"Gulp!"
Vivian swallowed hard and quickly covered his eyes with his hands.
Then…
He continued to watch the scene in his mind intently.
Nosebleed slowly trickled from his nostrils.
His face felt hot.
Just as Nami was about to turn around, she shouted loudly towards the bathroom door, "Robin, what's all the commotion outside? Is Luffy looking for his hat?"
"Yes!" Robin's voice came from outside the bathroom.
"He seems to have left his hat in the bathroom. Can you come in and get it for him?" Nami shook her head. "Seriously, is that straw hat so precious that he has to bring it even when he bathes?"
With that, Robin opened the door, took Luffy's hat from the bathroom sink, and left.
The scene then shifted to the Thousand Sunny's main hall.
Vivian: "…"
Damn it!
Just a little more…
Just a little bit more…
I could have…
Forget it, seeing things I shouldn't see could get me in trouble.
"Luffy, we're approaching the Florian Triangle," Usopp said, rushing into the scene with a map.
Hearing this, Vivian immediately recalled the storyline from the original series.
"Next up is fighting Gecko Moria?"
After defeating Gecko Moria, they seemed to have a brief encounter with Golden Lion Shiki, then reached the Sabaody Archipelago.
Then came the Supernovas arc, Luffy punching a Celestial Dragon, attracting Admiral Kizaru, getting sent to Amazon Lily by Kuma, and then heading to Impel Down to rescue Ace…
"So many events, and you expect me to believe it all happens in a month?"
In the anime, this took hundreds of episodes.
After watching through the surveillance for a while and seeing Luffy either eating or sleeping, Vivian got bored and decided to check his phone.
Another day passed.
Vivian brought a lunchbox to Level Six again. As he entered Ace's cell, he saw that Ace had recovered remarkably well from the previous day's beating and was now full of energy.
"You seem to recover quickly," Vivian said.
Ace ignored Vivian and continued doing pull-ups using the chains hanging from the ceiling.
There was nothing else to do in the cell. Even though Ace knew his fate was likely death, he was still alive for now, wasn't he?
"I made today's meal, stir-fried rice noodles. I bet you've never had it before. Give it a try."
Vivian said, taking out two plates of rice noodles from the box and placing them in front of Ace.
Ace glanced at the unfamiliar food, hesitated for about five or six seconds, but the enticing aroma made him take a bite.
Then…
He went into excavator mode, opening his mouth wide and burying his face in the noodles, devouring them voraciously.
Vivian's cooking was indeed irresistible, especially for food lovers like Luffy and Ace.
"Do you know what you'll face in a month?" Vivian asked, sitting down casually and lighting a cigarette.
Silence.
Hearing this, Ace swallowed the noodles in his mouth and said after a while, "It's just an execution, do you think I'm afraid?"
"I don't know if you're afraid, but have you thought about how many people who love you will risk their lives to save you during your public execution?"
Luffy, Whitebeard, and the division commanders of the pirate crew…
"How many people will lose their lives trying to rescue you?"
Vivian said, lighting a cigarette and blowing out a smoke ring.
Ace clenched his hands tighter, his overgrown nails digging deep into his palms.
Vivian's purpose was simple.
He didn't want to see the war at Marineford happen, but letting Ace go was out of the question.
So, he thought of a simple solution this morning: persuade Ace to commit suicide.
It sounded outrageous, but if Ace truly cared about his brother and the Whitebeard Pirates, he might actually consider it.
If Ace died in Impel Down, the one likely to be punished would be the warden, Magellan.
Then, there would be no war at Marineford, Whitebeard wouldn't die, the Navy wouldn't suffer casualties, and Vivian wouldn't have to worry about being drafted to the battlefield.
What a perfect plan.
"So, if it were me, I wouldn't cause trouble for the people I love," Vivian hinted.
Seeing Ace fall into deep thought again, Vivian didn't push further. He picked up the empty lunchbox and leisurely left.
Of course, when passing by Shiryu's cell, he threw in a grilled fish that had expired several days ago to humiliate him.
He couldn't stand Shiryu's character in the original story.
Besides, with Fujitora backing him, why should he fear a little Shiryu?
Whistling, Vivian gathered some brewing ingredients and tools from the kitchen on the fourth floor and returned to his dorm to start his first brewing project.
Life began to feel more fulfilling.
Until a week later, Garp quietly arrived at Impel Down on a warship to visit his grandson. Passing by the first floor, he casually punched Vivian in the chest from a distance.
Vivian spat out blood, and Garp scratched his head with a smile, "Sorry, this is the second time I've hurt you."
The first time was during an encounter with a Celestial Dragon's ship in the Calm Belt.
Whether Sengoku told him or he figured it out himself, who knows.
Then, turning his back, Garp added, "This is for my grandson. You know why."
With that, he took the elevator to the sixth floor.
Leaving Vivian standing there, stopping Fujitora from intervening, wiping the blood from his mouth with a bitter smile.
"So, this is the pitfall of the follow-up mission…"
Feeling some bones breaking inside him, Vivian thought he might need another half month to fully recover.