During this period, Luffy had seen too much jiggling, and even his vision seemed to be swaying. To be honest, he was feeling a bit dazed.
The key point was that a warning sound would ring whenever Luffy's focus wavered.
"Mhmm, seems not bad. Kinda want to see it." His voice sounded somewhat perfunctory, and his eyes were even glazed over.
"Just 'kinda'?" Nojiko's voice suddenly rose in pitch.
It seemed like this was something unacceptable to her.
I'm the one who's about to be seen, why are you getting so worked up!
"Hmph, in your dreams. Everyone, get out." Nami began shooing people away.
"Have you forgotten that this is my room?"
Nojiko narrowed her eyes.
Nami was momentarily speechless. Just as she was about to retort, Nojiko threw her out of the room.
It seemed she had suddenly become homeless.
Wait, where's Luffy?
Only then did Nami recall the abrupt event. Her expression changed, and she hurriedly rushed back into the room to drag out Luffy, who was lying on the floor.
Why did that Nojiko have to wear such a smug, teasing expression?
Originally, she could have just left Luffy outside. Those drunkards at the party would just sleep anywhere anyway.
But Nami hesitated for a moment and still ended up taking Luffy back to her own room.
He was an injured person, after all. Although, with Luffy's monstrous recovery ability, Nami felt his wounds would be mostly healed within a couple of days.
She regretted bringing him back almost immediately.
Bringing Luffy back to her room this late at night—wasn't that just confirming those rumors?
And then.
"What are you looking at? Is that book really that interesting?"
Nami glanced down at herself. Everything was round and fine, no problem there?
"A book isn't about being interesting or not; it's about whether it's useful."
Luffy looked at Nami with a serious expression as he spoke.
"You're the one saying that?"
In just a few short days, it felt like years had passed.
Luffy was the kind of person whose character you could understand at a glance after meeting him.
But from the time they met until now, saying Luffy's temperament had undergone a massive change was absolutely correct!
At first, Nami thought he was just putting on an act. But thinking about it carefully now, could it be that Luffy had always been training at this high intensity?
She had to admit, compared to his previous carefree, devil-may-care self, the current Luffy gave her a much more reliable impression.
Looking at him... her heart unconsciously settled down.
Remembering how perfunctory Luffy had been earlier, Nami now actually felt a bit of sympathy for Nojiko's frustration.
"Hey, I'm going to take a bath now."
"Oh."
"Weren't you saying you 'kinda' wanted to see earlier? I can satisfy you, you know."
"Nami, do you have a fever?" Luffy looked at her suspiciously. "Or is there some scheme?"
Nami's face reddened, feeling a bit guilty.
"I don't care, I'm counting this as using up one of those two promises from before!"
After saying that, she rushed to the wardrobe, grabbed a set of clothes, and dashed into the bathroom.
Only then did Luffy remember: back when he made that bet with Nami, he had won two conditions that Nami couldn't refuse.
Ah, she really is a cunning little thief-cat.
[Warning: Excessive instances of loss of focus detected. Host is attempting to exploit loopholes. Implementing compensatory measures...]
[Time has been reallocated to tomorrow's schedule.]
[Warning: This is currently [Devil Fruit Development] time. Please do not associate with matters unrelated to the Devil Fruit.]
[Random punishment countdown...]
The warning sounds didn't stop. Luffy's face turned ashen.
He had finally found a little gap to slack off, and you're actually making up for it?
Don't tell me you're going to strip away even his one hour of sleep.
The wild thoughts that had just begun to surface immediately vanished without a trace.
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
If you have the guts, don't ever let me become the Pirate King in this lifetime!
Luffy felt a bit of helpless rage, his face bitter as he continued to gnaw through the medical book in his hands.
By thoroughly understanding his own body, he could become stronger.
Luffy casually sat down at the desk, picked up Nami's pen, and began drawing a diagram of his own body's structure on a piece of white paper.
It was so detailed that even blood vessels and organs were drawn, and very clearly at that.
Looking at it, Luffy felt a strange sense of accomplishment.
Before this, being able to draw a circular sun would have had him grinning for half the day.
[Medical Knowledge EXP +3]
[Medical Skill Level increased to Lv1]
.....
This feeling of leveling up and gaining experience points like in a game was very comfortable.
It gives you a short-term sense of anticipation, then satisfies that anticipation, delivering a dopamine rush.
Luffy now felt he could list the specific symptoms of many common diseases in one go. He'd definitely be qualified to be the ship's acting doctor, right?
He wrote and drew.
Not long ago, Nami had taught him that besides rote memorization, using a "clumsy pen" simultaneously was also important. Doing it this way indeed had many benefits.
As he wrote and drew, he discovered that besides his Medical experience steadily rising, other entries were appearing in the frame.
[Drawing Skill EXP +3]
[Drawing Skill Level increased to Lv1]
The emergence of this new experience entry... did it mean that things outside the Plan could also grant experience bonuses?
Experience points equated to proficiency.
Leveling up brought significant improvement, just like with his current drawing skill.
He could now effortlessly draw the stunning images stored in his mind. Moreover, with the ability to use a pen to modify and refine, the results could be even more beautiful than a photograph.
The images of "beauty" in Luffy's mind were quite scarce. The only thing he probably found truly beautiful was the Going Merry. Other than that, maybe meat? Then, an image of Nami surfaced in his mind, and so the Going Merry became the background setting for a portrait of the young woman.
A painter's sense of accomplishment comes from personally depicting and modifying beautiful things onto a blank canvas.
Luffy didn't really understand what the instinct in the face of beauty was, but he felt that things which could move his heart were probably the most beautiful things.
"So pretty..."
Luffy looked at the finalized image in his hand.
"What's pretty?"
Nami had just stepped out of the bathroom. She didn't think Luffy was complimenting her, because his gaze wasn't on her at all.
When Nami came out, she had been acting a bit shy and hesitant. Honestly, she had started regretting it the moment she grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom.
What kind of brain fart had she had to do something like that?
She never should have made that bet with Luffy in the first place, offering up two promises she couldn't refuse.
When it came to her nakama, Nami still had a bit of pride; if she promised something, she had to follow through.
...Unless you were talking about money with her.
What if Luffy, this kid, suddenly had an epiphany one day and made a demand like 'sleep with me'? Could she refuse?
Nami honestly didn't think she would. She'd probably grit her teeth and go through with it, but she'd feel terribly unwilling.
You could at least... start with holding hands, right?
You have to eat one bite at a time. You're trying to go straight to the final course; your appetite is just too big. Even though pirates were known for their blunt, straightforward personalities, Luffy's change in demeanor, like a runaway bulldozer, had inadvertently dragged her onto a different track as well.
So, in the end, she comforted herself by thinking that using up one promise like this was actually not a bad deal.
***
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