Luffy had experimented.
From the start of the punishment to the "critical moment," there was a short window.
Using his rubber body's characteristics, he could hold on for about ten seconds.
During that time, his mind would go blank, his breathing would become rapid, starting from a feeling of comfort and ending in pain. If he continued to resist, it would be like a cannon misfiring and blowing up in his face.
Luffy had to hurry. If the arrow was already on the bowstring and had to be released, it would be disastrous!
"Medical knowledge? Just for this?!"
Nami looked at Luffy, who seemed like he was being chased down by loan sharks, feeling both angry and amused. Her initial shock and anger were somewhat diluted by this absurd request.
But the more she thought about it.
The angrier she got.
"I'm a navigator! A navigator!! Not a ship's doctor!!"
Nami's chest heaved with rage. Her thin camisole nightgown outlined a graceful curve, rising and falling with her breath like ocean waves stirred by the wind.
Had she become Luffy's private tutor now?
Pay the tutoring fee first!
"Please, Nami!"
Luffy's entire body was tense.
The countdown alarm in his mind grew sharper, making his face turn another shade paler.
Nami's heart softened again. She sighed helplessly and held her forehead.
But Luffy wasn't wrong to come to her.
She did have some medical knowledge stored away to deal with sudden illnesses or injuries at sea; otherwise, she would have died on some deserted island long ago during her solo voyages.
And besides her, who else on the ship was even remotely reliable?
"I give up with you!"
She sighed, resigned to her fate, and rummaged deep inside her bedside drawer.
She pulled out a thick, well-thumbed book with a yellowed cover and tossed it to Luffy with a thud.
"Here, take it! The Practical Medical Handbook for Mariners (East Blue Edition)! It covers the most common maritime diseases and basic treatments. Memorize it yourself and don't bother me!"
Luffy felt as if he'd been granted a pardon!
This heavy book was no different from the treasure of the Pirate King in his eyes right now.
He grabbed it and hugged it tightly to his chest. The twisted expression on his face melted away like snow, replaced by immense relief, as if he'd just survived a disaster.
"Nami, I love you!"
Overjoyed, Luffy gave Nami a quick hug, then eagerly rushed to the only chair at Nami's desk. He slammed the book open with a smack and buried his head in it, muttering the obscure drug names and symptom descriptions under his breath.
Nami stared blankly at her hand, then at Luffy, then back at her hand. What had she just touched?
Crisis averted.
Luffy instantly switched into forced focus mode.
Did he understand what was written?
The answer was no.
But that didn't stop him from chewing on the words and cramming them into his brain.
His mind, once empty, was now suddenly stuffed full of information.
[Through diligent study, your Medical Knowledge has improved. Experience +3.]
Experience?
Luffy suddenly felt he could understand these knowledge points a little better.
Read more, study more, practice more!
Could this make him the Pirate King?
The Pirate King should be the freest person on the sea.
Luffy fell into self-doubt.
[Warning. (During Medical Knowledge study)...]
Luffy inwardly wailed.
You win.
Could it be that the Pirate King isn't what I imagined?
Without strength, there is no freedom. So, if you don't grind, how can you become the Pirate King?!
The room fell quiet for a while, filled only with the sound of Luffy seriously turning pages and the soft scratching of his pen on paper.
Coming back to her senses, Nami sat on the edge of her bed, gazing absently at the back of the figure sitting at her desk.
The monkey who was usually bouncing off the walls was now so engrossed in studying at the desk?
The contrast was stronger than encountering a magnetic anomaly while charting a course.
Just then, Nami felt one of her shoulder straps loosen slightly.
She looked down.
Oh no!
The sudden movement of sitting up and throwing the book had caused one of the thin straps of her already loose camisole to slip down her smooth shoulder.
A glimpse of pale skin was instantly exposed at her chest!
"Ah!"
Nami gasped softly. Her cheeks instantly burned as if on fire, red enough to drip blood. She hurriedly used her hand to tightly cover the side of her chest where the strap had fallen, shooting a look of mingled shame and anger at the culprit at the desk.
Yet Luffy remained in his immovable posture, his head almost buried in the thick medical handbook, completely oblivious to the alluring scene beside him.
His reaction, however, made Nami pause.
A faint sense of disappointment, which she herself didn't notice, subtly flitted through her heart.He really didn't look at all?
Was her charm really less appealing than the diagrams of fleas and parasites in that book?!
This damned, infuriating, clueless rubber bastard!
"Hmph!" Nami snorted heavily, almost petulantly.
"Nami!" Luffy suddenly called out.
"What is it?" Nami's face lit up with sudden hope.
"You can draw nautical charts, so can you draw diagrams of the human body?"
The idea in Luffy's mind was becoming clearer and clearer. Reading this stuff was actually useful!
"No!" Nami clenched her fists, resisting the urge to hit him.
She quickly pulled the slipped strap back into place.
"Hey! Idiot! I need to change clothes now! You absolutely, positively are NOT allowed to turn around, got it?!" Nami said.
"Oh." Luffy didn't even look up.
Right now, even if the most beautiful woman in the world stood before him in a seductive uniform or fresh out of the water, all he would do is push her aside and keep reading.
Nothing could stop him!
Watching Luffy's bookworm demeanor, the nameless fire in Nami's heart, mixed with a subtle sense of frustration, flared up again! This guy really didn't see her as a woman at all.
She bit her lower lip, ultimately settling for directing another small, resentful huff from her nose at Luffy's back.
[Through diligent study, your Medical Knowledge has improved. Experience +3.]
[Through...]
Medical knowledge included many things: biology, human anatomy, internal and external medicine...
Cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, hematological, and so on.
Luffy began to ponder.
A concept Garp often drilled into him was that Devil Fruits weren't worth eating, and only the body's own strength was true strength.
That's why Luffy had such a solid foundation, able to withstand sleeping only one hour a day.
An ordinary person's body, through continuous tempering, could reach a level like Garp's.
So what would it be like to break through the limits of an ordinary person?
Luffy remembered the Marine he'd sent flying with Gear Third not long ago, the one who'd shouted "Tekkai!"—it was some Marine technique, turning the body into iron.
"When the human body is excited, it can unleash two hundred percent of its power. Stimulating blood flow to strengthen the body's intensity, entering a different state through this method, different from the normal form... Let's call it Gear Second?"
Luffy burst out laughing. "Hahaha! I did it, I did it!"