[ Through hard study, your medical knowledge has increased. Experience +3. ]
Time flew so fast Luffy barely had room to think about the bet.
Like cramming before an exam, his eyes were practically glued to the page.
Nami watched at first. Since they'd made a wager, there was no way she would let him read so easily.
So, now and then, she nudged him with her bare foot to tease him.
Even if it meant trying a first-ever "seduction," she'd do it.
Because even a one-percent chance of losing was unacceptable to Nami.
Luffy treated her like air.
That made Nami feel stifled. She glanced down at her own curves—nothing wrong there.
On the sheet beside Luffy, a rough human diagram had taken shape—simple, but enough.
Studying medicine was ultimately for developing his Fruit ability; he couldn't neglect that.
"Time's up. Want to eat first?" Nami couldn't help saying. "I won't count mealtime against you."
Luffy was so focused he'd all but forgotten sleep and food, totally unbothered by outside distractions. At this rate, he might actually have a shot.
"No."
He shook his head.
Even though saliva kept pooling in his mouth.
He wanted to eat, but now wasn't eating time.
And the bet with Nami had made zero progress—he hadn't even chewed through ten minutes' worth.
Damn thing.
Even if Nami teased him with her ankle—or sat naked in his lap—nothing would change.
Was he supposed to show off a "quick finish" right in front of her?
If he did, even as Pirate King someday he'd never lift his head around Nami again.
Yet this stubbornness shocked her.
A creeping unease crept in: would Luffy actually pull off the impossible?
That'd be inhuman.
Unless he had photographic memory.
No way.
Luffy couldn't even recognize faces—back in Syrup Village he'd mistaken anyone dressed like Zoro for Zoro.
That guy, with photographic memory?
Don't be ridiculous.
He couldn't have been hiding it all this time just for today.
That would shatter everything Nami thought she knew about him.
The pages visibly turned slower. Mental work was exhausting; Luffy's eyelids drooped. He hadn't had a moment's rest all day.
Rest. Sleep. Food.
He dreamed of all three.
But—
[ Warning: Punishment countdown. ]
Relax the tiniest bit and a sensory shock hit.
Still, he could feel his head filling with knowledge. He wouldn't be answering "I don't know" to everything anymore. He even felt his lines of thought sharpening.
Not enough. Still not enough.
Half a day to gnaw through a whole book? Far from it.
The less hope you see, the less drive you have—so they say.
A devil whispered in his skull:
"Give up."
"Give up."
Being Nami's slave was better than dying of exhaustion.
From another angle, being Nami's slave wasn't so bad.
The moment that thought surfaced, the familiar feeling hit.
A punishment that would humiliate him to death—literally.
The instant the words [ Punishment countdown ] sounded, every hair on Luffy's body stood on end.
Not that.
From the deepest place in his life-force, survival will exploded.
Keep your name clean in this world!
If he died, let it be cut down, beaten, bitten—
Not that shameful way.
They said a demon clung to every Devil Fruit user.
In truth, a will was hidden in the Fruit.
Under the twin grindstones of pressure and will, that will awoke.
From Luffy's core, a current surged that words couldn't hold.
Almost too faint to see, thin pale lines flickered over his bare skin—especially at joints like elbows and shoulders.
Luffy shook his head hard as a clarity unlike anything before washed through him.
Thoughts that had been sticky as paste ran clear and smooth.
He stared at the page.
"I—I remember all of it…"
He didn't even know what had happened.
Then characters appeared before his eyes.
[ Through hard study, your medical knowledge has increased. Experience +3. ]
[ Under extreme will-stress and potential squeeze, your mental power has greatly increased. A qualitative breakthrough has been achieved. Passive talent unlocked: Photographic Memory. ]
"Greatly increased?"
Luffy blinked, a reflex prick of indignation. "What, was I dumb before?"
The twinge vanished under the joy of a new talent.
Photographic Memory?
Whatever—if it works, it works.
He turned back to the book.
This time there was no agony. As his gaze swept the lines, the words stopped being symbols to decode. They seemed to come alive, arranging themselves; the core points stamped into his mind like a brand.
Symptoms, drug names, countermeasures—crystal clear.
"Easy. Too easy. Hee-hee-hee…"
A grin crept over his face without him realizing.
Creak—
The door swung open.
Frowning, Nami edged in with a steaming pot; rich meat aroma filled the room.
She'd used the last sea-beast cuts from the icebox for stew, thinking the idiot captain might be starving—show a little mercy, feed him, then let him keep pretending.
"Hey, that's enough—"
The words snagged in her throat.
What Luffy was doing made no sense. Laughing to keep from crying? Or actually crazy?
It made no sense.
She knew exactly what he'd looked like at first.
Just like her, as a kid, when she didn't want to study.
But now he was smiling. If that were all, she'd call him a little mad.
Except his page-turning was absurdly fast.
N-no way.
"Did he memorize everything?"
"Don't joke—does he really have photographic memory?"
You didn't have to overact like this. A dog couldn't read at that speed.
Luffy's labels were always obvious:
[ Carefree rubber idiot ]
[ Muscles first, brain later ]
[ Fears hunger and boredom, never fears studying ]
…
It was the first time Nami had seen someone smile while studying.
Wait—keep this up and I'll be the one crying.
"Nami, you came at the perfect time!"
Luffy stood, snapped the book shut, met her startled eyes, and grinned.
"I'm done."