In the galley.
"Top priority is finding a cook, right?"
Usopp stared at the table piled with leftover fish and couldn't help complaining.
You can't just waste this many fish you zapped. And the biggest food vacuum of all didn't even show up today.
"Got a problem with that?"
Nami's smiling eyes were scary. With that very expression she had cemented her throne on this ship. Of course, a navigator's status aboard is usually important.
Otherwise, if she got moody or depressed, she might drag the whole crew down with her.
"If you've got an opinion, cook it yourself. Let's see what you eat."
She was the navigator, not the cook.
"The problem is even Luffy isn't eating… Also, Nami, is something up? You seem distracted," Usopp asked, uncommonly perceptive.
The next second,
footsteps thundered toward them.
It was Luffy.
Like he hadn't eaten for a week. Usopp had just said even Luffy wouldn't touch fish, and that thought got swallowed by a bottomless maw.
Not enough. Still not enough.
"Any more?"
Panting, eyes bloodshot, Luffy looked to Nami.
[ Warning: Time to study navigation with Nami. In one minute, proceed to Nami's room to begin. Countdown: fifty-nine, fifty-eight. ]
Luffy clenched his fists.
Since when is mealtime one minute?
No time to complain.
"There is more, but I need to work on charts. Have Usopp make it for you," Nami said. She wasn't brushing him off.
The next moment, Luffy grabbed her hand and headed for her room. "I'm full. Nami, I want to study with you."
Usopp watched their backs with suspicion.
Were Luffy and Nami like that?
He called after them helpfully.
"Hey, it's still daytime!"
At least close the door.
…
"You want me to teach you navigation?"
Dragged into a run, Nami was a little out of breath, heart pounding. Halfway there she wondered what he intended by pulling her toward her room.
"Yeah, yeah, I really want to learn." Luffy plopped into a chair and picked up a pen, copying what he'd seen Nami do before.
That murderous feeling finally began to ebb.
He drew a deep breath. Thank goodness he'd made it in time.
"Luffy, what kind of joke is this?"
Hands on hips, Nami leaned forward and looked down at him.
They were a bit too close, close enough to see the fine down on each other's faces.
Maybe it was the string of random punishments, but the usually oblivious Luffy frowned.
A light, clean scent lingered in the air.
"I'm warning you, don't come in here to make trouble." Nami grabbed his shirt, irritated.
"I'm not making trouble. Nami, hurry, I have to study." Luffy's face was all seriousness.
If Makino in Windmill Village heard that, she might think the world was ending.
Nami stared at him, suspicious.
"Nami, this is a task the captain is assigning to you," Luffy said with conviction.
You could tell from Nami's room that she was an exceptional navigator. Charts covered the walls, and her books were crammed with notes.
Shanks had said the sea was the most dangerous place.
Sailing meant facing bizarre climates and a fickle ocean.
Even great pirates often perished in extreme weather.
The might of nature was a calamity from the heavens.
…
Fine.
Just the captain's task.
But it was so unlike Luffy.
He feared hunger and boredom, but he had never feared studying because he never tried to learn at all.
Nami hadn't known Luffy long, yet he was easy to read.
She figured he'd lose interest in three minutes. His face already said as much. He looked unwilling, eyes full of raw survival instinct. Who knew what was keeping him going.
Willpower.
Luffy felt like his mind was being polluted. He didn't even recognize many of the characters, never mind the messy, obscure knowledge of navigation.
What use was any of this?
[ Warning: Do not get distracted while studying with Nami. Devote all your attention. ]
[ Warning: Random punishment countdown: ten. ]
"I'll study. I'll study!"
Luffy's eyes went wide, summoning the primal survival reflex from Grandpa's training.
The voice seemed to have found his weak point.
Not afraid of electricity?
Then try a small, very personal kind of shock.
"No, I want adventure."
Like a salted fish that had lost its dream, Luffy's eyes faded.
Yet
the one being tormented turned out to be Nami.
"You don't even know all your letters. How am I supposed to teach you?" She was on the verge of tearing her hair out.
"Then explain in simpler words so I can understand. I believe in you," Luffy said, patting Nami's shoulder. "You're the best navigator on our ship."
"Even so, teaching an idiot is hard." Nami shot him a sideways glance.
"Nami, you don't want to lose your most precious things either, do you?"
"You!"
Threatened. She was actually being threatened.
Annoyed as she was, Nami had to compromise.
For her, the most precious things were without question the treasure she'd collected.
Tch. Did he figure that out?
Nami felt a flicker of panic.
Seeing Teacher Nami's motivation spike, Luffy was deeply satisfied.
As expected, she didn't want to lose her captain.
In under an hour,
Luffy was on the verge of puking.
[ Mental energy severely overdrawn. Your willpower has increased. Observation Haki proficiency +1. ]
"Huh?"
Luffy froze.
He remembered hearing something like that in the morning too, but he'd ignored it.
Looked like he could even scroll through the log.
[ Physical energy compressed and trained. Your body's toughness has increased. Armament Haki proficiency +1. ]
Those terms sounded familiar somehow.
"Nami, have you heard of Observation Haki and Armament Haki?"
"Say one more word and I'll show you Nami-color Haki." The pen in Nami's hand snapped with a crack.
Terrifying.
Luffy decided not to provoke this woman.
He rubbed at his temples and thought hard, then clapped his hands.
He'd heard Shanks and the others mention it when he was little.
So it was some kind of unknown power.
Luffy was very sensitive to this kind of thing.
"This is training I must go through to become Pirate King."
Suddenly, there was hope in his days. The punishments were irresistible. If he could grow stronger, he could only accept it.
A panel appeared before his eyes.
Luffy:
Observation Haki Proficiency: 1/1000 lv0
Armament Haki Proficiency: 1/1000 lv0
Conqueror's Haki Proficiency: 0/1000 lv0
Devil Fruit Development: 0/10
…
I'm the man who'll become Pirate King. This little hardship won't stop me.
Even so, when he thought about living like this from now on, his eyes were already rolling back.