Will it all be for nothing if I die in the end?

"Your Ori Ori no Mi is indeed amazing, no wonder you are very famous among the other marine captains, but..."

Mister 3 rushed to the island's edge after learning their target had arrived. He and Miss Goldenweek walked along the beach, looking for the marine ship. It didn't take them long to notice, and a fight was unavoidable.

"Doru Doru no Mi, binding chain!" Mister 3's two hands melted like wax before he swung them toward Captain Hina, who was still hit despite having dodged. Several areas of her body were now exposed to the molten wax, which quickly hardened.

"You scumbag bounty hunters! I hope you're prepared to take your punishment!" Captain Hina didn't want to lose, so she launched a close-range attack, pulling a pitch-black stick from her hand and slamming it into Mister 3's head in rage.

Mister 3 barely escaped the attack, but his cheek was slashed and bleeding. The fight between them appeared to be one-sided because Captain Hina had been attacking while he had only used his devil fruit to smear her body.

"Hahahaha… how? Does your body feel heavier than usual? Your attacks have even stiffened... Look, I can easily avoid them."

Mister 3 seemed more relaxed than before, even taking the time to straighten his clothes as Captain Hina struggled to take a step towards him. She hadn't realized it before because only a small portion of the wax had touched her skin, but now that the majority of her body was covered in it, she was having difficulty destroying it due to its hardness.

"I can't kill you because you are a marine captain in the end, therefore I hope you can keep quiet while I will take what you guys have stolen from us."

Miss Goldenweek was assigned to infiltrate the ship while he and Captain Hina were fighting, but she hasn't returned yet, so Mister 3 has no choice but to follow her. She was worried that Miss Goldenweek had forgotten about her assignment because of her laziness.

"Wait a minute, you bastard! I will kill you if you set foot on the ship!" Captain Hina is concerned because, aside from Luffy and Uta, she has no one else on whom she can rely.

Nami, Nojiko, and Makino have learned to use Armament Haki, but with all of their experience over the years, they are still considered beginners at best.

"Arghhk... THIS DAMN WAX!!!..." Captain Hina used her iron stick to hit the hardened wax on her body, and while it worked, she received new wounds in the process.

-***-

Meanwhile, Makino and Nojiko worked hard on the ship to keep Miss Goldenweek from going any further. In contrast to the two of them, who were panting and looked pitiful, Miss Goldenweek appeared relaxed while holding a brush and palette.

This is the first time Makino and Nojiko have directly confronted Devil Fruit users, and their abilities are truly mysterious and troublesome. They haven't stopped being played with by this girl. Their bodies seem to escape their control whenever they get hit with her paint.

"The paint can even control our emotions, be careful Nojiko..." Makino could catch her breath after realizing their adversary was not serious. She then remembered someone who should be fighting alongside them.

"By the way, where is Nami? I haven't seen her since our ship was attacked," Makino continued, and her heart began to race because she sensed something bad had happened behind her.

"umm, about that... actually-" Nojiko's words were cut short when Makino, who was standing beside her, collapsed after being hit by a sticky white liquid. Nojiko recognized the smell as wax right away.

"As I thought, you must be playing around, Miss Goldenweek," Mister 3 had just arrived and wasted no time in rendering Makino helpless with his wax. The sight of her desperately struggling while the white fluid that coated her body slowly hardened gave him pleasure in and of itself.

"I was just about to take care of them but you came... does that mean I can rest?"

"Arguing with you only makes me tired, but never mind... make sure no one disturbs me."

Nojiko, who was at a loss for words, could only stand stiffly, feeling like a weak ant in the presence of these devil fruit users. She even felt a twinge of regret for not fleeing with her younger sister. She considered staying because a strange bond was attempting to restrain her and forbid her from betraying Luffy.

But...

'Will it all be for nothing if I die in the end?...'

Without realizing it, tears streamed from the corners of her eyes, and her body shook as if this incident reminded her of a previous trauma in which the death of the person she loved the most changed her entire life.

"Bell-mère... please help me... what should I do in a situation like this..." Nojiko wanted to scream, but all she could manage was a helpless cry. When her despair began to consume her, her gaze was drawn to the figure of someone she recognized.

His gentle smile gave her a calming feeling, but she didn't know what happened next because the mental stress had sapped all of her energy, causing her to faint.

"I knew it would be like this. Luckily, I came back on time."