"Twelve-thirty."
Luffy answered between breaths.
"Twelve-thirty?"
Zoro's eyes widened, his pupils practically trembling.
Forget twelve-thirty in the morning.
Had Luffy ever even seen the Going Merry at four in the morning?
Zoro clearly remembered when he'd fallen asleep.
The clock at the stern had only just struck midnight.
Which meant that shortly after Zoro had gone to bed...
Luffy had already gotten back up?!
He'd basically started training in the middle of the night!
Luffy's bizarre full day of training yesterday could still be explained as some sudden whim.
But this was the second day.
There was absolutely something wrong!
Just a few days ago, Nami could barely drag Luffy out of bed.
And now he was drenched in sweat while lifting a barbell that looked absurdly heavy at a glance.
"Are you okay? Did you make another stupid bet with Usopp or something?"
Zoro looked suspicious.
"What kind of stereotype is that?!"
Luffy gave him dead-fish eyes.
"You really are possessed by some kind of demon, aren't you?"
"Have you ever even seen a demon?! Why are you blaming demons?!"
Luffy sounded slightly less confident than usual.
Calling that voice some kind of demon wasn't exactly wrong.
But would they believe him if he told them?
Even if they did believe him, what could they possibly do about it?
Better not to say anything.
"But can you really keep going like this?"
Zoro looked Luffy up and down.
Two obvious dark circles hung beneath his eyes.
His face was pale with a sickly yellow tint.
His body trembled slightly.
He looked like he might collapse and die at any moment.
He looked worse than he did after a major battle.
Zoro was genuinely worried Luffy might suddenly drop dead right in front of him.
Normally, if someone asked Luffy such an insulting question, he'd definitely straighten his neck, stick his lips out far enough to hang an oil bottle from them, and say—
"I'm a rubber man! You're the one who can't handle it, Zoro."
Whether he had any reason to sound confident or not, his voice definitely would.
But now...
"Just let me sleep for a bit," Luffy said.
"You should've been sleeping in the first place."
Zoro was speechless.
Then he watched Luffy close his eyes.
A second later, he started snoring.
He really fell asleep that fast?!
Zoro had just reached out to take the barbell from Luffy's hands when the supposedly sleeping Luffy instantly resurrected on the spot, overflowing with energy.
"All right! Fully recovered!"
"...Are you really a rubber man?"
Luffy immediately demonstrated his elasticity as proof.
His arm stretched ridiculously far.
With particular pride, he said,
"I can stretch anywhere. Wanna see?"
"No, no, I'm good."
Zoro had absolutely no interest in someone blessed with that kind of natural talent.
"Ahahaha! Don't look so depressed! You'll never be able to compare to me, but that's because I'm the captain!"
Luffy laughed mischievously and repeatedly slapped Zoro on the shoulder.
This bastard.
"You little..."
Zoro resisted the urge to draw his sword and cut him.
Take one step back?
The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.
"Hey, Luffy. Training like this is boring, isn't it?"
Zoro understood Luffy's personality pretty well.
He had no idea why Luffy had suddenly started training even harder than him.
But one glance at Luffy's face said everything.
Every inch of it screamed torture.
"You've got a better idea?"
Luffy's eyes immediately lit up.
"How about we train by hitting each other?"
Zoro grinned.
"Hm? I punch you once, then you punch me once?"
"No. You punch me once, and I punch you ten times," Zoro said.
"Zoro, do you think I'm an idiot? Do I look like an idiot to you?"
Luffy immediately complained.
Even if he was a rubber man, that didn't mean he could let Zoro beat him like that.
Zoro's punches hurt!
【Notice. Companion Zoro's proposal has been evaluated as providing substantial training benefits. Insufficient morning training time remains. Proceed to the next stage by accepting Zoro's invitation. Countdown: three minutes.】
The countdown buzzed inside Luffy's head like a death warrant.
"Zoro, let's do it!"
Luffy felt incredibly fortunate that he was a rubber man.
Otherwise, that pendant would've gotten him killed already.
Even he knew agreeing to this was incredibly stupid!
"You sure?"
Zoro suspiciously looked Luffy up and down.
He'd only been teasing him earlier.
Zoro had plenty of confidence in his fists.
"Fine. I won't take advantage of you. If you can last until morning, I'll handle your chores for an entire month!"
Chores in the men's quarters were the most troublesome thing imaginable.
Before Nami came aboard, Luffy and Zoro had drifted around in their little boat without even wanting to take baths.
But after Nami joined them, she'd become extremely strict about hygiene.
Even Luffy didn't want Nami staring at him with that look she gave garbage.
It's not like that would excite him!