"2 billion Belly?!"
Erik stared at Yemu in disbelief. He knew exactly what that amount meant—it was a fortune equal to the wealth of a small nation.
Even Ayala, lying weakly in bed with barely enough strength to open her eyes, looked at Yemu in astonishment. Despite her pale, sickly face, she smiled gently and spoke with gratitude.
"Thank you... red-haired big brother... but you really don't have to spend so much money on me..."
At that moment, both siblings had already accepted despair. But Wapol refused to accept it.
"No... Absolutely not... That gold is mine! You have to save them both! You idiots... useless trash... If you can't cure them, I'll kill you all!"
As he shouted, he ran up to the doctors and started kicking and punching them in a rage.
Just then, an aged voice rang out.
"Stop, Wapol... What are you doing? You've disappointed me greatly!"
At the entrance of the palace, the king of the Drum Kingdom walked in under Dalton's protection, his face filled with fear and unease.
"But... but Father!" Wapol shouted unwillingly. "That's 2 billion Belly worth of gold... stacked like a mountain...!"
"Shut your mouth, you fool!"
In that moment, the king was utterly disappointed in his son. But what choice did he have?
His eldest son had already been killed by the pirate standing before them. If Wapol died too, who would inherit the kingdom?
The king cautiously approached Yemu, bowing his head like a lowly servant, voice trembling with respect.
"I... I'm truly sorry, Captain Yemu. My child was ignorant and offended you. Please, take the gold back."
The entire room went still.
The palace doctors, along with Erik and Ayala, were stunned.
A king from a World Government member nation was groveling like this before a pirate.
Even Dalton clenched his fists, feeling humiliated and helpless. But there was nothing he could do.
The man standing before them, the one who killed the crown prince, was none other than the infamous pirate who had once sailed with Gol D. Roger, helped ignite the Great Pirate Era, made a name across the seas, and even killed a Celestial Dragon—the captain of the Sky Pirates: Yemu.
A pirate of that magnitude could wipe out their entire kingdom without effort. He was not someone they could afford to cross.
In fact, when Dalton had informed the king of this pirate's identity, the king didn't even dare alert the World Government or the Marines, much less seek revenge. And that was despite the fact that it was his most beloved son who had died.
All they could do now was hope to send this great pirate and his Sky Pirates away peacefully.
But it wasn't going to be that easy—Yemu had just spoken.
"No... You can keep the gold."
"!!!"
Wapol's face lit up with delight, but the king and Dalton turned pale, cold sweat pouring down their backs.
"There's no need to be so nervous... Since you can't cure the siblings' illness, I can't just give you all this gold for nothing. I want to make a trade."
"A trade?!"
The king and Dalton were taken aback, but then visibly relaxed a little. It seemed their country might be spared after all.
"What is it that you want?"
"I want to buy every medical book and piece of research material in your kingdom. As long as it's not a duplicate, I want it."
"What?! That's all?"
The king and Dalton were dumbfounded, but Wapol was already grinning ear to ear—those were worthless to him.
"Of course, that's not all. Since the Drum Kingdom is a World Government member nation, I'm sure you've got plenty of valuable things."
"What?!"
"Get me five Devil Fruits and five good swords. Give me that, and I'll leave. Fair deal, right?"
"Th-this..."
The king lowered his head, falling into deep thought.
To be honest, Yemu's offer really was more than fair. In fact, from a certain angle, it was an incredible deal for the Drum Kingdom.
After all, a single Devil Fruit was worth several hundred million Belly. Five would be just over a billion. As for good swords, they were far cheaper—five quality blades might only cost three or four hundred million at most. The medical texts were practically worthless. Altogether, they wouldn't even spend more than 1.5 billion Belly.
They'd still make a profit of 500 million.
But...
A troubled look spread across the king's face.
"This... Captain Yemu, it's not that I'm unwilling, but our kingdom only has three Devil Fruits in total. As for quality swords, we have only two above the 'property' grade. There are plenty of 'property' grade ones, though..."
Yemu frowned slightly, and both the king and Dalton broke into cold sweats.
"Prepare what you can for now. We'll discuss the rest later. Have everything delivered to the port. Now, I have another question for you..."
"Of course, please ask..."
Yemu seemed much more reasonable than expected, which allowed the king to relax and respond more sincerely.
"I've heard your Drum Kingdom has a particularly skilled doctor. Can you bring them here to treat the two of them?"
At those words, a glimmer of hope flashed in Erik's eyes. He looked at the king with longing.
The king immediately understood what Yemu meant and asked in slight confusion.
"Captain Yemu, are you referring to Dr. Kureha?"
"Yeah, that's the one."
"Well... Dr. Kureha might actually be able to cure this illness, but her personality is extremely eccentric. She's elusive and unpredictable—even I can't find her or get her to come."
"That's fine. Just tell me where she lives. I'll go find her myself..."
Erik pleaded urgently.
"Alright. Dr. Kureha lives in Drum Castle at the very peak of Drum Mountain, the highest mountain in the kingdom..."
As he spoke, the king pointed out the window toward a towering peak shrouded in snow, with six thick ropes stretching toward it...
...
Suspended between Drum Kingdom Castle and Drum Castle, a cable car with a mushroom-shaped canopy slowly climbed the mountain.
The howling wind and snow swept past, yet not a single flake landed on the car, as if some invisible barrier shielded it from the storm.
Inside the car, Flare sat quietly, her gaze warm and curious as she looked at the little girl bundled tightly in a quilt across from her. She turned to Yemu.
"What illness does this child have?"
Yemu shook his head, and Erik looked troubled, as though the words were hard to say.
"I'm sorry, everyone... It's not that I don't want to explain. It's just that..."
Tiger, pedaling at the front, frowned at the silence and couldn't help but interject.
"Captain... What if it's something contagious...?"
Seeing this, Yemu tried to ease his crew's concern.
"Relax, Tiger. It's definitely not an infectious disease."
Tiger was taken aback, while Erik stared at Yemu in shock.
"Don't look at me like that. I just suddenly remembered something. I don't recall the exact name, but I think it had something to do with some kind of metallic mineral, right?"
Erik froze, then trembled slightly as he spoke.
"You... you figured it out... I'm sorry. Please believe me—this disease really isn't contagious..."
"Don't worry. Of course I know it's not."