"SUGEEEE! HE TURNED INTO A SUN! HEY, DO IT AGAIN! DO THE SPINNY THING AGAIN!" Luffy shouted from inside the cage, his voice echoing across the platform as he gripped the bars tightly and shook them with full force, the metal rattling loudly but holding firm.
Lei turned his attention forward. "Heh? Who are you?" he asked, looking at the woman with orange hair standing in front of him.
"WHO AM I?! I'M THE PERSON YOU ALMOST TURNED INTO A KEBAB, YOU OVERSIZED FILAMENT!" Nami snapped, her face flushed with anger as she closed the distance quickly, boots thudding against the wooden surface.
"I'm the navigator who was trying to steal from these pirates before you decided to play 'The Sun'!" She pointed sharply at her singed cloak, the fabric edges blackened and still warm to the touch. "Do you have any idea how much a high-quality traveling cloak costs in this blue?! 10,000 Berries! At least! And look at this—it's ruined! You owe me for damages!"
"Heh? I just saved you all," Lei said calmly, glancing over at Zoro, who stood frozen in stunned silence, katanas half-drawn, then at Luffy, who grinned wildly like a complete idiot despite being trapped.
Nami stood frozen for a split second, her eyes flicking rapidly from the smoking, reassembling chunks of Buggy, to the deep cracks splintering the platform floorboards, and finally locking onto Lei. Her hands trembled visibly, fingers clenched white-knuckled around her baton pressed tight against her chest.
Then the fear shattered into explosive, high-pitched outrage.
"SAVED US?! Don't give me that self-righteous garbage!"
She jabbed a shaking finger at the air around them, still wavering with lingering heat that made the space feel thick and dry.
"You didn't save anyone! You just changed the method of execution! I thought I was going to incinerate just standing near you! Look at this!"
She grabbed fistfuls of her short orange hair and thrust them toward Lei's face, the ends visibly crisped and split.
"Singed! My ends are split! And look at my arm!" She rubbed furiously at a streak of soot on her shoulder, smearing it further. "You turned the air into an oven! If I hadn't ducked, I would have ended up looking like him!"
She waved her arm wildly at Buggy, who was busy snapping his detached limb back into its socket with a wet pop.
Nami sucked in a sharp breath, her chest heaving as her eyes narrowed into slits of deep suspicion.
"And don't think I owe you anything. I had a plan! I was… I was calculating the escape route! You pirates are all the same—barbarians who think blowing things up solves everything!"
She took a quick step back, widening the distance between her and Lei, her voice dropping from a scream to a cold, guarded tone.
"So don't expect a 'thank you.' If anything, you should be apologizing for the heat damage to my skin. Do you know how expensive moisturizer is on the open sea?"
Zoro slid his katanas back into their scabbards with a smooth, metallic rasp, the sound sharp in the lingering haze of smoke and heat that still hung over the cracked platform. He turned his gaze to the unconscious Buggy, whose severed parts had fully rejoined with faint, wet clicks, the clown's body slumped in a heap, chest rising and falling in shallow breaths, faint steam no longer rising from his skin.
Zoro took steady steps across the splintered wood, boots thudding softly against the uneven surface as dust settled around his feet. He stopped in front of Lei. "Good job."
"Thanks. Let's free Luffy already. He's grinning like an idiot," Lei said with a small smile, his voice carrying a light amusement as he glanced toward the cage.
As they pried open the cage door with a loud metallic creak, Luffy burst out laughing, stretching his arms wide and slapping Zoro and Lei on the backs with rubbery thuds that echoed across the platform. The warm air still carried the faint, acrid scent of scorched wood and blood from the fight.
Zoro turned to Lei immediately, his voice low and serious as they walked away from the wreckage. "That technique… how do you move the blade that fast? The heat—it wasn't just speed. Explain it." He asked question after question, eyes narrowed in genuine curiosity, the grip on his katanas tightening with each step.
Lei shrugged him off each time, giving short answers or none at all, his ponytail swaying lightly as he kept walking ahead.
Now they were back on the small boat, sailing steadily across the open sea. The hull cut through gentle waves with rhythmic splashes, salt spray misting their faces in cool bursts whenever the boat dipped. The sun hung high, warming their skin and glinting off the water in sharp flashes, while seagulls cried overhead in the clear sky.
Beside them, Nami sailed on her own small boat, close enough to call out directions, the two vessels rocking in parallel. She had agreed to act as their navigator for a while, her voice carrying over the water whenever she pointed out the next heading.
When is Arlong Park already? I am tired with this bullshit.