Everyone rested for a while, and was just getting ready to head back to Alubarna when Rowan's snail phone suddenly rang.
Bloop bloop bloop...Bloop bloop bloop...
Click!
...
"..."
"Okay, I understand."
...
Click!
Rowan hung up the snail phone, turned his head, and said to the others, "There's a situation at the Fish-Man village, I need to go take a look."
The others were about to nod and follow, but Rowan stopped them.
"Things are pretty urgent, I'll be faster on my own, you guys head back to Alubarna first."
When he said "faster," he meant using the Sand-Sand Fruit's power to move at super speed through the desert, about ten times the speed of the land and sea turtle transport.
But Rowan didn't expect that Crocodile would tap his cigarette ash and suddenly say, "I'll go with you."
Rowan was surprised, "Aren't you going to Sky Island?"
"The airship doesn't leave for three days, there's plenty of time."
Crocodile gave a casual excuse, but then noticed Rowan was still staring at him, making him feel uncomfortable.
Fine, this old guy just wants to hear the truth, doesn't he?
Crocodile said with unusual "patience," "First, that dumb Marine is still in Nanohana, and I don't want to be watched by a Marine for three days. Second, anything that makes you rush must be interesting."
Rowan heard a real reason and nodded, "You've convinced me, come on."
Whoosh!
Rowan turned completely into sand, scattering with the wind.
Crocodile tapped his cigarette ash and his body did the same, turning into a sandstorm and closely following Rowan.
...
A few hours later, the two elemental beings saw the outline of Fish-Man village in the distance.
The two ended their elemental form one after the other, returning to their bodies, and then walked towards the Fish-Man village.
Almost there.
What exactly happened in Fish-Man village?
Crocodile narrowed his eyes and suddenly heard the roar of an engine nearby.
"Who's there?"
He turned his head and saw a thin, hook-nosed old woman with wrinkles all over her face, wearing a purple tracksuit, speeding towards them on a sand motorcycle from afar.
Woo...Woo! Boom!
The engine roared, the sand motorcycle sped up, jumped over a small dune, then did a beautiful half-circle in the air, and finally landed and braked.
The whole sequence was done in one smooth motion, and the sand motorcycle stopped steadily in front of Rowan and Crocodile.
That incredibly modern old woman was none other than the "witch" of Drum Island, Doctor Kureha!
"Hahaha, a sand motorcycle is just like a snowmobile to handle!"
Kureha lifted her sunglasses, her sharp eyes glancing at Rowan and Crocodile.
"What's wrong, do you want to know the secret to my eternal youth?"
Rowan nodded slightly, "No, thank you."
Crocodile frowned and muttered, "A showy old hag..."
Swish!
A wine bottle flew through the air and hit Crocodile on the head.
Half of Crocodile's head turned to sand, the wine bottle went into the sand, then passed through it and fell to the ground.
The one who threw the wine bottle was undoubtedly Kureha.
"Hahahaha, Crocodile kid, just kidding! Don't always frown, you'll get wrinkles!"
Kureha parked the sand motorcycle, laughed loudly, patted Crocodile on the shoulder, and walked towards the Fish-Man village first.
Seeing this, Crocodile frowned even deeper, but didn't bother fighting back; he could only feel helpless.
Kureha was, after all, their doctor; even though her personality was more like a pirate, there's no doubt that her medical skills were incredibly good, and that gave her the right to do as she pleased.
Doctors—especially ship doctors—are one of the most valuable resources on the sea.
But...
Why did Doctor Kureha come to Fish-Man village?
And judging from Rowan's reaction, he obviously already knew about it.
So, someone in Fish-Man village is injured?
No, ordinary injuries probably wouldn't make Kureha come herself; something must have happened!
With his doubts, Crocodile followed Rowan and Kureha into the Fish-Man village.
As soon as he entered, he saw a group of Fish-Men and humans surrounding two travelers, one big and one small, covered in dust.
An adult man and a little boy.
And on the little boy's face, several patches of patchy white spots were clearly visible.
Crocodile's eyes widened, and he was shocked—
Lead poisoning?!
...
"Make way!"
Kureha shouted, clearing a path for herself.
Then she walked up, lifted the little boy's cloak, and pinched his face and neck.
"No doubt about it."
Kureha's expression changed from relaxed to serious, and finally she made her decision:
"It's lead poisoning."
"Hiss!"
As soon as those words came out, some of the humans nearby gasped, and some even took a few steps back.
Seeing this, the man with the clown makeup immediately prepared to step forward.
Because he had seen this scene too many times.
Next, those people would probably cry out about some "contagious disease," and then run away in a panic, right?
Even worse, they might even attack them!
Ignorant fools...
Sure enough, someone immediately shouted, "It's a contagious disease!"
"Shut up!"--
The grown man wanted to say that, but before he could speak, he heard someone say the exact same thing to him.
It was that cool-looking old doctor woman.
Kureha looked at the human who was shouting, and scolded sharply, "Lead poisoning is not contagious, take back those stupid things you heard!"
"But everyone says so..."
"If the World Government said you were slaves, would you be slaves?"
Kureha's extremely sharp remark silenced all the discussion.
That's right, most of the residents of Fish-Man village had a past that they didn't want to talk about, not to mention that the most reliable doctor was right here; why believe those rumors?
"Don't be afraid, child, let me examine you carefully."
Kureha touched the boy's face, making the boy with the slightly sinister expression hesitate a little.
How long has it been?
How long had it been since he'd been touched like this on this journey?
What a kind old doctor woman...
She smelled of alcohol, but that was probably just the smell of alcohol.
...
Swish!
Kureha grabbed the boy's ankle and lifted him upside down.
Boy: "?"
I feel like throwing up...
After being treated so roughly when he was already weak, a feeling of nausea gradually rose, Kureha took the chance of grabbing the boy's wrist and pulling it hard.
Under the skin, there was a clear "foreign object sensation."
Kureha understood, and then put the boy, who almost threw up his lunch, back on the ground.
She was too lazy to explain that it was the fastest way to check the extent of a lead poisoning patient's infection!
The man next to him quickly asked, "Doctor, how is it?"
Kureha put on her sunglasses again and said calmly, "He's beyond help; he has about a month left to live."
"...Huh?"
The man couldn't believe his ears.
It was the first time he had seen a doctor who wasn't afraid of lead poisoning, so the man thought there was finally hope, yet he didn't expect to get such a cruel answer.
Reluctant, he asked tentatively, "You...you must have a way, right?"
"I told you, he's beyond help."
Kureha took a few gulps of her alcohol and said in a deep voice, "Lead poisoning is incurable."
"I... is that so? Thank you..."
The man was stunned for a moment and planned to take the boy away, but Kureha stopped him.
She said with emphasis, "There are only two ways a patient disappears in front of me: one is that the illness is cured, and the second is that they die!"
Swish!
As soon as those words came out, the man's face immediately turned angry.
He pulled out a dagger from his waist and aimed it at Kureha's shoulder.
The man didn't want to hurt the doctor in front of him, but just as the doctor said, the boy couldn't wait any longer and couldn't be left here for so-called "conservative treatment."
It seemed he had to look for that only hope!
The man thought the frail old doctor woman in front of him would dodge, but to his surprise, Kureha didn't move at all.
What he didn't expect even more was that his movements were forced to stop.
Because a sharp black blade was already resting on his neck!
"Ka shashasha..."
Behind the man, the black "soldier" turned its neck, making strange and creepy noises.
In the distance, the man wearing light gold armor stepped forward and came to Kureha and the man's side.
Rowan said with a smile, "When you're seeing a doctor, you have to listen to the doctor."
Then, the Sand Army's blade got closer to the man's neck.
Rowan's voice slowly came, "When you're a guest, you have to listen to the host."
The man's eyes moved; he never thought that he would meet such a terrifying expert in the first half of the Grand Line!
The black soldier's movements were so fast that he didn't even react!
The man frowned, "What do you want me to do?"
Rowan smiled, "First, how about introducing yourself?"
The man thought for a moment and said a title, "Corazon."
"No."
Rowan shook his head, "When you meet for the first time, you have to say your full name."
He first introduced himself, "I am Ryan Rowan, from the Four Seas Alliance."
As he spoke, the Sand Army put away its blade and put it back in its waist.
The man straightened his collar and looked at the person in front of him again.
Was this the Ryan Rowan from the [Golden Dawn] eight hundred years ago that was mentioned in the news reports?
If that was the case...
The man opened his right hand and a special film-like area covered him, the boy, Kureha, and Rowan.
This film could make sure that others couldn't hear their conversation.
That was one of the powers of a Devil Fruit.
The man made his expression serious, took off his hood, and revealed a face with clown makeup, but that looked extremely serious.
"My name is Rosinante—Donquixote Rosinante."
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