Going Merry, Nami's room.
Aside from Zoro, who was keeping watch over the course, five people and one duck were all gathered around Nami's side.
At this moment, Nami had shed her usual lively and playful demeanor. She lay on the sickbed with her eyes tightly shut, her face twisted in pain, her cheeks flushed with a sickly red.
"How is she, Sherlock?!" Sanji stared at the orange-haired girl writhing in agony, on the verge of tears from worry. He asked frantically, "Is Nami-san going to be okay?!"
"Fever of 42 degrees… and even after taking fast-acting antipyretics, there's been no improvement at all." Sherlock looked gravely at the thermometer and murmured, "She's already been tormented by the illness to the point of delirium."
"Why is this happening? She was perfectly fine just a moment ago." Vivi spoke while wearing a worried expression, removing the damp towel from Nami's forehead, rinsing it, wringing it out, and carefully placing it back on her.
With a sigh, Sherlock put away the thermometer and addressed the group: "When you fall ill at sea, there are only a few possible causes."
"Climate changes—if it were due to weather shifts, Nami's condition wouldn't be this severe. Ruled out."
"Diet and hygiene—we have the best cook around, and Sanji especially puts extra care into the ladies' meals, so it's absolutely impossible. Ruled out."
"As for the last possibility… it's an infectious disease…" As Sherlock spoke, he pulled Nami's arm out from under the blanket and pointed at it.
Vivi and the others looked closely and spotted a purplish-red circular mark on Nami's arm, starkly visible against her creamy, porcelain-like skin.
"She was probably bitten by some kind of insect or something in the jungle of Little Garden." Sherlock pushed up his glasses and said somberly, "This is the worst-case scenario. She needs treatment from a professional doctor."
Luffy stared with wide eyes, then said in confusion, "Being sick… is it really that bad?"
"No idea. I've never been sick," Sanji and Usopp chorused in unison.
(As expected, idiots never get sick, huh?) Vivi and Sherlock both felt a vein pop on their foreheads.
"Ugh…" Watching Nami's pained expression, the dimwit captain suddenly had a wild idea: "Hey, Sanji, let's feed Nami some meat! Maybe if she eats meat and gets happy, she'll get better!"
"You moron, you think everyone's a glutton like you?" Usopp rolled his eyes. "Besides, in her current state, she couldn't eat a thing."
Meat? Glutton?
Sherlock stroked his chin, lost in thought for a moment. Then, an idea struck him. From his Mirror Space, he hauled out two massive chests of treasure and dumped the whole pile—gold coins, jewels, diamonds, and more—all around Nami. The mountain of gems nearly buried her completely.
In an instant, the somewhat shabby room transformed into a glittering cavern of wealth. Even the air was thick with the thrilling scent of money.
The smell of cash!
Luffy and the others were dumbfounded by Sherlock's bizarre actions. Was this sorcerer about to perform some evil ritual to save Nami?
"Mr. Glasses, what are you…?" Vivi was the first to snap out of it. She asked Sherlock in utter confusion, but he simply pointed at Nami's face without answering.
At that moment, Nami looked like a sick princess fallen into a dragon's hoard. Under the glow of the treasures, her pained expression gradually softened, and she even broke into a blissfully happy smile. She seemed utterly content and at ease, as if lost in a beautiful dream.
(Is she really sick and out of her mind?)
Gazing at Nami's joyful smile amid the pile of treasures, the four people and one duck exchanged glances, at a loss for words.
"After all, she is an incredibly greedy navigator." Sherlock pushed up his glasses and smiled faintly at the group. "This should at least let her get a good night's sleep."
To let Nami rest properly, the crew left the cabin and gathered on the deck.
Sherlock checked the Log Pose, confirmed their heading, then called Luffy and the others over. They all sensed an inexplicable tension from his unusually serious expression.
"Let me explain the current situation." With that, Sherlock handed Princess Vivi a newspaper. She took it and scanned it carefully—her face immediately darkened.
"The Alabasta royal army has mutinied; 300,000 soldiers have defected to the rebel forces." Sherlock pushed up his glasses and said calmly, "The royal army is in dire straits. A war involving a million people is on the verge of breaking out—and this is a newspaper from three days ago. Nami must have hidden it because she didn't want you to worry."
With every word Sherlock spoke, Vivi's body trembled, revealing just how anxious she felt.
"That's a lot! A whole million people!" Luffy exclaimed.
Sanji glanced at the blue-haired girl's slightly shaking hands clutching the newspaper. "That's a heavy burden you're carrying, Miss Vivi."
"Yeah, yeah," Usopp nodded. "We've gotta hurry back to Alabasta."
"But what about Nami?" Zoro asked, hoisting a massive barbell. "Isn't her illness really serious?"
"Well… Alabasta should have doctors, right?"
"That'll be too late!" Sherlock said gravely to the group in a low voice. "If her fever doesn't break, she'll probably lose her life long before we reach Alabasta."
!!!
The ship's bunch of goofballs exploded at the news.
"What?!"
"My poor Nami-san! You can't die!"
"We've gotta find a doctor—I have to save Nami!"
Ignoring the three clowns, Sherlock turned to Vivi and said gently, "This is the dilemma we face. Right now, we have two choices."
"1. Head to Alabasta at top speed. With Nami down, I can act as navigator. I'm not as skilled as her, but getting this little ship to Alabasta would be enough. The problem is, Nami might very well…"
"2. Go to the nearest island to find a doctor and save Nami, but that could waste a lot of time."
"We promised we'd get you back to Alabasta, and we will keep that promise!"
"Nami and I have both experienced the feeling of shouldering a heavy burden alone, so I believe she would respect whatever choice you make."
"Now, we want to hear your thoughts, Vivi." Sherlock paused, pushed up his glasses, and said, "Tell us your answer!"
Luffy, Sanji, and the others stopped their wailing and turned to the blue-haired girl, waiting silently for Vivi's response.
Vivi lowered her head to look at the newspaper in her hands. Then she raised it, her gaze sweeping over Luffy, Sanji, Usopp, Zoro, and finally settling on Sherlock's face. His dark eyes were as calm and profound as ever.
Watching Vivi's expression flicker with uncertainty, Sherlock sighed inwardly. For a sixteen-year-old girl in the flower of her youth, this choice between one person and a million was far too cruel.
"You've already let me aboard your ship—I don't have the face to make selfish demands." Princess Vivi bit her lip. "But my country is on the brink of collapse, so…"
"This ship must head to Alabasta at full speed!" Vivi declared, her gaze resolute.
Silence…
No one responded. They all just stared at Princess Vivi. Even Sanji, usually the biggest flirt, wore an expression that could only be called "disappointment."
(Yeah, it is a million people, after all. She's a worthy princess. I was being naive.)
Sherlock exhaled heavily, about to say something, but Vivi's next words cut him off.
"So let's go find an island with a doctor right away." Princess Vivi abruptly changed tack. "Only after curing Nami's illness and then setting out for Alabasta—that's the fastest speed this ship can manage!"
"And…" The blue-haired girl winked playfully at Sherlock and smiled. "How could a half-baked navigator like you ever compare to Nami, Mr. Glasses?"
Vivi's words worked like a spell, instantly reigniting the Straw Hat crew's energy.
At the same time, those very words made Luffy and the others fully accept Vivi as one of their own.
"That's right—there's no faster way than that!" Luffy pressed down on his straw hat.
"What resolve!" Zoro set down the barbell and grinned.
"Well said, Vivi!" Sanji lit a cigarette. "How could Sherlock's navigation possibly compare to our youthful, beautiful Nami-san!"
"Hey, Sanji, being youthful and beautiful has nothing to do with navigation skills," Usopp retorted.
"Huh? Then it's her sexy charm!"
Sherlock looked at Vivi in slight surprise, and she responded with a radiant smile.
"You're being awfully harsh, Vivi."
Gazing at the blue-haired girl's enchanting smile, Sherlock pushed up his glasses and feigned dejection. "I was pretty confident in my navigation skills, you know…"
A particularly tranquil night.
Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and Nami slowly opened her eyes.
The orange-haired girl felt as if she'd had a very strange dream. In it, she'd discovered a treasure vault overflowing with riches. She'd pounced on it in excitement, reveling in the sensation of being surrounded by countless treasures, frolicking in an ocean of gold coins, jewels, and diamonds.
For a money-grubber like her, it was pure bliss.
"Too bad it was just a dream. All that treasure was fake. Ugh, my head's spinning—am I sick?"
Nami struggled to sit up, removed the damp towel from her forehead, and wiped the sweat from her face. She looked around the room in a daze.
Under the pure moonlight streaming in, she could vaguely make out the scene inside.
Zoro, Sanji, Luffy, Usopp, and Carue the duck were all sprawled out on the floor of her room in ridiculous sleeping positions, their snores rising and falling in waves. Vivi was slumped over the edge of her bed, sleeping especially soundly.
As for the area around her bed… it was buried under a mountain of dazzling jewels.
Staring blankly at the treasures encircling her, Nami's mind went blank for a moment. Then she pressed a hand to her forehead and muttered, "I must be really sick—I'm hallucinating…"
But this hallucination was way too realistic!
Nami laboriously reached out and picked up a night pearl. The egg-sized gem glowed with a hazy light in the dark room, illuminating the navigator's face as it shifted from shock to wild ecstasy.
It's not a dream! It's not a hallucination! It's not a dream! It's not a hallucination! …
Her heart pounded wildly. Nami snapped awake in an instant—her previously hazy eyes now sharp and bright. It felt like most of her illness had vanished.
It's all real!
"You're awake, Nami~" Sherlock walked in from the cabin, carrying a steaming bowl of vegetable porridge.
"Sherlock?" Nami looked at the newcomer and asked urgently, "These…"
"Oh, you mean Luffy and the others? They were worried about your condition and insisted on staying here to watch over you. But they all fell asleep anyway. They're really…"
"No, no, no!" Nami shook her head. "I mean these treasures!"
"Treasures?" Sherlock stared at Nami's eyes gleaming with the original sin of greed, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his forehead. He thought to himself:
(This woman's money obsession has broken through the stratosphere. I'm starting to suspect that if I told her all these treasures were hers, she'd be cured on the spot!)
--
Support me & read more advance & fast update chapter on my pa-treon:
pat reon .c-om/windkaze