Arriving at Drum Island
Back on the Going Merry, Sanji lit himself a cigarette while watching Wapol's crew sailing away with an annoyed expression on his face.
"What a waste of time. Rather than dealing with those weirdos, I would rather look for a doctor."
"Yeah, we really need to find a doctor."
"Waiting until we reach Arabasta might take too long."
"Yeah, we need to look for a doctor."
"I just kidnapped a doctor."
"I'm the kidnapped doctor."
"Oh? So Yuna-chwan kidnapped a doctor."
"She kidnapped a doctor."
"That's good, right?"
"Yeah, that's good."
""""..."""""
""""YUNA KIDNAPPED A DOCTOR!?""""
"I did~"
"I got kidnapped~."
Suddenly, all eyes landed on Yuna, who had returned to the Going Merry without anybody noticing. As soon as everyone's gaze landed on Yuna, they also noticed the older man dressed in doctor gear behind her, dumbfounding all of them.
"Well, since that Wurpool guy or whatever his name was had such a large ship, I figured that there should be a doctor or two on board, so I went in there and fetched one."
Everyone continued looking at Yuna, utterly dumbfounded, but after realizing what was actually going on, a beaming smile appeared on Luffy's face.
"Shishishi, great! Really awesome, Yuna!"
"AS EXPECTED OF YUNA-CHWAN~"
"AMAZING!!!"
"Kidnapped? Can we really trust that doctor?"
While Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp couldn't help but shower Yuna in praises, Zoro was skeptical due to how Yuna got her hands on the doctor. Obviously, someone who was "forcefully recruited" wasn't exactly trustworthy. However, the doctor had something to say to that as well, as he lowered his protective mask with a wry smile on his face.
"I can see how you doubt my intentions, but I can guarantee you that I was not part of Wapol's ship by choice. The greatest ambition in my life is saving people, and the only reason why I followed Wapol was that the other option would have been death. A dead doctor can't save anybody, so I had no other choice but to follow Wapol."
Seemingly satisfied with the answer, Zoro nodded his head. Although he might not have the insane instincts like Luffy, which allowed him to judge other people's characters with almost animal-like instincts, he still could feel the sincerity behind the doctor's words.
Seeing that there were no more problems, Yuna clapped her hands together to draw everyone's attention.
"That being the case, let's have our temporal crew member take a look at Nami, and then let's see what we'll do from there."
"After everyone agreed, the doctor was quickly guided to where Nami was sleeping, and after taking some of her blood and doing a few other tests, a grave expression appeared on the doctor's face, which immediately gave everyone a bad feeling.
"Can you help her?"
Hearing Luffy's question, the doctor briefly paused before shaking his head.
"Your crew mate is suffering from the Five-Day Disease. It's a rare sickness that existed in ancient times. Yuna has already told me what the last island you visited was like, so I'm pretty sure my diagnosis is correct.
That being said, the sickness itself isn't that hard to heal, but the problem is that I don't have the necessary medicine. As I said, It's an ancient disease, so I don't have any medicine for it in stock."
Instantly, the mood turned sour, causing the doctor to flinch a little. After all, this was still a pirate crew, so who knew what they would do to him if he wasn't any help? However, before anyone else could comment on the situation, Yuna started speaking.
"Five-Day Disease, is it? I assume it isn't called that because it goes away after five days?"
The mood turned even worse as the doctor lowered his head. He briefly considered not answering that question but saw no point in doing so.
"Indeed. It's called like that because the one catching the sickness will die after five days."
"WHAT!?"
"DIE!?"
"THAT CAN'T BE!!!"
"Silence!"
While some people started panicking, Yuna's voice cut through the panic like a knife through hot butter, her voice carrying immense authority with it.
"There is no point in panicking now. What can we do, doctor?"
Frankly, as a last-ditch afford, Yuna could give the Natural Energy she had amassed so far to Nami in an attempt to strengthen her body to some degree to make it possible to combat the disease by herself. Unlike Yuna, who already had quite a strong body, Nami's was rather fragile, so that might actually boast her vitality quite a bit, allowing her to do so. However, such a method could lead to quite nasty consequences as well, so Yuna would prefer only to make that kind of move if there were absolutely no other options left.
Feeling everyone's gazes on him, without getting the feeling that he was being blamed for not being able to help Nami, the doctor took a deep breath, realizing that this pirate crew was rather different from a normal pirate crew.
"There is still something we can do, although it's a bit of a long shot. On Drum Island, my home island, there is a very old female doctor called Doctor Kureha. She has been practicing medicine for well over 100 years, and there is a good chance that she has the necessary medicine in stock. Additionally, even if she doesn't, there is a good chance that she has some alternate method to help your crewmate.
Unfortunately, for that to work, we have to find Drum Island first. As you have undoubtedly heard, Wapol has been looking for Drum Island as well, so I'm pretty sure it's somewhat close by, but I have no idea where exactly it is."
Realizing that there was hope, the Straw Hats exhaled in relief as a cunning expression appeared on Yuna's face.
"Drum Island? Is it a winter island?"
Considering it has been snowing for a while now, Yuna couldn't only assume that the island they were looking for was covered in snow, which would make the search much easier.
"Mhh? Yeah, it's an island that is always covered by snow. Although it has four seasons, even during summer, the snow doesn't go away."
"Good, I can work with that."
Unaware of what Yuna was planning, everyone watched her leave the room with curiosity shining in their eyes. Luffy quickly followed her outside and instantly saw her sitting cross-legged in the middle of the deck. He wanted to ask her what she was doing but decided not to do so for now. He might be an airhead, but he could at least tell if the situation was serious.
Around a minute later, Yuna opened her eyes with a smirk on her face.
"Sanji, adjust our course; I'll tell you where we need to go."
Although Sanji had no clue how Yuna suddenly knew where he presumed they could find the next island, he nonetheless listened to her.
Well, frankly speaking, if the island they were looking for wasn't a winter island, there was very little Yuna could do. However, finding a place that was permanently covered in snow and ice? That was rather easy for Yuna, even if it was within the chaotic waters of the Grand Line. As long as the island wasn't too far away, she was confident that she could figure out its location from the presence of thick ice on it alone.
Although everyone wondered what Yuna was doing, seeing the confident smile on her face, no one bothered arguing with her. Although she enjoyed causing chaos, no one doubted how real she was when it actually counted.
So, after only around an hour of sailing, an island actually appeared on the horizon, causing everyone's eyes to shine with anticipation.
"I can't believe it; we actually managed to find Drum Island that easily without a Log Pose."
Hearing the confirmation that they had indeed found Drum Island from the freshly kidnapped doctor, the rest of the crew started cheering, while the doctor couldn't help but give Yuna a closer look.
'Who the hell is she, and how did she do that? How can she find her way through the Grand Line without using a Log Pose?'
A shiver went through the old doctor's spine. He felt like today he might have witnessed one of the first steps of someone who would turn out to be a rather outragous character in the future.
Anyway, the crew quickly found a path, allowing them to sail further inland. However, as they were looking for a place to dock their ship, the atmosphere tensed.
"Pirates, stop right there and turn your vessel around. You are not welcome here!"
A burly man easily over two meters tall and a bunch of other people carrying rifles appeared, telling the Straw Hat crew to leave. Additionally, Yuna could feel that the tall man had eaten a Devil fruit that felt slightly similar to Luffy's but gave off a completely different vibe at the same time.
'I really need to get a bigger sample size in regards to Devil Fruits. That smoke guy and the one who blocked his path in Louge Town felt somewhat similar. The Devil Fruit of the slippery lady and the clown guy also felt similar to each other. Thinking about it, the guy with the cum-cum fruit and bogey dude felt similar to those two as well.
This is the first time I have noticed a Devil Fruit that feels somewhat similar to Luffy's, but considering how diverse the abilities I have seen so far are, I really wonder why some of them feel similar and some don't. How fascinating! I really hope to get a chance to witness what kind of Devil Fruit this guy has, as that might shine some light on how Devil Fruits are categorized.
Unaware of Yuna's thoughts, Luffy immediately started arguing that they weren't here to cause trouble but to find a doctor, which the people surrounding them dismissed instantly as a mere trap so people would let their guard down.
However, none of the crew was really bothered by people pointing guns at them. This immediately made the people watching the Straw Hat pirates more nervous, resulting in one of them firing a warning shot that only missed because Sanji moved his foot away in time.
"Oi, what do you think you are doing, you bastard."
Naturally, Sanji wasn't happy about being shot at, so he stepped forward aggressively and intimidated the people surrounding them further. Vivi, trying to handle the situation diplomatically, stepped in between Sanji and the rest of the crowd in an attempt to calm everyone down, but at that point, the tension was already too high, resulting in another gunshot.
Initially, the gun was pointed at Sanji, but now that Vivi stepped in between him and the crowd, the bullet was flying at her.
However, before the bullet could hit Vivi, two fingers caught the bullet in midair only a few centimeters before it could penetrate Vivi's shoulder.
"Now, now, how about we all come down a little."
The one who caught the bullet was Yuna, who clearly wasn't happy due to someone attempting to shoot Vivi, even if it wasn't intentional. That being said, after casually tossing away the bullet she had just caught, she snapped her fingers. Initially, the people surrounding the Going Merry were confused as to why she had done that, but seconds later, they realized what had just happened. Without anyone realizing how, the muzzles of all of their riffles were frozen shut, effectively turning their guns into nothing more than clubs.
"I'll put this bluntly: our little crew has a combined bounty of over 50 Million Berry, and if you want to play with fire, then be my guest. If you are confident that you can repel us with rifles that are no longer useable, then I don't mind teaching you a lesson in humility, but that is not what we are here for.
One of our crew mates is sick, and we heard that a very skilled doctor named Doctor Kureha is on this island. As long as you don't block our path, we won't cause any trouble. We'll look for that doctor, have our comrade treated, and then we'll leave.
Of course, if you insist on blocking our path... hehehe~"
Suddenly, dense bloodlust started oozing out of Yuna, causing most of the people present to flinch while taking multiple steps back. Of course, Yuna was mostly bluffing and didn't plan to do anything bad to a bunch of civilians who just wanted to keep their island safe, but a bit of intimidation usually went a long way, so she might as well go for it.
"Enough!"
Suddenly, the tall man with the Devil Fruit stepped forward. Although Yuna had already assumed him to be the leader, him not flinching away from her blood lust cemented that opinion in Yuna's mind.
"It's clear that we are at a huge disadvantage here, but despite shooting at you, you have not attacked us back, making your intentions rather clear. I hope you forgive us for attacking first and hope that we can solve everything peacefully."
The moment the man stopped talking, Yuna's bloodthirsty auro vanished like it had never existed, as her ferocious facial expression was quickly replaced with a small smile.
"Very well, I knew you people would be sensible~"
Seeing how quickly Yuna switched her attitude, the large man could only shake his head. Frankly, if it was only Yuna's words, he might still have some doubts about the Straw Hat crew, but after taking a closer look at the crew and seeing the woman with blue hair styled into a ponytail, he couldn't help but think of a certain princess he met quite a long time ago.
'Is that really Princess Vivi? Why is she part of a pirate crew?'