"Y-You mean a Devil Fruit?"
Nojiko's voice trembled, and her face turned bright red.
A moment ago, she had been angry.
Now, she was just mortified.
She had never expected her habitual way of thinking to cause such a ridiculous misunderstanding. At this point, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a crack in the ground and disappear.
On the lounge chairs nearby, Robin, Kuina, and the others all shifted their gazes away awkwardly as well.
Leno swept his eyes around the group and instantly understood what had happened. His feelings were complicated, but at the same time, he couldn't help finding it a little funny.
Good grief. His image as a shameless pervert had clearly taken root deep in everyone's hearts.
He looked Nojiko up and down, then glanced at Robin and the others, saying meaningfully:
"Honestly, some people are unbelievable. They spend all day calling other people dirty-minded, but the second they hear a completely normal sentence, their minds immediately jump to something indece—mmph!"
With a whoosh, before Leno could finish speaking, Nojiko lunged forward and clamped a hand over his mouth.
Forcing a stiff smile onto her face, she awkwardly turned to the others and explained,
"Don't misunderstand! I wasn't thinking anything weird, I was just... surprised! Right, just surprised."
The moment she finished, she noticed that the Leno whose mouth she was covering was rolling his eyes so hard he looked ready to pass out. Left with no choice, she bent down and whispered into his ear,
"Come on, Leno... this time, we really did misunderstand you. I'll definitely make it up to you properly tonight, okay?"
"Not enough."
Leno tilted his head with a huff, his eyes drifting meaningfully toward Robin, Kuina, and the others.
He hadn't put them in their place for a few days, and now they were getting bolder and bolder. They had actually dared to slander their own captain in public!
Seeing that look on his face, how could Nojiko not understand what this lecher was plotting?
The blush on her cheeks quickly spread down her neck, and even the tips of her ears turned scarlet.
Her silver teeth ground together audibly before she finally gave in helplessly.
"Fine... I'll go convince them."
"Really?!"
The Leno who had been pretending a second ago suddenly lit up, his eyes sparkling so brightly his voice even rose a few notches.
He turned to look at the indignant Nojiko and said with a wicked grin,
"Then I'll leave it to you. Otherwise... hehe."
Seeing the look of triumph on his face, Nojiko smacked him in annoyance before turning away and walking off, her slim waist swaying with each step.
She seriously suspected that this bastard had deliberately said it that way just to make them misunderstand.
But she had no proof...
The moment she thought about what was going to happen tonight—the scandalous "everyone sleeping under one blanket" situation—her whole body began to heat up, and even her steps turned unsteady.
Just as Leno was still indulging in beautiful fantasies about the night ahead, the innocent little rabbit in front of him spoke up in confusion.
"Brother Leno, what kind of ability does this Devil Fruit have?"
"Huh? Oh~"
Snapping back to reality, Leno gave a light cough and glanced at the fruit in her hand.
"That's the Door-Door Fruit. It lets you open doors anywhere you want and move through them freely..."
"Sugeee!!!"
Before Leno could even finish, Carrot let out a cry of excitement and immediately bit into it.
"Blegh—!"
The expression of pure suffering appeared on her face instantly, and tears sprang to her eyes as she turned her head, clearly wanting to spit it out.
As a little rabbit who absolutely adored good food, she had never experienced a taste this horrifying before.
At that moment, Chopper held a cup of carrot juice out in front of her and casually said,
"You have to eat the whole thing~"
Hearing that, Leno glanced at the little guy's calm expression and secretly chuckled to himself.
So Chopper had learned to be a little wicked too, huh?
What, just because he had suffered through the rain once, everyone else had to get drenched too?
He looked around and noticed that everyone else was smiling as they watched Carrot, yet not a single one of them spoke up.
Leno: ...
Alright, alright.
What a loving family.
If one suffers, everyone suffers together, huh?
After hearing Chopper's words, Carrot downed the cup of carrot juice in one gulp, then looked at Leno with a face full of despair—only to receive an encouraging look from him in return.
In the end, the little rabbit squeezed her eyes shut and forcefully wolfed down the rest of the fruit in several huge bites. Then, after chugging several more cups of carrot juice, she collapsed flat on her back on the deck and gasped for air toward the sky.
For a moment there, she had genuinely thought she was going to die!
After quite a while, Vivi finally stepped forward and gently poked the rabbit, who looked like she had been thoroughly broken.
"Carrot, hurry up and try your fruit ability! Let all of us have a look~"
Hearing that, Carrot sat up, wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes, and stared at Vivi with a resentful, aggrieved look, her lips pursed pitifully.
So there was no love left anymore, huh?
No comforting her, no sympathy—just asking about the fruit ability.
Seeing her looking so pitiful, Vivi couldn't help laughing. She reached out and rubbed Carrot's little head as she comforted her,
"Don't feel wronged. All of us have tasted a Devil Fruit before. It's a necessary step~"
"So that's how it is..."
Carrot smacked one fist into her palm, then stood up and patted her little backside, looking a bit embarrassed.
"I thought... hehe..."
Seeing that expression on her face, Vivi froze for a moment before poking her forehead in exasperation.
"Alright, enough. Hurry up and try your power. Everyone's waiting to see it~"
"Mhm, mhm~"
The little rabbit nodded furiously, then closed her eyes and tried activating her ability.
In the very next second, a transparent air door appeared right in front of her.
She reached out, pulled it open, and stepped inside.
The moment the door shut behind her, Carrot's figure vanished directly from everyone's sight.
The girls who had been watching the show instantly shot to their feet, their eyes filled with shock as they looked around in every direction.
After searching several times and finding nothing, they immediately activated their Observation Haki.
Yet no matter how they sensed with their Observation Haki, they still couldn't find the little rabbit's presence.
At last, helpless, they all turned their eyes toward the utterly composed Leno and asked expectantly,
"Leno, where did Carrot go? Can you sense her?"
"Don't waste your effort~"
Lying back on his chair, Leno waved a hand indifferently before explaining,
"Inside the separate space created by the Door-Door Fruit, Observation Haki can't detect anything."
"Nani?!"
Hearing Leno's explanation, everyone's eyes widened in shock, and disbelief filled their faces.
The Door-Door Fruit was actually this broken?
If someone wanted to hide using this ability, wouldn't nobody ever be able to find them?
At that moment, Nami, who was sitting in his arms, tilted her head up and looked at him with worry in her eyes.
"Dummy... not even you can find her?"
"Not even me."
Leno gently shook his head as he ran a hand through Nami's silky hair, his tone tinged with amazement.
"Theoretically speaking, as long as Carrot has enough stamina, she can stay hidden in that separate space forever. No one in the world would be able to find her!"
"?!!!"
Hearing that even Leno had no way to deal with it, horror flashed through the girls' eyes.
They had thought they were already overestimating the Door-Door Fruit's power.
Turns out, they had still underestimated it.
The girls exchanged glances, and each of them could see the seriousness in the others' eyes.
Maybe... from now on, they really needed to change the way they treated the little rabbit.
After all, Carrot had only been on the ship for a short time. Their bond with her was nowhere near as deep as the one they shared among themselves.
As if sensing their concern, Leno spoke up to reassure them.
"You girls are overthinking it. The Door-Door Fruit isn't actually as outrageous as you're imagining."
He paused for a moment, then continued under their puzzled gazes,
"The reason is simple. The startup time for activating the ability is too long, and the instant the door opens, it can be sensed."
"Not to mention there's also future sight through Observation Haki..."