Chapter 174: Doctor Hogback
In the end, Dragon paid three Devil Fruits as the medical fee for the Eckmond Kingdom to figure out a way to regenerate Sabo’s severed arm.
This price was quite cheap.
Three ordinary Zoan Devil Fruits, even factoring in the black market premium, were worth only about five or six hundred million Beli. Of course, Devil Fruits are rare and not something you can just buy with money, but for someone of Dragon’s level, collecting Devil Fruits is not a difficult task.
The Revolutionary Army’s influence spans the Four Seas. Aside from the Navy this colossal entity, even the Four Emperors cannot collect Devil Fruits as conveniently as the Revolutionary Army.
This was also due to Dragon personally stepping forward, and they did not want the Revolutionary Army to lose Sabo this future successor. Even the Revolutionary Army does not have many experts as capable as Sabo; losing any one of them would be a tremendous loss, unfavorable for confronting the World Government in the future.
Moreover, seeing Sabo’s condition reminded Elus that it was indeed necessary to further develop medical technology.
He himself was protected by the Hogyoku, with super-speed regeneration ability nearly akin to immortality, but this ability was limited to himself and could not be applied to others. Now, his subordinates were increasing day by day, and injuries from external battles were not uncommon, with many capable fighters forced to retire due to crippled limbs.
To Elus, this was very wasteful—saying so might sound cold-blooded, but that was the fact.
The territory where the maritime transport network had spread already covered most of Paradise. Expanding territory meant he needed more and stronger subordinates to hold the fort. His aide-de-camps were running east and west; aside from Kappas who had always been holed up on Skadi Island overseeing Su’s research, the other three were so busy their heels were nearly kicking the back of their heads.
Manpower,
Elus only hated that there wasn’t enough, never too many.
To make up for the shortage of manpower and also to cultivate loyal subordinates, Elus expanded the Eckmond Kingdom’s Royal Guard training camp tenfold in one go. This base was established by the Eckmond Kingdom’s first King to train guards loyal to the kingdom.
The four aide-de-camps around Elus were all outstanding graduates of this training base, only recently selected to be sent to his side. The rest who were slightly less exceptional would join the Royal Palace’s guard troops upon reaching a certain age.
It sounds quite mysterious, but in reality, it was just a recruit training camp.
The only difference was that the recruits here were sent over from childhood to receive dual education in ideology and physical training, ensuring their loyalty to the Sokachio Family. The children here were basically orphans gathered from various parts of the kingdom, plus geniuses bought from human traffickers.
Eschbach, Dick, and Fran were all bought.
However, nowadays, human traffickers in the New World had been beaten by Elus into rats in the sewers. So many magnates of the Dark World had been taken down, and even though some remnants lingered, they were no longer a threat.
It was impossible to buy geniuses now, but fortunately, Elus had the maritime transport network in hand. Plus, in this Pirate Era, there were plenty of homeless orphans around the world. The number of people receiving education in the training camp had surged tenfold. If not for the limited number of teachers, doubling it again would be no problem.
Back to the point, Elus and Dragon reached a deal.
However, the corresponding medical technology research and development was still uncertain how long it would take. Even when Elus contacted Miss Bakkin via Den Den Mushi and explained his requirements, the old lady said medical technology was not her specialty. Biotechnology and medical technology were related but not the same.
Fortunately, the old lady said that if they could find someone to help, it might not be difficult to make a breakthrough.
Hogback, the genius surgeon, who had once miraculously saved many patients with his surgeries, was a renowned doctor on the Grand Line. His fame was second only to the Okama King, the strongest in history, who saved a nation on the brink of death that even doctors deemed beyond saving, leaving behind the “Miracle Legend.”
This was the person Miss Bakkin mentioned who could help.
“Does it have to be this scum doctor?”
Koala did not look very happy.
“Scum doctor?” Elus curiously raised an eyebrow. “Miss Koala, do you know this Doctor Hogback?”
“I don’t know him! But our Revolutionary Army investigated this scum. We originally wanted to recruit him, but we didn’t know until we checked—turns out this so-called genius surgeon is a scum with ruined medical ethics, someone who values making money over saving lives, an utterly lousy doctor.” Koala’s face was full of disdain.
“What about his medical skill? Moral corruption is one thing, but how is this person’s medical skill?” Elus asked.
“Uh… medical skill, well, it’s pretty good!”
Koala stammered, but did not lie.
“This Doctor Hogback has poor character, but his medical skill is indeed excellent. As long as you can pay, he has saved many patients deemed incurable by other doctors.” Sabo took over the conversation, his face bearing a helpless bitter smile as he tentatively asked: “Um, Your Highness Elus, from what I know, this Doctor Hogback went missing several years ago. Do we really have to find this doctor to help?”
“Not necessarily, but do you know any other skilled doctors comparable to Hogback?”
“This…”
Sabo was at a loss for words.
Hogback being hailed as a genius surgeon was not just newspaper hype. Even the court doctors of the Drum Kingdom, then the world’s top medical powerhouse, acknowledged Hogback as a true genius. Doctors on par with Hogback numbered only a few.
But these few were not easy to invite.
These top doctors without exception had achieved success and fame; they lacked nothing in wealth, reputation, or power, and nine times out of ten were unwilling to associate with wanted criminals like the Revolutionary Army.
The Revolutionary Army could not resort to kidnapping. In comparison, Doctor Hogback, who was willing to work for sufficient money regardless of whether the employer was human or devil, was the easiest to invite.
Provided they could find this missing doctor.
Of course, such a small matter was not difficult for the Revolutionary Army. Unless it was at Vegapunk’s level of protection, as long as the person was still on this sea, the Revolutionary Army could find them.
“I do know two other skilled doctors, but these two are most likely impossible to invite without special means,” Elus said slowly.
Speaking of famous doctors, the lighthouse keeper Crocus at the Twin Capes, and the immortal witch Dr. Kureha over 130 years old in the Drum Kingdom—these two were absolutely the top doctors on the sea. But Crocus, as the Pirate King’s ship doctor, moving him might attract Rayleigh and other monsters.
As for Dr. Kureha, the teacher of the blue-nosed reindeer, she was a good target, provided this witch over 130 who still moved like the wind was not some hidden powerhouse…
“I’ll send people to find this Doctor Hogback.”
Dragon said in a deep voice.
As the leader of the Revolutionary Army, he was well aware that under the World Government and Navy’s propaganda, countless people viewed the Revolutionary Army as heinous criminals. Unlucky folks suspected of Revolutionary Army ties had their families destroyed nonstop, and newspapers reported World Government executions of Revolutionary Army supporters every few days.
Mostly fake news, but these fabrications successfully intimidated many. The poor at the bottom did not care, but successful upper-class people saw the Revolutionary Army as venomous snakes and scorpions. Even open-minded elites feared the World Government’s tyranny and dared not contact the Revolutionary Army.
“No need for the trouble. Coincidentally, I happen to know Doctor Hogback’s whereabouts,” Elus said with a smile.
Doctor Hogback.
He had an impression of this name from his previous life’s memories. After all, he was a famous doctor even Chopper admired, though ultimately disappointing—but that was due to his character, not denying Doctor Hogback’s medical skill.
“Oh? Where is this Doctor Hogback? I’ll have my subordinates invite him over,” Dragon pressed.
“Thriller Bark, the Thriller Bark ship.”
“The Misty Sea? So he’s with Moria!”
The Thriller Bark, shrouded in year-round fog on the sea and also known as the Misty Sea, was the place in Paradise with the most disappearance incidents. Over 100 ships vanished there every year, and in recent years, rumors made it an extremely terrifying place.
In fact, it was occupied by Moonlight Moria, one of the Seven Warlords. After challenging Kaido in the New World and suffering a crushing defeat, losing all his partners, the greatly changed Moria retreated to Paradise, took over the Thriller Bark, and used the Shadow-Shadow Fruit’s ability to hunt passing ships, stealing shadows from strong people to build a bloodless, tearless zombie army.
Dragon was not very clear on Moria building a zombie army, but he knew the Thriller Bark was Moria’s territory.
“A Seven Warlord? That’s a bit troublesome!”
Dragon slightly furrowed his brows.
Moria was a Seven Warlord member after all. The Revolutionary Army appearing before him would likely spark a fight. As for using force to snatch someone from Moria… that would also draw World Government and Navy attention, which he did not want to see.
“Leave Doctor Hogback to me. As fellow Seven Warlords, Moria should give me face.”
Elus took the initiative to handle this matter,
Dragon stared at Elus for a couple of moments. Speaking of Seven Warlords… the Revolutionary Army also had one member, but he had no intention of revealing Bear to Elus. No matter how good relations were now, they were still two separate groups, far from the point of heartfelt trust.
“In that case, we’ll trouble Your Highness.”
“No problem, no problem. I wanted to stretch my limbs anyway. The Thriller Bark… I didn’t pass through here last time going to Water 7, so this time I can take a look. And if Moria doesn’t give face, I can always communicate with fists,” Elus said enthusiastically.
“Eh?”
“Your Highness Elus, you’re going personally?”
Koala widened her eyes in surprise.
“That’s right. I want to personally visit this colleague I’ve never met. Plus, Fleet Admiral Sengoku sent a summons the day before yesterday for the Seven Warlords to attend a meeting at Navy Headquarters… Though speaking of it, among the current Seven Warlords, I’ve only met the Heavenly Yaksha and White Horse in person, clashed remotely once with that guy Crocodile but never met face-to-face…”
Elus rubbed his chin, muttering to himself.
Come to think of it, he had been a Seven Warlord for so long and attended two Navy Headquarters summons for Warlord meetings, but both times few showed up. The Empress, Tyrant, Hawk Eyes, and Moria all missed for different reasons.
In the end, only Doflamingo, Elus, and Cavendish—who filled Crocodile’s vacancy—attended the meetings.
Fleet Admiral Sengoku pounded the table in rage each time, vowing to punish those willful bastards, but it always ended without follow-up. After two meetings and being assigned a bunch of troublesome tasks, he had planned to refuse this third summons.
However,
With the Hogback matter,
Elus found motivation to go. If Moria attended this meeting, they could discuss it there; if not, he did not mind going personally to visit.
“By the way, has the Revolutionary Army found that guy Crocodile’s whereabouts?” Elus changed the topic.
“No, that crocodile was reportedly sighted in Sabaody Archipelago a month ago, but then vanished. Probably came to the New World? Though maybe not—that guy’s clever. Appearing in Sabaody Archipelago might have been to mislead. Why? Your Highness Elus, planning to cut the grass at the root?”
“If you’re planning to thoroughly deal with Crocodile… I think the Sand Crocodile, having suffered once, won’t be easy to catch,” Dragon gave Crocodile a high evaluation.
“I’m not planning something so troublesome. Anyway, I’m not afraid of his revenge,” Elus shook his head in denial.
He did not underestimate this crocodile. The one who devised the national theft plan and built Baroque Works in Paradise had only one flaw: insufficient personal strength training. As long as he compensated for that, mastered Haki, and with his Devil Fruit ability development, it would not be hard for him to rise again on the sea.
But Elus was not afraid of him causing trouble either. Having fought BIG·MOM and Kaido successively, fearless even against Whitebeard, he did not believe Crocodile could be stronger than the Pirate Emperors.
After chatting a few sentences on the Sand Crocodile, Dragon stood to take his leave. The Revolutionary Army leader had no time to idle here. They agreed that once Elus contacted them, he left with Sabo and Koala.
