Pirates: The Steady and Responsible Person in the Straw Hats

Dalton home.

"This is our village, Big Horn."

Dalton put down the weapon he was carrying, looked at Sanji who was carrying Nami, and pointed to the bed beside him, "Let her rest there for a while."

After speaking, he walked to the fireplace nearby and lit the stove. The flames burst into flames, slowly heating up the cold house in an instant.

“It’s so warm~”

Luffy and Usopp sat cross-legged in front of the fireplace, holding their teacups and taking a few sips, with happy faces on their faces.

"I am the captain of the security force of this island. Regarding what happened before, please forgive us for our rude behavior."

Dalton sat cross-legged on the ground, looked at the Straw Hats and apologized, and then continued: "Can I ask you a question?"

Dalton said, turning to look at Weiwei who was taking care of Nami, and said suspiciously: "I always feel like I have seen you somewhere..."

"Uh... you must have made a mistake." Weiwei's eyes were wandering and she turned her head unnaturally, not daring to look at her.

In fact, she also felt that this person looked familiar, but she thought that her identity was not suitable to be exposed to strangers at the moment.

Weiwei quickly changed the subject, "Instead of this, please tell me about the witch. I took Nami's temperature just now and it was already as high as 42 degrees."

As expected, Dalton was successfully diverted and looked at Nami, who was lying on the bed in shock, looking sick.

"Forty-two degrees?!"

"Her body temperature has been rising since three days ago." Weiwei looked at Nami lying on the bed with worried eyes.

"If the temperature were any higher, she would die." Dalton also knew how deadly this body temperature was for ordinary people.

"It's a waste of time to talk about this now. Can you tell me how to find the witch?" Sanji quickly interrupted the topic, but he was very worried that Nami would not be able to hold on if he continued to delay.

"You can see the peaks outside from here." Dalton came to the window and pointed at the giant peaks standing in the wind and snow in the distance.

"There is a castle on top of the highest mountain in the middle, and the witch Dr. Kuleha lives there."

"Dr. Kuleha?"

"Yes, she is the only doctor we have here."

Dalton's words made Sanji a little anxious. He looked at the mountain peak in the distance and asked, "Why do doctors live so far away and so high up?

Then call her quickly, we have disease patients here. "

Facing Sanji's urging, Dalton shook his head and sighed, "Even if we wanted to do this, there is no way to contact her."

"What, why can't I contact her? How can I still be considered a doctor?"

Sanji walked forward excitedly and glared at Dalton angrily.

"Although her medical skills are beyond doubt, she is an old woman with a somewhat eccentric personality."

"Old woman?"

When Usopp heard this, he asked curiously: "Is she very old?"

"Yes, she is almost one hundred and forty years old."

"One...one hundred and forty years old!"

Luffy and Usopp exclaimed at the same time.

"It's amazing. You have lived for such a long time?" Luffy became interested in this old woman.

It would be fun to take such an interesting old lady on board for an adventure!

Luffy was secretly excited.

"Why does she live in the castle? What's going on in this country?" Weiwei frowned slightly and looked at Dalton. She really didn't understand what was happening in this country.

How come a doctor lives in a castle and not a king.

"Country...hehe" Dalton laughed self-deprecatingly, "The king and army of this country were defeated not long ago by a group of pirates who invaded the island."

"The pirate invasion defeated the king's army?" Usopp once again exclaimed with his mouth wide open. How powerful can he be to defeat a whole country?

"Yes, that is a group of pirates who call themselves the 'Blackbeard' Pirates, and there are only five of them." Dalton was filled with fear when he thought of the terrifying group of pirates he had encountered.

"Five people?!"

Everyone in the Straw Hats was shocked when they heard this.

"Yes, their strength is so powerful that it makes people despair. In just a moment, they destroyed this country."

"How is it possible..." Usopp and Vivi were in disbelief.

"Only five people." Luffy put down his tea cup, pressed his straw hat, and looked curiously at Dalton, who had a heavy face.

"Are you so strong?" Sanji lit a cigarette and frowned.

You must know that destroying a country is not just talk.

Even if the country's force and military quality lag behind, it is not easy to destroy them in an instant.

Yuri narrowed his eyes slightly. Is Blackbeard so powerful? Thinking of Ace still chasing this person in the plot, he didn't know what happened afterward.

"Is that why you had such a big reaction before?" Weiwei thought about all this. No wonder the islanders looked at them with such hatred before. Was it because the country was destroyed by pirates?

"But some people say that this is actually a good thing for the country..." Dalton laughed with a complicated expression, and everyone was stunned by his words.

"How can it be a good thing if the country is destroyed?" Weiwei was very concerned about what he said and retorted with some excitement.

This reminded her of her own country, which was also facing the crisis of national subjugation.

Dalton looked at her in surprise, secretly guessing why she was so excited, and then he figured out what was going on, and smiled and said, "Thank you."

She seems to be a really kind girl.

Even if it’s someone else’s country, do they care so much?

Dalton pondered for a while, then explained: "The reason why I say this is because the previous king's rule was too tragic for the people."

"Misery?" Usopp tilted his head.

Dalton's eyes were full of resentment, and he gritted his teeth in a low voice: "That is the worst king."

Luffy and others in the room looked strangely at Dalton, who looked furious after discussing the king.

What has the king of this country done to this country?

Weiwei was about to ask.

"I would like to ask this little brother, how do you know about Valpo?"

Dalton suddenly spoke at this moment, turned his head to look at Yuri, and asked with probing eyes.

"To tell you the truth, we actually met them a day ago, when..." Yuri told Dalton in detail how his group met with Valpo and others.

After listening to Yuri's narration, Dalton's calm expression slowly turned into shock. With a complex expression on his face, he glanced at the too-young Straw Hats with a sigh.

"I never expected that Valpo and the others would fall into the hands of young men like you." Dalton sounded melancholy, shaking his head and laughing. He actually underestimated their strength before.

Then he fixed his eyes, looked at Yuri and others seriously, and lowered his head.

"It sounds a bit arrogant, but please allow me, on behalf of the citizens of this country, to thank you for everything you have done."

"This…"

Dalton's words made the Straw Hats have different expressions, some of them didn't understand why he said that.

"Isn't that guy the king of this country? Why do you want to thank us..."

Luffy didn't understand why the king was beaten, but Dalton, a citizen, thanked the perpetrator.

Is this guy a fool?

After hearing this, Dalton looked at the ground in front of him silently, and then told the curious Luffy and his group about the country's past.

After learning about Valpo's cruel atrocities and the numerous crimes committed against the Drum Kingdom, which was once known as the 'advanced medical country'.

Luffy shouted angrily, "It's so abominable, this Wagupo would do such a thing to his own country."

"Luffy, it's Valpo."

Usopp on the side stretched out his palm to cover his mouth, and whispered into his ear to correct his pronunciation problem.

"Hmph, Wallapoo!"

Usopp could only hang his head in despair.

Sure enough, he shouldn't have expected Luffy's IQ.

"By the way, Mr. Dalton."

Dalton heard this and looked up at Yuri.

"I would like to ask, how can we get in touch with the witch doctor?"

Yuri looked at Dalton and said softly: "Doctor Witch usually needs to go down the mountain to purchase supplies."

"Yes, but most of the time she goes down the mountain to treat patients on a whim. The reward is to take away the things from the patient's home."

"She is just a nasty old woman." Usopp took a sip of hot tea, and his sensory impression of this doctor with gangster behavior plummeted.

Although he is also a pirate, he has never thought of taking away things from other people's homes, or taking them as his own.

"It's just like a pirate." Luffy on the side said angrily.

We are pirates too, we just don’t steal or rob.

Yuri, who had been living in poverty since boarding the ship, cried silently in his heart.

After complaining in his mind, Yuri remembered that in the original book, Kuleha had made a trip down to the town next to Big Horn Village, but he couldn't remember the specific time.

If they go looking for it now, it would be good if they encounter it. If you don't find it and it happens to be missed by the witch, you'll be in trouble.

Moreover, it is windy and snowy outside now, and Nami's condition is not suitable for working hard. She can't let Luffy carry her on his back to climb Cigu Mountain in the wind and snow like in the original work, right?

Not to mention encountering those rabbit monsters called 'Rabang', as far as natural disasters like avalanches are concerned, Luffy and Sanji's physiques are fine, but Nami is sick now and cannot withstand such hardships.

Moreover, in the original work, it was because of the aura of the protagonist that he was not buried by the avalanche. What if he failed to resist it.

So Yuri still needs to remind Dalton and slowly lead the topic to another place.

"Mr. Dalton, how should we get to the Peak Castle? Or will the Witch Doctor come down at a specific place or time?"

Yuri's words awakened Dalton, and he seemed to have thought of something. He raised his head and looked at everyone, "Yes, it is said that the witch will ride down on a sleigh on a full moon night, and I heard that she is often accompanied by a sleigh. A strange creature.”

Strange creature?

"Ahh! I knew there was a Yukio here! He is both a witch and a Yukio, please protect me from running into them..."

Usopp screamed strangely and shivered.

Because they knew that Luffy and others had defeated Valpo, they could indirectly avenge the citizens of this country who had suffered atrocities.

Dalton thought for a while and said with a smile: "If you want to go up the mountain, I remember that there is a funicular outside the city of Kesda next door that can go directly to the direction of the castle."

"Cable car?!!"

Luffy's eyes flashed when he heard this, and he shouted in surprise: "Hurry, hurry, hurry, I'm going to take the cable car!"

Dalton looked at Luffy, who was suddenly extremely excited, and looked at the others with slightly helpless and accustomed expressions.

This guy seems to be the captain, right?

It seems like they are a special group of pirates.

-

The outskirts of 'Kesta'.

Dalton led several militiamen and the Straw Hats to a tree house in the wind and snow.

"It's here."

Dalton looked at the huge rope tied to the tree house in front of him with a complex expression. The other end of the ropeway was connected to the highest Cigu Mountain.

"Isn't this the house where the witch Kureha once lived?"

A militiaman looked at the huge tree house in front of him in surprise.

"Then, they will take you up next."

Dalton then pointed to several militia men standing behind him.

"Mr. Dalton, won't you come with us?"

Weiwei looked at Dalton with a complicated expression.

"No, I still have something to go back to..." Dalton waved his hand, his expression a little unnatural.

In fact, he just didn't want to step into that castle again, because it would remind him of his past experience of helping others.

Seeing Dalton's resolute attitude, the Straw Hats had no choice but to give up and walked into the cable car under the leadership of several militiamen.

Dalton stood next to the treehouse and watched the cable car go away silently, and then led the only remaining militiaman towards the town.

Unexpectedly, just as he was about to enter the town, he saw a wounded militiaman staggering towards him in the distance. His expression changed drastically, and he quickly ran forward to help the man who was about to fall.

"what happened!"

"Captain Dalton, please save us...those guys...are back..."

those guys?

Dalton's face darkened, he knew who it was, and anger suddenly appeared in his eyes.

These scoundrels actually dare to step into this country. Do they want to continue to commit atrocities against civilians here?

Asking the subordinates behind him to take care of the unconscious militiaman in his arms, Dalton turned around and ran in the direction where the militiamen came from just now with a determined look in his eyes.

He wanted to end it all, for himself who had made mistakes and for this suffering country.

-

'crunch'

The Straw Hats and the others didn't know what Dalton was going to do next.

Looking at the militiamen who stepped on the pedals vigorously to create momentum to pull the cable car up the ropeway, Usopp expressed great interest in this and walked forward to talk to the militiamen who stepped on the power pedals.

"Ho~ The scenery here is so beautiful!"

Luffy lay on the window sill, looking at the icy and snowy scene outside with great interest.

"Nami-san, if you hold on a little longer, you can see the doctor soon."

Sanji whispered to Nami who was sleeping behind him.

"Instructor Yuri, your eyes will be cured soon."

Weiwei looked at Yuri aside with excitement.

"kindness…"

Yuri was also very happy about this. After all, it was really inconvenient to have dark vision all day long.

Although she usually has a considerate ‘nurse’, Princess Weiwei, to take care of her, she still feels very uncomfortable after a long time.

And he knew how terrifying the enemy he would face soon was.