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Chapter 58 – Welcome to Hell Training!
Sunny's POV
The morning sun rose lazily above the sea, but on the Going Merry, peace was already dead.
Because today… hell itself had opened its doors.
"Fufufu…" Aqua leaned against the mast, a manic grin plastered on her face. "Oh, this is beautiful! Finally, someone other than me will suffer!"
I stretched, cracking my neck with a smile that probably looked a little too calm. "{ego}, [system]—let's hear the plan."
[system]: Gladly, darling~♡
Her tone was sweet… too sweet. Like a yandere girlfriend trying to sound innocent before doing something unspeakable. [system]: Phase one: Wake-up calls by cannon fire. Phase two: Endurance training under weighted sea-stone shackles. Phase three… —she paused, voice lowering into a purr— mental collapse drills.
Lucy blinked. "Wait—mental what now?"
{ego}: "Basically she's gonna break your brain until even Luffy fans feel bad."
"WHAT?!"
Aqua and I started laughing—loud, evil, and utterly unbothered.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Lucy took a step back. "Oh no… you two sound like villains!"
Zoro muttered, "Correction—they are villains."
Usopp screamed, "WHY DOES TRAINING SOUND LIKE TORTURE?!"
Sanji, bless his soul, still had hope. "Relax, my sweet angels would never do anything cruel."
Aqua's eyes glowed mischievously. "Oh, we will~♡."
Sanji fainted. Instantly.
---
By noon, chaos had become an art form.
Lucy was doing pushups with sea-kings drawn on her back by Aqua's magic. Every time she slowed down, the drawing came alive and bit her.
"GYAAAAAA!! WHY IS IT MOVING?!"
Aqua cackled. "Because it's motivated you, my dear Captain!"
Zoro, meanwhile, was running laps around the Merry—blindfolded—with weights tied to his swords.
[system]: Each lap completed increases his muscle density by 0.7%. Keep running, mossy darling~♡
"Stop calling me that!"
Sanji had been ordered to cook a full meal while dodging flying knives thrown by {ego}'s manifested projections.
{ego}: "You drop a dish, you die. You burn the sauce, you die. You flirt with someone mid-stir, you definitely die."
Sanji sweated bullets. "You're worse than Zeff!"
{ego}: "Thank you, I take that as a compliment."
Meanwhile, poor Usopp was strapped to a moving training dummy that shot cannonballs every time he missed a shot.
"WHY DOES IT HAVE A MIND OF ITS OWN?!"
[system]: Target practice: effective when motivated by fear of death~♡.
Lucy shouted mid-plank, "SUNNY! THIS IS TOO MUCH!"
I leaned casually on the railing beside Aqua, sipping tea. "You'll thank me later."
Aqua grinned. "Oh, this brings back memories~ remember our 1 year nightmare on RBG Island?"
I smirked. "How could I forget? You cried almost every day."
Aqua puffed her cheeks. "That was strategic crying!"
{ego}: "Uh-huh. Totally wasn't panic."
Aqua glared at the air. "Shut it, voice in his head!"
[system]: I'm also in his heart~♡.
Aqua froze. "Why do you sound jealous?"
[system]: Because I am.
Everyone within hearing distance stopped what they were doing.
Lucy whispered, "...Is his system flirting with him?"
Nojiko sighed. "Don't ask questions you don't want answered."
Nami crossed her arms. "I don't know what's scarier—the training or that his AI has a crush."
[system]: Correction: undying devotion.
{ego}: "This story's gonna get flagged at this rate."
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After several hours of screaming, crying, and minor explosions, I called for a break.
Lucy collapsed face-first onto the deck. "Water… need water…"
Aqua kicked a barrel over. "There you go."
Lucy looked up. "That's saltwater."
Aqua shrugged. "Hydration is hydration."
Usopp groaned, "I'm gonna die before we even reach the next island."
Sanji crawled up beside him, smoking through his tears. "If I die surrounded by beauties, it's worth it."
Zoro was the only one still standing. "That all you got?"
[system]: Activating 'Phase Two'…
Zoro blinked. "Wait wha—"
The deck suddenly tilted.
Everyone screamed as gravity tripled.
Lucy: "WHY IS THE SHIP—BENDING?!" Usopp: "SUNNY, TURN IT OFF!!" Sanji: "MY BONES ARE SCREAMING!!"
Aqua and I laughed again, tears streaming from our eyes.
I barely managed to speak between laughs. "You guys—wanted to get stronger, right?"
[system]: Behold: The Gravity Hell Chamber. Courtesy of yours truly~♡.
Lucy flopped over, eyes spinning. "I—I take it back…"
{ego}: "No refunds."
Nami stomped over (or at least tried to, given the pressure). "SUNNY! You're going to break the ship!"
I raised a hand, letting my Haki flare lightly. The Merry's frame steadied under my control. "Don't worry, she can take it."
Aqua giggled. "See? He's responsible sometimes."
{ego}: "Keyword: sometimes."
Nojiko, watching from the railing, smiled faintly. "You're enjoying this way too much."
I met her gaze and shrugged. "Maybe. But they'll come out stronger than ever."
Her eyes softened. "You sound like Bell-mère sometimes, you know?"
That hit a little deeper than I expected. "Heh. Guess that's not a bad thing."
[system]: Emotional growth detected. Proceeding to tease mode paused. {ego}: "Wait, she can pause teasing? That's new." [system]: For him, always.
Aqua snorted. "Oh great, now she's flirting in whisper mode."
I grinned. "You jealous?"
She blushed. "N–No! I just—shut up!"
Lucy, somehow still conscious under triple gravity, groaned, "Can you two flirt after we stop dying?"
---
An hour later, I clapped my hands. "Alright! Training complete for the day!"
Everyone immediately collapsed.
Usopp: "My soul left my body three times." Sanji: "My spirit ascended… but only because of Nami-swan." Zoro: "That was nothing."
Lucy: "Liar."
Aqua and I exchanged a look.
"Tomorrow," I said, "we start the next phase."
Lucy's eyes went wide. "There's a next phase?!"
[system]: Oh yes, captain~♡. You haven't even touched the nightmare simulation yet.
{ego}: "He's dead. Again."
Lucy screamed into the deck. "WHY IS EVERYTHING IN THIS CREW INSANE?!"
I chuckled quietly as Aqua leaned beside me, resting her head on my shoulder.
"Think they'll survive?" she whispered.
I smiled. "They better. We've only just begun."
Above us, the flag waved proudly in the sea breeze—mocking, defiant, alive.
And beneath it, our chaos burned brighter than ever.
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