The Blind Brawler [ Roronoa Zoro X OC]

Chapter 90: Botched Escape

Zoro

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I watched as the Sea Gate exploded in an impressive blast of gunpowder and fire, "Damn. That much firepower would have easily sunk the Merry. Luffy's quick thinking not only helped with our escape, but probably saved the ship, too."

The waves swelled and grew choppy as the blast stirred the water's surface. The Going Merry pitched back and forth, but Nami seemed unfazed, "Now, let's sail outta here!"

Kaori called back to her, "Alright! Which way, Nami?" The navigator did not answer her, and my girlfriend shouted again, "Nami?"

I looked back at her to see that her face had paled. Before I could ask her what was wrong, she let out a horrendous scream and bolted towards the stairs, almost knocking Kaori over in her hurry. She headed straight towards the storage room below the kitchen.

Usopp looked at her in concern, "What's wrong, Nami?"

"We've been had!" She cried out in despair, "My treasure!" I rolled my eyes at her outburst. This hardly seemed like the time to worry about the gold we got from Skypiea.

The smoke from the explosion surrounded the bay, masking the Merry as we sailed for the busted Sea Gate. Luffy let out a triumphant shout, "The open sea! Keep her on a straight course, guys!"

"No, turn around!" Nami demanded, "We can't leave yet! Full reverse! Don't just stand there! Those lousy Marines stole all our gold! Turn us around! We have to go back to the fortress right now!"

I baulked at her, stunned that she really valued that stupid gold over our best chance at getting to safety, "Are you nuts?"

Kaori seemed just as baffled as I was, "You can't be serious!"

Usopp tried to reason with her, "Maybe you didn't notice, Nami, but we almost got killed breaking out of that place. Zoro's right. You're completely nuts!"

Nami raised her fist and her voice, "I'm quite sane right now, thank you! Look, what's the point in escaping if it's without all our hard-earned gold?" She held out her arms as she stated her case.

Chopper spoke softly, unsure if he should be annoyed or on edge, "Wow, whenever money's involved, Nami gets really scary."

Kaori scoffed as she crossed her arms, "No, she gets really tunnel visioned and flat out reckless and stupid."

Sanji clasped his hands together and pressed them against his cheek as he swooned, "I love that side of Nami, too."

Thankfully, Luffy still had his priorities straight as he pointed ahead to the damaged Sea Gate. He seemed puzzled by Nami's insistence, "But we're so close to that big hole we made! All we gotta do is just... sail through it, ya know?"

The greedy navigator was not about to give up, however, "Hey, aren't we supposed to be pirates?"

My gut immediately sank as Luffy looked conflicted and nodded, "Damnit, she's got him hook, line, and sinker. No way he doesn't fall for this."

Sure enough, Nami put her hands on her hips, "Well, have you ever heard of pirates leaving gold behind? Wouldn't that be the worst thing a pirate could do?"

Luffy's brow furrowed as he nodded, "Yeah, I guess."

"So it's decided then!" Nami bellowed as she pointed towards the starboard side of the ship, "Let's get our treasure! Crew, make a U-turn and take us back to the fortress on the double!"

Chopper looked determined and ran up to the cabin with Sanji right behind him, almost leaping at the chance to do what Nami told him, "Anything for you, Captain Nami!"