Chapter 149

"Welcome to Drum Island, old man," I said with a smile, shaking Don Chinjao's hand as he disembarked the Happosai, the Happo navy's flagship, and made his way towards me, Boo right behind him.

"What's with the polite greeting, brat?" Chinjao asked as he shook my hand, suspiciously squinting his eyes and looking around as if expecting me to pull some a prank of sorts, causing Laffite, who was behind me, to chuckle.

"Is it so strange for me to be polite...?" I asked with a smile, scratching my head. "You did give me a wonderful devil fruit after all, knowingly or not, Rehahaha," I added after a second's pause as I burst out laughing.

Chinjao didn't reply, merely giving me a flat look with his eyes twitching, though if his expression could talk, I'd imagine it was saying, "Yup, there it is."

It has been several days since I kicked Ace's ass, and luckily (for Ace and his crew,) Both Bepo and Law made a complete recovery as I would be on hunting them down right now otherwise.

And Wilson had finally seen fit to show his face after he was satisfied with exploring the island. Wilson's animalistic had started leaking again as he went on a rampage, beating up most of the wildlife for seemingly no reason, but I digress.

Other than that, I've been taking my time to make sure Wapol's life was as miserable as possible while waiting for the date of his public execution. However, I had to make sure he wouldn't escape this time, so I had him imprisoned inside the Black pearl inside a specialized Wolf designed to hold devil fruit users.

"Serves you right for having expected better of me, Rehahahaha," I replied with a smirk, shaking my head. "Anyway, the doctors are ready whenever you are," I added after earning a second sigh of exasperation from the old pirate.

"Take your time and rest up," I remarked as I turned around, gesturing for him to follow me as I made my way into the town. "I can't have you dying from the cold here before we get that pointy head of yours fixed, after all," I concluded with a shrug.

...

"So, brat, I hear you've chased the king of this country out of the island..." Chinjao remarked in a neutral tone as we sat in Bighorn's one and only Bar, having a drink. "What's all that about?" he asked, combing his long, white beard with his hand.

"Well, I wouldn't say I chased him out of the country since he's currently rotting inside the Black Pearl's holding cell," I replied with a careless chuckle, shrugging my shoulders.

"Is that so...?" Chinjao asked with a raised eyebrow. "You do know what the consequences of your actions are, no?" He asked after a second's pause.

"The world government doesn't give a crap about Wapol, if that's what you're saying..." I flatly replied as I downed a shot of vodka. "They just care about Drum kingdom maintaining its affiliated status, regardless of who's in charge," I added, pouring myself another shot.

"And you intend to be that person in charge?" Chinjao asked in a mocking tone, looking me up and down, likely misunderstanding my intentions.

"Hell no," I replied with a chuckle, shaking my head. "I did it as a favor for the doctor who will be operating on your head to get it back in shape," I lied through gritted teeth as I did it to convince Kureha to cure Doc over anything else.

While I liked the old pirate, I had to prioritize my crewmates, and if Kureha said she would only help Doc, I wouldn't have argued with her, but Chinjao didn't need to know that.

"I see, then you have my thanks, brat," Chinjao said with a nod. "If only you didn't have such a foul mouth..." he added, muttering to himself and causing me to chuckle.

"I've heard you've gotten yourselves a couple of new crewmates too," Chinjao said after several seconds of comfortable silence as we both indulged in alcohol.

"Oh, yeah, Doc, and Law, I'll introduce them to you once we reach Drum castle," I said with a smile, nodding my head. "That's where you'll have your operation, by the way," I added, gesturing with my hand to the side.

"Hyohoho, already making yourself at home in the king's castle, I see," Chinjao said with an amused laugh, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't care for castles," I replied, shaking my head. "It's the Dr. Kureha making herself at home there," I added, sighing in relaxation as the alcohol's buzz finally kicked in after a couple of drinks.

"She said it has just enough room for her to stretch her old bones..." I concluded with a chuckle, shaking my head in amusement.

"Dr. Kureha, eh?" Chinjao remarked, combing his beard. "She's the one who will fix my head?" he asked, and I nodded at him.

"She must be quite the doctor if she takes castles as her payment," Chinjao concluded in a neutral tone, making it hard for me to discern if he meant his words as a compliment or as mockery.

"She's more than likely the best a castle can buy," I replied with a chuckle. "Otherwise, her 120 something years as a doctor would have been a waste..." I added with a smile.

"120 years of practicing medicine, you say...?" Chinjao asked with eyes wide open in astonishment as he gave a skeptical look.

"Give or take a couple of years," I replied with a shrug, enjoying his astonished expression as I nodded my head.

"How old is this, Dr. Kureha, exactly?" Chinjao asked after spending several seconds searching my face for any signs of trickery or mischief as he found none.

"137, believe it or not..." I flatly replied. "And she doesn't even look a day over 70," I added, gesturing my hand to the side.

"I suppose even I still haven't seen everything this see has to offer just yet," Chinjao said with a sigh as he downed a shot of vodka.

"You have no idea, old man," I replied with a smirk as I did the same, downing another shot of alcohol.

"Oh, and you do?" Chinjao asked in a mocking tone, looking me up and down.

"I might have an idea or two," I replied with a smile, not bothering to elaborate as we both let go of the subject and started drinking silently in comfortable silence.