"985,"
"986,"
On the deck of the Golden Merry, Luffy and Zoro were doing weighted squats with their heads down, grunting with effort. Beside them, Nami was training as well, along with...
"Why do I have to join too?!"
Facing the tearful Usopp, Roman, who was also training with weights on his back, merely lifted his eyelids.
"You want to fight me too?"
"Beat me, and you won't have to listen to me—"
"Forget it, I'm training from the bottom of my heart..."
...A familiar scene returned.
"Ha ha ha~~"
"Nami, what are you laughing at?"
"Sure enough, that saying about 'friends' is right." Nami, who was also working out, smiled at Usopp, whose legs were cramping beside her. "Hearing that you're worse off than I am makes me happy."
"This friendship is way too realistic."
But complaining was useless. After completing the training quota Roman had set, the others still had enough energy to chat and laugh. Poor Usopp did not even have the strength to turn over.
"This isn't how I imagined it..."
Pirate life was supposed to be about banquets, revelry, storms, battles, and all that...
"The more you sweat in peacetime, the less you bleed in wartime."
Roman raised his eyelids as he turned the Golden Merry's wheel while also splitting his attention between controlling two Paper Arms that steered a merchant ship behind them.
"Usopp, your stamina is only at 0.8 Nami."
"Hey, hey, hey, what do you mean, 0.8 Nami..."
Nami, who had just come out after taking a bath, objected. Since when had she become a unit for measuring physical fitness?
"Because your physique is the closest among us to the average pirate's standard."
Roman answered with a straight face.
"Otherwise, should I change it to 0.04 Luffys?"
"Forget it... That's too discouraging."
"But it's okay. Your potential should be greater than this."
Roman looked at Usopp.
"You probably just never underwent any systematic training before, which is why you seem so... weak. Now that you've started training and developing your body's potential, I believe you'll soon surpass 1 Nami..."
"That's enough, Roman! Stop using me as a standard unit..."
The days at sea were not magnificent in the slightest, nor were they glamorous or thrilling.
Most of the time, there was only the endless ocean, with neither wind nor waves, nor any other ships. And to keep Luffy from fooling around, Roman made a detailed training plan every day to burn off their excess energy. However:
"I think we need a pirate flag."
Faced with Luffy's serious proposal, everyone else, including Roman, nodded in agreement.
They already had five members, after all! It was time to fly their own colors!
"Ta-da~~"
"How about the one I drew?"
How should they put it? Though it could broadly still be recognized as a skull flag...
"This guy obviously has no artistic talent."
That was Usopp, speaking the blunt truth.
"No, from a certain perspective... it could count as art."
That was Nami, deep in thought.
"A pirate flag is supposed to be a symbol of intimidation, right..."
That was Zoro, speechless.
"This is less of a pirate flag and more of a kindergarten doodle."
Roman rubbed his temples. If they actually flew that thing, they could make their enemies laugh themselves to death before a fight even began... No, thinking about it carefully, maybe this was actually one of Luffy's strategies?
Showing weakness to lure in the enemy...
No, no, no. Roman shook his head.
The usual Luffy did not have enough brain cells to think about things like that!
"Forget it. Leave drawing to me."
As the only "artist" among them, Usopp confidently took the brush. However:
It was not badly drawn, but... it was a long-nosed skull, with a slingshot on one side and a leg bone on the other. He had even added a star effect...
Bang! x2
"This is completely just you, isn't it?"
After getting punched by Luffy and Zoro at the same time, Usopp had no choice but to redraw the Straw Hat Pirate flag, leaving the others impressed.
"Looks good."
"Hard to believe it's the same design..."
Comparing it with Luffy's drawing, the difference was like a seller's photo versus what the buyer actually received.
"Heh heh, I'm not just great at drawing—I'm also an excellent marksman. I can easily hit the target every time!"
After demonstrating by blasting apart a small rocky outcrop sticking out of the distant sea with a single shot:
"Great. From now on, you're our ship's 'sniper' and 'artist.'"
With a wave of his hand, Luffy assigned Usopp two positions.
?
"Hey,"
Roman looked up at several paper cranes fluttering through the sky. One of them flew toward the small rocky outcrop Usopp had just blasted apart. After circling above it a few times:
"I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear?"
??
"The bad news."
At Luffy's choice, Roman nodded.
"The place you just blasted had people resting there. You hit some bystanders."
Ah, this...
"What's the good news, then?"
Luffy and Usopp, both looking utterly devastated, asked anxiously.
"The good news is that those two don't seem to be dead yet."
"Damn it, I only lost by a little..."
When Roman and the others turned toward the outcrop, a swordsman leaped out from the ruins, shouting that they had to pay for murder with their lives. Luffy knocked him flat with one move...
"Joseph, hang in there!"
After rescuing the other man, they discovered that he and the swordsman were Pirate Hunters who had once worked in the same line as Zoro. Both were also his fans, named Joseph and Johnny. However, one of them was completely unharmed, while the other was pale, with blood even seeping from the wound on his abdomen. But:
"Is this scurvy?"
It was not Usopp's cannonball that had injured him. Rather:
"What is scurvy?"
Faced with the questions from Luffy, Usopp, and Zoro, Nami had no choice but to explain.
"Scurvy is a disease caused by a lack of Vitamin C. Long-term deficiency increases the fragility of capillaries, causing bleeding beneath the skin and mucous membranes. Medically, that's called scurvy. You only need to..."
"Give him some of this."
Roman had already brought out a glass of orange juice and handed it to the other hunter, Johnny, asking him to feed it to Joseph.
"Fresh vegetables, citrus fruits, lemons, and the like can prevent and treat scurvy. But if you sail for long periods with an unbalanced diet, you'll end up like him."
Roman glanced at Luffy as he spoke.
"Especially you, Luffy. You only know how to eat meat. It wouldn't be strange if you came down with all kinds of weird illnesses someday."
Someone like him would definitely have been the textbook example of Three Highs in his previous life!
"Come to think of it, I'm hungry too..."
"Fine, I'll cook."
Roman rolled his eyes. Though he could use Paper Arms to cook and improve his Devil Fruit proficiency at the same time, still:
"Honestly, the number of times I've cooked lately is almost more than my entire previous—former—life combined."
In the dining room of the cabin, Roman watched Luffy and the others wolf down the food he had prepared—including the newly rescued Johnny and Joseph. He stroked his chin and once again began doubting his cooking skills.
That makes no sense. It's not like I'm Liu Angxing, and I didn't put poppy shells or anything in it...
"Delicious!"
"I think you'd say it was delicious even if it were just meat-and-potato stew."
Roman no longer wanted to hear the opinions of these people with "iron stomachs." He tapped his plate with his knife and fork.
"I think we need to recruit a professional chef."
"A good chef can not only make delicious food, but also balance its nutrition. They can even gradually strengthen the eater's body through food..."
This was not pure fantasy. In this wondrous world, many foods possessed incredible power of their own and could grant people tangible strength!
Devil Fruits were among the best of them.
"Then where can we find a chef like that?"
Faced with Zoro's question, Roman pointed his knife and fork directly at Nami.
"Of course, we should ask the person among us with the most sailing experience."
"As someone who has spent years active in the East Blue, Nami should know where to find a chef, right?"
"I do know, but—"
Nami wiped her mouth with a napkin, thought for a moment, then took out a sea chart and spread it open. She pointed to an area of ocean.
"Along a route slightly north of us,"
"There's a famous ship in this area called Baratie. If we need a chef, we can go take a look there. But I don't know whether anyone would be willing to come aboard."
As she spoke, Nami's finger paused.
On the land beside that stretch of sea was an inconspicuous little village:
Cocoyasi Village.
So soon... This pleasant journey is about to end...
Before you continue