This classic case of "words saying no, heart saying yes" made everyone laugh.
"He doesn't seem very good at hiding his emotions," Robin remarked elegantly, covering her mouth with a hand, amusement in her eyes.
On the other side, Zoro finally managed to shake off the "pendant" from his finger. He picked up a bottle of alcohol and had just taken a sip when Nika wobbled over to him, her crimson eyes fixed intently on the bottle in his hand.
Zoro raised an eyebrow and experimentally tossed another unopened bottle over.
Nika caught it deftly, her eyes instantly lighting up. She eagerly bit off the cork and guzzled several large mouthfuls, a satisfied flush appearing on her face.
She let out a boozy hiccup and, with a drunken, haughty tone, declared to Zoro, "Not bad, green-haired guy! Ni... Ni hereby designates you as the number two most trustworthy fighter under Straw Hat's command!"
Zoro's eye twitched slightly. He couldn't be bothered to deal with this drunken tanuki and just kept drinking.
After the lively commotion settled, Luffy pushed down his straw hat and began introductions for the still-unfamiliar Chopper.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of this ship. The man who's going to be the Pirate King."
It wasn't just going to be anymore, but absolutely must be.
Otherwise, this damned Plan hanging over his head was like a Sword of Damocles.
"Roronoa Zoro, combatant. This ship's swordsman."
"Nami, navigator. In charge of guiding our course and managing the ship's finances!"
"I am the great sniper, the brave warrior of the sea, Usopp!"
"Sanji. This ship's cook."
Just then, Merry floated over to Luffy's shoulder, tugging on his hat, signaling for him to introduce her.
"This is Merry. The ship's spirit of our ship. For now, she can also act as our shipwright. She's very capable."
"I... I can fight too," Merry added. "I can use a hammer."
"Sh-ship spirit?!" Chopper was utterly stunned. His small deer-like eyes widened into perfect circles as he looked at the little girl, cute as a doll, then down at the ship beneath his feet. His worldview was taking a hit.
What's a ship spirit?
It took an explanation from Luffy for Chopper to understand.
Luffy really wasn't lying to me. Chopper muttered to himself, "This ship really does have too many strange things. Me being here isn't strange at all."
Chopper suddenly felt a sense of relief, like he had found his tribe.
That left Vivi and Robin. Robin's position was somewhat subtle . As for Vivi... her role on the ship seemed a bit hard to define.
"Nico Robin. For now, you could consider me a prisoner of Captain Luffy's," Robin said, no longer hiding her name.
Luffy somehow knew her real name, while the others on the ship seemed to have no concept of the name 'Nico Robin.'
If certain dark underground organizations found out, the news would probably spread throughout the Grand Line in no time.
"Nefertari Vivi, from Alabasta..." Vivi hesitated for a moment.
Luffy stepped forward to help. "Robin is a very skilled archaeologist. Vivi is a princess... they're both sort of like my teachers?"
In a way, that was true.
Anyway, everyone on the ship was nakama. That's what Luffy believed. He even pointed at Carue in the corner, who was busy denying to Sanji that it was emergency rations.
The sun had half-risen. The morning sun added warm tones to the vast whiteness of the winter scene.
From the direction of Drum Island, snowflakes began to quietly fall again. Soon, dancing white once more blanketed the Winter Island.
And it was at this moment, a tremendous boom drew everyone's attention—a roar that seemed to come from the heart of the island itself!
BOOM!!!
Everyone stopped what they were doing, staring in shock toward Drum Island.
At the peak of the central towering cylindrical mountain, a massive pink cloud of smoke violently erupted! Like the most splendid firework, it rapidly expanded. In an instant, it dyed all the falling white snowflakes in the surrounding sky a dreamlike pink!
With the majestic mountain as its trunk, countless pink petals bloomed and danced in the air, forming a massive cherry blossom tree in full bloom, standing between heaven and earth!
The newborn sunlight slanted down, piercing through this fluttering, serene pink and the lingering pure white, weaving together light and shadow, as romantic as a fairy tale.
"Doctorine!"
Chopper stood up on his hind legs, his front hooves on the ship's railing, looking up blankly at the stunning rain of cherry blossoms blooming in the harsh winter island. His blue nose twitched, and his large eyes quickly welled up with tears.
He recognized it. This was Dr. Hiriluk's life's work! The miraculous cherry blossoms symbolize his undying Jolly Roger spirit!
This was Doctorine's farewell gift to him, sent in this way.
The second day after leaving Drum Island.
The weather quickly cleared.
The ship became even livelier. The most obvious troublemakers were now the "Emergency Rations Brigade."
Carue, Chopper, and Nika.
Unknowingly, they already had three "pets."
Merry was also constantly worried about sleeping space. Before, the girls' room only had Nami, but now Vivi and Robin were there too.
Even if Nami didn't mind, Luffy couldn't sleep in the girls' quarters, right? Taking a hundred steps back, even if Vivi and Robin didn't mind either, it still wouldn't do... It would set a bad example!
As it turned out, Luffy perfectly solved this problem.
Because he simply didn't sleep!
Or rather, he didn't sleep for long.
[Warning, it is time to wake up...]
When Luffy opened his eyes, the familiar characters were already before him.
[Through diligent practice, your Stamina level has increased to Lv.2]
[Your passive talent (Fast Recovery) has evolved into Life Return]
"Finally..." The Stamina skill had appeared alongside Nika's emergence.
The amount of stamina Luffy consumed in a single day was astronomical, not to mention most of the time, he wasn't at rest even in his dreams.
His Stamina had shot right up to Lv.2.
"Digestion speed seems faster... attacks can change more freely..."
Warning sounds kept coming. Luffy did a kip-up and got to his feet.
Suddenly, a flash of white flaming cloud passed over his hand. He paused, having just felt like his hand could transform into anything.
Was this Devil Fruit awakening?
Luffy thought to himself, really wanting to go into the girls' quarters and drag that tanuki Nika out to ask.
But there were three girls in there after all.
And so, he began the new day's training.
After the Stamina upgrade, Luffy felt he had more endurance. His control over his body reached a deeper level; he was acutely sensitive to every minor change.
This continued until the sun rose.
Luffy closed his eyes, lying down drenched in sweat to rest for a moment. He felt someone stop in front of him.
He opened his eyes to see a head of vivid blue hair.
Vivi, her long hair tied in a ponytail, was leaning over Luffy. Seeing his eyes open, she reached out and poked his cheek.
***
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