Chapter 223: Going to the North Sea
"I'm truly sorry!" Genos , standing on one leg, bowed at a 90-degree angle to Eric . "To attack my saviors without understanding the situation, it's truly..."
"Ah, it's fine." Eric waved his hand, still looking at Genos ' left leg, which had been severed at the wrist. With concern, he asked, "Anyway, no one here got hurt, but your leg, are you okay?"
"Mm, my body is mechanical, and I don't feel pain," Genos replied. "As long as I have the right parts, I can replace them at any time."
"But we don't have spare parts here for you to replace it." Eric invited Genos aboard the ship. "Come to my ship, and our scientist can help fix your mechanical leg."
"Really?" Genos thanked him. "Not only did you forgive my rashness, but you're also helping me repair my damaged mechanical parts. This is such a broad-minded gesture..."
[Ding... Genos ' affinity has increased, Bond Level 1 (Ordinary Friend) to Bond Level 2, gained 1 Bond Point]
Deidara half-squinted his right eye and inwardly mocked, 'He'd better not think about leaving the ship in the future.'
After sending Genos to Da Vinci's lab, Eric led the male crew members to loot the Poker Card Pirates' wealth. Adding to the 30 million berries in bounties from the four of them, the total profit this time reached nearly 100 million berries.
As for the Poker Card Pirates' main ship, sorry, it was too damaged, the system wouldn't take it, and even required Eric to pay for handling the scrap.
"Pirating ships really do bring in money quickly..." Eric muttered, "Plus, we can punish evil and promote good, a win-win situation."
Deidara, with a look of annoyance, suddenly chimed in, "The captain's greed reminds me of someone..."
"Is it Kakuzu?" Eric answered without hesitation.
"Eh? The captain knows Kakuzu too?" Deidara was surprised, then quickly realized, since Eric knows all his weaknesses, it made sense he would know Kakuzu, who was also in the Akame.
"That guy's always thinking about money..." Deidara looked up at the sky, recalling the time spent with the Akame...
"Better than being someone who can't make money and only eats," Eric crushed Deidara's nostalgic thoughts mercilessly.
Deidara widened his eyes, then retorted loudly, "Hey! Are you even my boss?!"
"Of course I am. Hey, remember to pack that woman in the explosive clay into a bottle."
"Tch, I know." Deidara, who originally wanted to blow Sweetheart Queen into the air, clicked his tongue and went to find a bottle in the ship's cabin.
Having witnessed Esdeath's terrifying strength, Kuina darted over to Eric , "Eric , teach me Armament Haki again today."
"Sorry, Kuina, today you'll need to let the master teach you instead."
"Eh?" Kuina looked unhappy.
"The quality of the master's teachings is much better than mine."
"Really?"
Both Porche and Perona nodded furiously, agreeing with the sentiment.
'These two little brats…' Eric mentally noted, planning to deal with these two little troublemakers later.
The most important thing now was keeping Genos in the crew, so Eric went to the lab to check on Genos ' condition.
...
"The only original part of the newcomer is his brain; everything else is mechanical." Da Vinci scanned Genos ' whole body carefully, "I really want to take you apart and see..."
"You can, if you can make me stronger," Genos replied.
"Eh?!" Da Vinci's eyes sparkled, "Can I dissect you?"
"The mechanical body doesn't feel pain. After disassembling, you can reassemble my parts, right, Dr. Da Vinci?"
"Of course." Da Vinci patted his chest, pointing at the mechanical bird he made, "See, that's one of my creations."
"Oh..." Genos ' electronic eye scanned the bird. "No biological response, it's completely mechanical."
As they spoke, the mechanical bird spread its wings and flew in the air for two circles.
"It's an honor to meet a great scientist like you."
"Alright, alright, let's get started." Under the special angle of the lab's lighting, Da Vinci's previously grand face was now shrouded in shadow, making it look like an evil grin of a conspiracy.
Da Vinci rubbed his hands together with ill intent, walked to the workbench, and started disassembling Genos . The sound of an electric drill suddenly rang out...
Eric , having just opened the lab door, was stunned.
"Why is Genos in pieces?!"
The thing in front of him couldn't even be called mechanical parts anymore; it was just scrap. The workbench and the floor were scattered with pieces everywhere.
"Oh, Captain Eric ." Only Genos ' head was intact as he stood on the workbench. "Dr. Da Vinci dismantled me and said he needed to check the internal wiring..."
"Check the internal wiring? Does that require you to be disassembled into this many pieces?"
"Hey, you don't understand, don't say things you don't know." Da Vinci pushed up his glasses. "Don't come near, I've marked all the pieces on the floor. If you mess them up, don't blame me if I can't reassemble them."
"Are you assembling action figures here? Or a human-sized mechanical Gundam?" Eric tried his best to make a sarcastic remark. "And your glasses clearly don't have prescription lenses!"
Da Vinci, with his back to Genos , playfully stuck out his tongue.
"How long until you can reassemble Genos ?" At this point, Eric could only trust Da Vinci's morals.
"About... a month?"
Both Eric and Genos shouted at the same time, "Hey!"
"Just kidding, it'll take two days. Don't worry, I'll make the materials for the mechanical body stronger, which will also enhance your strength."
"Thank you so much!"
Seeing that he couldn't be of any help, Eric left the lab.
...
Walking through the corridor of the Undaunted, Eric suddenly noticed a figure stumbling forward, leaning against the wall. He rushed over immediately.
"Kurome, what happened?!"
"Ah, it's you, big brother..." Seeing it was Eric , Kurome sighed in relief, forcing Fujitora while enduring the pain. "I'm fine, just feeling a bit unwell."
"Your body has gotten this bad..." Eric felt guilty. "If only I had noticed earlier..."
Although Da Vinci had checked Kurome's condition and knew her body was in critical condition, Da Vinci, after all, was not Kurome herself, and didn't understand the pain her nerves were enduring.
And Da Vinci could only suppress the deterioration of Kurome's body, but could not treat her body, which was on the brink of collapse. This caused Kurome to silently endure the pain of her failing body since her summoning.
Kurome's weak hand rested on Eric 's, her short black hair swaying gently. "I didn't want to tell everyone. I didn't want my sister to worry too much..."
"Big brother, promise me, if one day... if I..." she struggled to speak, "You must take good care of my sister. I don't want to make her cry anymore..."
"What are you saying?!" Eric couldn't possibly agree. "I'll make sure you two sisters live together well!"
"..." Kurome suddenly smiled, her slightly sickly smile making Eric 's heart ache. "My sister is so lucky to have met someone like you..."
"If we were in the Empire, meeting someone as good as you would have spared us all that suffering..."
"That's why I want to overthrow the corrupt World Government, so those children won't suffer from the ravages of war anymore. I'll make sure you see that day, Kurome."
"Mm!"
Eric scooped Kurome into a princess carry.
"Sister... big brother?" Kurome's face flushed slightly.
"You're probably worried about someone finding out about your condition, don't move." Eric flashed to Kurome's room and gently laid her on the bed.
"We're leaving now to find a doctor who can treat you."
"Mm." Lying on the bed, Kurome answered softly.
Eric flashed to the control room, "We're leaving immediately. Head for Sabaody Archipelago, full speed ahead!"
Gin , who was at the helm, didn't hesitate and immediately followed the captain's orders. "Aye!"
(END CHAPTER)
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