Chapter 368: Threatening Treatment

Chapter 368: Chapter 368: Threatening Treatment

Chapter 368: Threatening Treatment

Teach paused for a moment before a wide grin spread across his face.

"We’re done running."

The others looked toward him.

"It’s time to fight back."

Laffitte tilted his head slightly, curiosity flickering across his pale features.

"Fight back?"

"That’s right."

Teach laughed, dark eyes gleaming with absolute confidence.

"The signal for our counterattack against Whitebeard has already been sounded."

Laffitte’s smile remained unchanged.

"I look forward to seeing how that unfolds."

Jesus Burgess slammed a fist against his chest.

"So we finally get to fight?"

His excitement immediately boiled over.

"I’m sick of sneaking around!"

Without thinking, he hurled the huge bundle over his shoulder into the air.

Whoosh!

The bundle shot upward with enough force to create a sharp sonic boom.

Burgess froze.

Teach froze.

Everyone looked up.

Burgess slowly remembered what he had just thrown.

"Uh... Captain."

His expression became awkward.

"Sorry. I got excited and threw the treasure."

"You idiot!"

Teach’s face twisted in genuine fury.

"That’s treasure!"

"Think before you throw things!"

A few seconds later, the bundle plummeted back down.

Boom!

It smashed into the street, creating a crater several dozen centimeters deep.

The heavy cloth split open, spilling gold, jewelry, and other valuables across the ground.

Teach’s anger immediately eased once he saw the treasure was still there.

Burgess hurried toward a nearby clothing shop to find something new to wrap it in.

Van Augur remained calm.

Unlike Burgess, he was not swept up by excitement.

As a sniper, he relied on observation and judgment, and from what he understood of the current situation, their strength was nowhere near enough to challenge the Whitebeard Pirates.

"Captain."

Teach looked toward him.

"With our current strength, we have no chance against the Whitebeard Pirates."

Van Augur’s tone remained flat.

"What exactly are you planning?"

Laffitte lightly tapped his cane against the ground.

"I’m curious as well."

Teach pulled the wineskin from his waist and took a long drink.

Wine spilled from the corner of his mouth and ran down his chin.

He wiped it away, sat cross-legged in the middle of the street, and pulled a folded sheet of paper from beneath his black cloak.

He spread it open.

Laffitte looked down.

"A sea chart?"

More accurately, it was a rough map of Marine movements.

They had acquired it through an underground information exchange.

As navigator, Laffitte had studied it repeatedly, using the routes and reported deployments to help their small group avoid Marine patrols while quietly gathering strength.

Teach tapped several locations on the map.

"The routes are only approximate."

"But look where Marine forces are gathering."

Van Augur’s gaze shifted across the markings.

"The New World."

Teach grinned.

"And what is the New World?"

"The territory of the Four Emperors."

His finger stopped.

"Their intentions are obvious."

"They’re preparing to make a move against Pops."

Laffitte considered that.

"Why Whitebeard?"

He lightly adjusted his top hat.

"Of all the Four Emperors, wouldn’t the man called the strongest in the world be the most troublesome target?"

From behind them came Doc Q’s weak voice.

"Fate..."

His body slumped over the side of his horse like a dying patient speaking his final words.

Teach frowned.

He had never liked Doc Q reducing everything to fate.

In Teach’s eyes, fate was something a man seized with his own hands.

"If I were the Marines, I’d choose Pops too."

He grinned.

"And I’m betting they think the same way."

Laffitte chuckled softly.

"What impressive confidence."

He tipped his hat.

"But you are the captain."

"On a pirate ship, the captain decides the course."

Then he asked,

"You still haven’t told us where we’re going."

Teach’s grin widened.

"To start the war ourselves."

Van Augur’s eyes sharpened.

"You mean provoking a clash between the Marines and Whitebeard while we stay out of sight?"

Burgess returned carrying fresh cloth, part of it stained with blood.

"That sounds boring."

Teach laughed.

"No."

"We’re getting involved."

His hand clenched.

"I’ve wanted Pops’ power for a very long time."

Laffitte’s smile deepened.

"That sounds troublesome."

The others reacted differently.

Burgess eagerly wrapped the treasure again and swung the bundle over one shoulder.

Van Augur said nothing, but a sharp light entered his eyes.

Doc Q remained draped across his horse.

"What kind of fate awaits our captain...?"

Teach stood.

"Before anything else, we need to do something big."

His grin turned feral.

"Something that gets both the Marines and Pops’ attention."

...

Axel’s method of entering Laboon was simple.

He provoked him.

Without warning anyone, Axel leapt from the ship and struck the enormous whale near the eye.

Laboon roared in fury.

Then swallowed the entire ship.

Inside the whale, Sanji’s shouting echoed across an enormous internal sea.

"Next time you’re going to do something insane, WARN US FIRST!"

He pointed furiously at Axel.

"I swear I’ll put something horrible in your food and force-feed it to you!"

"Sorry, sorry."

Axel waved lazily.

The grin on his face contained absolutely no remorse.

Sanji’s eyebrow twitched.

Then he looked around.

They were floating on an enormous greenish body of liquid inside the whale.

Considering where they were, it was difficult not to assume the water was mixed with gastric fluids strong enough to dissolve whatever ended up here.

Sanji raised his head.

"And what the hell is this place?"

"There’s a sky!"

"Inside the whale’s stomach," Axel answered.

Sanji slowly turned toward him.

Before he could start shouting again, Robin spoke.

"The sky is painted."

Everyone looked up.

Clouds.

Seagulls.

Blue sky.

But nothing moved.

Once observed carefully, the illusion became obvious.

It was a giant mural covering the inside of Laboon’s stomach.

Sanji instantly forgot his anger.

"Miss Robin!"

He clasped his hands.

"No matter where we are, I’ll protect you!"

Robin gave him an amused look.

By now, Sanji had learned that shouting at Axel accomplished nothing.

He could not beat him.

He could not intimidate him.

Fortunately, Robin remained aboard, giving Sanji something much more pleasant to focus on.

Chopper sat near the railing with his mortar and medicine.

He was unusually quiet.

Axel noticed immediately.

Normally, being swallowed by an enormous whale should have sent Chopper running around screaming that they had been eaten.

Instead, he simply stared across the strange internal sea.

"What’s wrong?" Axel asked.

Chopper lowered his gaze.

"It’s crying."

Axel looked toward him.

"I can feel it."

Chopper’s voice softened.

"It’s sad."

"It reminds me of Dr. Hiriluk."

His hooves tightened around the mortar.

"When Dr. Hiriluk left me... I felt that lonely too."

Axel’s expression changed slightly.

"You understand it, huh?"

Chopper nodded.

Their conversation was interrupted when something appeared ahead.

Chopper leaned forward.

"There’s an island."

He blinked.

"And someone’s on it."

An island inside a whale’s stomach was suspicious enough.

Axel shook his head.

"That isn’t an island."

Chopper looked at him.

"It’s a ship."

As they drew closer, the structure became clearer.

It looked like a tiny island several dozen square meters across, complete with a tree, a small house, a lounge chair, and a lone man.

But beneath the surface were unmistakable ship planks and exposed metal plating.

It was a vessel disguised as an island.

The tree served as a mast, while the bottom had been reinforced with iron to resist the corrosive liquid surrounding it.

Heavy chains kept it secured in place.

Robin stepped toward the bow.

Her attention settled on the man Axel had called the Pirate King’s doctor.

Sanji followed.

"Hey, old man!"

The elderly man looked over.

He was bald on top, with hair around the back of his head and a white mustache shaped like a figure eight.

Crocus.

His eyes widened.

"When asking for someone’s name, shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?"

Sanji’s eye twitched.

He had very little patience for strange old men.

Before he could respond, Axel leaned closer and whispered,

"Robin probably likes men with manners."

Sanji froze.

Axel continued quietly,

"Try speaking gracefully."

Sanji’s expression immediately changed.

"...You’re right."

He straightened his posture.

"Thanks."

Axel stepped away and whispered something to Chopper.

Sanji cleared his throat.

"Ahem."

He faced Crocus with sudden refinement.

"Sir, my name is..."

Crocus’s eyes widened again.

"My name is Crocus!"

His voice completely drowned Sanji out.

"Lighthouse keeper of Twin Cape!"

"Gemini!"

"Blood type AB!"

Sanji froze.

Behind him, Chopper dropped his mortar and burst out laughing.

"Hahahahaha!"

Axel turned away, shoulders shaking.

Sanji stared at both of them.

Then realization struck.

"You bastards!"

His leg snapped toward Axel.

Axel casually redirected himself aside, letting the kick miss.

Crocus sighed.

"What noisy brats."

His expression became irritated.

"Did Laboon swallow you by accident?"

He pointed elsewhere.

"There’s an exit over there."

"Leave through it."

He was in no mood to entertain strangers.

Laboon had been ramming the Red Line again, which meant Crocus would soon have injuries to treat.

Axel stopped fooling around with Sanji.

Their ship had drifted close enough that only several meters separated the two vessels.

"I came here for you."

Crocus looked over.

"For me?"

His expression became puzzled.

"I’m just a useless old lighthouse keeper."

"You’ve got the wrong person."

"No."

Axel’s crimson eyes met his.

"I’m looking for Crocus."

He paused.

"The former ship doctor of the Pirate King."

Crocus’s gaze changed.

For several seconds, neither spoke.

The pressure coming from the white-haired young man was far greater than Crocus had expected.

It reminded him, faintly, of the atmosphere surrounding the great clashes of the previous era.

For a moment, memories of the Battle of Edd War surfaced.

Golden Lion Shiki.

Roger.

A sea filled with monsters.

Yet the oppressive feeling before him was coming from a young man who looked barely grown.

Crocus wondered whether the world had truly changed so much.

Or whether years of peace had simply dulled his senses.

He finally answered,

"I’m only a lighthouse keeper."

"An ordinary doctor who enjoys painting."

Sanji folded his arms.

"Exactly."

He looked Crocus up and down.

"How could some shabby old man like this have been the Pirate King’s doctor?"

"That sounds like finding a maggot in a gourmet meal."

Crocus’s temple twitched.

For one dangerous second, he nearly shouted that he absolutely had been Roger’s doctor.

Years of self-control saved him.

Chopper, meanwhile, looked fascinated.

"You really sailed with the Pirate King?"

His eyes sparkled.

"Could you teach me some medicine?"

Axel spoke again.

"Relax."

"I’m not here to cause trouble."

"I need treatment."

Crocus stared at him.

After the pressure from moments earlier, Axel’s calm tone did very little to reassure him.

"I already told you."

"I’m an ordinary doctor."

"If you need treatment, you should find someone else."

Axel’s patience ran out.

The atmosphere changed.

Air thickened around Crocus.

Invisible pressure closed in from every direction.

Breathing became harder.

Moving felt like struggling through deep mud.

The more Crocus resisted, the heavier the constriction seemed to become.

His muscles tensed.

It had been a long time since he had prepared seriously for a fight.

Axel’s voice lost its casual edge.

"I’m not a good person."

"I don’t have much patience."

"And I don’t have much time."

His eyes shifted toward the vast body surrounding them.

"I know this whale matters to you."

Crocus’s expression tightened.

"If you refuse to treat me, I’ll kill Laboon."

Axel’s gaze remained steady.

"Believe me."

"I can."

Deep lines appeared across Crocus’s face.

Chopper spun toward Axel in disbelief.

"Axel!"

"How can you threaten him with Laboon?!"

Axel looked at Chopper.

For a moment, he seemed to consider the objection seriously.

Then he answered,

"Sometimes threats solve problems faster."

Chopper stared at him.

Axel added more quietly,

"And I really don’t have much time."

Crocus’s eyes hardened.

"After hearing that, I have even less reason to agree."

"If you try to hurt Laboon, I’ll stop you."

Axel understood his concern.

"You don’t need to worry."

Crocus stared at him skeptically.

"I may be a villain."

Axel continued,

"But I have rules."

"Treat me."

"Whether you succeed or fail, once it’s over, I’ll leave."

Crocus fell silent.

Then he looked toward Chopper, who was still visibly angry with Axel.

His gaze lingered for a moment.

Perhaps he understood something from the way the little reindeer reacted.

Crocus looked back at Axel.

"Aren’t you worried I’ll deliberately fail?"

Axel’s crimson eyes remained steady.

"No."

"Why?"

"Because I trust that the Pirate King’s doctor wouldn’t do something like that."

Silence stretched between them.

Several dozen seconds passed.

Finally, Crocus sighed.

"Fine."

He looked at Axel.

"I understand."

.....

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