"I got it."
Nami quickened her pace, finishing her meal in a flash before returning to her room.
Of course—
She didn't eat the Rumble-Rumble Fruit right away. She wanted to approach it with proper seriousness.
She even called Ren back from wherever he was wandering outside, demanding his moral support.
Ren stood there, utterly baffled.
"I already told you, you only need to take one bite of a Devil Fruit. It's not like it requires some kind of grand sacrificial ceremony."
He sighed helplessly, pointing at her exaggerated preparations.
"What do you know! This is a Devil Fruit!"
Nami's eyes sparkled with both excitement and heartbreak. "This thing would go for at least a hundred million Beli on the market!"
"You're wrong," Ren corrected her calmly. "The Rumble-Rumble Fruit is worth several billion—at least."
"I actually kind of want to sell it for the money instead," she admitted, her pupils instantly turning into Beli symbols.
"We're not exactly short on money."
"Oh… right, all that gold…"
Nami's eyes turned golden at the thought of their mountain-sized treasure hoard. But then, as she considered just how absurdly much gold they had, a strange emptiness welled up in her chest.
Why was that? Ah—Because she had so much gold now… she had no worries left!
Still—
A bit of ceremony was necessary.
This wasn't just any Devil Fruit, nor was it merely the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
This was the power that could elevate Nami to a whole new level—The strength that would make her a true partner worthy of standing beside Ren.
"Let's get this over with," Ren said indifferently. To him, it was just another Devil Fruit.
Nami, however, carefully sliced off a small piece and put it in her mouth. The moment it touched her tongue, her entire face twisted in disgust.
Nojiko cheerfully took out a camera Den Den Mushi, immortalizing the moment as Nami's blackmail photo.
"Well? How is it?"
"Awful—so, so awful!"
"Normal. Devil Fruits all taste like that."
"So… I only need to take one bite, right?"
Nami stared at the half-eaten fruit on the silver plate, for the first time in her life feeling genuine fear toward something edible.
But soon, that fear was replaced by excitement. She had eaten it—she was now a Devil Fruit user!
"Try it out," Ren said with an encouraging smile, opening the window to reveal the sea of clouds outside.
Almost instantly, a sharp crackling filled the air.
It wasn't the Thunder Spear—
Golden arcs of lightning leapt from Nami's body, dancing wildly across the room the moment they appeared.
The air buzzed with sizzling current, searing streaks into the walls. Her wardrobe was riddled with holes, the clothes inside burned to ash. Even the stuffed toys by her bed were scorched beyond recognition. The floor was cracked and blackened with spiderweb-like scorch marks.
If Ren hadn't intervened in time, the room might've been destroyed by its own owner.
Zzzzt—!
The moment she saw her room being wrecked, Nami instinctively reined in the lightning's rampage.
Then, gazing tearfully at her ruined belongings, she wailed, "Ren! Why didn't you step in sooner!?"
"How was I supposed to know—fine, fine! My fault!"
Nojiko watched their squabbling—Or rather, their playful flirting—and couldn't help the wistful longing that flickered in her eyes.
Her little sister had already ascended to that position. Perhaps it was time she… picked up the pace as well?
Once the chaos settled, Ren reached into his Dimensional Space and retrieved four massive drums—spoils from Enel himself.
Yes—The Thunder Drums.
They hadn't been destroyed in Enel's rampage.
At the time, Ren hadn't believed anything could survive such devastation, yet when the Divine Soldiers later swept the area, they had found them.
At first, they'd mistaken the charred remains for lumps of coal, ready to toss them aside—Until they realized they were heavy and perfectly intact beneath the blackened surface.
When cracked open, the drums gleamed like new.
The soldiers had reported the discovery to Zoro, who then passed them on to Ren.
It had happened just today.
Ren had examined them a bit—he wasn't sure what they truly were, But these drums were clearly anything but ordinary.
When he brought them out now, the four Thunder Drums glowed with arcs of energy, floating on their own in midair.
"Is this… one of your lottery prizes?" Nami's eyes shone brightly, assuming Ren had prepared a new weapon for her.
"No." Ren shook his head, then briefly explained their origin and connection to Enel.
"Enel's weapons? The ones he used to summon thunder beasts for long-range attacks?"
"Strictly speaking, they're more like conduits for long-range assaults," Ren said. "Air is a poor conductor for electricity—the farther it travels, the more power it loses."
"But didn't Enel often smite people from far away with lightning?" Nojiko asked. She hadn't witnessed it firsthand, but everyone on Angel Island had seen those divine punishments descend from the sky.
"He was extending his own arm—literally transforming it into a thunder pillar to strike from afar."
"What's the difference? It's still lightning."
"No—users of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit are special," Nami interjected, lifting her hand as golden sparks danced between her fingers. "I can feel it."
"I've become a being that can generate lightning endlessly—no, even create it out of nothing."
"While I can't change the fact that air resists electricity, I can compensate by releasing an overwhelming amount of energy."
She glanced at her sister and elaborated, "Basically, when I turn my arm into lightning, that extended 'lightning pillar' continuously produces its own electricity."
"So even if the air drains some power, I can offset it through sheer output."
"I see." Nojiko nodded thoughtfully. "So those drums were Enel's medium for long-range attacks—They minimized electrical loss over distance and let his strikes stay lethal?"
"More or less." Nami wasn't entirely sure either. She turned to Ren. "What do you think? You're the one who actually fought Enel."
"Sounds about right," Ren replied after a moment's thought. He recalled Enel's fighting style—his ranged attacks all relied on those drums.
"But you can test it yourself," he suggested. "See if you can control them."
He was cautious about it. Normally, an inanimate object was either usable or not.
But these four drums—They felt different.
His Spider-Sense prickled faintly. There was power within those drums—immense power.
That wasn't normal. The only explanation he could think of was the influence of the Rumble-Rumble Devil itself.
When Enel's "lightning god" state had briefly awakened, the drums had been within range. They might have been permanently altered.
After all—the awakening of a Logia-type could cause permanent changes.
He remembered what Crocodile had mentioned during their earlier discussion: The awakening of natural powers was the embodiment of disaster itself—A manifestation of permanent change.
The desert's desolation, for instance—an eternal alteration to the environment and matter around it.
Just like that frozen battlefield between Akainu and Aokiji—Half blazing magma, half eternal ice—its climate never returning to normal.
So yes, Logia awakenings could indeed leave permanent marks.
And these drums might just be proof of that.
To confirm it, Nojiko extended a finger wreathed in flames to touch one of the floating drums.
ZAAAP!
Lightning exploded outward, hurling her across the room in an instant!
Ren flickered forward, catching her midair, but the impact still slammed them both against the wall.
"Big sis! Ren!"
"I'm fine," Ren said firmly, lowering her to her feet.
"You okay?" he asked, gazing seriously at her face.
"Of course. Don't underestimate me," Nojiko replied, cheeks flushed—Not from injury, but because she could smell Nami's scent all over him… and her mind wandered.
Ah, imagination—truly a dangerous thing.
"Good." Ren smiled.
Nami, seeing him gently seat Nojiko on her bed's sofa, pouted and gave a barely audible huff.
Then she turned toward the four floating drums—and stretched out her hand.
Zzzzt!
Lightning danced over her pale fingers, and the drums immediately responded—drifting toward her, circling like loyal servants around their goddess.
Unlike their violent rejection of Nojiko, they now purred with docile obedience.
Of course—Nami was now a Rumble-Rumble user. They were kin in essence.
"How does it feel?"
Ren asked casually, his hand still resting at Nojiko's slender waist as if unaware of the intimacy.
Nojiko glanced at the two of them—then quietly leaned a little closer to his side.
"I can sense it," Nami said, her voice tinged with awe. "There's enormous lightning power inside them—or rather, they are part of that power itself."
Raising her hand, the four Thunder Drums shimmered around her like celestial rings of gold and azure." But unlike lightning I generate or natural lightning, these carry a physical presence."
"In simpler terms—they can serve as extensions of my body. My 'hands,' placed anywhere within my field of influence."
Ren raised an eyebrow. "You figured that out already?"
"Of course! Who do you think I am?"
"…Fair enough."
Ren was impressed. But thinking it through, it made perfect sense. If anyone in the world was born to wield the Rumble-Rumble Fruit, it was Nami.
Even Enel himself, for all his mastery, could never match her intuitive grasp of the storm's nature.
"Ren," Nami said with a mischievous glint in her eyes, "help me fuse these Thunder Drums with the Magical Clima-Tact. Strengthen both."
Her gaze slid meaningfully toward the hand on Nojiko's waist.
"Consider it the price of greed. And I'm sure you know exactly what I mean."
(End of Chapter)