Excluding Zoro, the rest of the crew, following Vivi's words, had entered the room where Nami was lying in bed.
Nami's face was flushed, cold sweat beading on her brow as she lay in bed with her eyes closed, and beside the bed, Hancock knelt on the floor, lifting Nami's top up to just below her chest.
And what Luffy, holding a book in one hand, looked at was the red blotches marbling her skin, revealed by Hancock lifting up her clothes.
"According to the book by Mr. Crocus, these marks are caused by bites from a flea called Kestia."
"It's said to be a rare species that parasitizes insects living in hot, humid environments, so if the book's right, she must've been bitten back on Little Garden."
"Was the bug repellent I made and sprayed not effective?"
"Seems the effect wore off sooner than expected, Usopp. I should've sprayed it at intervals instead of all in one go."
"According to the book, someone infected with this disease experiences a high fever for five days, with their body temperature never dropping below 40 degrees Celsius."
"Given that we arrived at Elbaf this morning, this has to be day one."
"Five days? So if she can somehow hang on for five days...?"
"No, Sanji, it says that once five days pass, the infected person...will inevitably die."
"An antidote! Is there no mention of a cure in the book?!"
"There is, Hancock...but right now the ship doesn't have the ingredients needed for the cure the book mentions."
So that's why I asked Usopp for the bug repellent.
But even after doing that, this happened.
"Vivi, how long will it take to reach Alabasta from here?"
"It'll take at least a week, Usopp."
"But even if we somehow manage to arrive by the fifth day and get the cure, it won't matter if Nami can't hang on until then."
"Ordinary people like Nami and me can't withstand a fever over 40 degrees; she might not make it even a day or two, let alone five..."
"Then we can't go straight to Alabasta!"
"Right, Hancock, so if we stop at an island along the way, we could—"
"That's not possible."
"Nami...!"
As Vivi was responding to Hancock, Nami struggled to sit up and spoke.
"Hancock, there's a newspaper in the drawer right under the desk next to you. Pass it to Vivi."
Hancock took the newspaper from the drawer and handed it to Vivi.
And as Vivi read the newspaper, her face filled with shock.
"What does it say, Vivi?"
"It says that 30,000 soldiers of the Alabasta Kingdom Army...have defected and joined the rebel forces."
"Originally, the Kingdom Army's 60,000 troops were barely holding back the 40,000-strong rebel force in small-scale engagements."
"But with the troop numbers reversed like this, the rebels could launch a full-scale war."
"If we don't get to Alabasta quickly and reveal the truth, the whole country will become a war zone, and a million people will suffer."
"And Crocodile will trample over the corpses of the war's victims and seize the Alabasta Kingdom."
"That, above all...we must prevent at any cost."
As the crew tensed at the gravity of a war threatening a million lives, Nami spoke up.
"Sorry, Vivi, I got that newspaper from News Coo before we arrived at Little Garden yesterday."
"Telling you wouldn't change the ship's speed...so I hid it because I didn't want to worry you."
"Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that even if we reach the next island, we shouldn't waste time because of me—we need to get to Alabasta as fast as possible."
"I'll hang in there somehow..."
"Let's first see how things go once we reach the next island, and then decide what to do."
"Luffy, I...!"
"We haven't decided exactly what we'll do after reaching the island, so just accept it."
"I'm ordering you as your captain."
...
Hearing Luffy's words, Nami propped herself up on her elbows, lifted her head, and looked up at him.
Luffy didn't look away either, and the two glared at each other in silence.
Meanwhile, Sanji turned and left the room, with Usopp trailing behind, and Hancock took Vivi's wrist—Vivi still staring blankly—and followed them out.
As soon as the door closed, Luffy sat down on the floor and leveled his gaze with hers below.
"You haven't changed at all, back then or now."
"When you think you can just sacrifice yourself and everything will turn out fine, you never hesitate."
"I hesitated a lot inside too before making my decision."
"I wish I hadn't."
"So...do you hate me?"
"No, I don't hate you."
The tension in their mutual glare subsided, and Luffy continued with a slightly sad look on his face.
"But today...you seem a bit annoying."
Hearing that, Nami recalled how, before entering this room, her face had flushed as she met Hancock's affectionate gaze toward Luffy.
Then, tears brimming in her eyes, she turned toward Luffy and slowly opened her arms.
"Please don't hate me."
"...Okay."
After answering, Luffy stood up from the floor.
Then he bent at the waist and embraced her, wrapping his arms around her outstretched form.
*****
A few hours passed after Luffy left Nami in the room, and before they knew it, the sun had begun to set, casting the sky in the warm hues between day and evening.
"Marimo, you were checking the Permanent Log properly, right?"
"Do you think I'd mess up even something that simple?"
"You're terrible with directions, so I asked just to be safe."
"Getting turned around a few times doesn't make you directionally challenged..."
While the rest of the crew, except Nami, were spread out on the deck, Vivi sat huddled beside the cabin door with Karoo.
Huddled and staring at the darkening sky and sea, she recalled the words Igaram had spoken when they were alone together before leaving Whiskey Peak,
"Right now, the people won't hear Her Majesty's voice."
"There is no way to stop the rebellion except for the princess herself to deliver the truth."
"So no matter what sacrifices you must make...even if it means betraying Luffy and his friends, you must survive."
"Igaram, that..."
"Yes, it will be humiliating and agonizing, but even so, you must go to Alabasta."
"Princess...do you have the resolve not to die?"
Recalling Igaram's words, Vivi stood and spoke.
"Everyone...listen to me!"
As Vivi shouted, all eyes on the deck turned to her, and with Karoo looking up at her by her side, she continued.
"The situation Alabasta faces is too precarious, so just arriving there safely isn't enough anymore."
"Even though I'm just a passenger on this ship, I have a request."
"From now on, push this ship to its maximum speed toward Alabasta!"
The crew's faces grew stern as they grasped the meaning of her words,
"To do that, on the next island we reach, we must find a doctor and medicine to treat Nami as quickly as possible!"
"We have to cure Nami as quickly as possible and then head to Alabasta!"
"Because that will be this ship's 'maximum speed'!"
However, there was a meaning to Vivi's command that was completely different from what they had assumed.
Realizing this, the crew's faces broke into gentle smiles.
Father, Igaram...I am so sorry.
I can't abandon the friends who have helped me, and I won't regret it.
Because that is the path I have resolved to take.
"Yeah! That's the secret to making the Going Merry reach its maximum speed!"
"I've fallen for you twice, Vivi! You really are a bewitching woman~!"
"You're one brave princess."
"As I thought, you're a wolf, Vivi, and a wise one at that, able to see far ahead."
Quwak~!
In a previous life, many readers thought Vivi would become the seventh Straw Hat in the original story.
That's exactly why, and I'm only now realizing it.
As Usopp, Sanji, Zoro, Hancock, and even Karoo spoke one after another, Luffy, watching them with a pleased look, turned his head to the side.
In the direction Luffy looked, atop the twin-sheep figurehead of the Going Merry stood a woman in a white hat and coat.
"I loved the heartfelt atmosphere...but it seems someone's come to spoil it."
In the original, she appeared when we left Whiskey Peak, but now she didn't show up until we left Little Garden.
Nico Robin, Miss All Sunday, the beauty known as the Demon of Ohara.
And in the original, the Straw Hat Pirates' seventh...huh?
Hearing Luffy's words, the crew turned and looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared.
As Zoro and Hancock gripped their swords and Usopp held his gun, Vivi watched in shock as the woman disembarked from the figurehead and landed on the deck.
"Miss...All Sunday!"
"Wait, Vivi! That's the codename Crocodile's partner is said to use?!"
"You despicable villain—you came here alone without fear?!"
"Now we'll catch her and hand her over to Crocodile's...Luffy?"
At Vivi's words, Usopp shouted in surprise, and as Hancock spoke to Luffy, he, wearing a puzzled expression, stared at the woman who had suddenly appeared.
Seeing her face revealed beneath the hat and her purple eyes, Luffy recalled a shadowed face from his childhood memories—the woman he once believed was his first love.
That woman, at sunset back then as now, had looked down at young Luffy with those purple eyes.
And in his memory, the woman's face—once hidden in shadow—began to come into full view.
"Sis?"
"...You remembered me, Luffy."
Smiling at Luffy, the woman bore the exact features of the first love from his memories.