Chapter 50: Finding a doctor

Smoker grimaced as the message came to an end, teeth biting into his cigar even more than usual as he tried to make sense of what he had just heard.

"That's all we got?"

"Yes, Major! The call is too far away to intercept all of it!"

"I see…Tashigi, get over here!"

When he didn't hear an answer from her, he let out a growl before shouting, "I said get over here, you sword obsessed nerd!"

Said nerd immediately rushed out of her room in a hurry, "Ah! Ye-Yes, sir! Do you need another refill of coffee!?"

"The flask is overflowing with it!" Smoker let out a sigh, "Look, just listen to this. It's a call we just intercepted moments ago."

Smoker gestured to the soldier with a nod, whom activated the Black Den-Den Mushi on his wrist; the snail radio began playing back the audio it had intercepted.

"Bztt… Princess Vivi and the Straw Ha—bztt… or not?"

"Is—bztt… Mr 0?"

"Don't—bztt…"

"Yes. It's all—bztt…"

"Bztt…ew order—bztt… an Eter—bztt… to—bztt…"

"Bztt…Baroque Wo—bztt…"

Tashigi's eyes widen as she adjusted her glasses, "Di-Did it just say Straw Hats? As in the Straw Hat Pirates!?"

"It did. Though we lack much of the context and details of this particular call." Smoker noted, "But a few key phrases stuck out to me: Princess Vivi, Straw Hat, Mr 0, and orders."

"Speaking of Mr 0, could it be related to the suspicious swordsman we just apprehended on Runesu? The one who called himself Mr 11?"

"Hm, that's a good point. If these numbers can be considered codenames, and there's talk about new orders, we might be dealing with an underground criminal organisation."

They both turned to the individual they had captured only moments ago, and now tied to the mast of their marine vessel, a man dressed in a suit and wore a top hat with the the number 1 tattooed on each side of his face.

He looked at them with a scoffed, "Criminal underworld? Mr 0? You marines have too much of an imagination. I'm just some bounty hunter."

"Really?" Smoker reached into his pocket, "Then explain this letter I found?"

"Wh-Wha—No! I can explain! That letter is—!"

"Oh? But we didn't find any. So, you did have one?"

"Grgk…!"

"Take him inside and interrogate him about the letter. Strip him down if you need to."

"Yes, Major!"

As the soldiers did as commanded, untying the agent before dragging him into the vessel kicking and screaming, Smoker sat down on his personal lounge chair and took a drag from one of his cigars.

"Next is Princess Vivi…" He let out a stream of smoke from his mouth, "Say, isn't that the name of the Princess of Alabasta that was reported missing?"

"If I recall correctly, the kingdom of Alabasta is currently in amidst of a fierce coup d'état." Tashigi pointed out, "You don't think that the Straw Hats and this mysterious organisation has something to do with that, do you?"

"I'm not a hundred percent certain, but…"

Hearing the word Alabasta had the marine major recalling the words the White Devil had called out to the leader of the Revolutionary Army back in Loguetown, to have his right-hand man sent there.

Considering the Revolutionary Army's MO, there was a possibility that they were responsible for the uprising in the desert kingdom, and the White Devil might have some connections to it all.

"Regardless, it is the only lead of them we have." Smoker turned to his sergeant, "Contact HQ and send a request for an Eternal Pose to Alabasta."

"Yes, sir!"

'Let's see what game you're playing with us, White Devil…'

"Achoo!"

A sneeze escaped me and echoed all over the room, I blew my nose into a tissue before rubbing my nostrils in annoyance.

For some reason, it felt like someone was just talking about me; or it could be due to the slight dip in temperature since yesterday, a sign that we were no longer in the warm tropics of Little Garden.

While I hadn't caught a single cold ever since I came to this world, I genuinely hope that I didn't catch a chill from the constant changing weather.

After throwing away the soiled tissue, I turned my attention back to the newspaper that just came in this morning, specifically at that one article talking about the new developments of Alabasta's civil war.

And just like in Canon, the balance of power had shifted to the rebel army after three hundred thousand soldiers defected to the rebels; most likely a scheme by Crocodile to force the king's hands.

"Looks like we are close approaching Drum Island…"

According to the timeline, this article came out just a few days before Nami collapsed from an intense fever, so seeing this here was a sign that we were steadily approaching that arc.

I could only hope that we would encounter Drum Island before the virus kicked in and she—

BANG*

"Rein! We have a problem!"

The trapdoor suddenly slammed opened and Sanji came running down in a panic with Nami on his back, sweat pouring down her flushed face while breathing heavily.

"…damn it all…"

Guess that was asking way too much, huh…

Leaving Zoro to essentially steer the Knight Merry, which I wasn't sure was such a good idea, everyone else gathered in the female bedroom where Nami had been bedridden with a high fever.

Apparently, she collapsed just after we had barely avoided getting caught in a cyclone, which give me some relief that we had managed to dodge that particular bullet early.

Sanji in particular was extremely worried about her, tears running down his face, "Is…Is Nami gonna die…?"

"No, but she will if we don't find a doctor soon." Vivi let out a groan, "I can't believe the only one with some kind of medical knowledge is the one bedridden with a fever…"

"How long till we reach Alabasta?" Usopp asked her.

"At our current pace, about a week. But I'm not sure if Nami could hold on for that long…"

Nami let out a groan, "Urgh… this… really sucks…"

"Told you that it'll be bad." I told her.

"I didn't think it would be this bad…"

"And it is about to get worse, so hang in there."

"Wait, you knew that this is going to happen!?" Vivi shouted at me, "Why didn't you say anything!? We could have prepared!"

"Because it won't matter either way." I told her, before turning to Luffy, "Captain, I'm requesting a hold on the no spoiler rule. Nami's life depends on it."

"…Alright." Luffy nodded, "For Nami, I will allow it."

I nodded with a sigh before informing the crew, "Nami got bitten by a bug back in Little Garden, which infected her with a nasty prehistoric virus that should have died out a long time ago. There was no way for any of us to treat her even if we knew."

Vivi's expression paled, "Th-Then even if we reach Alabasta, Nami is…!"

"Na-Nami is going to die!?" Usopp cried out.

"No, I won't let that happen." I told them, "There is one doctor I know that can cure her of this virus."

"Where is he?"

"She, actually; and she is in the Drum Kingdom."

The princess's eyes widened in recognition, "That's the kingdom known for having the most cutting-edge research and development in medical science on this side of the Grand Line…! Are you certain that's the place?!"

"Yes, that's where we should go." I nodded, "The problem is that I have no idea how to get there."

"Can't you just check the map?" Luffy asked.

"This is the Grand Line, Luffy." I reminded him, "Unless you have an Eternal Pose to that island, you need to be on the right route just to get there. And I don't think we are anywhere near the right route."

"Then, Nami is screwed…!?"

"Not necessarily, no. From what I remember, we would end up encountering the Drum Kingdom somewhere between here and Alabasta. If we ignore the Alabasta Eternal Pose and—"

"Rein, wait…" Nami voiced out as she got up from the bed, "Ar-Are you sure we have to head there now…?"

"It is." I told her, "I don't know how long before that virus kills you, so we have to get you treated immediately."

"But couldn't we head to Alabasta first, then head off to Drum Kingdom?"

"No, it will be too late by then."

"What's gotten into you?" Usopp asked the redhead, "Don't you want to get treated?"

"…the newspaper on the desk." She pointed out, "There's an article talking about Alabasta, isn't there?"

I tried very hard not to flinch at her accusation, but Vivi saw through me and picked up said newspaper off the table.

Her eyes widened when she read said article, "This…This is…"

"Is it bad, Vivi?" Sanji asked worriedly.

"More than bad…! The rebel army has now gained the upper hand…! If this keeps up…!"

"It sounds pretty bad." Luffy noted with a grimace.

"Even more so that we don't take a detour." Nami pointed out with a groan, "We need to get Vivi back home as soon as possible."

"I guess so, but…" Usopp scratched his head, "Are you really sure about this? You will be suffering all the way…"

"I can just tough it out till then. This isn't the first time I had to work while sick—"

"No, Nami, that won't work!" I told her, "This isn't some common cold! Unless you get treatment, it will kill you!"

"But not immediately, right?" The redhead pointed out, "I still have some time until then, right?"

"For the love of, this isn't the time to brave it out! We are getting you to a doctor and that's that!"

"And leave Vivi's country to get taken over by some pirate!? We need to get to Alabasta now!"

"But you will not survive the trip there in your current condition!"

"I can at least try!"

"You know that it doesn't work that way—!"

"SHUT UP!"

That got both of us to clam up as we all turned to Vivi, the princess clutching the newspaper tightly in her hands as she let out a long and heavy sigh.

She then turned to me, "Rein, you are certain that Drum Kingdom is the only place where Nami can get the right treatment?"

I nodded, "Absolutely."

"Then we should head to the Drum Kingdom first."

"Vivi…!?"

The princess sat down on the bed next to the redhead, "Nami, I appreciate your concerns, but we can only get to Alabasta in time with your navigation skills. And you can't really use them in your current condition, can you?"

"…hard to argue with that…but, are you really sure about this…? What about your kingdom…?"

"All the reason that we need to get you treatment as soon as possible, right?"

"…hah, fine. You win…" Nami turned to Rein, "I'm counting on you to get us there as quickly as you can."

I nodded, "You can count on me."

"So, which way should we be heading?" Usopp asked me.

"For now, we should ignore the Eternal Pose." I told him, "The Drum Kingdom is on an island of eternal winter, so we should head where it is the coldest."

"That… sounds really half-ass."

"Hey, you try pointing in a direction without a compass!"

Never in my life had I been more ecstatic to see such heavy snowfall as I did this morning.

It had been a day since we ignored the Eternal Pose and sailed in a random direction in hopes of running into the Drum Kingdom; though we basically just had Zoro pick a direction and we chose to sail in the opposite of that.

Boy, was the moss-head pissed about that.

Either way, the gambit paid off and we found ourselves within the climate sphere of the eternal winter island of the Drum Kingdom; most of us were already changing into our winter wear when we came onto the deck.

"Are we close now, Rein?" Luffy asked me as I made my way onto the deck.

"We should be." I nodded as I zipped up my winter jacket while adjusting my boots, "This much snow meant we are likely within the island's climate's influence."

"Ah, I see. Then we will be reaching soon."

"Hopefully."

"Brr…" Usopp walked up to us while shivering under his hastily worn winter coat, "Seriously, couldn't that Drum Kingdom be somewhere warmer…?"

"You will regret saying that once we reached Alabasta." I told him.

"Hey, guys." Zoro called out from the Crow's Nest, "Can a person stand on water?"

"…That's an odd question, Zoro." Usopp noted, "Of course, they can't. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'm looking at one right now, right in front of us."

We all followed the swordsman's directions and saw what he had seen, a scene that signalled to me that we were indeed getting close to the Drum Kingdom along with the massive headache that came with it.

Though seeing it in person, it definitely required a double take by anyone unaware of what was really going on.

"Huh. There really is someone standing on the water." Luffy noted.

"Damn, and I thought the Grand Line couldn't get any freakier." Usopp pointed out.

Standing in the middle of the ocean was Chess, the hunter of the tyrannical king Wapol, and looking as relaxed and nonchalant as can be; though with that outfit of his, I wouldn't be surprised if he also worked as a jester for the tyrant at times.

Under his feet, I could just barely make out some kind of platform under the waves, most likely part of their ship's Crow's Nest.

He then pointed out, "It's quite cold today."

"Huh? Uh, yeah; it is freezing…" Usopp noted with a raised eyebrow.

"Move over, Usopp." I walked up to the railing and looked down at the archer, "Hey, jackass! I know your ship is under your feet, so quit the chitchat and bring your stupid, fat idiot of a king up here already!"

Chess flinched at my words before letting out a small growl, "Cocky little… eat your words, pirate!"

"Come and make me, fuckface!"

As if on que, the waters under his feet shifted as a large metal dome surfaced from beneath the waves and causing the Knight Merry to rock, we barely managed to hang onto any of the railings to keep our balance.

The dome then opened up with a loud clunk, the sounds of gears turning booming from within the massive galleon as the metal plates went down the sides and into the water, just as a giant hippo figurehead surfaced and locked into place on its bow.

And flapping in the wind atop where Chess had been standing was a black pirate flag.

"Mahahaha!" An obnoxious laugh echoed from it, "Surprise!? Has my submersible ship, the 'Tin Can King', you peasants gawking in awe!?"

"Man, that guy is loud!" Luffy pointed out.

"Oh, crap! A pirate ship!" Usopp cried out as he turned to me, "Rein, what did you do!?"

"Just hastening the pace a little!" I told him as I went into my half-dragon form, "Just hold them off for a moment, I'll know how to deal with these idiots in no time."

"Damn it…!" Zoro quickly descended from the Crow's Nest in a hurry and unsheathed his swords, "Of all the times…!"

As I took to the skies, the mouth of the hippo figurehead opened up with a clunk before a ladder came out from within which quickly descended upon the Merry's deck, as many coat wearing soldiers-turned-pirates quickly climbed down.

"Breath Cannon!"

"Exploding Star!"

"Bwuah!?"

Only for many of them to either get blown off of it from my breath attack, or get sniped and blown off by Usopp and his explosive projectiles, sending almost all of them plummeting into the cold depths below.

Those who got aboard immediately came face to fist with Luffy's rubbery fists, my captain started punching left and right without any mercy and knocking most of them out cold in a single strike.

Those that managed to slip past his barrage of strikes was instead met with Zoro's swords, the swordsman easily cutting them down with little to no effort whatsoever.

Sanji soon entered the deck and joined into the fray, his feet blurred into action as he landed several fast kicks into the soldiers in no time flat.

With the front line somewhat secured, I flew towards the massive galleon and surveyed its deck for its captain, which I found quite easily considering how much he stood out among his men.

And boy did Wapol stand out, being the only person with metal on his body, and a somewhat regal attire of metal plates, there was also the fact that he was quite literally the fattest person around.

"Riflemen, take her out!"

I barely acknowledged the bullets being fired in my direction, or the arrows that Chess was firing at me with great accuracy that bounced off my scales, the jester giving me a growl in response.

After swerving past the projectiles, I dived down towards my target, said fatty could only scream when I had my hand on his face and used my momentum to throw him through his men.

Like a bowling ball, Wapol bowled right through his troops before crashing through his galleon's railing, coming to a stop at the very edge of the deck.

"Yo…You dare—"

"Breath Cannon."

"Bwuak!?"

Just as he was beginning his monologue, I unloaded a cannon blast of air into his gut, knocking him off his feet and sending him flying off his vessel and into the horizon.

""Your majesty!""

"After him, hurry! Before he drowns!"

The effects were instantaneous, the soldiers quickly ran about the ship at Chess's command, none of them moving to stop me as I took to the skies and flew away from them.

I landed back on the Knight Merry, just as the last of Wapol's troops climbed back up the ladder with his unconscious comrade, said ladder retracting back into the hippo figurehead before the ship started to sail away.

"You pirate scum better watch out! We will have our revenge!"

"So you better watch your backs!"

With those last words, the large galleon sailed away into the horizon, just as Vivi arrived on the deck in a hurry.

"What…is it over?" She asked.

"Yeah." I nodded as I returned to my human form, "We are done."

"Okay, that was…something." Zoro noted, "Just who were those guys?"

"They did call out 'your majesty'…" Sanji noted, "Is that guy some fallen royalty?"

"You could say that." I told him, "At least he won't be our problem for the time being."

"…seeing the way you said that, we are going to have to deal with him again, huh?"

"Unfortunately, yes…"

"Ah! No spoilers, Rein!" Luffy cried out, "That time with Nami is a one time thing!"

"I know, I know, I'm sorry." I told him, "But in all honesty, we shouldn't have to worry too much about him. As you can see, he is pretty easy, if a bit annoying to deal with."

Zoro let out a sigh, "Well, if it happens, it happens…"

I then pointed out to them, "On the bright side, seeing them meant that we should be close to the Drum Kingdom any day now."

Vivi let out a sigh, "Th-That's good to hear… Nami's fever has risen, and it is not stopping…"

"We will save Nami." Luffy noted with a firm nod, "I'll make sure of it."

"Yeah." I nodded, "Hopefully, we should come up to that island any day now."

I could only hope that Nami would hold on just a bit longer…

The next morning, when the heavy snowfall had finally ceased, was when we finally came close

"He-Hey, guys!" Usopp suddenly cried out, "I think I see land!"

We all turned to his direction and soon spotted the flat peaks of the Drum Island's iconic mountains in the distance, an approximately half-day sail away from where we were.

"Yup, that's Drum Island, alright." I noted with a nod, "Those mountains are a dead giveaway."

"We are almost there…" Vivi let out a sigh, "Just a little longer, Nami…"

Thanks to some lucky currents and strong winds, we quickly made it to the island in no time at all.

As someone who had spent almost their entire life in the warm tropics, this would be the first time I had actually seen the kind of winter scenery that I had only seen in brochures or postcards.

Aside from the five massive almost tower-like mountains, Drum Island didn't look all that different from most winter-oriented fantasy locations in popular pop media, with snow-tipped pine trees and snow pretty much everywhere.

"Whoa…! There's so much snow…!" Luffy cried out in joy.

"…say, aren't you cold, Luffy?" Usopp asked, "This isn't exactly sandal-wearing weather, you know."

"…it's so cold!"

"Can you be any slower!?"

After Luffy went below deck and returned in more appropriate winter clothing, we docked the Knight Merry in a small lake, close to a small meltwater waterfall where Zoro dropped anchor.

Vivi walked up to me, "Any idea where this doctor of yours is on this island?"

I nodded, "I do. There's a problem, though."

"Which is….?"

"Well, she's currently—wait."

It was faint, but I could hear the sounds of footsteps crunching on the soft snow, just as several people in heavy coats and armed with pistols and muskets came marching out of the forest, half of them pointing their firearms at us.

That had everyone on high alert, Zoro already had one hand for his sword's scabbards while Sanji was glaring daggers at the ones in his direction with one hand holding his cigarette steady.

Their leader, a bull-esque man that I knew as one of Wapol's former royal guard Dalton, stepped forward with a stern scowl on his face, his hand on a musket of his own.

"Do not take another step, pirate." He told us firmly, "You will turn around and leave this island at once."

"Please, wait!" Vivi cried out, "We are only here to see a doctor! Our friend is very sick—"

"Those lies won't work on us, pirate scum!" One of the armed men shouted at us, "This is our country! And we won't let pirates run amok on our land! So beat it! Before we make you!"

The blonde cook let out a small huff of smoke, "Talk about your welcoming committee…"

Dalton took another step forward, "You have five minutes to pull up your anchor and leave this place. Any longer, and I can't guarantee your safety."

I took a step forward with my arms raised, "Look, we aren't here to cause trouble! We just need to—"

BANG*

"Whoa!?" I quickly jumped back and instinctively went for Ryuga when a bullet struck mere inches from where my foot was.

Even Dalton was shocked at the shooting, "Greg!"

"Yo-You think we're bl-bluffing!?" One of the younger men shouted out, his hand shaking as he struggled to hold his smoking firearm steady, "Th-That's just a warning shot! The ne-next shot will be re-real!"

"That son of a…!"

"No, Sanji! That will only make things worse!"

A furious Sanji would leapt at the man if Vivi hadn't stopped him in time, the princess stepping in front of the blonde cook and holding him in place; his act of aggression had unfortunately spooked the man and caused his finger to squeeze the trigger.

Another gunshot rang out, and this time it hit someone, Vivi tumbling onto the ground with a long bloody gash on her arm; even the young man was in shock at what he had just done.

"Vivi!" Luffy let out a growl as he glared at the armed men, "How dare you…!"

"They're going to attack!"

All the men, excluding Dalton, immediately raised their firearms at us, cocking hammers pulled back with their fingers on the triggers and just ready to pull it back.

At the same time, Zoro immediately had his hand on Yubashiri while Usopp had his slingshot out with his other hand already searching his pouch of ammunition, Luffy and Sanji charging into the fray—

"Stop!"

Until I grabbed both of them in my half-dragon form, my arms around Luffy while my tail around Sanji, both of them struggled against my grip as they growled at the armed men.

"Calm yourself!" I growled at Luffy, before turning to the rest of the crew, "Stand down, all of you! Fighting isn't going to solve this!"

"But they shot Vivi!" Sanji snapped.

"It just grazed my arm…!" Vivi told him, her hand on her wound, "I'll be fine…!"

"You heard her! So calm the fuck down!"

Both of them noticeably stopped struggling against me, so I released them from my grip; the blonde cook was still scowling and glaring at the same man that fired that shot.

Vivi then walked past us and towards Dalton, before dropping to her knees and pressing her head to the wooden plank at the edge of the deck, much to the shock of everyone.

That was especially true for Dalton, "What are you doing!?"

"We swear that we won't set foot on your land!" She told him, "So please, call a doctor here! Our friend is critically ill and in dire need of treatment!"

"You…! To go so far…!?"

"Vivi…!" Luffy looked aghast at what the princess was going, "But they…!"

"You are failing your duties as ship captain, Luffy; Recklessly starting fights isn't always going to solve everything." The princess reprimanded him, "If we start a fight now, what would happen to Nami?"

Luffy properly pondered her words, before swiftly following her and dropping to his knees, "I'm sorry! I was wrong! We only ask for a doctor! So please, save our friend!"

That seemed to have an effect on the armed men, many of them lowering their weapons in confusion over pirates practically submitting themselves to them and genuinely begging for their aid.

Yet there were many others that were still very wary about us and kept their weapons aimed at us, which me and Zoro responded via pressing our thumbs on our swords' tsuba, ready to pop them from their scabbards if they denied our captain's pleas.

After what I could only describe as a classic standoff, Dalton let out a sigh before waving his hand at his followers, "Everyone, stand down!"

With great reluctance, the armed men lowered their arms, and me and Zoro lowered our hands as I returned to my human form.

"My name is Dalton, Mayor of Bighorn." Dalton introduced himself, "Bring your friend and follow me; I will lead you all to my town."

"Th-Thank you!" Vivi cried out, before turning to Luffy, "See, Luffy? They understood us."

"Ye-Yeah!" Luffy nodded in awe, "You are amazing, Vivi!"

"But I must warn you. We only have one doctor here." The former royal guard informed us, "And she happens to be a witch."

That revelation had everyone turning to me with a pointed look, which had me nervously chuckling.

"Rein…?"

"…she's not an actual witch?"

…
To be continued…

Sup, everyone! Sorry for not updating this fic for a while. Had been focusing on my other fics, so this had been on the wayside for the time being.

So yes, we are approaching the Drum Kingdom arc, one of the more self-contained arc that mostly have some character development for Vivi and some growth for Luffy.

But there would be changes to this arc as per expected of any SI fic, so stay tuned for that!

With that, I thank you all for reading this!