chapter 98

"Thank you again. How about I give you an apple as thanks for helping me twice already?" Doc Q said, rummaging around the side of his horse, retrieving an apple basket which he shoved in front of my face.

"How kind of you!" I said with twitching eyes, promptly snatching one of the apples as the other shot towards Doc Q's mouth, squeezing his Jaw and forcing it open as I shoved the evil fruit in his mouth.

It seems that my action took Doc Q by surprise, allowing me to force him to bite into the apple, which he did, chewing on it with some difficulty, swallowing with a big gulp.

"It seems that you're quite lucky, Mr pirate captain," Doc Q said with some difficulty after swallowing a mouthful of apple. "Luck has nothing to do with it," I said with a scowl on my face, watching as the bitten fell from his mouth to the ground.

"I make my own luck," I said with a shrug, snatching another apple and causing Doc Q to sweat, thinking that I'll shove it into his mouth again.

I merely smirked as I covered my hand in Haki and crushed the apple causing it to explode in my hand, away from Laffite, Doc Q, and myself.

"In the end, it doesn't whether you're lucky or not," I stated with a smirk. "The only thing that matters is whether you're strong enough to change your luck or not," I added with my fist raised in front of my face.

"Join my crew, and I will change your luck for the better, starting with this sickly body of yours!" I concluded, reaching to grab the apple basked from his hand, throwing it away, and smirking as it exploded immediately upon hitting the ground.

"The only reason I can think of for you to want me in your crew is that you need a doctor on your ship, and yet you're promising to cure my illness, which even I couldn't cure," Doc Q remarked, chuckling and gasping for breath in between words.

"What an interesting man," he concluded in a dismissive tone, shaking his head and vomiting another mouthful of blood.

"I know a lot of great doctors, and I'm going to gather them in one place to treat the body of one of my friends soon," I explained with a smirk, not taking any offense at his dismissive tone, even as Laffite frowned.

"Tag along with us until then, and if I can't keep my word then, you are free to leave," I added in a serious tone. "You have nothing to lose if I fail, but you have everything to gain if I manage to do it," I concluded.

"When- cough - you put it like that, then I'd be a fool to refuse, but...," Doc Q said, trailing at the end of his sentence. "But I don't just follow anyone, so prove your strength first," he concluded, reaching to his back at incredible speed, retrieving his scythe and swinging it at me with a maniacal smile on his face.

I merely smirked as Laffite rushed in front of me, blocking the incoming scythe with his cane, a cheerful smile on his face.

"Don't you know it's rude to attack someone's captain right in front of their face?" Laffite asked, still smiling cheerfully as he and doc Q pushed each other, trying to overpower one another.

"My apologies," Doc Q remarked. "Then allow me to beat you down and get to your captain next," he concluded with a chuckling tone, still wheezing and gasping for breath as his horse, Stronger, raised one of its hooves, trying to kick Laffite in the gut.

Laffite didn't reply, merely using Kami-e to twist his torso strangely, avoiding the hoof and kicking Doc Q's scythe upwards as he thrust his cane forward, aiming for the sickly doctor's face.

Doc Q gasped for breath, moving his head to the side and avoiding Laffite's cane by hairbreadth as he swung his scythe downwards at Laffite.

The navigator used Soru to dodge, disappearing and appearing behind the sickly doctor, only to find him facing the other way already, mid swinging motion.

Laffite frowned at Doc Q's speed and reaction time and moved incredibly quickly, clashing with the sickly doctor's scythe with his cane and taking a step backward to stave off the impact.

"For a sickly person who can barely walk, you pack quite the punch," Laffite said with a cheerful smile, promptly pushing himself forward by using Geppo without waiting for a reply.

Surprise took Doc Q because of the strange technique, allowing his weapon to slip downwards, and Laffite took advantage of that, whacking the scythe with his cane to send it barreling down into the ground.

Laffite then pinned down the scythe with the tip of his cane, using that as leverage to perform a flip into the air right above the sickly doctor as he activated Shigan, his index finger glowing ominously in a red hue.

Laffite, who was in the air with his feet high and his head facing the ground, pushed himself with Geppo towards Doc Q, thrusting his finger towards the sickly doctor's shoulder.

Doc Q, however, reacted quickly, using his free hand to block Laffite's incoming finger. Still, it wasn't sufficient as the navigator used a watered-down of his searing beam, penetrating right through the sickly doctor's hand and hitting his shoulder.

Doc Q merely winced in pain while using his injured hand to hold on to Laffite as the other swung the oversized scythe in the navigator's direction.

Laffite barely had any time to dodge, and the scythe ended up cutting into his shoulder as he whacked the sickly doctor's wrest with his cane and freed himself, jumping backward to make some distance between them.

"You had no foothold, so how could you dodge my last attack like that?" Doc Q asked in his usual wheezing tone, uncaring about the hole in his shoulder and hand.

"It's a simple technique that the captain taught me," Laffite replied with a smile while gesturing towards me with his chin.

"Is your captain as strong as you are?" Doc Q asked, alternating his tired gaze between my navigator and me. "He's a lot stronger than me," Laffite replied with a smile.

"In fact, he will become the world's strongest man, sooner or later," Laffite added, his smile turning into a smug smirk, which caused me to chuckle as well.

"The strongest man in the world, eh?" Doc Q remarked, his gaze focusing on me, and I met it with unflinching eyes. "I wouldn't mind following someone like that," he added, putting his scythe away.

"I will follow you for now and make the final decision after you gather those doctors you were talking about, if you would still have me," Doc Q said while looking me dead in the eye.

"Welcome aboard, Doc," I said with a smile. "But we need to make some ground rules first," I added in a firm tone.

"Rule number one; no apples, exploding or otherwise," I said, raising a finger. "Rule number two; don't harm your crewmates in any way. I will personally gut anyone who breaks this rule, regardless of their reasons," I added, my tone turning murderous and my smile vanishing.

"Rule number three; Don't harm innocent civilians unless absolutely necessary. We're pirates, not psychopaths," I concluded, my smile returning as my tone turned pleasant again.

"A little strict than what I'm used to," Doc Q said with a frown. "But I can work with that," he concluded.

"Then patch yourself and Laffite up first," I instructed. "Then follow me. I'll introduce you to our ship, the black pearl, and her crew," I added, watching as the sickly doctor nodded and went to work immediately.