บท 205: It's Raining Men
"You're really going to announce to the whole island that Shirahoshi is coming outside for the first time in ten years? That's a security nightmare!" Cherry admonished the Minister of the Left. "At least wait until she's had a chance to enjoy her freedom before telling everyone who might do her harm, including Vander Decken, that she's leaving the safety of the palace!"
"Oh, yes you are correct. I was too excited. Perhaps we should sneak her out somehow?" The Minister of the Left pondered aloud.
"You should hide her in there!" Luffy said, pointing at the princess' pet shark, Megalo, whom he had accidentally saved from Surume's stomach.
"That's absurd, Luffy!" Cherry denied.
Neptune and the three princes nodded in agreement with Cherry's words.
"She wouldn't fit in his mouth. Gotta use one of Neptune's whales instead!" Cherry supplied.
Neptune and the three princes shook their heads in vehement disagreement with Cherry's words.
"Well you can't just put a wig on her! She's the biggest, most recognisable mermaid in your entire kingdom!" Cherry argued.
…
The royal family casually rode the royal gondola through the crowded streets on their way to see the late Queen Otohime's grave.
The fishpeople and merpeople all happily waved at them as they passed, but there were murmurs and mutterings amongst them as well.
"It's rare to see the King and all three princes together! We're so lucky!" One said.
"Yeah, but I wonder why those humans are with them? Plus, there's that giant mermaid. I wonder who she is?" Another said.
Cherry had a scowl on her face. She cursed under her breath, "Unbelievable. How can they be so stupid and blind?! It's just a damned wig!"
As Cherry said, Princess Shirahoshi had simply donned a black wig, changed up her attire to something less revealing and less royal, and a giant pair of groucho glasses to top it off.
"She must be a catfish mermaid. Look at those whiskers!" One of the townsfolk pointed out, receiving many voices of agreement.
"Thanks for giving us a lift, old fish dude! Hahahaha!" Luffy laughed.
"We're going to the same place in any case. Us to my beloved Otohime's grave and you to meet Jinbe. Both are at the Sea Forest." King Neptune said.
"Sanji-sama, are you alright?" Princess Shirahoshi asked quietly.
Sanji kept trying to strike up a conversation with her, but as soon as she would speak he would enter some sort of blissful trance for a few minutes.
"He's fine, Miss. He just, uh, likes you." Usopp said, trying not to spoil what little respect she might have for Sanji.
"At least we don't have to worry about the nose bleeds anymore." Chopper said, heaving a sigh. It was bad enough trying to fix up the crews near mortal wounds at times, he didn't want to have to hunt down a blood donor for something so silly as a nose bleed.
Cherry felt Vander Decken's mark activate again, so she kept an eye out for projectile weapons.
"aaaaaaaa"
"What's that sound?" Usopp asked.
"AaAaAaAaA"
"Is it getting closer?" Chopper asked.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
A human man flew through the air directly towards Cherry, who deftly caught him without worsening the injuries he was already riddled with.
"Why did Vander Decken throw a man this time?" Cherry asked.
The man shook his head as if to suggest he didn't know. Cherry didn't believe him.
"His injuries are quite bad, but he doesn't seem to be in any danger!" Chopper said, checking over the man as his doctor instincts kicked in.
"aaaaaaaaaa"
Hearing another distant scream, they knew there was something strange going on. Why would Vander Decken throw people? Were they meant to be assassins? If they were, then why were they so injured?
"You guys go on, Cabernet and I will deal with whatever the hell this is." Cherry said, hopping off of the gondola with Cabernet following soon behind after saying goodbye to Shirahoshi.
"I'll come with you! These men might need emergency treatment!" Chopper said, hopping off as well.
"So do you want to talk and be treated for your wounds, or are you going to tough it out whilst one of your flying-" Cherry caught the second man flying at her. "-friends gets all the benefits?"
The man looked frightened and conflicted. Several times while trying to decide what to do, he glanced towards the Ryugu Palace high above them.
'So he was meant to be in the palace, that makes sense since the intended target is Shirahoshi.' Cherry thought as she dragged the two men through the streets in search of a clinic better equipped to handle multiple patients.
The second man was also confused and frightened. He put up a weak struggle against Cherry's iron grip, but it was useless.
"There's a large clinic over here, Cherry!" Chopper called out after coming back from his search using Jumping Point to hop from rooftop to rooftop.
"Perfect timing, catch!" Cherry threw the first man at Chopper and caught the third out of the air.
Chopper caught the man, who yelped as he was tossed like a sack of potatoes, and rushed towards the clinic he found. Cherry and Cabernet followed behind.
The doctor and nurses at the clinic were willing to do emergency treatment at no cost for the men, which was fortunate for them.
"This one needs a blood transfusion, what's your blood type?" Chopper asked the third man.
"... XF…" The man said.
The fishman doctor looked relieved. "That's good, I just happen to have XF type human blood."
Chopper tilted his head in confusion. "Don't fishpeople and merpeople have the same blood types as humans?"
The doctor looked a bit startled before heaving a sigh. "It's a long story, but it's very frowned upon to give our blood to humans. It's silly, I know, but if I want to keep serving my community as a doctor, then I can't do mixed race blood transfusions or nobody will come here and I'll have to close up for good."
Chopper looked appalled at the idea, but he held his tongue. He wanted to criticize the doctor for potentially jeopardizing lives over something so foolish, but if what he said was true then he had little choice.
Cherry brought in a fourth and fifth man and laid them on beds before heading back towards the door. "They're coming in quicker now, you might run out of beds. I saw at least a dozen in the distance flying over."
"Ah, Cherry! We might need more human blood for them then, can you tell me yours and cabernet's blood types?" Chopper asked.
"Don't know, but don't bother. Our blood will kill regular people like these." Cherry said, which was true. She could regulate her vital energy to avoid overwhelming regular people when she gave some to them, but her cultivation enhanced blood would rip them apart from the inside at her current realm. "I'll send Cabernet to look for humans to donate blood."
Chopper didn't get why that would be the case, but he knew that Cherry and Cabernet weren't exactly normal so he didn't question it.
As Cherry caught more 'patients' and brought them inside, Cabernet flew around looking for humans to give donations. Thanks to her speed, she could cover a lot of ground in a short amount of time, so she did manage to find several humans willing to donate blood.
Their generosity was a bit surprising considering that pretty much every human on Fishman Island was a pirate. At least it was surprising until Cherry overheard one of them mention that Cabernet had promised to pay them. A promise that Cherry learned she had no intention to keep after asking over their mental link.
'Nami will be so proud of you.' Cherry sent to the lunarian shipwoman.
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