March 5, 1504, Age of the Sea Circle
Even though the great hospital was located quite far from Orion's position near the border, he managed to arrive in just a few minutes, appearing like a specter before the massive entrance of the sanatorium and greatly startling the people who were there.
"Good morning," Orion said with a friendly smile, greeting the stunned hospital patients who had just seen him appear out of nowhere, and immediately afterward, he entered the building and headed straight toward the location of the Named Character (VIP) "Trafalgar D. Water Law (9)."
At last, Orion reached one of the hospital rooms, and after knocking on the door to announce himself, he waited for a response from those inside.
With the help of his Observation Haki, it was easy for Orion to perceive that there were only three people inside, one of them being Law, while the other two were a small girl and an adult woman.
Orion already knew beforehand that the girl was the other Named Character present, named Trafalgar Lami, and taking into account the life force he could sense emanating from her, he could form a clear idea of her current health condition, as well as the situation inside the room at that moment.
The door creaked open, and an elegant woman with clear signs of sleep deprivation on her face peeked out to see who the unexpected visitor was.
Upon realizing that it was a stranger, she showed a confused expression and asked with a hint of nervousness,
"Who are you?"
The voice of Law's mother carried an unmistakable tension, and the hand with which she held the door revealed the tips of her nails turning white from the strength with which she gripped the wood.
At that moment, they were in an extremely delicate situation, both medically and in general. Not only were they facing the Amber Lead Poisoning in a race against time, but they also had to deal with the hostile movements of the neighboring nations, which were becoming more aggressive with each passing day.
There were even rumors circulating that the armies of the neighboring nations were already marching toward Flevance to massacre them, so it was only natural that the elegant woman before him would feel a certain apprehension upon seeing a stranger—clearly not a native—appear at the door of her sick daughter's room.
Orion was able to perceive Law's mother's emotional state through his Observation Haki, as he had a natural inclination toward sensing emotional states in its use. For that reason, he tried to appear as harmless as possible, and with a gentle smile, he said,
"My name is Orion, and I've come to help."
…
While Orion was at the hospital, visiting Trafalgar Law and his family, the situation at the borders was becoming increasingly complicated.
At the southern border, the Mysterious Mist produced by Foggy had completely halted the advance of the enemy army, causing the soldiers to become hopelessly lost within it and forcing them to wander in circles until Orion decided otherwise.
Unless a person possessed a sufficiently high level of Observation Haki, escaping from the Mysterious Mist was impossible, and fortunately, there was no one among the enemy forces with such a level.
After all, as Foggy continued to grow and strengthen his abilities, the power of his Mysterious Mist increased as well. At this point, only someone at the level of a high-ranking Marine Vice Admiral could pass through his mist, and although there were individuals in the nations neighboring Flevance capable of using Observation Haki, none of them possessed such a high level.
Meanwhile, at the northern border, Nibble had dug a massive trench to prevent the invasion of enemy soldiers, although unfortunately, he had not been fast enough to completely stop their infiltration.
Unlike Foggy's Mysterious Mist, the trench dug by Nibble had taken much longer to complete, which had allowed a small group of enemy soldiers to penetrate Flevance's territory, advancing decisively toward the city with the intention of eliminating all those afflicted by the deadly disease.
Fortunately, there was someone there capable of handling the situation, as the small clone of Tsuru, Mitsu, was present to prevent a tragedy. Even though she was only eight years old at the moment, her power was entirely out of the ordinary.
She belonged to the first successful generation of clones with enhanced physical abilities created by Vegapunk, and after training for a year in Pacific Kingdom, her skills had increased exponentially.
Although she was still far from being able to compete with Orion's main subordinates in terms of strength, she undoubtedly ranked among those with the greatest talent, and to deal with a small number of ordinary soldiers, she was more than sufficient.
Moving at high speed through the use of Soru, Mitsu darted into the midst of the enemy soldiers, preventing them from being able to fire their rifles properly. Then, maintaining her usual expressionless demeanor, she used successive Shigans strikes to eliminate the soldiers one by one.
Even so, the enemy soldiers did not remain idle, and brandishing their swords, they attempted to eliminate the small demon who was cutting down their ranks, though unfortunately, they had greatly overestimated their own capabilities.
With an agile movement, Mitsu spun her body midair, landing from her leap beside two soldiers and knocking them out with Shigans strikes; then she used Tekkai to harden her body and withstand the attack of three other soldiers, who relaxed their guard upon seeing that their swords had finally struck Mitsu, which only hastened their defeat, as the small clone took advantage of that opening to eliminate them with three precise blows.
On the improvised battlefield, Mitsu stood in the middle of the few remaining soldiers, without a single drop of blood or speck of dust on her clothes, while at least twenty soldiers lay unconscious on the ground.
The few remaining soldiers trembled in terror at the bizarre sight before them, yet they did not surrender, for they had bravely come to this city plagued by disease to eliminate the infected and prevent the spread of the epidemic.
The health and well-being of their loved ones back in their homeland were at stake, and so they could not afford to take a single step back. The remaining group of soldiers invading the northern border attacked Mitsu once more, although they were, of course, destined to fail.
Just a few more minutes would be enough for Mitsu to defeat the remaining soldiers and temporarily secure the situation at the border Orion had tasked her with protecting.
Meanwhile, at the western border of the city, Toki was crouched behind some bushes, hiding rather clumsily while observing from a distance the army that was slowly advancing through the mountainous terrain.
Unlike the other two borders, this one had a natural advantage due to its terrain, which made the enemy's advance somewhat slower, although it would not take them long to reach Toki's position if they maintained their current pace.
Toki wanted to help Orion in some way and stop the advance of the enemy soldiers, but she knew that it was best not to attempt anything reckless, as that would only worsen the situation.
Letting out a soft sigh, Toki bit her lip in an adorably frustrated manner, but ultimately took out her Den Den Mushi and called Orion to inform him of the enemy army's advance at the western border.
…
Law's father, Trafalgar Lazarus, rushed toward the hospital room where his young daughter was, after receiving an urgent call from his wife, Lara. According to the words of his beloved wife, a stranger had suddenly appeared and claimed that he could cure Lami, so it was impossible for Lazarus to remain calm.
He was the best doctor in Flevance, and probably the best in all of the North Blue, yet even so, he had not achieved any success in deciphering a way to cure the Amber Lead Poisoning. Ever since the first case had appeared the previous year, he and his wife had worked tirelessly to find a cure, but up until now, they had made almost no progress.
To make matters even worse, in recent months they had been isolated from the outside world, which had severely limited their ability to obtain resources from beyond Flevance, further reducing their chances of success in finding a cure.
Even so, he had successfully determined that this was not a contagious disease, and had tried countless times to communicate this to the neighboring nations so that they would lift the border closure, yet he had been met with nothing but outright rejection from the neighboring kings, who were terrified of contracting a mysterious illness and dying.
The frustration Lazarus had endured over the past months was immense, and every day he wept as he watched his daughter's condition deteriorate more and more, powerless to do anything about it. Moreover, it was not only Lami who was infected with Amber Lead Poisoning (ALP), but all the inhabitants of Flevance were suffering from this condition, and even his young son Law had begun to show the classic symptoms on his skin.
For that reason, as soon as his wife Lara urgently called him through his baby Den Den Mushi to inform him of Orion's arrival, Lazarus's first reaction was not relief or joy, but anger and concern.
In his mind, this stranger who had arrived proclaiming himself capable of curing his daughter was someone who likely harbored ill intentions, or simply a charlatan.
At last, Trafalgar Lazarus reached the room where Lami was, panting from the exertion of running there, and pushed the door open without wasting a single moment, ready to confront the charlatan who had come to deceive them.
However, the scene he witnessed upon entering the room was very different from what he had expected. The "charlatan" stood beside his young daughter Lami's bed, and surrounding it was a strange bubble of energy that enveloped the entire bed.
Lazarus stepped forward with the intention of placing a hand on Orion's shoulder, but was stopped before he could do so by his wife, Lara.
"Dear, don't interrupt him, Doctor Orion is in the middle of a delicate treatment," Lara said, trying not to raise her voice too much so as not to break Orion's concentration.
Lazarus saw the hope-filled expression on his wife's face and could not help but hesitate at what was happening. Lara was a highly skilled doctor, so she would never be deceived by a charlatan, but then… could it really be true that this man was capable of curing his daughter's illness, for which he himself had found no solution whatsoever?
Lazarus did not attempt to interrupt Orion again, and remaining silent, he carefully observed the situation. Orion was performing an operation with the aid of his Room ability, which he had obtained after absorbing the Ope Ope no Mi, and he was so focused on his patient that he completely ignored Lazarus's arrival, as well as the movements of Law and his mother.
If they had harbored hostile intentions toward him, they would have had the perfect opportunity to attack him from behind, although Orion knew there was no danger of that happening, and that was why he allowed himself to focus entirely on Lami's treatment.
Orion had obtained a medicine to cure ALP many years ago, but Lami's condition was far too severe, and she likely would not survive a standard treatment. After all, the cure was not miraculous, and it required a reasonable amount of time to take effect—time that Lami simply did not have.
For that reason, Orion had chosen to perform an operation with the help of his Room, in order to manually remove the Amber Lead from the girl's body, although it was quite a demanding task, as he had to gradually eliminate the accumulation of the mineral within her bones and throughout her organism.
This was a process that required absolute concentration from Orion, as it involved manipulation at a cellular level. The only reason he was able to carry out this operation successfully—beyond possessing his Room ability—was due to his great mental strength and his Prism Eyes ability, which allowed him to precisely locate the Amber Lead within Lami's body.
Even so, Orion's goal was not to completely cure the girl, as that would be impossible in a single session. At this moment, what he was trying to do was simply stabilize Lami's condition so that she would no longer be in mortal danger, after which she could be treated with the medicine provided by the system, along with additional treatments.
What Orion had obtained from the system was only the recipe for the medicine necessary to eliminate Amber Lead from the body, although that did not mean it was a perfect cure. Amber Lead was highly aggressive within the human body, and for patients with higher concentrations, the situation was even worse.
After being treated with the medicine Orion had produced based on the system's recipe, patients would still need to undergo additional treatment to recover their weakened bodies, with special attention given to increasing calcium levels in order to prevent chronic bone weakness.
The process of curing the people of Flevance was not as simple as giving them a pill and solving all their problems, and Orion estimated that it would take months or even years to fully cure them. Furthermore, he would have to personally take care of all those in critical condition like Lami, which represented a significant long-term commitment for him.
Even so, Orion had not hesitated for a second before deciding to cure Lami, or the rest of the people of Flevance, because after all, he was a doctor, and he could not simply ignore the innocent people of this nation.
Little by little, the white patches covering Lami's body began to fade, under the astonished gaze of Lazarus and Lara, who felt as though they were witnessing a medical miracle firsthand.
Meanwhile, young Law's eyes shone with emotion, and the way he looked at Orion had changed completely. Now, in addition to gratitude, there was a deep admiration and respect in his gaze, and the boy's favorability on the system screen had suddenly risen to 80 points.
Law had grown up studying medicine alongside his parents, and he held great respect for those who possessed extensive medical knowledge. At that moment, to him, the mysterious Orion—who had managed to treat an illness even his father could not cure—had acquired an indescribable aura of greatness and mystery.
However, Orion was so focused on Lami's treatment that he did not notice any of the changes in Law, who years later would become one of his greatest disciples.
…
At last, after an hour of treatment, Orion deactivated his Room ability and let out a relieved sigh, feeling a deep mental exhaustion. Maintaining several high-level abilities active at the same time while focusing on such a delicate task had undoubtedly been challenging for him, but he had finally succeeded, and little Lami was now out of danger.
Now, he would only need to treat her with the medicine he had prepared in advance for ALP, and she would recover without issue within a few months.
Just as Orion was about to speak with the Trafalgars to explain the situation, a chime echoed in his mind, and a new notification appeared on the system screen.
*Ding*
*Your ability "Strong Mind (Level 7)" has increased by one (1) level*
Orion felt as though a refreshing current flowed through his mind, and a large portion of the fatigue he had been experiencing vanished without a trace, in a process that felt quite pleasant.
He closed his eyes momentarily to savor the sensation, and after a few moments, it subsided, prompting Orion to open his eyes again, feeling renewed.
"Thank you very much!" Lazarus said upon seeing that Orion had returned to normal, taking one of Orion's hands with both of his.
"Thank you so much for curing my daughter," the emotional doctor continued, tears of happiness in his eyes.
Although Lami was not completely cured, the white patches on her skin had disappeared entirely, so it was only natural that the Trafalgars had misunderstood the situation and believed the treatment had been fully successful.
Orion shook his head slightly and explained the situation to them, yet the Trafalgars' joy did not diminish—in fact, it grew even greater, as Orion had said that he possessed a medicine capable of curing ALP!
With that medicine, they would be able to cure all of Flevance and thus prevent the neighboring countries from taking violent action against them, which was a tremendous relief for the renowned couple of doctors.
What they did not know was that the neighboring nations had already begun mobilizing their soldiers to eliminate them, although thanks to the actions of Orion's companions, the most tragic outcome had been delayed slightly.
Just as Orion was thinking of sitting down to rest for a moment and speak with the Trafalgars about how to proceed with the situation in Flevance, the small Den Den Mushi in his clothing rang insistently, and Law hurriedly said,
"Sir, your Den Den Mushi rang several times during the operation, but we didn't say anything so as not to interrupt your concentration…"
A bad feeling arose in Orion upon hearing Law's words, and he answered the call while running toward the window.
"Orion! You finally answered. We need your help immediately—the western border has been attacked by enemy armies. Nibble and Mitsu are handling the situation, but the soldiers have already reached the city," Toki said urgently, explaining the current situation.
Orion looked toward the west from the room's window and could see columns of smoke in the distance. Without wasting another second, he leapt out of the window using Geppo and Soru, heading straight for the western border to deal with the enemy invasion.