The little reindeer's head immediately popped in.
"Alright, don't worry about the patient."
Zoro glanced at the furry reindeer by his leg and spoke softly, "There are doctors on this island who can save him..."
At this point, Zoro looked at Tashigi standing in front of Smoker again; he had crossed swords with that stubborn female navy, grinned, and said, "Looks like there might be one less big trouble this time..."
"Almost..."
Usopp watched as the navy on that ship seemed to truly have no way to deal with them, finally relaxing and wiping the cold sweat off his forehead: "We almost got caught by them..."
"These guys!"
Smoker angrily smashed his fist against the ship's railing, frustrated that he hadn't prepared everything, loudly issuing his command: "Chase them, bring down their ship!"
Such a task was obviously a bit too late.
Because the Straw Hat crew directly unfurled their sails and slipped away.
Tashigi hurriedly stopped Smoker, reminding her supervisor: "Colonel Smoker, we still need to collect the magnetic force for the next destination on Drum Island using the Log Pose. It would be better to stop here to treat the injured; recklessly chasing after them, we might not find a way back..."
"Smoky man, we'll meet again this time!"
Luffy stood at the stern of the Golden Merry, even waving a friendly goodbye to Smoker, which made Smoker's anger boil!
"That bastard..."
Smoker bit his cigar, wishing to eat Luffy alive; nothing made him angrier than seeing pirates slip away right in front of him!
However...
The next stop of the Straw Hat Pirates should be Alabasta.
Smoker gritted his teeth, ordered the navy warship to dock at the harbor, and the entire crew disembarked at Drum Kingdom, intending to find a doctor here to help with treatment.
Very unfortunately...
Drum Kingdom's best doctor, Kureha, is quite temperamental.
The Straw Hat Pirates' ship doctor, the little reindeer Chopper, was almost her child, barely escaping being caught by the navy when boarding the pirate ship!
Doctor Kureha obviously doesn't care about this outwardly, but psychologically she's adamantly unwilling to treat Smoker; she's always been like this.
Treating patients...
It all depends on her mood.
If she's in a bad mood, she doesn't care about anyone.
A navy member looked at the elderly lady in the castle refusing them at the door, coming up with a bad idea: "This doctor must be colluding with those pirates..."
"Shut up!"
Smoker glared unsatisfied at that navy member.
If everyone having any interaction with pirates were defined like that, innocent civilians around the world might as well become pirates...
A pirate appears in a country, the navy fails to show up in time to protect the civilians, then the surviving civilians labeled as colluding with pirates by the navy; such behavior is even more hateful than pirates, Smoker wished he could scold that subordinate to death!
As this group of navy was finding a solution here, Akihara Kagura and Karin were in the small town of Drum Kingdom, asking about the situation and found out what exactly happened in Drum Kingdom.
It was apparent.
The situation seemed somewhat magical.
Because a very interesting pirate group appeared in Drum Kingdom.
The Blackbeard Pirates.
Many years ago, King Wapol of Drum Kingdom left only some doctors that obeyed him, expelling the other doctors from Drum Kingdom;
Since then, Wapol exploited and oppressed the citizens utilizing his doctors, forbidding the doctors from treating anyone he disliked;
As a result, a terrifying pirate group named the Blackbeard Pirates invaded Drum Kingdom not long ago, and Wapol and his cronies couldn't hold out, fleeing outright. Drum Kingdom appointed Guard Squad Leader Dalton, the Ox-Ox Fruit Ability user, to protect the nation;
However, after the Blackbeard Pirates left, Wapol tried to sneak back into Drum Kingdom to resume exploiting and harming the citizens, which the Straw Hat crew couldn't tolerate. Luffy swiftly expelled Wapol, helping Drum Kingdom get back on track.
"The Straw Hat crew isn't an evil group of pirates."
Guard Squad Leader Dalton was very candid, voluntarily telling everything to the navy in front of him: "They're not like other pirates who burn, kill, and plunder..."
"I know."
"But they're more dangerous than any pirate."
Akihara Kagura shook his head, speaking from the navy's standpoint: "Other pirates talk about becoming the Pirate King just for saying, but Straw Hat Luffy is different; this guy seems to truly have a chance at finding One Piece, becoming the new Pirate King..."
"Even you, Navy mister, think so..."
Dalton's eyes lit up, as if hearing something that made him extremely happy: "Mr. Luffy will become the new Pirate King?"
"Forget it."
"I won't discuss this much with you."
Akihara Kagura waved his hand, voluntarily saying: "Persuade Doctor Kureha to help treat Colonel Smoker; indeed, Straw Hat Luffy isn't the kind of pirate with thousand evils, but Colonel Smoker isn't a bad person either..."
"Yes, I'll go over right away."
Dalton promptly went to persuade Doctor Kureha.
Throughout Drum Kingdom, perhaps only Dalton, who is single-minded for the nation, could persuade Doctor Kureha, as Smoker finally got carried into Doctor Kureha's castle.
"Thank you, Lieutenant Kagura!"
Tashigi gratefully glanced at Akihara Kagura and Karin.
"First, go take care of Colonel Smoker."
Akihara Kagura acted very magnanimous, as if he had done a small insignificant task: "I just know a bit about the Straw Hat crew, can roughly predict the stories they'd leave in places, but don't assume they're not dangerous figures..."
"Huh?"
Tashigi couldn't quite understand Akihara Kagura's meaning.
Yet...
Obviously, it sounded like the Straw Hat crew isn't a bad bunch?
Why say the Straw Hat crew is dangerous?
"The actions of the Straw Hat crew are shaking the World Government's ruling order..."
Akihara Kagura shook his head, sighing softly: "A bunch of pirates driving away an evil king, doing what the World Government and navy haven't done for ordinary citizens in these countries, making the World Government and navy seem like they are just indifferent bad guys, that's their danger..."
"..."
Tashigi felt something was a bit off.
This...
Is there a problem with this?
Actually, isn't the World Government and navy being indifferent bad guys?
"I..."
Tashigi's eyes showed some bewilderment; she felt her thoughts were a bit scary, quickly ran into the castle to take care of Smoker, wanting to focus on collecting famous swords from this world, not wanting to continue being engulfed in such complex thoughts.
After Tashigi left, Akihara Kagura and Karin stood still, silently gazing at the serene snow island, observing this completely white world.
"Alalalala..."
"That's quite an unprecedentedly dangerous statement..."
A voice appeared beside Akihara Kagura and Karin's ears.
A tall figure slowly emerged from the snowy field, looking down at Akihara Kagura in front of him, seemingly feeling bothered.
This guy...
Is he a bit overly extreme?
Or deliberately using such rhetoric to mock the World Government?
However, Aokiji was somewhat unsure whether the other was excessively leaning toward the World Government or using this opportunity to express dissatisfaction with the World Government...
"Forget it, best not to talk about such dangerous topics..."
Aokiji looked at Akihara Kagura in front of him, casually asking: "When I was in Log Town chasing enemies, who was it that supplemented and helped capture Clown Buggy?"
"..."
Akihara Kagura furrowed his brow.
Akihara Kagura seemed to ponder for a moment, looking up at Aokiji, revealing a knowing smile toward him, seemingly like a connection between them, all bearing in that smile.
"The person who caught Clown Buggy?"
"It was me."