In a certain sea area of the North Sea, a medium-sized ship slowly cruised along the ocean. It was a pirate ship—this was evident from the fluttering skull flag bearing a design of a skull with two curled mustaches on either side.
This was no ordinary pirate flag. The total bounty of all the crew members on board had already exceeded 500 million Berries. The captain, Gol D. Roger, alone had a bounty of 250 million Berries, and the vice-captain had a bounty of 190 million. Not to mention, several of the crew members were formidable fighters.
On the deck, a golden-haired vice-captain, Rayleigh, wore a serious expression as he looked at Kozuki Oden.
"Dr. Qingcheng has been unconscious for a long time. Will he really be alright?"
Kozuki Oden shook his head. "Honestly, I'm not sure either. But judging by what he last said before collapsing, I think he'll be fine."
"Let's hope so," Rayleigh replied, sighing and looking out gloomily at the endless sea, his mind on their captain's condition.
Time passed slowly. In a plain-looking cabin, two boys in their early teens seemed to be arguing.
"Buggy, how could you even think of doing that? Our captain is counting on Dr. Aogami for treatment! What if he wakes up and finds out you stole his formula and gets angry?" said a red-haired boy, clutching a bundle and a medical kit behind his back as he shouted at a blue-haired, red-nosed boy across from him.
"You idiot, Shanks. As long as neither of us says anything, who's going to know? Each pill of that eternal youth formula is worth a billion Berries!" Buggy shouted greedily.
"Are you stupid?" Shanks retorted. "As soon as Dr. Aogami wakes up and sees something's missing, he'll obviously figure it out."
"That's why I'm calling you an idiot!" Buggy yelled back. "We just need to copy the formula onto paper. Look, I even brought the materials!" He pulled out a piece of paper and a pen from his clothes.
"No way! That's too despicable and disrespectful. We can't do that!" Shanks protested.
Buggy's expression darkened. "Give it to me."
Shanks replied, "No way."
Buggy: "Are you asking for a beating?"
Shanks: "You think you can take me?"
Thud!
Red-haired boy: "With that strength? Save it."
"Damn you!" Buggy cursed and pounced at Shanks. Soon, sounds of scuffling—thump, thump, thump—came from the cabin.
"Ugh…"
At that moment, a groan escaped from the bed—it was Dr. Qingcheng .
"So noisy… Where is this? Who are these two?" Qingcheng muttered dazedly, clutching his head as he looked at the boys rolling on the ground.
"Ah! Dr. Qingcheng ! He's awake! Dr. Qingcheng is awake!" Shanks cried out in joy before bolting out the door.
Buggy stared in despair at the now-awake Qingcheng . "My one billion Berries… I hate you, Shanks."
Just then, Aogami noticed Buggy's nose and blurted out, "Whoa, what a huge red nose."
"What did you say?! You got a problem with my nose?!" Buggy was instantly at the bedside, shouting angrily.
"Show some respect to Dr. Qingcheng ," Vice-Captain Rayleigh entered just in time, lifting Buggy aside and extending his hand. "Dr. Qingcheng , hello. I—"
"Big red nose, you must be Clown Buggy. And that red-haired brat must be Shanks. So I've landed on Gol D. Roger's ship, huh?" Qingcheng suddenly realized aloud.
"Uh…" Rayleigh froze with his hand extended. "This is awkward."
Kozuki Oden, seeing Rayleigh's questioning look, shook his head—he hadn't told Qingcheng the names of the two apprentices.
"Dr. Qingcheng , you know Buggy and Shanks?" Rayleigh asked.
"I've heard of them, heard of them," Qingcheng replied awkwardly, realizing he had reacted too strongly.
"Ahhh!" Buggy was stunned, then excited. "I can't believe even a famous doctor like you from the North Blue has heard of me, Clown Buggy!"
At that moment, Kozuki Oden said, "Dr. Qingcheng , this here is my benefactor and our vice-captain, Silvers Rayleigh."
"Ah yes, Dark King Rayleigh. I know of him." Qingcheng shook Rayleigh's hand with a smile. "Harvis D. Belia Aogami."
Everyone was speechless at his words. If you knew who he was, why act so shocked earlier?
"Spock Jabba," said a tall man with a ponytail, introducing himself.
"Seagull," said another man.
"Brus," added a burly bald man.
"Nice to meet you all," Qingcheng greeted each of them.
"Oh, right," Qingcheng asked, "Where's your captain? I haven't seen him yet."
"The captain's illness is very serious. He's resting now," Rayleigh replied, his face falling as he spoke of Roger. Then his eyes lit up as he thought of Qingcheng medical skills. "We hope you can help us, Dr. Qingcheng ."
"Of course, I came here for that reason. But whether I'm capable is another matter. Anyway, now that I'm awake, let's go take a look," Qingcheng said. In truth, he was also curious about what terminal illness Roger had.
"Please, come with me," Rayleigh said, turning to lead the way.
"Ugh…"
"Ah—what the…!" As Qingcheng tried to get out of bed, a searing pain shot through his body. Only then did he remember that he himself was badly injured. He quickly began examining himself—and was shocked by what he found: multiple trauma injuries, most of his bones damaged, some even cracked.
"Apologies! I almost forgot—Dr. Qingcheng , you're still seriously injured," Rayleigh said as he noticed the bandage-wrapped Qingcheng . "Please rest, I'll go bring the captain here."
"No need. These injuries? Give me half an hour," Qingcheng said with a wave. Then he began healing himself using his methods.
"Uh…"
"Half an hour?" Rayleigh and the others were skeptical. Injuries like those wouldn't heal in less than ten days or even a month!
"Huh? What's going on? My spiritual pressure, which had been stuck at its limit, suddenly leaped from 3rd seat level to vice-captain level? Was it because I'd never had a true life-and-death battle before? So I really am a battle maniac, huh?" Qingcheng marveled, recalling the chaos of that earlier fight. Even now, it made his heart race. He couldn't believe that he, once a shut-in otaku, had such a violent side.
"What's wrong, Dr. Qingcheng ?" Rayleigh asked.
"It's nothing. Just give me a bit longer," Qingcheng replied.
Time continued to tick by.
"…This is…" Twenty minutes later, when Qingcheng began unwrapping his bandages, everyone was shocked.
They weren't stunned by his now fully healed body, but by the tattoo on his chest—a skull with an upward-curving mustache.
It was the symbol of a pirate crew—and not just any pirate crew, but the Whitebeard Pirates. Even pirates with bounties over a hundred million wouldn't dare mess with them.
"But… that can't be right! According to our intel, Dr. Qingcheng has never once gone to sea. How could he be part of the Whitebeard Pirates?!"
At that moment, Kozuki Oden remembered seeing the tattoo earlier while tending Qingcheng wounds—but had forgotten about it.
"Uh…" Qingcheng followed their gazes, looked down, and sighed as he touched the tattoo. "Oh well. I've already been placed under a bounty. No point hiding it anymore."
"Let's go." Qingcheng threw on a trench coat and stood up.
Rayleigh looked at him. "Dr. Qingcheng , your relationship with Whitebeard is…?"
"Enemies," Qingcheng said darkly, cutting him off. "Let's go. It's time I met your captain."
"Apologies for making you recall something painful. I'll take you to our captain now. Please follow me," Rayleigh said, leading the way out.
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