Chapter 153

"We need to talk..." Doc Q said in a somber tone as he looked at me.

"Sure thing, do you want to go somewhere private, or...?" I asked, gesturing towards our crewmates with a raised eyebrow.

"Here is fine," Doc said, taking a deep breath, and I must say, just listening to him speak without obnoxiously wheezing and gasping for breath makes the surgery worth it.

"Everyone one already knows the circumstances of my illness..." Doc said in a resolute tone. "It's funny, really..." he added with a bitter chuckle.

"I always thought of my illness as a random happening, a mere twist of fate, and I accepted as that," Doc remarked, gesturing with his hand to the side.

"I had no purpose in life other than making the most of what little time I had left..." Doc added in a serene, accepting tone. "But thanks to you, I know better now..." he continued, his expression turning into an angry scowl.

"My sickness wasn't part of fate's plan. It was the celestial dragons perpetuating my suffering all along," Doc exclaimed, his expression twisting further and further in rage.

Doc paused for a second, taking a deep breath. "However, meeting you was nothing short of fate's plan, Johnny Silverhand," Doc calmly remarked, having gathered his calm.

"Not only did my voyage with you open my eyes to the truth, you even helped cure my illness..." Doc said, a zealous, fiery glint in his eyes.

"We even have a common enemy!" Doc added, and I couldn't help smiling at how almost everyone in my crew had a bone to pick with the celestial pigs.

"So, I would like to... no, please allow me to join your crew and follow you to the end of your journey!" Doc concluded as he kneeled and banged his head against the floor, making the ground shake.

"You're already part of the crew, so there's no need for such formalities," I said with a smile as I made my way towards Doc and helped him to his feet.

"Besides, if you keep making such a ruckus, then you might wake up Dr. Kureha, and we don't want that," I added with a laugh as I patted his shoulder.

"Yeah, an angry, old hag, bursting into the bar, throwing knives on everyone is the last thing we want," Doc added with a smile, nodding his head.

...

"This feels like a milestone of sorts, captain," Elly said with a smile as the crew all stood outside of Drum castle, watching as Dalton himself raised their pirate flag right next to Dr, Hiriluk's own.

"Whatever it may be..." Johnny replied, his eyes full of pride as he gazed at his flag. "It's just the start!" He added, turning to look at the sky, a hand reaching upwards as if to catch them all.

"It's still just a piece of cloth, swaying with the wind as it is right now," Johnny remarked as he lowered his head, smiling as he looked at his crewmates. "But give it a year or two, and it will be so much more," Johnny added, patting Elly's head.

"Whether they admire it or fear it, everyone will know it regardless," Johnny stated. "I'll make sure of it, Rehahaha," Johnny concluded, with a loud predatory laugh, his hungry expression, moving something deep inside his crewmates as they looked at him in a daze, except for Wilson, who burst out laughing as well.

...

I smiled as we sat near the hearth fire inside Drum castle, relaxing with a bottle of whisky in my hand as I watched my companions doing their own thing.

Elly and Kozue were having a shooting contest, as the former used her rifle and the latter used her bow, both competing to shoot an ever-shrinking matchstick with every hit, saving off the tip of its tip.

Wilson surprisingly was in a social mood as he sat between several soldiers, having a drinking competition with them. Needless to say, Wilson was winning despite the soldiers teaming up against him, making drink two cups for everyone any of them drank.

Chopper and Bepo were running around Doc Q, only saying the two words, amazing and incredible, as the latter manifested a pair of flaming wings on his back.

Though he still lacked a real pair of wings that the Lunarians were famous for, manifesting a flaming pair of wings came naturally to him, despite still being unable to control his flames just yet.

Crocus had stated that Doc not having wings might have something to do with the latter not being a pure-blooded Lunarian, and he might never have a solid pair of wings, or it might be a side effect of the virus, hampering his wings' growth.

Either way, it will be apparent in time, and Doc himself wasn't that attached to the idea of having wings, so we'll have to wait and see.

And speaking of Crocus, he was currently sitting next to Kureha, being pestered by Law, who was trying to milk them for as much medical knowledge as he could.

Crocus merely smiled as he indulged the death surgeon, while Kureha tried to shoo him away on multiple occasions, but she still obliged, answering Law's question and even smiling fondly when she thought no one was watching.

Laffite and Byron, on the other hand, were having a friendly game of chess, and I would say the navigator was winning based on Bryon's distraught expression as he scratched his head in frustration.

Feeling the urge to sing, I quickly cleared my throat and hummed. "As I was going to Derby, 'twas on a market day," I sang, and everyone turned to look at me, but they didn't stop what they were doing.

"I met the finest ram, sirs, that ever was fed upon hay," I belted out, pausing for a second as I took a sip from my whisky bottle.

"That's a lie, that's a lie. That's a lie, a lie, a lie!" Byron took the chance to choir from the side, Wilson and soldier joining him on the second part.

This ram and I got drunk, sir, as drunk as drunk could be. And when we sobered up, sir, we were far away out on the sea," I chanted, pausing as Byron repeated the choir this time, with the others joining him as well.

"This wonderful old ram, sir, was playful as a kid..."

"He swallowed the captain's spyglass along with the bo'sun's fid..."

(Author's note: song name, The Derby Ram)