42: Chapter 42 Uta is seriously ill and encounters Walpo on the road.Inside the cabin, the atmosphere was incredibly tense.Everyone gathered around the bed, their eyes filled with worry as they watched Uta lying there.Her face was pale, her eyes tightly shut, as if she had lost all life.Luffy, filled with remorse, grasped Uta's hand, continuously channeling wood elemental energy into her body, hoping to alleviate her pain.The wood elemental energy surged in his hand, shining like a green light, flowing down his arm into Uta's body.However, wood elemental energy could only heal injuries and remove toxins; it was negligible for the ailing Uta.Seeing Luffy's face growing paler, Nami worriedly stopped him from continuing to channel wood elemental energy."Luffy, stop!If you keep going like this, you won't be able to heal Uta, and you might collapse too.What are we all supposed to do if that happens?"
Luffy ignored Nami's words and continued to deliver the energy regardless.As his vision gradually blurred, Luffy could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground.The others hurriedly put Luffy on the bed to lie down with Uta.Looking at Luffy, who had fallen asleep due to exhaustion, the others sighed helplessly, "What happened to Uta?How did she suddenly get sick?"
Usopp asked in confusion, remembering that Uta had always been perfectly healthy.Nami sighed; she had just given Uta a quick check.She lifted a corner of Uta's clothing, revealing a ring of red spots.Vivi explained to everyone that this was likely caused by something biting her in the small garden, and that the most urgent thing was to find a doctor, otherwise Uta might die from this illness.Everyone was alarmed.Luffy and Uta's bond was undeniable; if Uta died, they couldn't imagine how much pain Luffy would suffer."Everyone," Nami said, "I know there's a country on the Grand Line called Drum Kingdom.The doctors there are very skilled; I think they can definitely cure Nami."
At this moment, Vivi spoke up.Although she desperately wanted to rush back to save her country, after spending so many days together, she had become good friends with everyone, and she didn't want to see her companions suffer so much.Nami's eyes lit up, and under Vivi's guidance, the Going Merry changed course and headed towards Drum Kingdom.Luffy woke up once during the journey.Seeing the suffering Uta, Luffy used his remaining strength to manipulate wood element to condense a life-giving fruit and fed it to Uta.Uta's condition improved considerably after eating the fruit, but Luffy also fainted again due to excessive exhaustion.Sanji scolded Luffy for being an idiot and not taking care of his body, but his hands didn't stop working.He prepared a large meal for Luffy to quickly restore his strength.Finally, after everyone's tireless journey, the Going Merry arrived near Drum Kingdom.This was a country covered in snow.Luffy had recovered somewhat thanks to Sanji's cooking, though his complexion was still poor and he could only barely utilize one element.The light sphere representing the wood element within him was also dim and ineffective.According to the system, it would take some time to recover, but Luffy wasn't bothered.As long as he could save Uta, even if his wood element was completely destroyed, it didn't matter.Suddenly, the Going Merry was shrouded in a huge shadow.Everyone looked up and saw a massive pirate ship docked before them.A fat figure jumped off the ship, looked at the Going Merry with satisfaction, and then said to himself, "Hahaha, this ship is really nice!I declare that from today onwards, this ship belongs to me, Lord Wapol!But before that, let me taste what this ship is like!"
As he spoke, the man calling himself Wapol suddenly opened his mouth wide and, to everyone's astonishment, prepared to take a huge bite of the Going Merry's deck.Just as Wapol was about to enjoy it, Luffy, dragging his weak body, suddenly appeared in front of him and punched his fat, ugly face.Before Wapol could react, he felt a sharp pain and collapsed onto the deck, unconscious.Seeing their boss attacked, his men jumped onto the Going Merry and charged at the panting Luffy, ready to avenge their leader.Before they could even touch Luffy, Zoro and Sanji took them down and threw them into the sea.The others found ropes and tied the unconscious Wapol up tightly.To prevent him from escaping with his powers after waking up, they thoughtfully prepared a sea bath for him.Kuina found Wapol's personal medical team on Wapol's ship.They introduced themselves as 20 excellent doctors carefully selected by Wapol.After examining Uta on Luffy's ship and confirming the group's recent itinerary, they determined that Uta should be in the Little Garden.He contracted Kasquia fever from being bitten by the ancient venomous insect Kasquia.Unfortunately, their current medical skills could only delay the onset of the disease.To completely cure it, they needed to travel to the Drum Kingdom to find more specialized doctors.However, these doctors were quite surprised.When examining Uta's body, they discovered a strong life force within him.It was this life force that had slowed the onset of Uta's illness.Hearing this, Nami looked at the weak boy Luffy outside with heartache.After recovering for a while, Luffy was helped into the cabin by Zoro.Luffy smiled bitterly, feeling his current weakness.If Wapol hadn't been so weak, he probably wouldn't have been able to hit him with a single punch.After eating some restorative medicine, Luffy went to the deck to get some fresh air and clear his head.Just then, Wapol, whom Luffy had knocked unconscious, woke up.Despite being weak in the seawater, Wapol was still very defiant.He angrily shouted, "You lowly commoners, do you know who I am?I am the great King Wapol of the Drum Kingdom!How dare you treat me like this?Believe it or not, glug glug glug!"
Before Wapol could finish speaking, an enraged Zoro shoved him into the water and shoved him hard.After choking on water, Luffy and Uta both needed a good rest, but this guy was still making a ruckus.Wapol, having choked on water several times, finally quieted down, soaking in the water without daring to speak, afraid that this devil would push him underwater again.Under the doctor's intervention, Luffy's pale face finally regained some color.Holding an apple, Luffy went to the water tank where Wapol was imprisoned.Seeing Wapol's somewhat swollen body inside, Luffy didn't hesitate.His hand flashed with electricity as he reached into the tank.Instantly, an electric current surged through Wapol's body, and Wapol became a charred corpse floating on the surface without even a scream.After a short while, a dark purple smoke drifted from Wapol's corpse.This smoke, as if guided by something, drifted into the apple in Luffy's hand.Soon after, the apple transformed into a dark purple fruit that looked like a closed mouth."Oda wasn't lying to me.As expected, after a Devil Fruit user dies, the power of their fruit will find a new vessel nearby and become a new Devil Fruit."
Luffy nodded in satisfaction, then put the Gluttony-Gluttony Fruit back into his system space to sit alongside the other two.As for Wapol's corpse, after much deliberation, Luffy forced himself to suppress his discomfort and put it back into his system space as well.