"The Going Merry! I see it!"
On the island where the Marine base stood, with Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji staying behind to cover them, Usopp, Nami, and the others finally reached the shore safely. At a glance, they saw the Going Merry sitting alone by the coast.
"Hurry, get on board! Then we wait for Luffy and the others to come back!"
There was no time for unnecessary words. Once the four of them boarded, they each got to work.
They raised the anchor, hoisted the sails, and the Going Merry slowly began to move, quietly waiting for Luffy's return. But as Bell-mère watched, her expression turned grim.
"No. We won't be able to escape like this..."
"What do you mean?"
Beside her, Usopp asked nervously, his legs trembling.
"The Marines upgraded all their warships five years ago. Wind-powered sailing ships can't compare to their steam engines. Even if we escape onto the open sea, they'll catch up with us!"
"!"
Usopp, Nami, and Nojiko all tensed.
"Then what do we do?"
"No way! Are we going to get caught by the Marines before our adventure even starts?"
At that moment, Nami looked anxiously toward the island, where flames from the Marine base shot into the sky.
Just then, she seemed to sense something and turned her gaze toward the sea. At the far edge of the sky, dark clouds were gathering thickly. Her eyes lit up.
"I've got it..."
"!"
Without hesitation, Nami pointed and said, "Turn the sails that way. If we're lucky, we might be able to escape..."
...
Nami felt as if she had had a very strange dream.
In that dream, a group of fish-man pirates led by someone named Arlong invaded Cocoyasi Village. To protect her and Nojiko, Bell-mère was killed by the fish-man called Arlong. And to protect the village, Nami agreed to the condition he offered her: if she could gather one hundred million Belly, she could buy back the village and her own freedom.
But just as Nami was about to gather the full one hundred million, Arlong had Captain Nezumi, the Marine officer colluding with him, confiscate all of it, making all her years of effort come to nothing.
Just when she fell into despair, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, and Sanji appeared. With their help, Arlong was finally defeated, Cocoyasi Village was freed, and she officially joined the Straw Hat crew as an excellent navigator.
Just as she was immersed in that dream and beginning her adventure with her companions, a sudden pain in her body jolted her awake, and she opened her eyes.
The first thing she saw was the blazing sunlight overhead. White clouds drifted across the sky, and three or four seagulls were perched on her, pecking at her body.
"Huh?!"
For a moment, she could not tell whether that had been a dream or a real experience. Then, weakly, she turned her head and saw Luffy lying on the deck with his tongue hanging out as if he had dried up, along with Zoro, Usopp, Sanji, Bell-mère, and Nojiko...
"Bell-mère..."
The moment she saw her adoptive mother's familiar face, Nami fully woke up.
"So it really was a dream? Thank goodness!"
Before she could stop herself, a tear slid down Nami's cheek. After wiping it away, she finally remembered everything that had happened the night before.
Last night, after waiting for Luffy to return to the ship, they had set sail immediately in an attempt to escape. But just as Bell-mère had said, a ship that relied solely on wind could not match the Marines' steam-powered warships. The Going Merry was soon overtaken.
Just as they decided to fight to the death, the storm came.
Then came towering waves.
They had no hesitation, and no way back.
The Going Merry plunged straight into the waves.
And after that, there was nothing.
"So... we survived?"
Nami looked around. Everyone was lying on the deck.
They looked miserable, but judging from their breathing, they were all alive.
"Wake up, Bell-mère... Nojiko... Luffy... Usopp... Zoro... Sanji..."
Nami woke them one by one.
Amid groans, everyone gradually came to.
"Ah... I'm so hungry..."
"Huh? Did we survive?"
"We actually didn't die?"
"Nami-san, are you all right...?"
"Nami, Nojiko, are you two okay...?"
Seeing that everyone was more or less fine, tears welled in Nami's eyes despite herself. She bowed deeply to Luffy and the others and thanked them.
"Thank you, Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, Sanji. Thank you for coming to save us..."
"No need to thank us, Nami-san. We all wanted to do it."
Sanji was the first to move closer, speaking eagerly.
Luffy only grinned.
Zoro stared at his own body in disbelief.
Usopp sighed in wonder.
"It's unbelievable. We actually survived that storm and those huge waves?"
After saying that, Usopp began checking the Going Merry.
"The Going Merry barely has any damage either. This is a miracle!"
Hearing that, Zoro looked around at the blue sky and white clouds.
"But where are we now?"
Only then did everyone come back to their senses and look around.
They saw the sea around them, calm as a mirror, without the slightest trace of wind.
Nami and Bell-mère immediately realized something, and their faces changed drastically.
"Hey, wait, no way. Are we really that unlucky?"
"What's wrong?"
Usopp, already on edge, was startled again.
Then Nami said six words.
"This is the Calm Belt!"
The moment she spoke, Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp looked confused. Sanji, however, had already gone pale as he looked around.
"What's the Calm Belt?"
Usopp asked the question.
After Nami gave a simple explanation, Usopp's face turned white.
"So... does that mean we can't get out?"
Nami dropped to her knees on the deck.
"It's over... everything's over..."
At that moment, Bell-mère came to Nami's side and gently patted her shoulder.
"Don't worry. There's still hope..."
Feeling Bell-mère's encouragement, Nami nodded and forced herself to rally.
"Hurry. We have to move as fast as we can. Use the oars and row out of here. We have to leave the Calm Belt, or if we wake the Sea Kings below us, we're dead..."
But just as Nami finished speaking, a massive whistle suddenly rang out through the silent world.
"Woooo..."
"Huh?!"
Everyone quickly rushed to the side of the ship and looked toward the sound. Then they saw an unbelievable sight.
On the still sea, a Sea Train with the Rainbow Country flag and the number 007 marked on its locomotive was belching white steam as it sped across the ocean just a kilometer away from the Going Merry...