Luffy's thoughts were still foggy. Seeing Nami in a maid outfit, he froze, even forgetting to answer what she'd said.
Bathed in the warm glow of the room, Nami wore a crisp black-and-white maid outfit—so different from her usual easy short sleeves and shorts. A snowy apron tied into a full bow at her slender waist, accenting a stunning waist-to-hip curve.
The structured skirt fell in a soft bell just above her knees, which only made the legs sheathed in pantyhose look even better. The black fabric wrapped her feet snugly and ran unbroken up to the hem's shadow.
Lace trimmed the sleeves and collar.
Her usually peppy orange bob seemed gentler with this outfit, framing her cheeks.
Reluctant, bristling, and coy all at once.
Brows knit and mouth downturned, Nami looked at him like he was trash. Honestly, what kind of creep ogles a maid outfit in the middle of the night?
"This is the maid outfit?" Luffy frowned.
"Sorry it can't satisfy you!" Nami lunged up and yanked his cheeks.
No, that's not what he meant.
The effect was strange—more fabric, tighter wrapping, yet somehow more eye-catching than the bath towel earlier.
Luffy started to speak, and, miffed, Nami twitched the skirt a little higher. His eyes stuck again on their own.
The black sheen of the stockings caught the light, running from calf straight into the hem's shadow.
"Got you." Nami pinched his sideburn and smiled, target reacquired. "What are you looking at?"
"I…"
A knock at the door.
"Nami, about that maid outfit—"
The door clicked and opened. Nojiko stepped in with a bundle of fabric—then froze at the scene.
Nami, in a maid outfit, lifting her skirt…
"Sorry. Not the time. Carry on."
She shut the door in a hurry.
"No, Nojiko—" Nami turned to stone. Before she could react, the door was already closed.
Silence.
Luffy looked up stiffly at Nami.
"…You're coming with me to explain this to Nojiko!"
He opened his mouth to agree—then the voice chimed in his head.
[A new day has begun.]
[Checking today's schedule…]
[Sleep time reached, 00:00–06:00. Execute immediately.]
Six hours of sleep?
Did he read that right—six hours?!
The characters felt alien. He wasn't used to this. Suspicious thoughts crept in—was it a trap?
The thought flashed and was gone.
Sleep when you can—anything else would be a crime!
"Nami, tomorrow. Let me sleep first…"
Luffy fell asleep on the spot.
Nami gaped. One second he was staring straight at her; the next he was out cold.
Her fingers were still gripping his clothes when his full weight toppled over her.
"Hey—!" She lost her footing and went down underneath him.
"Sorry, maybe you weren't ready. I just went to borrow something from the doctor." Nojiko opened the door again.
Take two.
"Sorry, keep going…" Nojiko wanted to leave, and didn't.
"Keep going my foot—help me!" Nami flailed. "Get Luffy off me!"
"Bear with it. This might hurt a bit," Nojiko warned.
Hurt why?
Before she could ask, Luffy's arms shifted in sleep, hugging around Nami's leg. Whatever he was dreaming, his mouth opened and he bit down.
…
When Luffy slept, he didn't wake.
Call it elite sleep quality—trained in, really. Maybe it ran in the family: instant sleep-onset was a rare gift.
As a kid, Garp only let him sleep three hours.
Sometimes he suspected his height was Garp's fault—training too hard too young.
Sure, he was over one-seventy, but in a world where three to five meters was common, he was born a size down.
Here, size is justice.
No wonder the giants were the mightiest race.
He dreamed often, but lucid dreams were rare.
This time was different.
The sun blazed in a sky over Baratie's deck. What a joke—they'd already gone to Cocoyasi Village; why was he back here? He still had a crystal-clear impression of Nami's maid outfit. He had to be dreaming.
He pinched his cheek hard.
Ow. But he couldn't wake.
"Hey, it's you again, isn't it? Pirate King Training Plan—get out here or I'm making a scene."
He cursed it out.
Six hours of sleep, huh?
Right then the familiar characters scrolled up, and the voice spoke.
[Plan in progress… Notice: excessive distraction and rule-gaming detected yesterday. Rolling those tasks into today's schedule.]
[Dream training in effect. Allocating to weak-point drills. Searching for target…]
[Attempts: unlimited]
[Clock time: 00:00–06:00 (dream time: 00:00–23:00)]
Luffy's face went slack.
This damned plan—are you even human?
Who taught you math? Six hours of sleep just to work him a full day in the dream?
He went off.
He'd been so smug—what, you going to squeeze forty-eight hours out of twenty-four?
Fine, skim time. What could it really do?
Turned out it had no shame at all.
As he swore, a figure stepped out.
The pressure made Luffy step back on instinct. "Hawkeye?"
So they were going to finish the fight that never started? The challenge had been to him at first, but Nami's timing had knocked him off rhythm and Zoro took the match.
Luffy knew his own weakness—rubber shrugged off most blunt force, but blades were trouble.
Swordsmen were a pain. A huge pain.
That was before Armament Haki.
Now he had a real card against a swordsman: Armament Haki bolstering offense and defense both.
If that's how it was, then bring it on.
"You hurt Zoro that badly. As captain, I'm not letting it slide."
Grinning, Luffy stared down the man before him and snapped into Second Gear.
Then—
Armament Haki—Coating Hardening!