As dawn's light spilled across the deck of the Moby Dick, Jake found himself watching with mild exasperation as Whitebeard gargled with booze first thing in the morning.
The pungent aroma of alcohol made Jake realize why Whitebeard's health deteriorated so badly in the original story.
Drinking at this rate, standing during the Marineford War could only be described as a medical miracle.
Though hailed as the world's strongest man, drinking booze in the morning was beyond excessive.
The pirates who'd reveled all night still hadn't stirred, but the nurses had already formed a blockade around Whitebeard.
With concerted effort, they wrestled the raised liquor jar back down while scolding in unison.
"Pops! You drank so much last night—if not for young Jake's intervention, we'd never have allowed that much! And now you want to drink even more? Absolutely not! We refuse to let this continue!"
Hearing his nurses' protests, Whitebeard instinctively began lowering the jar.
But spotting Jake, his small eyes suddenly brightened as if finding salvation, and he shouted.
"Hey, Jake! You tell them—can I drink or not?"
Without hesitation, Jake immediately addressed the head nurse beside him.
"He shouldn't drink like this. His liver condition isn't good—continued alcohol consumption will only worsen the strain. Minimizing intake, or better yet complete abstinence, would be the optimal treatment. I've designed a roughly three-month treatment plan. During this period, you'll assist me in monitoring his condition, and alcohol consumption must be strictly controlled."
As Jake's voice rang out, the nurses seemed to find their backbone and said to Whitebeard.
"See, Pops! Jake said it too—you can't drink right now! Stop being so stubborn, at least cooperate with the treatment, won't you? Next month is Ellie's birthday, and I can tell you her wish in advance. She said her only wish is for Pops to drink a little less!"
After some persuasion from Jake and the nurses, Whitebeard reluctantly twisted his face into an unwilling expression and accepted his fate of not being able to drink anymore.
Seeing that expression, Monet couldn't help but laugh before turning to Jake beside her.
"Who would've thought the world's strongest man could have such a childish side?"
Jake chuckled in response.
"The sea is full of eccentric characters. Even the higher-ups at Marine Headquarters have their own quirks, don't they?"
"True enough."
The two of them settled into life aboard the Moby Dick, though Jake wasn't sure how long they'd stay.
At the very least, he intended to remain until he'd cured Whitebeard of his most stubborn ailments—after all, he'd promised to heal the man's body.
Even if he wanted to slack off, Whitebeard's abilities meant he'd know whether his body had truly been healed or not.
There was no room for deception here.
*****
Over the next two weeks, Jake devoted the majority of his time casting Healing Prayers to Whitebeard.
The remainder he split between Monet and himself for training.
Even aboard the Moby Dick, Jake never slacked in his training.
His current strength was still too weak—after the battle with the Black Hawk Pirates, his Doriki had barely broken 2,200.
Against the monsters of the New World, this was still far too low.
Even with his abilities, Jake's current strength only matched some of the elite fighters among the Whitebeard Pirates, falling short of even their weaker division commanders.
But Jake's growth rate was astonishing.
In just half a month, he was already approaching the 3,000 Doriki threshold, and his Holy Light level had reached 28.
Just two more levels and he'd unlock his soul skill—Blessing of Courage!
Monet's progress was equally rapid.
Since Jake was busy treating Whitebeard, Monet often trained right under the old man's watchful eye.
When he had nothing else to do, Whitebeard would occasionally offer pointers to either Jake or Monet.
Combined with Jake's ability that had virtually no side effects, this gave Monet more opportunities to experiment and train.
Her strength was gradually approaching that of Smoker when he first appeared in the original story.
With her Logia-type Devil Fruit, excellent physical skills and Armament's Haki, she was easily strong enough to defeat any non-commander combatant among the Whitebeard Pirates.
Watching their almost absurd rate of improvement, Whitebeard took a big swig of liquor and sighed with emotion.
"Your strength is visibly growing by the day, kid. If you keep this up, you'll probably become the next Marine Admiral before long."
Marco chuckled and teased Jake.
"When that time comes, Jake, you'd better go easy on me. I don't want to end up in Impel Down!"
The nurse then playfully teased Monet too.
"That's right~ Same goes for you, Monet dear. Remember to show mercy when you see us sisters. We're not exactly wicked pirates~"
Jozu also joked with Jake.
"I can give you some diamonds, as long as you let me go."
Listening to everyone's banter, both Jake and Monet could only respond with helpless smiles.
During these days, they got along quite well with the crew of the Whitebeard Pirates.
Jake occasionally helped treat the injuries of those members who hadn't committed evil deeds—how did he know who hadn't?
The pirate bounties listed them and he could always ask Marco.
Though a crew member, Marco wouldn't lie to cover for those kinds of people.
Since both Jake and Monet had pleasant personalities, the crew's attitude toward them improved significantly.
During their time aboard the Whitebeard Pirates, Jake also made a request to Whitebeard—he wanted to go to Sky Island!
Whitebeard responded like this.
"Gurarararara! Young brats like you always want to go to places like that. But to reach Sky Island from here, you'd have to take the route through the Summit of the West, which would take about half a year. Do you have that kind of time?"
To this, Jake took a deep breath and said.
"We'll take the Knock-Up Stream!"
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