After the massacre, the bandage man muttered, "Mission accomplished."
The black feathers dissolved into mist and returned to his back. The black katana that had pierced Krieg's head flew back toward the pale hand of the bandage man. He caught it, gripping Don Krieg's hair as he did. The black katana then dissolved into black mist as well and returned to his hand.
The bandage man threw Don Krieg's head onto the Baratie, where the chefs were still dumbfounded by what had just happened.
Then they heard him speak.
"P-payment… f-for the d-damage."
Everyone gulped and stared at Don Krieg's head lying on the floor. They remembered how he had spoken to Luffy and bowed to him earlier. There was only one thing this meant—the head of a seventeen-million-berry pirate was payment for the pain and destruction Luffy had caused them.
Every chef swallowed hard at the scene.
After that, Mihawk stared at the bandage man, and the bandage man stared back at him.
…Probably.
Mihawk spoke.
"What's with you? I feel no desire—no ambition—nothing at all. You're hollow, young one."
"I-I'm s-sorry f-for the i-intrusion," the bandage man said. "I-if I d-disturbed y-your e-excitement, I'll g-gladly p-pay the p-price."
Mihawk raised an eyebrow. With his calm, intriguing voice, he replied, "Oh, you know your place well. I was just enjoying myself, and somehow you've changed my mood." His eyes were as sharp as ever as he looked at the man before him. "So I think I'll need equal value for that."
"O-okay. I'll o-offer m-my l-life s-so y-you'll f-forgive m-my s-soul."
The chefs and Zeff raised their eyebrows. What did he mean by offering his life?
Dracule Mihawk also raised an eyebrow, staring at the man as he unsheathed his katana.
Mihawk's eyes narrowed. A black katana? He was surprised by the sight.
Then he watched as the blade was pointed at the bandage man's own left chest—straight toward his heart.
Everyone saw it. They couldn't believe it. He was truly going to offer his life. He wasn't joking at all.
Mihawk didn't just see it—his Observation Haki activated. In the near future, he saw it clearly: the blade piercing straight through the man's heart.
But before the bandage man could drive the katana into himself in a single swoop, Mihawk suddenly appeared beside him and swung Yoru, knocking the katana aside.
Screeeeech.
The clash echoed sharply. With the speed at which the katana had been moving, it would have definitely pierced his chest and exited through his back.
Mihawk looked at the bewildered reaction behind the bandaged face.
"No need to go that far," Mihawk said. "I was just testing you."
The bandage man didn't speak. He only stared.
"In the end, I'll stick to what I said," Mihawk continued. "You're hollow. And I don't wish to fight people who have nothing they're willing to die for."
Mihawk leapt onto his coffin boat. Turning back, he added, "I'll meet you in the New World. Let's see if you've changed—if you're worth fighting then."
He swung Yoru, creating massive pressure that sent his boat surging away, shrinking into a dot before disappearing entirely.
The bandage man looked down at his pale hand.
"W-what d-does h-he m-mean…?"
He slowly sheathed his katana. Then his body turned into black mist, and he vanished from everyone's sight.
♤
Nami's Descent
In Nami's location, things were already falling apart—for her, and for the village she had sworn to protect.
Johnny and Yosaku were the first to realize the truth. After Nami stole the ship, the two bounty hunters caught sight of her face on a wanted poster tied to Arlong's crew. The moment recognition struck, their blood ran cold. She wasn't just a thief. She was an officer of the Fish-Men.
Usopp learned the truth the hard way.
When he arrived at the island ahead of the others, he saw her there—walking freely through Arlong Park, surrounded by Fish-Men, laughing and talking as if she belonged among them. No chains. No fear. No resistance. She looked… comfortable.
Then she showed him the tattoo.
Without hesitation, Nami turned and revealed the mark on her left shoulder—the jagged emblem of the Arlong Pirates. Proof. Undeniable and cruel. It wasn't just a symbol of loyalty. It was a wall, meant to push the Straw Hats away forever.
And then she went even further.
In front of the Fish-Men, Nami stabbed Usopp.
At least, that was how it looked.
Her blade plunged down, and she kicked his body into the sea without even looking back, cold and merciless, as if his life meant nothing to her. The Fish-Men laughed. The message was clear. She had no lo—
Zoro was captured soon after.
When he was dragged before Arlong, battered but unbroken, he looked to Nami for even the smallest sign. He found none. She treated him like a stranger, mocking his weakness, her words sharp and detached. To anyone watching, she was unquestionably one of Arlong's crew.
But the truth was far darker.
Nojiko finally revealed everything.
She sat the crew down and told them the story Nami had buried for years—that she was only serving Arlong to save her village. That every theft, every betrayal, every lie had been for one purpose: to buy Cocoyasi Village back from a tyrant who never intended to let it go.
Arlong, of course, had already planned ahead.
Not wanting to lose his best cartographer, he tipped off a corrupt Marine—Captain Nezumi, a rat-faced officer whose loyalty could be bought as easily as his silence. Arlong told him exactly where Nami's treasure was hidden.
The Marines came at dawn.
They tore through Nami's secret orange grove, digging beneath the tangerine trees where her hope had been buried. Nezumi declared the fortune "stolen pirate goods" and seized it without hesitation.
Nami tried to stop them.
She screamed. She fought. She begged. Eight years of blood, sweat, and stolen dreams—one hundred million Berries—vanished before her eyes as the Marines dug it up anyway.
When she confronted Arlong, her voice shaking with rage and despair, he only laughed.
He told her he hadn't broken their deal. The Marines had.
Technically, he had kept his promise—while destroying her life completely.
That was when the village broke.
Seeing Nami's sacrifice erased in a single moment, the people of Cocoyasi reached their limit. They armed themselves with pitchforks and shovels, choosing death over another day under Arlong's rule.
And Nami finally shattered.
Overwhelmed, hopeless, and drowning in despair, she collapsed and clawed at the tattoo on her shoulder. With trembling hands, she stabbed into her own flesh again and again, trying to cut Arlong out of her life, out of her body, out of her soul.
Blood stained her skin as she cried out—not in pain, but in heartbreak.
Because for the first time in eight years, she had nothing left to fight for.