The sky gradually darkened.
After Madam Emily suddenly fainted, the Straw Hat crew immediately brought her back to her merchant ship, and a certain reindeer doctor naturally followed along without hesitation.
Inside the Captain's Quarters of the Napo
"How is my mommy doing, little raccoon dog?"
Gazing at Madam Emily, who lay unconscious on the medical bed, a cute boy of about eight or nine with sea-blue eyes asked softly, his somewhat chubby little face filled with anxiety.
He was Madam Emily's only son, Napo—a bratty kid with a high talent for sharpshooting. However, seeing his mother in this state, even the brattiest of kids wouldn't have the heart to cause trouble.
"Doctor, what was your previous diagnosis for her?" Chopper didn't answer right away. Instead, he turned to an old ship doctor standing nearby, who wore a white lab coat and sported a goatee.
In a rare turn of events, the little reindeer didn't immediately snap back that he was a reindeer and not a raccoon dog. At this moment, he was holding up a test tube containing a sample of Madam Emily's blood, his furry face wearing an unprecedentedly serious expression.
"Sigh... This is an old ailment of Madam Emily's."
The old doctor sighed. After reminiscing for a moment, he continued, "Even before Young Master Napo was born, Madam Emily's health had always been poor. She suffers from a strange disease that flares up intermittently, and if she experiences even the slightest shock or stress, she faints."
"It's likely a hereditary blood disease. Fortunately, Young Master Napo didn't inherit it."
"A shock? Is Madam Emily terrified of cats?" Chopper asked in surprise.
"No, what she fears are blood-red eyes. She might have experienced some kind of trauma in the past."
Stroking his beard, the old ship doctor said regretfully, "It really is a pity. Madam Emily and her husband were such kind-hearted people, yet one met an early grave, and the other has been constantly tormented by this bizarre illness..."
"Mommy..." Napo held his mother's hand, tears flowing uncontrollably down his face.
"A strange disease? My guess is that it's not a disease at all..."
After adding a few medicinal powders to the test tube, Chopper stared intently with his round deer eyes at the blood sample. The viscous blood instantly took on a bewitching, unnatural hue.
"Madam Emily was poisoned many years ago! And it's a type of chronic blood toxin!"
Meanwhile, on the Going Merry with the Straw Hat Crew
"Sigh... I wonder if that elegant, beautiful lady is doing alright now," Sanji muttered absentmindedly, slumped over the table with a cigarette dangling from his lips.
Although they had only just met, Madam Emily's distinct, charming aura as a mature woman had easily captured the love-struck cook's heart. Well, to be precise, this guy's heart was constantly being effortlessly captured by beautiful women of all walks of life...
"Sanji, isn't it a bit inappropriate to swoon like that?"
Usopp rubbed his long nose. "She's a married woman, you know. Even if her husband passed away, she still has an eight-year-old son."
"Tch, so what? In my code of chivalry, as long as they are a woman, they are someone I must protect!" Sanji declared with an expression of absolute righteousness.
"Idiot," Zoro muttered mercilessly under his breath, before returning to wiping down his beloved swords with blade oil.
"There shouldn't be anything to worry about on her end; Chopper's medical skills are incredible."
Nami ruffled her short orange hair in irritation, leaving it a messy tangle. "The ones we should be worrying about right now are ourselves! Seriously, how did we blindly get dragged into this mess again?!"
The navigator was no fool. On the contrary, she was exceptionally sharp.
Considering the rules laid down by Oswald, the other party's desperate eagerness to have the Straw Hats accept the Canary Trading Company's compensation made it glaringly obvious: they were eyeing Luffy and the others' combat strength, planning to use them as a shield.
"Hehe, relax, Miss Navigator."
Robin sat leisurely, holding a steaming cup of coffee while stroking Bestia's fur, and smiled at Nami. "Hasn't it always been like this before? Even though things happen suddenly, we always manage to turn danger into safety in the end."
Nami stared blankly at the calm, subtly wicked woman, blinking her eyes. "You really are calm, Robin."
Robin smiled without a word. After spending so much time together, she had long grown accustomed to the Straw Hat crew's antics.
"Don't worry, I'll protect both of you! Nami-san, Robin-chan!" The love-struck cook hastily chimed in.
"Right, right, thanks, Sanji." The orange-haired navigator shook her head and looked around, only to realize that two people were missing from the cabin.
"Strange. Where are Luffy and Sherlock?"
Shifting Focus, Inside the Cargo Hold of the Napo
"Meat! So much delicious meat!" Luffy's eyes sparkled as he stared at the premium beef displayed inside the freezers.
(Just how long has it been since this guy last ate? And seriously, how can a Straw Hat with a bounty over a hundred million act like this...)
Shuraiya looked askance at the ecstatic Straw Hat foodie pressing his face against the glass, inwardly screaming in disbelief. He genuinely felt that if the freezer glass weren't in the way, this straw-hat-wearing guy would probably eat the beef raw.
"Is this beef your entire cargo?" Sherlock stood at an elevated spot in the hold, looking down at the neatly arranged rows of freezers.
The hold of the Napo was massive. By the bespectacled man's conservative estimates, even half a hold of this beef would be enough to feed all the residents of a medium-sized town for over a month. However, for the Straw Hat crew—especially with a bottomless pit like Luffy around—it probably wouldn't last three weeks.
"Yes," Shuraiya nodded as he stood to the side. "Stardew Island's beef is highly famous. Even though our Canary Trading Company set out a month in advance, we only managed to secure one cargo ship's worth."
"We originally planned to buy some milk as well, but that fellow with the long earlobes asked for an absolutely absurd price. He actually wanted to trade milk for gold at a one-to-one ratio!"
At this point, Shuraiya let out a furious, scoffing laugh. "It's ridiculous! Is that bastard trying to build a ship made of solid gold?"
"Long earlobes?" Sherlock's brows furrowed slightly. Suddenly, a figure carrying four drums on his back, crackling with lightning, flashed across his mind.
(Come to think of it, where did that God of Thunder from Skypiea go after being blasted away by Luffy?)
Sherlock shook his head, pushing aside these strange thoughts. He proceeded to ask Shuraiya a few questions regarding current commodity prices. The youth in the fedora, naturally, held nothing back from the benefactor who had indirectly helped him exact a great revenge.
"I see. How interesting..."
After gathering enough information, Sherlock gently pushed up his glasses. As a successful trading company president, it took him only a few breaths to clearly calculate the Canary Trading Company's profit margins for this trade run.
The conclusion he reached was stark: after compensating the Straw Hat Pirates with half a hold of beef and factoring in the exorbitant membership fees for Penguin, the Canary Trading Company would suffer an absolute, crippling loss on this voyage unless they sold the remaining beef at the price of gold.
No merchant is truly honest, and no honest man is a merchant; maximizing profit is simply what a businessman does. Having been a merchant himself, Sherlock knew this all too well.
Madam Emily was no fool. There was no reason she wouldn't have anticipated the exact problems Sherlock was considering. Based on her various unusual behaviors earlier, the bespectacled man deduced three conclusions:
The Canary Trading Company must have run into trouble.
They were currently about a day's voyage away from Hannabal, meaning trouble would arrive very soon.
The Canary Trading Company's cargo this time was definitely not as simple as just a ship full of beef. That [Hidden Cargo] was likely the root cause of the impending trouble.
(So, what exactly is the Canary Trading Company's [Hidden Cargo]? It must be worth a king's ransom.)
(What a pity Madam Emily fainted. I have no way of questioning her right now.)
BZZZZZZ! Suddenly, a piercing horn echoed across the Napo, instantly escalating the tension in the air.
"What's going on? Is it time for a banquet?" Luffy looked up in confusion, adjusting his straw hat.
"That's the Napo's emergency alarm!"
Shuraiya nearly coughed up a pint of blood upon hearing that. With a pale, grim face, he explained to the two, "When this alarm sounds, it means we've encountered a massive wave of enemies!"
With that, Shuraiya hurriedly dashed out of the hold.
"Oh? They got here fast." Rather than being alarmed, Sherlock was pleased. He gently pushed up his glasses, the clear lenses reflecting two cold flashes of light.
For the Sorcerer knew that the ones who could answer his question had already arrived.
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