Chapter 24: Drum Kingdom
Going Merry
"How is she?" Luffy asked, concerned; standing close to Nojiko was Nami, who was waiting to see her temperature; she was worried sick but kept a brave face in front of her crew and sister. This reminded Nami of her childhood in a way; back then, it was Nojiko, the one who always put on a brave face and saved her from trouble.
Vivi was leaning against the wall, holding a newspaper in her hands, looking at it worriedly; it took all her willpower not to tear it apart. Her eyes almost shed tears as her mind read the title of the newspaper over and over again.
Usopp was outside with Zoro making sure nothing was in front of them; Nami had checked their direction just a moment ago to ensure they weren't going to sink the ship when she wasn't looking. Usopp was using binoculars while Zoro was cleaning his swords; they weren't exactly dirty with blood; he just wanted to force himself to do something in this situation. He hated that he couldn't help in this situation; all he could do was watch.
Sanji was in the kitchen; before going there, he said he would prepare something to help Nojiko; Nami told him to make soup with all kinds of vegetables.
The chef had simply nodded at her, giving Nojiko a quick glance before leaving the room.
Luffy kept a strong face, not showing any weakness, he would check on his Nakama every time he could, but that's all he could for now. The captain clenched his teeth in anger; he was the captain, and yet he could do nothing but watch; he was no doctor; he didn't know anything when it came to sickness or wounds.
Leaving out a tired sigh, he looked at Nami, undoubtedly worried even more than him. The captain was about to ask how Nojiko was doing when the navigator pulled out the thermometer.
Looking at the temperature, Nami gasped, her heart beating in her throat like a hammer. She knew her sister's temperature was high, but this was beyond what she had thought.
"104 temperature," Nami exclaimed, frowning; Vivi gasped at what she heard, her nails digging into the newspaper; Luffy, on the other hand, walked over to his Nakama, kneeling in front of her bed, putting his hand on her sweating forehead.
He started accumulating cold water on his palm, making sure to cool her head; while it wouldn't do much, it was better than nothing. Nami allowed herself to smile, seeing her captain so caring towards her sister. She always knew her captain had a big heart, but this was beyond what she had thought, and the navigator knew her captain wasn't faking it. She could see in his eyes that he was truthfully worried for her.
Pulling his hand away, Luffy was about to check on Sanji, seeing just how much longer it would take to prepare his soup when a cough was heard from Nojiko.
"Nojiko, how are you feeling?" Nami asked pleadingly, holding her hand with hers. The blue-haired barely opened half of her eyes, her vision all blurry; the first thing she noticed was orange hair; slowly, her vision got better, and she only then saw that it was Nami.
"How are you feeling?" Luffy asked, kneeling in front of her; Nojiko glanced at him before focusing on her sister again. She tried to remember what happened but couldn't; her head felt like the whole ship was on top of her, her throat felt dry, her skin was hurting, her eyes felt heavy, almost as if they would fall off at any moment, her lips felt dryer than a desert.
"W-wa-water" Luffy was quick to offer a glass full of water; grabbing the glass, he put it close to her lips before slowly allowing her to drink. Despite feeling fresh, every drop of water felt like a knife piercing her skin inside her throat, but she ignored all that.
Soon Luffy moved the glass away before again wetting her forehead and her face; Nojiko felt better already before her eyes found her sister's eyes again.
"W-wha-what Happened?"
Nami stood up; Nojiko still hadn't joined them to eat dinner; Luffy stopped eating as he had noticed something was off. The navigator excused herself as she left the restroom, reaching the woman's quarters.
She knocked on the door, waiting for an answer, not hearing anything. "Nojiko, are you there?" Nami asked warmly, again not hearing anything; fear started to creep in; opening the door, she soon found Nojiko lying on the ground.
"Nojiko" Nami screamed before rushing over to her sister.
Two Days Later
Nami was taking care of Nojiko, Luffy was leaning against the wall, and they had already decided to find a doctor as soon as possible, Nami had thought that Vivi might have an objection, knowing it would take longer for them to reach Alabasta now, but the princess had simply said that Nojiko needed their help.
Luffy heard the 'voice' of Vivi approaching them, and he could tell she was in distress. The door opened, revealing a pale-looking Vivi clutching a newspaper in her right hand.
"What is it?" Nami asked, confused; her eyes looked at the newspaper, wondering if there was any news from Alabasta.
Vivi walked inside before spreading the newspaper on a desk in the middle right of the room; Luffy walked up to her, reading the title.
Betrayal! Over 300,000 soldiers have betrayed the King to Join the Revolution. The situation on Alabasta escalate.
Luffy's eyes widened slightly at the sheer number of soldiers that had decided to join the Revolution. He knew many soldiers had already died when they decided to change sides, and many more would die when they brought the war to the King. This was one of the worst possible news for Vivi.
Sobbing, Luffy looked at the princess who was crying, her tears dripping down on the newspaper title, holding her mouth with her right hand.
"Vivi," Luffy said softly, putting an arm around her shoulder as she buried her head in his chest.
"I'm really sorry," Luffy apologized, he had no reason to, but he felt the need to say it. The princess shook her head against his chest, her cries muffled by his shirt.
"No, it is not your fault, that bastard Crocodile" Vivi glared furiously at the newspaper; how much she wished someone like that warlord would just die. People like him only bought more pain and suffering to achieve their goals, not caring how far they needed to go.
Luffy glanced at Vivi before his eyes moved to Nojiko; their sudden course change would delay Vivi's arrival in Alabasta, with that in mind.
"If you want to change direction-" "NO," Vivi quickly interjected him; with fire in her eyes, all the tears suddenly disappeared, the pain in her face he saw a moment ago now replaced with the look of a Princess warrior.
"We are still going to Drum Island; we need to heal Nojiko first," Vivi spoke, smiling at her captain before turning at Nami, who gave her a grateful look before turning to look at her sister.
"We are sailing towards Drum Island; there, we will find a doctor to help you" Nami recapped everything that had happened since she got sick. Nojiko instinctively looked at Vivi, who smiled at her.
Nojiko felt guilt building up in her; if only she had been more careful, they wouldn't be in this situation. "I'm really sorry everyone if only I haven" her words were shut down by Vivi shaking her head in denial.
"Don't worry, Nojiko, you're my friend and Nakama; if you get sick, we will go through hell and back to heal you. Alabasta can wait," Princess Vivi stated with a sincere tone.
Everyone smiled at her, appreciating her gesture. The door opened, revealing Sanji holding two plates with one arm, walking towards Nojiko.
"Good to see you awake," Sanji stated with heart eyes, putting the plates close to Nojiko; Nami grabbed a spoon, filling it with soup before helping her. Nojiko felt embarrassed by everything; she really hoped she could get better as soon as possible.
Luffy decided to walk outside for a moment, thinking the fresh air would do him good; opening the door, he glanced back at his Nakama.
"I hope you get better soon, Nojiko," Luffy said towards the girl who, despite her temperature, blushed, something only Nami noticed.
******
"Cold; It's Very Cold," Usopp complained before sneezing loudly; he was wearing a heavy coat to cover himself in hopes of getting warm, but it seemed not even that was enough to warm him.
Zoro was just looking in the front; unlike Usopp, he wasn't shivering; the gunman didn't know if Zoro really didn't feel the cold somehow, or he was just pretending that he wasn't cold; whatever it was, it was better than his situation.
"Can't we just arrive a bit faster?" Usopp asked no one in particular, seeing only endless sea on the horizon; Zoro just shrugged his shoulder with a groan.
Sighing, Usopp used the binoculars again to see; as he looked around, his eyes suddenly noticed something strange on the ocean; looking closely, his eyes widened behind the binoculars, seeing what could be described as a man standing on the surface of the water??!!
"Oj Zoro, take a look at this!" Usopp said, handing him the binoculars; the swordsmen just arched an eyebrow before looking in the direction where Usopp was pointing; it took only a second to see the same man.
"The hell?" Zoro exclaimed; he had seen many strange things since he joined Luffy, but this was new; at first, he wondered if this was some weird devil fruit, but he quickly remembered the sea hates devil fruit users.
"Are we both dreaming, perhaps?" Usopp asked, looking at Zoro before turning his attention to the man standing on water as if it was solid ground; the ship was sailing closer to the man.
"Don't know. I'm definitely not drunk; I haven't touched beer since Nojiko got sick," Zoro said before hearing a door opening from behind them.
Luffy walked towards them, standing beside Zoro and Usopp, who glanced at their captain before moving their attention back to the man.
"What's going on here?" Luffy asked, immediately noticing the man, the ship was much closer now, and everyone could see him without needing binoculars.
"He can stand on water; is this a devil fruit?" Usopp spoke first, still trying to wrap his head around the idea of a man being able to stand on water, but what Luffy said next cleared everything.
"He's not standing on water; I can detect multiple voices below the surface; it must be some kind of underwater ship or submarine; stand on your guard and wait for my Order," Luffy stated with a firm tone, his eyes narrowed at what could be below the strange man.
Zoro simply nodded his head, his hands on the hilt of his swords. Despite feeling nervous, Usopp swallowed and gathered whatever courage he had, gripping his gun, ready to fire; he didn't want to be a coward.
Soon the ship stopped in front of the man who was clearly shivering due to the cold temperature, the individual in question was dressed in a green-blue checkered jester outfit with purple lining at the ends of the sleeves. His slacks were a dark green color. He was also wearing a light-brown bow and an arrow quiver, as well as a white winter cloak with purple lining tied across his chest. He looked to have a continuously melancholy expression on his face, which was rendered almost funny by his wavy lips.
"Quite a cold day, wouldn't you say so," the man said, rubbing his hands against each other, trying to warm them. The only answer he got from the pirate crew was a simple shrug from the swordsmen.
"Not really; the cold never bothered me," Luffy said, knowing this cold temperature was nothing to him; his devil fruit made him immune to cold and warm temperatures, but that didn't mean he couldn't get frozen or burned.
The man looked genuinely surprised to hear the young man state the cold temperature didn't bother him.
"Quite a nice ship you got there; how many people are in your little group?" The man asked with interest before licking his lips, which sent red flags.
"Why does it matter to you? Now I would appreciate it if you and your little group below the sea moved out of the Way," Luffy ordered firmly; the man's eyes widened before shouting.
"Let's Do This"
Suddenly the water moved harshly around Going Merry, causing the ship to rock back and forth.
Inside the ship, Nami lost her patience, wondering what was going to make this ship move like this. Barely making it to the door, Vivi had already fallen on the floor due to losing her balance and waiting until the ship stopped moving around; her companion was trying to keep Nojiko on the bed, not wanting her to fall off the bed in this condition.
The ship that caused the water to erupt was plainly a ship with a gourd-like look and a massive mast protruding from the top. The strange ship's metal'shell' parted to expose a circular, wooden body with various clanking and clanging noises. Hundreds of soldiers, all dressed in the same uniform, peered down at them from the other ship.
Sanji slammed the kitchen door open, glaring at everyone. "What Is going on here?" He shouted before noticing the many guns pointed at them; Sanji just glanced at them knowing they were nothing but small fish; even Zeff would easily kick them to oblivion.
"What the heck is going on here? Who are you, people?" When the sounds of rifles cocking reached Nami's ears, her enraged rant came to an end. Her eyes went wild at them; her sister was in critical condition, and they didn't have time to waste with little fish like them. "Go away, or I will burn you all to crisp," Nami promised with a tone that clearly indicated that she wasn't joking around.
A burst of loud laughter was heard by who everyone knew immediately was apparently the captain of these clowns.
His hair was dark violet, and he had a tin-plate cylinder-shaped jaw. He was clad in tinplate armor and a hooded cloak fashioned of what seemed to be a hairy hippo. The chubby guy wore thick brown gloves as well. His lower half was covered by a pair of purple and orange woolen shorts with a brown belt around his waist and heavy short boots on his feet.
He was also chewing a hefty chunk of flesh off a blade. That he then ate after biting it in half!
"It hurts just by looking at it," Usopp screamed in cringe, seeing the other man eating a blade before he ate the whole knife, chewing it as if it was delicious and not a piece of metal. Everyone quickly realized that it was some Devil Fruit power. But no one except Zoro, Sanji, and Nami noticed the dark clouds accumulating above the ship before several thunder strikes hit the ocean around them.
The captain Wapol of the pirate ship simply ignored the thunderstorm as he gazed at the crew in front of him; they didn't look much, perhaps just rookies; this must be his lucky day.
"Only five; there must be more," He said, eyeing the ship; he was still a bit hungry; perhaps the ship and the male members of the pirate crew would do for now.
"Is just eight of us, now would you kindly leave us alone? We are in a hurry here," Luffy spoke as lighting danced around his fingertips, his eyes covered by his straw hat. Zoro was patiently waiting for the captain's order, ready to cut them down like flies.
Sanji simply put a cigarette in his mouth, inhaling it, ready to kick everyone's ass.
Nami was losing her patience; why wasn't Luffy just giving the order to kill these idiots? Her sister was sick. Her fingertips slowly started imitating red fire, her skin slowly turning to gold.
The captain of the other pirate ship ignored the straw hat boy, his finger on his teeth, cleaning them.
"Do you have a log pose towards Drum Island?" He asked, looking at each one; he didn't even bother to wait for an answer before giving an order.
"My man take everything valuable from this ship, including that woman, and if you find any like her. Keep them alive," he shouted, grinning at Nami, who didn't look frightened by what he said, which started to piss him off.
Sighing, Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Before we kill all of you, I have one question. Do you have any doctors on your ship?" Luffy asked, eyeing each member, everyone he saw looked nothing like a doctor, especially the captain, who looked like a pig wearing Armor.
Wapol didn't expect that question; he had expected and wanted for them to start begging for their pointless lives, not that he would actually spare them. But knowing he had a chance to show how mighty he was compared to them...
"Of course we have; I have the best doctors from the Drum Kingdom, the best of the best. They're inside the ship," Wapol boasted with a burst of laughter, not noticing the deadpan look of every straw hat except Luffy, who cleared his throat, raising his hand, which was engulfed in lightning.
"Very well. Guys, kill everyone except the Doctors," Luffy ordered; Zoro smirked before unsheathing his swords; twenty men that had surrounded him didn't even have time to react before Zoro cut them down.
Sanji wasn't far behind as he kicked seventeen of them, crushing their skulls with his feet.
Nami smirked before both of her arms turned to gold, fourteen men who had surrounded her pulled the triggers of their guns, but she had already jumped above them, glaring at them, making all of them freeze in fear.
"Hell Fire" Nami shouted, moving her wings, sending a wave of fire at them, who tried to run before being engulfed by the flames; the temperature of the flames turned all of them to ash in seconds.
Usopp quickly aimed precisely at their heads, killing nine of them almost immediately.
Wapol was horrified, seeing his man fall like insects. "H-How dare you Fight Back" he shouted angrily; his eye noticed one of them had his back turned to him. He smirked before trying to kill the one with a long nose, but he didn't even take a single step before Luffy lowered his hand engulfed in lightning, resulting in a lightning bolt hitting Wapol right in the chest.
"King Wapol"
"CAPTAIN"
The ones still alive screamed in horror, seeing their King with a smoking hole on his chest, the armor around his chest, near the hole had started melting like ice, his cloth had caught ablaze, smoke coming out from his chest, and mouth. Falling on the water, Dead.
Luffy didn't stop as he jumped at the enemy ship, surrounded by at least fifty men, his eyes analyzing them. Using his Observation Haki, Luffy noticed at least twenty people below the deck, and he could tell they were very weak to be fighters of the ship; Luffy soon concluded they must be the doctors the idiot captain mentioned.
"Kill Him"
"Take Revenge for Our King"
"No Mercy"
They left out war cries as fifty men ran towards Luffy, knowing they could overrun him with numbers.
Simply raising his hand, he created a lightning field around him, making everyone that was ten meters close get electrocuted with 100k voltage; more than thirty men fell on the wooden floor dead, their eyes white as smoke was coming out of their mouths.
"Please Show us Mercy," the rest begged, falling on their knees in front of Luffy, whose face didn't change in the slightest; he didn't care that they were begging for mercy; they all were in a big hurry to threaten his ship and Nakama.
"Where are the doctors?" Luffy demanded with a dark look, his face making them pale even more. To all of them, Luffy was no ordinary pirate but the devil himself, who was here to make sure they paid for their sins.
"Below the deck, we have twenty doctors, the best of the best," one answered immediately, his voice shaky, hoping that the pirate captain would spare them, still on his knees, and so were everyone else.
Luffy narrowed his eyes at them before deciding just to get the doctors; seeing the door that possible lead below the deck, Luffy walked forward, past the pirates who were still on their knees; seeing the pirate captain with his back turned on them, seven of them rose to their feet immediately with a war cry, with knives on their hands.
Luffy didn't move as the knives penetrated his skin; the pirates smiled in satisfaction; at least they got their revenge for what happened to their king, but their smirks turned to looks of horror as they noticed the body where their knives had struck had turned to dark clouds.
Before they could even process the danger they were in, Luffy murmured under his breath. "Idiots" with that, the electricity spread everywhere around him, killing every last pirate left; seeing all of them fall one by one didn't give Luffy satisfaction, but this was a pirate's life.
The moment he decided to put the flag on his ship, he had signed up for everything that a pirate's life would give him. Adventure, Danger, Risk of Death, Risk of being rotten in prison somewhere, risk of betrayal, everything.
"Luffy, I understand you want to be a pirate, but always remember the life of the pirate is not all laughter and games; the time will come when you have to make hard decisions as a Captain. I hope you are ready when that day comes."
Shank's words ringed in his ears like bells, deciding to ignore that thought for now. Luffy went to the room where the doctors were supposed to be, kicking the door open; inside were twenty men wearing different outfits than the rest of their crew. Wearing transparent gloves.
"Who are you?"
"Where's King Wapol?
"What did you do to the rest of the Crew?"
Luffy ignored them as he took a step forward, making all of them take a step back; some stumble and fall to the floor.
"Your king is dead, and so is the rest of your crew. You are doctors, right?" Luffy asked with an icy tone, the room itself was getting colder with his presence.
The doctor's eyes widened at what they heard; some were relieved to hear that, and some weren't sure how to feel now that their king was dead. One of them, despite being scared, took a step forward.
"Yes, Sir, we are all doctors. We are from the Drum Kingdom," The doctor informed him, knowing there must be a reason the pirate hadn't killed them yet.
"Good, I have a sick Nakama; your job is to cure her. Refuse, and I will sink your ship with you on it," Luffy promised, his tone alone showing he wasn't making an empty threat. The doctors gulped at the ultimatum before nodding, ready to help the pirate captain.
Back at Going Merry, the crew had already dealt with all of them; Nami was waiting for Luffy to come out of the enemy ship, Zoro was cleaning his swords, but they could tell he was keeping an eye on the enemy ship.
Usopp was reloading his guns, making sure to be ready if he needed to fight again; the gunman couldn't help but feel pride for himself; in his eyes, he was getting stronger and braver; he could imagine it right now. The face Kaya would make when he would tell her about all the adventures he had with his Pirate Crew, his thoughts stopped when Luffy came out of the ship followed by twenty men, one glance was enough to tell that all of them were doctors.
"Follow me, the others; we need to keep sailing towards Drum Island," Luffy ordered his crew; the bodies left were soon thrown overboard; Usopp had started cleaning the blood. Sanji was in the kitchen preparing food for the newcomers, knowing they might be hungry later.
*********
"Luffy, are you okay?" Vivi asked, seeing her friend walk inside the room. The straw hat gave her a reassuring smile before stepping inside, followed by twenty people, Vivi was confused, but knowing Luffy, she knew there must be a reason why these people were here.
"There she is," Nami simply said towards Nojiko, who was sleeping. The doctors were quick to check on her. Nami was anxious; she hoped they would be able to help her; she felt a hand on her shoulder; knowing it was Luffy; she leaned back, resting her head on his shoulder.
Soon the doctors were finished, and the one who looked to be in charge turned to look at the captain.
"We can't tell what's her sickness; her symptoms are very similar to a common cold; but we can't tell what exactly she has," the doctor spoke, his face getting paler as he spoke, the rest weren't better, starting to shake when they saw the captain's face turn cold like ice.
"We can give her something to help her, but it won't cure her, only give her more time," one was quick to add, fearing the captain would kill them where they stood. Nami grabbed Luffy's hand tightly, hoping to ease his anger; even Princess Vivi could tell Luffy was angry.
The leader soon thought of something to save them from the captain's wrath. "You said in the deck you were sailing towards Drum Island. If you go there fast enough, you can save her. There's a doctor there who can help her; Kureha; she's the best doctor in the Drum Kingdom; if anyone can save your Nakama is her," he stated, hoping what he said would help them.
Luffy somehow sighed in relief; there was still hope to help Nojiko. "Very well, take care of her. We will soon reach Drum Island," Luffy ordered; the doctors sighed in relief, the color of their faces finally coming back. Nami relaxed, looking at her sister, hoping she would survive.
Later
Vivi was standing on the bow of the ship, near the figurehead of Going Merry, thinking of her home; she was worried; knowing this change, of course, would delay her arrival in Alabasta; but she didn't regret it, Nojiko needed help, and she would be a horrible person to deny her help.
They had already saved her countless times; if it weren't for them, she would already be dead by now.
Her companion stood close to her, smiling. She pets his head, looking at the future with hope. "We will soon return home, and Crocodile won't be a problem anymore."
"That's right," a voice spoke behind her; turning around, the princess saw the captain walking towards her before putting a hand on her shoulder, hoping to ease her worries.
"Don't worry, Princess; as soon as Nojiko is cured, we will sail to Alabasta. I will personally deal with Crocodile and free your country," Luffy promised.
Vivi couldn't help but blush at his words; looking away, hoping he wouldn't notice, she put her hand over his.
"Thank you, Luffy."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone