After a long silence, "Medicine King" Sanji finally found the courage to speak, glancing at the color returning to Usopp's face.
"Uh… um…"
"You… you okay, Usopp?"
Honestly, he was terrified.
So terrified that he started questioning all his years of cooking experience.
He kept replaying everything in his mind, but no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn't figure out what on earth had gone wrong with that simple fried rice he made earlier.
Seeing Usopp's eyes finally regain clarity, Sanji hurried forward, shaking his arm anxiously.
"Hey! Hey! Wake up, Usopp!"
"Alright, alright, stop shaking me already!!!"
Usopp, who had just regained his senses, shoved Sanji away before the cook could shake his soul loose.
A deeply satisfied grin spread across his face, the kind of grin one might wear after… a particularly rejuvenating full-body treatment.
Sanji exhaled in relief.
Good. He's fine.
If he'd joined the crew only to accidentally kill a veteran member on his first day…
Yeah, that would've been a disaster!!!
"Hoo—!!"
Usopp stood up and stretched, his joints cracking pop pop pop, as if his body were still digesting the overflowing energy from the food.
He turned back to Sanji, full of praise.
"Not bad! Not bad at all!!"
"Sanji, your cooking is absolutely amazing! Even if you turn out to be useless in every other way, just that skill alone is enough to keep you living the good life, "
"Who're you calling useless, you bastard!!!"
Inside, Sanji was already gripping Usopp's long nose and yelling bloody murder.
But on the outside, he forced a bright, pleasant smile, fully agreeing with Usopp's vanity.
After all, I still haven't even seen my room yet…
After finishing his divine meal, Usopp laughed heartily and said, "Come on, Sanji! There's still plenty of time, I'll show you around the other cool places!"
"Yeah!"
Eager to see more, Sanji immediately followed Usopp out of the magical kitchen.
========
Inside the Going Merry's training room.
"Too slow! Way too slow!"
Zoro barked, swinging the sheath of his Zanpakuto and striking Koby across the face, sending him flying.
Bam!
Koby crashed into the ground but immediately bounced back up, gripping his mop like a weapon, and charged straight at Zoro again!
Zoro smirked.
"Now that's more like it."
The two clashed fiercely, their movements a blur, the air ringing with sharp impacts.
From the corner of the training room, Usopp and Sanji stood watching.
A fierce light burned in Sanji's eyes, his fighting spirit surging so strongly it felt almost physical.
He wanted to join in right now.
He wanted to fight alongside them.
But deep down, he knew the truth, with his current strength, he couldn't even beat Koby, much less someone like Zoro.
Still, Sanji also knew one thing for sure:
Being weak now doesn't mean staying weak forever.
Before, he was just trapped in a tiny well, only able to see a small patch of sky.
But now, that well has been broken open.
He'd leapt out into the vast world.
The ocean is wide for fish to leap, and the sky high for birds to soar!
He refused to believe that with all these resources, this environment, and these powerful crewmates as his goal, he couldn't become strong himself.
And his confidence didn't come from nowhere, part of it came from Luffy's words outside the Baratie.
Luffy had said that his potential was recognized by the Starry Sky Pirates.
He wasn't here by luck, he had earned his place!
So he had to live up to Luffy's trust… and to this crew's expectations.
The more Sanji thought about it, the more his blood boiled.
That strange, hidden power inside him began to stir and surge.
His battle aura flared so intensely that even Usopp, standing beside him, felt a faint burning sensation.
Taking a cautious step back, Usopp thought nervously, Maybe I should stop acting so high and mighty around this guy.
Someone who could radiate this much raw willpower clearly had a fiery temper to match.
Better to stay humble…
========
"Uh… S-Sanji?"
Usopp hesitated, calling his name, his voice tinged with fear.
In terms of attack power, he wasn't scared of anyone.
But when it came to fighting…
He suddenly realized that Sanji might not be that far behind him anymore!
He'd only been relying on his slightly higher base stats to brag.
But once Sanji got his "special gift" from Luffy, he'd probably surpass him in minutes!
Usopp froze as the truth hit him.
Wait a second… I'm actually the weakest!?!
Then what was I bragging about just now!?
No way, no way!
The Great Usopp cannot be the weakest!
========
Sanji, unaware that his aura had just traumatized Usopp, calmly withdrew his fighting intent.
He didn't have much time left, it was almost mealtime.
And he didn't want to start his first day on the ship with his luggage still unpacked.
"Let's go," he said simply.
"O-oh! Right!"
Usopp quickly replied, relieved to move on.
He still had to finish showing Sanji around the ship before joining Zoro's brutal training regiment.
They left the training room and entered the main hall, the route connecting to the next section of the ship.
As soon as they stepped in, a gentle melody floated through the air.
"Yo~ Brook!"
"Why're you playing piano out here?"
Usopp waved cheerfully, no longer the terrified man from their first encounter.
Sanji nodded politely to the musician.
He wasn't familiar with Brook yet, they'd barely exchanged words before, except for that one time at the Baratie when Brook had complimented his cooking.
"Yohohoho~! Usopp-san! Sanji-san!"
Brook greeted them warmly, his skeletal face beaming with kindness.
As one of the earliest members to join Luffy's Starry Sky Pirates, and given his actual age, Brook had long since shed any need for rivalry or pride.
To him, every crewmate was equal, strong or weak, early or late to join, it didn't matter.
Smiling like an old friend, he said, "The grand piano here in the hall is a bit better than the one in the music room.
I just composed a new song I'm quite happy with, so I wanted to use a finer piano to play it properly."
"Ohh, I see!"
Usopp nodded knowingly, though he had absolutely no idea what Brook was talking about.
In his mind, a piano was just a piano. How different could they be?
What he didn't realize was that this piano was no ordinary instrument.
Its special property read:
[When the performer plays sincerely for one hour, they gain +2 Mental Points. All listeners gain +1 Mental Point.]
As long as Brook kept his emotions balanced, this piano could continuously strengthen the Starry Sky crew's minds.
Completely unaware of the opportunity he was passing up, Usopp simply waved and said, "Alright then, keep playing. I've gotta show Sanji the rest of the ship."
"Of course, Usopp-san, Sanji-san, have fun~!"
Brook's gentlemanly voice followed them as they continued their tour.
And with that, Usopp led Sanji out of the hall once more.