Outsiders had always been wary and fearful of her and Chopper, so no one had ever truly interacted with her.
How on earth did this person know that Chopper had inherited all her medical skills?
"There are all sorts of wonderful things in this world, and Devil Fruit Abilities are one of them."
Hiroto shrugged. "You can think of it as an ability similar to precognition."
As he spoke, he looked at Chopper and uttered, "Rumble ball."
"Eh!?"
Chopper poked his head out in shock. He had only developed the rumble ball a few months ago, and only Kureha knew about it.
However, after their eyes met, he immediately hid his face behind Kureha's leg again.
"Such an abrupt invitation... do you think I'll agree?" Kureha's voice was low.
"Why not ask him? Your foolish son who, in your eyes, can no longer restrain his desire to go to the outside world?"
Kureha: "..."
"Didn't you want to see me? I'm here."
After hesitating, Chopper actively poked his head out, a sight that made Kureha sigh inwardly.
"You... are you Hiroto?"
"Of course."
Hiroto smiled slightly. "You can ask whatever you want."
Chopper trembled nervously, but he couldn't help asking, "Is Wapol really dead?"
"Yes."
Hiroto seemed to have thought of something and took the initiative to say, "I think I understand what you want to ask. Chopper, you are an excellent doctor. In your eyes, everyone is worth treating."
"Just like Hiriluk, who taught you, you are a good doctor who takes it upon yourself to treat all the sick people in the world and wants to research a panacea—"
He was interrupted by a bashful Chopper. "You jerk... I'm not that great. Heehee! Even if you praise me, I won't be happy. Heehee!"
He really doesn't know how to hide his emotions.
Hiroto nodded in amusement, and after Chopper calmed down, he said, "But not everyone in this world is worth being treated. Just as there are some diseases you cannot cure, Wapol was a person who was beyond redemption."
This was the truth. In the original story, even after Wapol was defeated by Luffy and ended up on the streets, he rose again using the power of the Munch-Munch fruit. He remained exactly the same as before.
"This..."
Chopper hesitated.
"This is something that will take you a long time to understand. Some things are beyond saving once they are terminal. They must be burned to ashes by fire so that a new life can be awakened in the embers."
Hiroto didn't explain further and continued, "Any other questions?"
Chopper repeated his previous question. "Aren't you afraid of me? I'm a reindeer that stands on two legs, you know? I can even talk."
This time, he took the initiative to stand before Hiroto, his posture as upright as possible, staring intently at Hiroto with wide eyes. It seemed he wanted to show his side as a monster.
"Afraid?"
Hiroto shook his head and said in a low voice, "Have you ever seen it? An azure dragon circling in the sky above an island, capable of destroying a nation with a single blast of heat?"
"Eh!?"
"Have you ever seen it? An elephant walking on the sea, tens of thousands of meters tall, carrying an entire nation on its back?"
"Eh!?"
"Have you ever seen them? The race known as Fishmen on Fish-Man Island, ten thousand meters beneath the sea?"
"Ehhh!!!"
Chopper let out an exclamation of unimaginable wonder.
Hiroto said calmly, "This is only a part of it. There are too many things in this world that people on this island would perceive as monsters."
"Just as I, who can slice through the snowy firmament with a single strike, am a complete monster in their eyes. So, why should a monster be afraid of another monster?"
"Eh?"
Chopper was stunned, this was the first time he had ever heard such a perspective.
A monster... why should it be afraid of another monster?
"So-called monsters are simply things that exceed the understanding of ordinary people, which is why they are labeled as such."
"People's fear, dread, attacks, and banishments are all to protect their own lives, so they hurt and drive away monsters."
"But is that the monster's fault? You were born this way, why should you reject yourself because of others' opinions?"
Hiroto leaned down, his eyes fixed on Chopper's. "Ninety-nine percent of the people in this world who know of me, will say I'm a monster, a villain, a heinous pirate. But I know myself. I don't consider myself a pirate. I am a voyager out of interest—experiencing, adventuring, growing, and finally changing this world with my ideas."
"This is who I am. I am me."
At this point, Hiroto slowly stood up and then squatted down in front of Chopper.
"Then tell me, Chopper. Are you a monster who became like a human after eating the Human-Human Fruit, or are you a doctor determined to research a panacea?"
Under that pressure, Chopper took a fearful step back. He had never been so close to a human stranger.
But even in his fear, he said instinctively, "I am a doctor."
"Isn't that great?"
Hiroto smiled and stood up, returning to his previous spot.
This time, Chopper was dazed, his brain unable to process it for a moment.
After a long while, he nodded heavily again. "I am a doctor. A doctor... among monsters."
Kureha grabbed the liquor from the table, uncorked it, and took several large gulps.
How should she put it?
She wasn't dissatisfied with this outcome.
Now that this child had found his own place, he wouldn't walk into the future lost and confused.
It was just that this had been accomplished by an outsider—it left her with mixed feelings.
Why did he know so much?
After a while, Kureha looked at Chopper, who kept muttering, "I am a doctor, a monster doctor."
Clearly, Hiroto's words had a profound impact on him, to the point where Chopper couldn't restrain his emotions. Or rather, he was never good at hiding his emotions in the first place.
"Are you going with him, my foolish son?"
Having finished her drink, Kureha reached out and tapped Chopper's head with the empty bottle. Only then did Chopper snap out of it. He looked at Hiroto, then at Kureha, unable to answer for a moment.
"You can give it some thought. There are still a few days before we set sail."
Leaving those words behind, Hiroto vanished.
"Eh!?"
The unimaginable situation gave Chopper another fright.
"Speed... it doesn't look like..."
Kureha looked at the spot where Hiroto had disappeared, thoughtfully opening another bottle.
Everything happened so suddenly, better have a few bottles to calm the nerves.