ship. He summoned the white hound and told it to obey Nami's orders, then went to the training room.
Inside, he sat down with the Haki manual taken from the pirate captain's cabin. The pages were rough and stained, but he read until the words stopped feeling foreign.
When he finally shut his eyes, the noise of the ship faded. What remained wasn't silence, exactly—just a clearer sort of quiet.
In that quiet, the world took shape in a new way. He sensed them: three figures on the other ship. Breathing. Moving. Real.
Half an hour later, he opened his eyes. The moment passed, but the awareness stayed.
He'd grasped it. Observation Haki.