That afternoon, Ray, Zoro, and Robin reunited with Luffy and the others.
Nami stared at the mountain of gold before her—nearly two tons of glittering, beautiful metal—and descended into a frenzy.
"We're rich! We're rich! I'm going to be a wealthy lady, hahaha~" she sang, dancing around the loot.
"Robin, want to join me in keeping a pretty boy on the side?"
With those words, the whole crew knew exactly what Nami was up to next.
Sure enough, Nami waved a hand, produced a gold ring she'd snagged from the pile, and tossed it casually toward Ray.
"Pretty boy~, this is for you. If you perform well in the future… I… Ouch!"
Before Nami could finish her proposition, she suddenly tripped over nothing, face-planting directly into the massive gold cube Zoro had carried down.
THUD.
A large, fresh lump slowly swelled on her forehead.
Scrambling to her feet, Nami was furious!
As for who the culprit was, her roar made it perfectly clear.
"CHOUCHOU! How dare you bump into me?! Do you still want dog food in the future?! I'll electrocute you, you little rascal!"
Thus, the little dog ran for his life while the little thief cat chased after him, her Clima-Tact sparking with menace.
Ray, Luffy, and the others simply watched silently, completely ignoring Chouchou's pitiful howls for mercy.
After a while, Chouchou lay at Ray's feet, thoroughly electrocuted—crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.
He rolled his eyes back, giving Ray a pitiful look that clearly asked, 'Will I still get dog food in the future?'
Ray patted Chouchou's smoking head. "It's fine. Nami won't withhold your dog food."
(As for what Chouchou's dog food was, it was naturally a premium product made by Sanji, mixing various high-quality meats and grains, then air-dried. At least this way, Luffy wouldn't steal Chouchou's food unless there was a literal famine.)
At this moment, Nami was still staring angrily at Ray with her hands on her hips.
"Don't think I don't know you were the one who directed Chouchou just now!"
Ray snorted coldly. "It's already good enough that I didn't hit you personally."
Nami stuck out her tongue.
She wasn't afraid anyway, since Ray had never actually hit her.
But when she heard Ray's next words, her confidence evaporated.
"After we return to the Going Merry... I'll give you several extra private lessons."
Nami's face paled.
She immediately put on a pitiful expression, cupping her chin with both hands with tears welling in her big eyes.
"Don't do that! You can't just give me special treatment! Be fair!"
But Ray paid no attention to her, slowly walking toward the direction of the Going Merry.
Watching his retreating back made Nami's legs go weak, feeling hopeless about her immediate future.
Suddenly, Ray stopped and looked back at Luffy, Usopp, and the others.
"Before we leave, you'd better buy some Sky Island specialties. They should be useful for you."
Hearing this, the crew immediately scattered.
Luffy immediately shouted that he wanted to buy Sky Meat.
Usopp headed straight for the Dials market, drooling over Slash Dials, Impact Dials, and Breath Dials.
Chopper planned to buy some local medical texts.
Nami dragged Robin off to buy skincare products, loudly claiming that since Sky Islanders all had fair skin despite the sun, their products must be top-tier.
Chouchou had Sanji take him to buy some giant sky-fish bones.
The remaining two who had few material desires, Zoro and Ray, returned to the Going Merry together.
...
After the two returned to the ship, finding it empty and quiet, Ray spoke softly into the air.
"Come out. Don't be afraid."
Zoro immediately entered combat mode.
His hand flew to his sword hilt as he expanded his Observation Haki.
But he detected... nothing.
No one is here besides them.
He frowned, running to check the cabins, the galley, even the crow's nest.
Still nothing.
He returned to the deck, confirming his senses weren't wrong.
Finally, Zoro pressed the confirm button in his heart.
'Ray's mind's really has problems. He's having hallucinations now.'
He even conducted logical reasoning in his mind.
'After Ray went to the Demon Realm and shared memories with Sesshomaru, his brain must have been affected. Having hallucinations is perfectly reasonable. Chopper said hallucinations are symptoms of mental illness. If left untreated... it will become a dementia.'
'Sigh. How pitiful. He's so young and already mentally ill.'
Subsequently, Zoro looked at Ray with deep sympathy in his eyes.
Ray was still wondering why Merry hadn't come out yet.
In theory, after absorbing his Demonic Power for so long, the Klabautermann should be able to take human form during the day.
So he spoke again. "Come out. I have something to discuss with you."
But when Ray noticed Zoro's expression and his confusion deepened.
"Zoro, what's with the look in your eyes? Did you see him?"
Zoro sighed heavily and walked over to Ray, patting him on the shoulder.
"Even if your mind becomes unclear in the future and you can't recognize the way back to the ship, it's fine. I'll help you."
Ray furrowed his brows.
'What did he said? You'll guide me? The man who gets lost on a straight road? Why is he saying such an absurd words like that with such confidence?'
Then, Zoro spoke again, his voice even turn gentle now.
"Ray, I've confirmed there's no one else on the ship. You're talking to yourself—you must be hallucinating. I'll have Chopper examine your brain later. Mental illness must be treated, otherwise you'll really become as stupid as Luffy."
Hearing this, Ray immediately understood.
In that instant, he felt killing intent toward two individuals.
One was Zoro, who called him mentally ill.
The other was naturally Merry, who caused him to be slandered by Zoro.
Ray released his demonic energy, emitting threads of terrifying killing intent.
"Merry! If you don't come out now, I'll kill Zoro!"
The threat was effective.
Just as Zoro swallowed and prepared to draw his sword to face what he thought was an 'out-of-control mental patient,' a shimmer appeared in the air behind Ray.
A boy materialized.
He looked about twelve years old.
He held a medical book under one arm, wore a small black suit that looked suspiciously like Sanji's, had a straw hat with some green hair peeking out from underneath, and wore a white fluffy scarf around his neck.
On his back was a green slingshot.
At first glance... 'What kind of outfit is this?'
He seemed to incorporate elements from every man on the ship.
A cute young fellow, though he looked rather incongruous.
Ray seemed to understand why he hadn't come out despite being called for so long.
Merry scratched his head, looking sheepish. "I was just dressing myself up. I can't come out to meet you naked, can I?"
Ray was speechless.
Zoro stood by with his mouth agape, his sword half-drawn.
"Ray... you called him... Merry?"
"Yes. He's the ship spirit of the Going Merry—a Klabautermann. The main reason I made him manifest was to discuss something with him."
Ray turned to look at the swordsman. "Zoro, you need to hear this too."
Seeing Ray's serious expression, Zoro knew this was no small matter.
Moreover, Ray hadn't involved anyone else—was he trying to avoid certain hot-blooded idiots who might react emotionally?
Thinking this, Zoro switched to serious mode, leaning against the ship's railing to listen to their story.
...
Some Time Later.
Zoro sighed with a heavy weight in his chest.
He turned to ask the young boy beside him. "Merry... what do you think?"
Though somewhat reluctant, Merry nodded in agreement with Ray's words.
His small face was solemn.
He knew his own limits—Absorbing Ray demonic power could strengthen his spirit, but it couldn't change the wood of the keel.
It couldn't fix the unfixable.
Seeing Merry's reaction, Zoro immediately agreed to the proposal.
It was harsh, but necessary.
"Ray, when should we tell Luffy?"
Ray responded calmly, looking out at the White-White Sea.
"In a while. Not yet."