Chapter 200: Blackbeard Comes And Goes In A Hurry
Two ships were approaching.
To be precise, the giant raft-type warship had reduced its speed and was slowly moving toward the unmarked warship moored at the port. As the distance continued to shrink, the situation on the opposite deck could be seen even without a telescope.
“Long time no see, Prince Elus!”
Blackbeard, this thick-skinned guy, stood on tiptoes, waving his right hand and shouting a greeting to Prince Elus.
From the tone of his shout,
it seemed as if he and Prince Elus were very familiar.
“·······Marshall Teach, or rather······” Prince Elus had no desire to shout back at the top of his lungs without any grace like Blackbeard, so he stepped through the air, using spiritual pressure to create invisible transparent steps under his feet for footing. At extreme speed, he crossed the long sky and landed on the deck of the giant raft-type warship.
“Or rather, should I call you Marshall D. Teach?”
Prince Elus stood in front of Blackbeard, and this sentence happened to finish just then.
But as soon as the words fell,
a fierce glint flashed in Blackbeard’s eyes, but it quickly subsided, and he burst into laughter. “Prince Elus, your sources of information are truly well-informed! The old man has never known my full name all these years. Can you tell me where you learned it from?”
“Hey! Thick-skinned enough, still calling him old man! Your old man probably just wants to slap this beast of yours against the wall right now.”
Prince Elus spoke without any politeness or mercy, his sharp and biting words stabbing straight at Blackbeard like swords. But the thick skin remark was spot on; hearing this near-abusive sarcasm from Prince Elus, he didn’t get angry at all. Instead, his smile grew even more smug.
“I’m a pirate! Betrayal and selling out aren’t those normal things? Pirates like the old man are the real outliers!”
There wasn’t a hint of shame on Blackbeard’s face; instead, he righteously refuted Prince Elus.
“I have nothing to say to refute that. Whitebeard······ indeed doesn’t seem like a pirate. Ordinary people on his territory live much more comfortably than the subjects under those tyrants. If the residents of Drum Island knew how comfortable life is under Whitebeard, they might actually hope to be ruled by pirates!”
“However, while you can take a slap in the face and pretend nothing happened, your subordinates seem unable to tolerate it!”
Prince Elus’s gaze passed over Blackbeard.
Poison Q was fine, leaning on his horse “Stout” with no movement, but Lafitte had unknowingly drawn the thin sword hidden in his cane. Blackbeard’s expression changed; his attention had been entirely on Prince Elus, overlooking the actions of his companions behind him.
“Lafitte, stop······”
Blackbeard’s attempt to stop him was a step too late. The sharp sword qi capable of piercing gold and stone stabbed straight toward Prince Elus.
This devil sheriff from the West Sea had been expelled for violent enforcement, then wandered at sea ever since. He seemed unremarkable, with a Navy bounty of only 42.2 million Beli, but he didn’t take the Navy’s bounty seriously. He simply didn’t care about such meaningless fame; otherwise, multiplying the bounty several times over wouldn’t be difficult.
He had an extremely arrogant personality. Even facing the Black Prince, he knew he might not be a match, but he always felt confident he could retreat unscathed after probing.
So,
when Prince Elus mocked his own captain, Lafitte resolved to draw his sword and test the caliber of the New World’s fifth overlord.
The sword qi was extremely fast,
and its power was quite impressive.
Prince Elus focused his eyes and acknowledged that this devil sheriff had real skill. Blackbeard’s eye for people was excellent; just this swordsmanship alone could probably land him a spot among the top ten cadres under the Four Emperors.
In the Whitebeard Pirates, displacing a captain of mid-to-lower strength would be no problem at all.
“Nice swordsmanship!”
Prince Elus caught the strand of sword qi that tore through the wind and snow to reach him barehanded.
That sword qi was indeed powerful, struggling fiercely in his palm and even sparking bits of fire from friction, but as he squeezed with force, the sword qi shattered to pieces.
“Unfortunately, it’s useless against me.”
He opened his palm, revealing unblemished white skin with not a single mark left behind.
“To hurt me······ your sword needs to be sharper. Since I have nothing to do today, I’ll help sharpen its edge.” As the words fell, a cyan-white lightsaber coalesced in Prince Elus’s hand. The sword light slicing through the atmosphere flashed abruptly, and Lafitte reacted extremely quickly, thrusting his leek-leaf-like thin sword upward.
A crisp clang rang out.
The sword edges had already crossed paths.
Lafitte’s shoulder now bore a deep wound exposing bone.
Prince Elus was unscathed, though the scattered sword qi behind him carved dozens of gashes in the sea surface, which were soon filled by swirling seawater.
“Prince Elus!”
Blackbeard was furious at the sight. He feared Whitebeard terribly, but only Whitebeard. Even the current Pirate Emperors on par with Whitebeard······ truthfully, he didn’t think much of them; they were just guys who took some advantage while Whitebeard was old and declining.
Ten years ago, twenty years ago······ Whitebeard back then was truly terrifying.
Aside from Roger and Golden Lion, no other pirate on the Grand Line could stand equal to him. Back then, Blackbeard so revered Whitebeard that even after all these years, though he had grown stronger, recalling that Whitebeard who overlooked the Four Seas still filled him with bone-deep fear.
Fortunately, Whitebeard had grown old, not just in age and frailty, but also plagued by illness.
Otherwise, he might not have had the guts to ambush Sachi and seize the Dark-Dark Fruit.
In short, the only one in this world he feared was Whitebeard. Besides that······ he feared nothing, and the Black Prince before him was no exception.
“Are you here to help the old man clean up this traitor of his?” Blackbeard’s smile gained a few hints of killing intent.
“What if I said yes?”
After one sword slash wounding Lafitte and giving him a lesson for acting rashly, Prince Elus didn’t continue attacking. Instead, he leisurely chatted with Blackbeard. Meeting Blackbeard and his group on Drum Island today was pure coincidence; he had no particular thoughts about them.
The Dark-Dark Fruit’s ability was certainly special, but it wasn’t among his immediate goals. Compared to Logia Devil Fruits, he currently wanted to acquire a few Paramecia fruits more.
By now, the Door-Door Fruit was nearly fully analyzed, and he had already decided on the next Devil Fruit he wanted.
Today’s encounter with Blackbeard was merely a chance crossing of paths.
He wasn’t planning to force any outcome from it. He also wanted to see what kind of commotion Blackbeard would stir up next, whether the Whitebeard Pirates would decline according to their original fate, and what new changes the New World would bring······
To this day, the Pirate Emperors dominating their sides were no longer strong enemies requiring caution from Prince Elus. In his mind, the true great enemy was the World Government, the Holy Land controlling eight centuries of history.
Let alone Blackbeard, who wasn’t yet a Pirate Emperor.
“In that case, I’ll have to experience the Black Prince’s prowess right here.”
Blackbeard’s fist was coated in a layer of profound darkness, with lingering black smoke slowly rising, clearly preparing to make a move.
“Then give it a try.”
Prince Elus said with a smile.
Then,
the Moonlight Sword slashed down once more.
“Aah!! It hurts so much!”
Blood dripped from Blackbeard’s left arm, a shallow wound appearing on his forearm. It wasn’t deep, merely breaking skin and capillaries without touching major vessels. Such a minor injury was nothing serious for pirates.
“Oh! Not bad! Your Armament Haki is really tough; that sword took eight parts of my strength.”
Prince Elus appeared relaxed, at ease and comfortable, as if sparring playfully with a friend rather than fighting a life-or-death battle.
Such an attitude naturally infuriated others, especially Blackbeard. He would rather the Black Prince attack him with full force than be looked down upon like this. Having endured for decades in the Whitebeard Pirates, he hated being despised the most.
“Heh heh, Prince Elus, don’t underestimate me. I possess the most vicious ability in Devil Fruit history. I won’t be killed by you. No one in this world can kill me—not you, not Whitebeard old man······ Logia Dark-Dark Fruit, let you witness······ my power!”
“Then I’ll have to see it properly.”
Though Prince Elus said this, he instead dispersed the Moonlight Sword in his hand, his empty hands forming the starkest contrast with his words.
Even Blackbeard, with his thick skin, couldn’t help but have his smile stiffen from Prince Elus’s provocation.
However,
this didn’t stop him from acting.
“Dark Water!”
Black smoke surged from Blackbeard’s left hand, unleashing an overwhelming attractive force that pulled toward Prince Elus in front of him. Prince Elus’s steady stance immediately staggered as he stumbled toward Blackbeard. He didn’t resist the pull head-on but carefully experienced how this powerful suction worked.
Before he could figure it out, Blackbeard’s left hand had already grabbed Prince Elus’s shoulder.
In an instant,
Prince Elus sensed a power within him fall silent.
It was······ the Door-Door Fruit!
“Bang!!!”
Blackbeard’s fist slammed viciously into Prince Elus’s lower abdomen. The extreme impact pierced through the ‘Steel Skin’ defense, striking the soft organs. Prince Elus spat out a mouthful of blood with a “wah,” his whole body shooting backward like an arrow off the string.
“Wahaha! How does it feel to get beaten? It’s been a long time since you felt pain, right, Prince Elus!!!” Thick black smoke poured from Blackbeard’s body as he laughed triumphantly. “The moment I grabbed you, you should have realized, right? Why my Dark-Dark Fruit is the most dangerous Logia fruit.”
“Darkness······ is also gravity. Before this infinite gravity, no light can escape the devouring darkness—including Devil Fruit powers······ There’s nothing this darkness can’t absorb. You just experienced it, wahahaha!!!”
“The instant you grabbed me, the Devil Fruit ability vanished······ Is this the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit? Sealing others’ fruit abilities through physical contact! Preventing ability users from using their Devil Fruit powers during that time undoubtedly disrupts the opponent’s combat rhythm······ The most dangerous ability in Devil Fruit history? Indeed a troublesome ability!”
If it were before, he probably would have needed great effort to defeat Blackbeard.
Prince Elus dispelled the force of Blackbeard’s punch, floating down lightly like a willow leaf, steadying himself in the air.
He wiped the blood from his mouth, his smile unchanged. Blackbeard’s fist was indeed hard; truthfully, even without the Dark-Dark Fruit, his physical strength alone was probably no less than a Pirate Emperor not using fruit powers.
Being able to replace Whitebeard as one of the Four Emperors wasn’t entirely due to dual Devil Fruits.
Even without relying on Devil Fruits, Blackbeard himself was a top-tier powerhouse.
Of course, Blackbeard’s strength wasn’t what concerned him; his interest lay in that instant when the Door-Door Fruit was suppressed. In that brief moment, he truly felt the Door-Door Fruit’s power engulfed and suppressed by external darkness, falling completely silent.
Only when Blackbeard released his left hand from Prince Elus’s shoulder did the darkness recede, allowing the Door-Door Fruit’s power to revive.
Unfortunately,
it was limited to the Door-Door Fruit’s power,
while his other powers faced no restrictions.
This sparked various thoughts in Prince Elus’s mind. Perhaps the Dark-Dark Fruit only targeted similar Devil Fruit powers. Powers like those Prince Elus had analyzed and comprehended through the Hogyoku······ though modeled on Devil Fruits, were ultimately his own, not Devil Fruit powers.
So,
the Dark-Dark Fruit couldn’t target them.
This was good news for Prince Elus.
It further solidified his resolve to continue his current path. Devil Fruit powers······ ultimately didn’t belong to him. Apart from the Dark-Dark Fruit suppressing them, the mere existence of seawater and Seastone proved Devil Fruit powers had flaws.
If there were no way to compensate, so be it, but now that there was a way to break free from Devil Fruit limitations, he naturally had to press forward.
“However······ as long as I’m not grabbed, the Dark-Dark Fruit’s ability is just average.”
Prince Elus’s interest hadn’t waned.
He raised his right hand, spiritual pressure gathering in his palm as crimson Bala shot out like lightning.
The Bala’s speed was so great that even Blackbeard couldn’t dodge, hitting his chest and inflicting significant damage. The double pain made him wail, but that was it—the Bala’s attack power wasn’t enough to truly hurt Blackbeard badly.
The minor setback humiliated Blackbeard more than the actual damage.
“Dark Water······”
Blackbeard tried the same trick again.
But this time, the prepared Prince Elus instantly shifted position with ‘Sound Step,’ evading the Dark Water’s pull while continuously firing Bala, toying with Blackbeard entirely. After being hit multiple times, Blackbeard realized something was wrong.
Prince Elus’s movement speed was too fast; small-range Dark Water struggled to catch him.
But unleashing a big move······ Blackbeard thought about it; it seemed that was the only option now. Even denser, profound black smoke surged from his body, spreading like flowing water and instantly covering the giant raft-type warship underfoot, then flowing to the sea surface and continuously extending outward······
“Dark Cavern.”
The spreading darkness suddenly erupted with overwhelming attractive force. Snowflakes falling in the air abruptly descended at ten times speed, wholly devoured by the boundless darkness. Prince Elus standing in the air also felt the powerful suction from the darkness below.
Like a black hole opened on the sea surface, ready to swallow all tangible things.
The spiritual pressure-formed steps collapsed under the suction······ No, more precisely, they were crushed by Prince Elus himself. The suction couldn’t directly affect the spiritual pressure steps but landed on Prince Elus, relentlessly pulling him downward.
This force transferred to the invisible steps under his feet, shattering them once exceeding their limit, dissipating into points of spiritual light.
Fortunately, before that,
Prince Elus instantly formed new steps to bear his downward gravity.
This time, he fully resisted the Dark-Dark Fruit’s pull while continuing to study the suction’s properties······ He felt this suction likely only affected physical matter and was ineffective against spiritual bodies like ghosts.
For example, Spirit-Spirit Fruit-created ghost clones. Prince Elus’s spiritual pressure was essentially a manifestation of soul power, just like Spirit-Spirit Fruit ghost clones. Since the Dark-Dark Fruit’s attraction was ineffective against spiritual pressure, ghost clones would naturally be immune.
BIG·MOM’s homies created with the Soul-Soul Fruit, however,
fused with real substances like flames or thunderclouds, probably couldn’t resist the Dark-Dark Fruit’s attraction.
“Cero.”
Prince Elus continuously shattered six spiritual pressure steps, finally satisfying his research curiosity. He stopped his racing brain and fired a emerald-green spiritual pressure flash. Blackbeard on the ship wailed in agony from the hit.
This was just the beginning,
as a storm of attacks was imminent.
“Hundred Step Railing!”
“Six Rod Light Prison!”
“Lock Bar Bind!”
All binding techniques not aimed at direct killing—these were variant applications of spiritual pressure by Prince Elus, nothing sophisticated. Mimicking moves from memory, altering spiritual pressure’s form to create techniques, but ultimately without qualitative change.
Techniques like Blue Fire Crash or Thunder Roar Cannon hadn’t been replicated yet.
Blackbeard, bewildered by Prince Elus’s series of moves, instinctively contracted the Dark Cavern’s range. The brief sparring had made him realize Prince Elus’s difficulty exceeded expectations, and from start to finish, Prince Elus hadn’t shown the Mythical Zoan form he should have.
It seemed he hadn’t gone all out.
His nearly sky-high arrogance finally cooled a bit, realizing that though he didn’t fear Prince Elus, victory wouldn’t be easy. A real fight might take seven or eight days without results.
Especially, Lafitte and Poison Q likely wouldn’t survive the struggle. After all, subordinates of Prince Elus might be hiding on the nearby warship······ Lafitte and Poison Q were only two······
Now wasn’t the time for all-out war with Prince Elus.
Later,
once his grand ambitions succeeded, he could settle accounts with the Black Prince slowly.
“Prince Elus, you······”
“I’m done playing.”
Prince Elus had returned to Blackbeard’s ship.
“Are you······ really prepared to fight me to the death, Teach, for a you-die-I-live outcome?”
Even the cunning Blackbeard was left somewhat dazed by Prince Elus this time. What did the Black Prince mean······ He thought for a moment, withdrew the Dark-Dark Fruit power, and chuckled back: “Prince Elus, you struck me with a sword first earlier.”
“Wasn’t it you who said you wanted to experience my prowess?”
Prince Elus asked in feigned surprise.
“······” Blackbeard’s face twitched, then he burst into laughter. “My mistake; once I start fighting, my brain gets a bit slow······”
“Bad brain, hmm, I understand.”
Prince Elus continued spewing venom.
But this time, Lafitte and Poison Q stayed silent. They had realized that against the Black Prince, only the captain could oppose him. Such enemies weren’t for them to handle; acting rashly would only disadvantage them.
“Prince Elus, may I ask what brings you to Drum Island?” Blackbeard resorted to his endurance once more, seemingly unconcerned by Prince Elus’s sharp tongue, casually opening a new topic.
“If I said passing by, you probably wouldn’t believe it······ Ah! Right, I’m here to uphold the foundation of Drum Kingdom. Eckmond Kingdom and Drum Kingdom have been allies since my grandfather’s generation. Now Drum Kingdom is ruled by a tyrant; I can’t bear to see the people here living in misery, so······ I came to help overthrow the tyrant and install a good king for them.”
Prince Elus muttered a long string.
Blackbeard listened with twitching eyelids, utterly baffled, unable to figure out what the Black Prince wanted from this fallen medical great power. He pondered but couldn’t grasp it, so he simply stopped thinking.
It had nothing to do with him anyway.
To think it was unlucky—he had only come to Drum Island to resupply.
Yet he ran into the Black Prince here, fought pointlessly, and took a real beating. But······ it wasn’t entirely fruitless; at least the fight gave him a more accurate sense of his position.
Indeed, relying solely on the Dark-Dark Fruit wasn’t enough to truly dominate the New World.
He needed even greater power to serve his ambitions.
“······ We’re just here to resupply. Drum Island’s matters have nothing to do with me.”
Blackbeard didn’t want further misunderstandings leading to more pointless fighting and proactively explained their reason for coming to Drum Island.
“I see!”
Prince Elus nodded. “Then finish resupplying and leave quickly. Don’t cause trouble on the island—Drum Kingdom is allied territory······ Right, if you pass by Alabasta, behave too! Alabasta Kingdom is also our family’s ally.”
“······ Drum Kingdom and Alabasta Kingdom don’t conflict with my goals!” Blackbeard replied with a forced smile.
“That’s best.”
Prince Elus turned and left.
In an instant, his figure vanished into the wind and snow.
“Captain.”
Lafitte stepped forward.
“Prepare to dock.”
Blackbeard stroked his beard. “Once resupplied, we leave immediately. It’s not time to clash with the Black Prince yet. Once our grand plan succeeds, we’ll settle today’s score then.”
The giant raft-type warship slowly headed toward the port, avoiding the unmarked warship.
Truthfully,
the Blackbeard Pirates currently consisted of just three people and one horse.
Their main resupply need was fresh water; food stores were sufficient. Of course, whenever reaching an island, it was best to restock consumption if possible, to avoid accidents. Sea voyages were full of uncertainties; no one knew what troubles lay ahead.
Blackbeard and the others obediently went ashore.
But the villagers of nearby Long Horn Village were all unconscious, making it truly difficult. Blackbeard and crew could only take what they needed, leaving behind a pile of gold and silver······ So honest they hardly seemed like pirates. It was clear they truly didn’t intend to clash with Prince Elus now.
“Your Highness, really not keeping them? Don’t we need that Dark-Dark Fruit?”
Fran couldn’t help asking.
“Not for now.”
Prince Elus stood at the bridge window, watching through the glass and wind snow as the giant raft warship slowly sailed out of the port. “Blackbeard is a true pirate, not playing house like Whitebeard and Red-Haired······ Killing this catfish now would be a real waste. I’m still counting on him to help stir up the world’s pattern!”
“······ Is he that impressive?”
Fran looked distrustful.
“Believe me, Blackbeard, Marshall D. Teach—this guy is even more troublesome than you imagine······ Who knows, he might bring unprecedented surprises to everyone in this world!” Prince Elus said with a smile.
Indeed!
Who could imagine that Whitebeard, overlooking the Four Seas, rampaging the oceans, invincible, would meet his end at the hands of the traitor everyone thought would die by Whitebeard? The reversed outcome heralded the old era’s close and the new era’s dawn!
This guy
was the destined rival of the true chosen one!
“But this surprise will take some time. For now, let’s head to the island and look around!”
“Eh? Your Highness, didn’t you say no showing up?”
“Fran, what are you thinking? After fighting Blackbeard, such a huge commotion needs no concealment. Right, have someone hang up the flag. Should’ve known we’d run into this trouble; hiding our identity was a waste······ Sigh!”
Thus,
the golden coffee tree-embroidered flag fluttered fiercely at the main mast’s top amid wind and snow.
Prince Elus, draped in thick fur clothing, stepped onto Drum Island’s soil with Fran, crunching through snow into the endless snow forest, finding the 139-year-old witch doctor still trapped in the blizzard.
A certain reindeer was still fainted!
Though the witch doctor was healthy, she was ultimately just an ordinary human. She had some martial power, but clearly lacked the strength to drag a fainted reindeer through the snow forest, so she stayed by its side, waiting for the timid reindeer to wake.
Before the reindeer woke, unexpected guests appeared first.
“Hello, are you······ Doctor Kureha?”
“That’s me. I wonder······ what brings Your Highness the Black Prince to our Drum Kingdom? Killed our king, planning to swallow this snow country? That sounds great! I have no objections, though Drum Island is a bit far from the New World.”
Seeing Prince Elus and Fran, Doctor Kureha breathed a sigh of relief.
She didn’t care about the idiot fool Wapol’s life, but if pirates wantonly harmed villagers on the island, that was no small matter. 【Black Prince】 Elus······ strange as it was for him to appear here and attack Wapol,
as long as they weren’t pillaging pirates, it was fine.
She read the newspaper daily and knew this Black Prince, though a Seven Warlord under the king, wasn’t a pirate.
“······ Hello, Doctor Kureha. I’m Sokachio Elus······ That is, I’m not here to annex Drum Kingdom. I heard there’s a 139-year-old witch doctor here and got curious, so I came specially to visit.”
“And conveniently chop off our king’s head? That’s a nice gift too.”
“No, the gift······ is this!”
Prince Elus offered a bottle of fine port wine.
He hadn’t gotten Wapol’s Gulp-Gulp Fruit yet! How could he chop off the head now? But speaking of which, this old lady was interesting! Though not a hidden expert like Koshiro, living 139 years was probably real.
It was the most weathered soul he had encountered so far.
Carved by the passage of time.
“Not plum wine······ but looks expensive, should fetch a good price.” Doctor Kureha unceremoniously took the high-end wine from Prince Elus, examined it thoroughly, then casually stuffed it into the backpack on a certain reindeer.
At that moment, the fainted reindeer groggily stood up,
“Doctor Kureha.”
“Tch! Waking up now, Chopper, you idiot.”
Doctor Kureha knocked the blue-nosed reindeer’s head.
“Eh?”
The blue-nosed reindeer clutched its head, still not reacting.
Until it noticed one, two······ two humans it had never seen beside it!
“Aaah! Humans!”
“So noisy, Chopper!”
The scolded reindeer quieted instantly, but its gaze at the humans was full of fear mixed with curiosity······ remarkably human-like eyes!
“So cute!”
Fran beside Prince Elus widened her eyes, watching the reindeer try to hide behind Doctor Kureha, peeking with half its face, only to reverse and expose its body and other half-face instead.
Cute enough to want to hug and rub that warm-looking fur.
“How? You don’t seem surprised at all?”
“Not really! I’ve seen many Devil Fruit ability users······ and the New World has the Mink Tribe······ Now that Chopper’s awake, how about we find a warm place first and chat slowly?”
“Hey, kid, I didn’t agree to host guests. I only take in patients; if you’re not sick, don’t casually head to a doctor’s place.”
“Then······ how about the nearby bar? My treat—you can drink your fill!”
“Chopper, let’s go, to that restaurant in Long Horn Village.”
Doctor Kureha directed the blue-nosed reindeer, turning the sled toward the new destination. Prince Elus blinked and followed unhurriedly with Fran behind the sled.
······
Long Horn Village.
“Your Highness, why are you here?”
Kalifa adjusted her glasses.
“This······ how to put it? Visiting an elder’s friend’s friend?” Prince Elus calculated the logic: his grandfather Sokachio knew Drum Kingdom’s previous king Andel, and Andel surely knew the witch doctor.
Thinking that way, the logic held!
“What······ are you doing?”
Prince Elus eyed the crates piled in the snow.
Upon arriving at Long Horn Village’s entrance, they saw Kaku, Bruno, and Kumadori moving crates by the cableway, with Kalifa supervising nearby.
“Lucci and the others have captured Wapol. When we found him, he was packing the royal palace’s treasures to flee. We figured we’d just take these treasures back too······” Kalifa explained the situation.
“Hey, kid, this is this country’s treasure.”
Doctor Kureha squeezed over with her wine bottle.
“Planning to do something as filthy as those pirates?” she said, staring straight at Prince Elus.
“······ Alright, Kalifa, no need to bother moving the treasures back. Such a small amount means nothing to me; Eckmond Kingdom doesn’t lack this money······ Just escort Wapol back to the ship. Mission accomplished nicely this time.”
Prince Elus clapped his hands.
He didn’t mind extra gains, but as said, it was trivial to him. The current maritime transport network brought massive wealth to Eckmond Kingdom every moment. As the nailed-down next king, he wasn’t short on money.
For the sake of 139-year-old Doctor Kureha, abandoning this pittance was nothing.
“Yes, Your Highness, understood.”
Kalifa raised no objections.
Having been Iceberg’s secretary for nearly five years, reading people was basic.
Though she didn’t know what made this drunken old lady with the wine bottle worth His Highness’s regard······ it must be a secret they weren’t yet privy to. Speaking of which, she really wondered what happened at the port.
That terrifying aura earlier was impossibly intriguing!
But she didn’t dare ask!
“Doctor Kureha, this okay now?”
Prince Elus asked cheerfully.
“······ Kid, you’re alright, but too bad. I have nothing to repay you with. Don’t get ideas about Chopper; he doesn’t suit following someone like you.”
“I see! What a shame! A talking reindeer······ my younger brother and sister would like him. Pity!”
Prince Elus sighed. “In that case······ Doctor Kureha, can your medical skill be taught to others?”
“Medical skill? Hahaha! Take it if you like; the medical books I wrote are piled in my study! Feel free to take them all when you leave, but don’t touch the medicinal herbs. It’s hard to gather them in Drum Kingdom now.”
“Is that so? But Wapol’s throne is overthrown; Drum Kingdom can have a new king. Things should get better then, right?”
“True······ but Andel’s descendants are all useless!”
Doctor Kureha looked somewhat melancholy.
She had ties with Drum Kingdom’s royal family across generations.
But this lineage was ending now. A new king······ couldn’t be chosen from Andel’s descendants. No need to mention Wapol; taken by the Black Prince, he faced no good end, and she had no kind words for him.
The 139-year-old witch understood the art of dealing with people, knowing some things could be discussed, others best left unmentioned.
As for Wapol’s brother, Andel’s eldest son······ he was even worse than Wapol; otherwise, Andel wouldn’t have imprisoned that bastard in the volcano country while alive.
“Whatever, let’s go drink first!”
Doctor Kureha shook her head carefree, wine bottle in hand, heading into the village, the blue-nosed reindeer following closely.
After a few steps, she stopped and waved the bottle at Prince Elus. “Hey, kid, you promised to treat!”
“······· Doctor Kureha, your memory is impressive.”
Prince Elus was extremely amiable now. After all, this was a 139-year-old elder and a respectable doctor······ worthy of his respect.
“What nonsense! Kid, I’m in the fiery youth of 139! Memory decline is still far off!”
Fiery youth at 139······ Prince Elus shook his head; still in puberty at that age was······ indescribable. Speaking of which, probably no one left could verify the authenticity of that 139 years?
Long Horn Village’s restaurant arrived.
Entering, Doctor Kureha bellowed in a vigorous voice at the groggy boss, freshly awake, to serve wine.
