Are You an Idiot?

Victor did not stop. He followed Nami down the corridor and into the depths of the ship.

Sensing someone following behind her, Nami stopped in front of a room and cast him a cold glance over her shoulder.

Then she swiftly slipped inside and raised a hand to slam the door shut behind her.

Bang!

The door let out a dull thud as it closed, but it did not shut completely.

Victor casually wedged his foot into the gap, but his expression immediately changed. His features twisted as he cried out in pain.

"Hiss—! Ah, that hurts, idiot!"

"Why did you follow me?" Nami asked warily through the crack in the door.

Enduring the intense pain in the top of his foot, Victor scratched his head and put on a smiling expression.

"Looking after the navigator's mental health is also part of the vice-captain's duties.

"Besides, you still owe me 310 million Beli. If something happened to you, wouldn't my money be gone?"

Hearing that, the gloomy, hardened look on Nami's face softened slightly.

She suddenly pulled the door open and punched Victor hard in the shoulder.

"Don't even think about it! I'm not paying you back!"

Although she said that, her momentum quickly faded again.

She lowered her head, her bangs hiding her eyes. Her voice was low. "You wouldn't understand, Victor."

Victor silently watched her trembling shoulders and said to himself:

Actually, I understand, Navigator.

Even that despair you think you can never overcome.

But he did not expose her feelings. He merely smiled gently, and his tone became firm.

"In any case, the fact that you're our companion will never change.

"You're indispensable to us. After all, you know that everyone on this ship, myself included, is an idiot who knows nothing about sailing."

At that, he suddenly leaned closer to Nami. Those smiling eyes, as if they could see through people's hearts, stared at her.

"If you dare run away, we'll catch you and bring you back no matter where you flee to."

Nami was deeply shaken. She abruptly raised her head to look at Victor, a flicker of panic and emotion passing through her eyes.

She fell silent for a moment, then seemed to be trying to hide something as she shoved the door with all her strength.

Bang!

The door slammed shut, and this time Victor was not spared either.

"My foot..." Victor's expression instantly crumbled, and he hopped in place twice from the pain.

Hearing Victor's cry of pain, the door opened slightly again.

With a look of disgust, Nami used the tip of her foot to nudge Victor's trapped foot out from the doorway.

"Thanks for your concern, Vice-Captain. And I'm going to rest now, so get lost!"

With a click as the lock turned, Victor stood outside the tightly shut door and let out a helpless sigh.

Honestly, I really have no idea how to deal with women...

He softly said to the door, "Get some good rest."

At that moment, cries of alarm came from the deck, followed by the sound of something heavy hitting the floor.

Something happened?

Victor's expression sharpened. He did not linger and hurried outside.

Inside the room.

Nami leaned against the cold door, as though all strength had left her body, and slowly slid down to the floor.

She opened her palm and stared blankly at the cold key resting there.

Then she clenched it tightly, her nails digging deeply into her flesh.

The tears she had suppressed for so long finally burst through, flowing down without end.

She buried her head deeply between her drawn-up knees, her shoulders shaking violently.

"No... You, you wouldn't understand..."

Her voice was choked and broken, sounding especially desolate in the empty room.

"They're monsters... If you oppose them, you'll die."

"Hate me, Victor..."

"Luffy, Zoro, Usopp... I'm sorry..."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ship.

Everyone had worked together to carry the unconscious Joseph into an empty room and settle him down.

They were now gathered around a crude dining table, eating a simple dinner.

"So there are dangers like this during long voyages too."

Zoro held a cup of ale in his hand and drained it in one gulp, a hint of reverence for the laws of survival at sea on his face.

"Yeah, it's all thanks to Nami. Otherwise, Joseph might have..."

Johnny sat nearby, gripping a hard piece of bread and taking a fierce bite, his face full of relief at having escaped disaster.

Usopp's mouth was stuffed with food as he spoke indistinctly.

"So that means we have to consider nutritional balance during long voyages with the limited ingredients on the ship..."

"Ah, I'll take care of that next time we stock up on supplies." Victor pushed open the door and walked in, taking a seat beside Luffy.

"Caw caw! I want meat!"

A black crow flapped its wings and landed on the dining table. It was Clay.

It stared at the food on the table and cawed noisily in dissatisfaction.

Victor reached out and grabbed its beak. "That sounds awful, idiot."

Johnny looked at the talking crow. Although he had seen it once earlier,

he still could not help widening his eyes as he watched it peck huge bites of bread at such close range.

The creatures on this ship were stranger than the last.

Luffy swallowed the food in his mouth, crossed his arms over his chest, and seriously stared at the ceiling in thought.

"Hmm... So we don't get sick, and so we can eat delicious meat..."

Suddenly, he slammed his fist into his palm, his eyes lighting up.

"All right! Hey, everyone! Let's find a cook at sea!"

"Cook!" Clay immediately raised a wing in agreement.

"Ah! I see! Then we can eat delicious food on the ship too!" Drool was already running from the corner of Usopp's mouth.

Hearing that Luffy wanted to find a cook, Johnny, who had been wolfing down his food, suddenly stopped.

He swallowed the bread in his mouth with difficulty and cut in, "If you're looking for a cook, I know a good place."

"Where is it?!" Luffy eagerly leaned closer.

Johnny wiped his mouth and said seriously, "It's close to the Grand Line. It's the famous 'sea restaurant.'

"And..." He turned to Zoro. "There are also rumors about the 'Hawk-Eye man' that you've been looking for, Boss."

Hearing that name, Zoro's hand around his cup suddenly tightened, and his gaze became incomparably sharp.

"The heading is... north-northeast!" Johnny pointed in a direction and shouted.

"Oh—!!"

Everyone cheered together, for the food and for the adventure that awaited them.

Victor sat to one side, watching the lively scene, and could not help laughing as well.

The sea restaurant Baratie...

He began calculating the events to come.

Yet his hand unconsciously picked up bread from the table and kept stuffing piece after piece into Clay's open beak beside him.

His thoughts drifted far away, but his hand never stopped moving.

Clay's eyes widened, his mouth stuffed completely full. He did not even have time to chew.

But he did not dare refuse the Boss's "affectionate" feeding. He could only stretch out his neck desperately and try to swallow.

At last, he reached his limit.

"Wuwuwu... B-Boss..."

Clay let out a choking wail, rolled his eyes, and collapsed onto the table, twitching.

Victor finally came back to his senses. Looking at Clay, who was nearly choking to death, he frowned and said disdainfully:

"Are you an idiot? Why did you eat so much?"

Clay swallowed the bread with difficulty and looked at Victor with tears in his eyes.

It was clearly... you who force-fed me, Boss!

I can't live like this anymore!