They were enjoying a feast over there, but Vir’s side wasn’t lacking either.
Jozu had set up quite a spread for him.
Roast suckling pig, whole roasted lamb.
Beer, liquor, and even some cocktails.
They were having a great time.
However, Vir still had things to take care of, so he didn’t indulge too much.
He only drank a little with Jozu on the first day.
After that, he got busy and didn’t bother with it anymore.
Making those medicines turned out to be extremely time-consuming.
For the meals after that, Vir just had Jozu and the others leave them outside his door.
If he remembered, he’d eat a little.
If he didn’t, then he just let it be.
After all, he wasn’t some frail scholar.
Going a few days without food wouldn’t kill him.
But his way of doing things nearly brought Jozu to tears.
Jozu looked at the untouched meal from today.
His already emotional expression deepened further!
It had been five days!
Yes, five days.
Vir hadn’t even opened his door.
It was as if he had died in there.
There wasn’t a single sound coming from inside.
But through his Observation Haki, Jozu could sense someone inside, busy at work.
And that realization made Jozu shout internally:
‘He’s really doing this! I’m gonna cry!’
‘Come on, man.’
‘Are you really this dedicated?’
‘We’re not even that close, right?’
‘You’ve never even met our Pops.’
‘At most, you’re only somewhat connected to us through Ace.’
‘And yet, for our Pops, you’re pushing yourself to the limit, neglecting sleep and food!’
‘My dear brother…’
‘I’m really don’t know how to thank you!’
‘When I get back, I’m telling all the guys about this!’
‘They need to cry with me!’
Yes, at this moment, Jozu was truly moved.
He had never seen someone go to such lengths for a stranger.
In his heart, Vir’s image rose to another level.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side…
Luffy and the others new ship was finally completed today.
The Thousand Sunny.
A familiar sight.
A familiar feel.
Only, compared to the original, the Sunny now seemed a little bigger.
Thanks to the gold they found on Skypiea, which was far more than in the original story.
More money naturally meant a bigger ship.
The design was still by Franky.
So aside from the size and a few extra rooms, the Sunny remained largely the same.
Two of the additional rooms were turned into training rooms.
That’s right—this was the super disciplined Straw Hat crew now!
Training rooms were absolutely necessary!
Everyone fully supported this idea.
As for the other extra rooms, they simply left them for Vir.
Once he returned, he could use them however he wanted—surgery room, pharmacy, whatever. Three rooms should be enough.
Robin didn’t pick a room for now.
She was staying with Chopper temporarily.
Once Vir returned and decided which room to use as the surgery room, she’d move into another.
And today was the day they were setting sail.
It took five days to build the ship.
During that time, Franky and Iceburg barely slept.
They had truly poured their hearts into the Sunny.
Now, as Iceburg and his shipwrights watched the Straw Hats sail away—especially Franky, who had joined them—he couldn’t help but feel emotional.
“I think I finally understand what my master meant… Maybe one day, I’ll feel proud that I took part in building this ship.”
“I hope you’ve truly found your path, Franky. I look forward to seeing you live an amazing life…”
Under the bright sunlight, the Thousand Sunny drifted farther and farther away…
Gradually disappearing from sight…
…
…
Back on Jozu’s ship, time continued to fly by…
Vir was still busy.
Time seemed to pass extremely fast for him.
He barely noticed the days slipping away.
Today marked the eighth day since he boarded the ship.
Jozu stood at the door, holding a steaming hot meal.
Looking at the cold, untouched food from the night before, he sighed helplessly.
This couldn’t go on.
If Vir pushed himself too hard, he’d end up ruining his health.
Just as Jozu made up his mind to knock on the door—
It opened from the inside.
Vir, clad in white coat, stood at the entrance, looking at Jozu.
—
Soon, Vir and Jozu were sharing drinks.
But Vir remained mostly silent, focused on eating while Jozu rambled about recent events.
Since Vir hadn’t left his room for days, he naturally had no idea what was happening outside.
Jozu started with Luffy and the others.
By now, they had already dealt with Moria’s arc—and even Bartholomew Kuma had gotten involved.
But since Jozu only had newspaper reports, he wasn’t sure about the details.
The reports didn’t mention any Marines interfering.
After all, that was still a Shichibukai’s territory.
It made sense for the Marines to stay out of it.
The main reason was probably that they knew Vir wasn’t on the ship.
Otherwise, who cared if it was a Shichibukai’s place?
A lazy uncle would have come and kicked everyone at the speed of light.
Well, given Luffy’s current strength, Vir figured Moria wouldn’t stand a chance.
Maybe not a complete stomp, but it shouldn’t be too difficult.
Luffy and the crew no longer relied on sudden power-ups in battle.
Their strength came from daily training and hard work.
And honestly—
This kind of power growth was far more effective than Luffy’s usual last-minute bursts.
At least at this stage.
But if Kuma got involved…
A total wipeout was inevitable.
Even if they fought back, it would only be a struggle before their defeat.
Even if Chopper took ten Rumble Balls, he still wouldn’t be Kuma’s match.
Kuma’s strength was absolutely beyond that of a Marine admiral candidate.
But since Luffy was Dragon’s son, Kuma probably wouldn’t do anything too drastic.
No need to worry about that.
What concerned Vir now was Ace.
By now, Ace had likely already encountered Blackbeard.
With the power boost Vir had given him…
Plus the poison immunity that would render Doc Q useless…
And the hidden strength he had stored in his kidneys…
Ace might actually have a shot at winning.
But if it turned into a group fight?
Hard to say.
Blackbeard wasn’t alone, after all.
Hopefully, Ace could get through this.
Otherwise, things would get messy.
Just as Vir was lost in thought—
Jozu, grinning from ear to ear, pulled out a stack of wanted posters from his coat!
With a loud slap, he placed them on the table.
His eyes had a strange look in them.
His grin was practically impossible to suppress.
Almost reaching the ceiling.
Seeing this, Vir felt uneasy.
A hulking, burly man smiling at him like that?
Who wouldn’t be nervous?
“What are you doing? I sell my skills, not my body!”
Vir said cautiously.
But his words seemed to stab Jozu right in the heart.
“I see you as a brother! And you think I want to sleep with you?!”
His face scrunched up like a heartbroken maiden, finger trembling as if he’d just been betrayed.
The theatrics were almost impressive.
This was the kind of performance Jozu usually only did under peer pressure among his crew.
Yet here he was, doing it naturally.
Vir sighed.
Who knew this rough brute could pull off such theatrics…
Glancing at the papers on the table, Vir finally recognized them as bounty posters.
His interest was immediately piqued.
He even set his meal aside and had someone take it away.
He grabbed the stack of bounty posters and started flipping through them.
“These are your crew’s bounties! Though theirs have already been updated twice—thanks to taking down another Shichibukai.”
Jozu explained to Vir.
Hearing this, Vir, who was examining Luffy’s latest bounty, nodded.
“Straw Hat”, Monkey D. Luffy.
Bounty: 380 million berries.
Higher than before.
In the original timeline, Luffy had only hit 300 million.
That meant he was now the highest-bounty Supernova in the Sabaody Archipelago.
Vir wondered if Kid would pick a fight with Luffy over that.
It wasn’t impossible—that guy was just like that, after all.
Looking further down, the rest of the crew also saw substantial increases in their bounties.
Each of them had gained around 50 million more than expected.
Zoro, who originally had a 100 million bounty, now had a bounty of 170 million.
That was quite a significant jump.
But the biggest change was Sanji.
He had skyrocketed to 110 million berries.
Successfully making it into the ranks of the Supernova.
Thanks to Vir’s treatments (10% boost), and the fact that he’d swapped flirting hours for sparring sessions with Zoro…
His strength had improved the most out of everyone on the ship.
Now, the Straw Hat crew had three Supernova.
Any bounty exceeding 100 million put one into that category.
Aside from those three, the others still had a ways to go.
They were still quite far from the 100 million mark.
Chopper, however, had finally gotten a bounty.
Bounty: 5,000 berries!
A full hundred times higher than in the original story!
This was likely due to Aokiji recognizing his strength.
And just like that, his bounty was boosted a hundredfold!
Who knows what Chopper would think when he saw that amount.
Though to be fair, it wasn’t much different from 50 berries.
Hopefully, he wouldn’t cry over it.
“Their next stop is Sabaody Archipelago, right?”
Jozu, noticing Vir smiling at Chopper’s bounty poster, spoke up.
Hearing this, Vir looked up at him.
Smiling, he said, “Yeah, they’re really making a name for themselves now, huh? Three Supernova.”
After Vir said that…
Jozu visibly froze for a moment.
“Three? Aren’t you one too?”
Jozu asked in confusion.