The smile on Crocus' face vanished almost instantly.
He muttered, "Laboon is injured. Without the medicine I make for him, he'll be in pain from time to time. And he might get hurt again in the future too..."
"I need to take care of him!"
Carrying the food over to Nico Olvia, he forced a smile and said, "Well... if you're taking Laboon with you, then take me along too."
"Pffft!"
Olvia had just stuffed food into her mouth and immediately sprayed it out, staring at Crocus in surprise.
"You want to leave with us too?"
Crocus straightened up at once, putting on a serious face.
"Hey, I'm a highly professional doctor. I'm the one who's been treating Laboon's injuries all this time. Taking me with you would be a huge help on your journey!"
"Are you a doctor or a veterinarian?" Olvia asked seriously. "There's a big difference."
Humans and animals definitely could not be treated as the same thing.
Crocus' mouth twitched.
"I can treat both people and animals!"
"Then come with us. I'll talk to Ares about it," Olvia said, dropping all pretense of elegance as she devoured the food in front of her.
In no time at all, she had wiped the plate clean and let out a satisfied burp.
Outside the lighthouse, Ares laughed inwardly.
Why does this feel like I'm starting from the Four Blues and building an entirely new pirate crew? At this rate, am I going to come back to Wano with a whole boatload of people?
Still, Crocus was not without value. His combat ability was decent enough to count as elite, but more importantly, he was a doctor, and doctors were always highly sought after on any pirate ship.
After all, no matter what island you were on, a doctor could always make a good living.
That thought made Ares grin.
I just poached the Roger Pirates' ship doctor. Once we get back to Wano, I'll just have him look after Laboon. Or maybe I can arrange for him to take on a few apprentices and pass on his medical skills. Better yet, maybe I can just stick him in a school as a teacher.
Wano had been closed off for hundreds of years. In many respects, its technology had fallen far behind the outside world. If he wanted to develop Wano, then technology, medicine, education, and everything else had to advance as well.
In just that brief moment, Ares had already planned out Crocus' future for him.
Olvia called out to Crocus, "Hey, make sure to bring more food. I don't want to end up starving halfway through the trip again."
"No problem."
Crocus began stuffing all kinds of things into bags and packs. As he did, he asked, "So it's just the two of you? Does Ares handle the ship himself?"
"We don't have a ship. We just fly," Olvia said.
Crocus froze on the spot.
Then he slowly turned to look at her.
"Say that again?"
"That's right. We flew here."
Crocus rushed outside the lighthouse and scanned the sea ahead.
Sure enough, there was no ship in sight.
From behind him, Olvia's voice came again.
"Stop looking. I'm telling the truth. Ares is a Devil Fruit user. He can carry us through the air, and he's even faster than a ship."
"..."
Realization dawned on Crocus.
"That explains it. I was wondering how the famous War God Ares, who made such a huge name for himself on the Grand Line, suddenly showed up here. If he flew here, then it all makes sense."
Once he finished packing, Ares created an even larger Flame Cloud and lifted Laboon's massive body into the air. The others simply sat on top of the whale's head.
Crocus looked amazed.
"This Devil Fruit ability is incredible!"
Laboon, however, still looked utterly lifeless. The news of the Rumbar Pirates' destruction had hit him hard.
Meanwhile, Ares had already resumed training as if nothing had happened.
As a doctor, Crocus was instantly dumbfounded.
"Ares, if you keep training like that, you're going to damage your body."
"I'm used to it," Ares said flatly.
Crocus grew anxious.
"You can't do this. No matter how strong a human body is, repeated impacts like that will still cause damage. Stop for a second. Let me examine you."
"I know my own body. There's nothing wrong with it."
Ares' understanding and control of his own body had long surpassed ordinary people's imagination.
With his terrifying recovery ability, even the damage caused by repeatedly hammering and tempering his body could heal quickly.
Crocus was getting worked up now. He turned to Olvia.
"Olvia, as a doctor, I have the right to speak here, and the right to examine him. I must carry out a full physical examination on Ares!"
Olvia looked toward Ares. She also felt that his training methods were far too cruel and violent.
It was practically self-harm. In the past two days, she had not seen him stop once.
She could not help saying, "Ares, you should let Crocus examine you. He is a doctor, after all, and he really is worried about your body."
Ares finally paused his training and frowned slightly.
"Fine. Let him check."
Crocus immediately opened his bag and pulled out his medical tools, then began examining Ares.
The moment his hand touched Ares' skin, he felt as though he were touching finely polished steel.
Smooth.
Hard.
His syringe needle bent on contact.
He stared in shock.
"Your... your body is so hard that even a needle can't pierce it?!"
Olvia was stunned too.
What kind of body was this?
Fortunately, Crocus often treated Laboon, so he had larger medical tools on hand. He pulled out an enormous syringe whose needle was practically the size of a dagger.
Olvia jumped.
"Hey, hey, Crocus, do you really need a needle that big? That's terrifying!"
"The smaller ones can't pierce Ares' skin at all, so I have no choice," Crocus said. "I'll be careful."
Holding the giant syringe, he slowly pressed it toward Ares' arm.
But the moment the needle touched his skin, it began to bend and warp.
It could not go in at all.
Crocus stared at Ares and swallowed hard.
"Your body is harder than steel..."
He was done.
Completely done.
No wonder this man was called the War God. With a body like this, blades could not injure him at all.
Bullets probably would not work either. No wonder the Marines considered him such a headache.
Olvia was numb with disbelief.
"Crocus, how are you supposed to examine Ares' body now?"
"..."
Crocus' face darkened.
Was she questioning his medical skills?
Fine.
He admitted it.
He really had underestimated Ares' body.
Who could have guessed it would be this terrifying?
Even an extremely sharp steel needle could not pierce it.
It was absurd.
In the end, Crocus could only resort to other methods to examine Ares.
The final result left him shaken to the core.
This man's physique...
was a monster.
Not human.
His life force was terrifyingly strong.
Crocus was so overwhelmed he could only admire him completely.
Once the examination was over, Ares resumed his training.
Olvia asked curiously, "Ares, your body is already this strong, and yet you still keep training. Is it because there are other people out there on the sea who are just as strong as you are?"
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