【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Qi quickly stepped forward and stood in front of Zoro and the others and asked them to put down their weapons. Then he looked up at the leader standing on the shore and bowed.

"Hello, I am the vice captain of this ship. Our captain is ill and in urgent need of treatment. We are definitely not here to capture your island. We have already left all our weapons behind."

"If you don't believe it, we can tie ourselves up, but... please help us find a doctor to treat our captain!"

Dalton thought for a long time, looked at the pirates on the deck with a sincere look on his face, and finally sighed and said, "Okay, you can follow me, but I have a piece of advice for you. There is only one witch doctor in our country."

"Okay, thank you." Qi said and turned back to the cabin, carrying Luffy, who was red-faced and asleep, out on his back. Then he said to Zoro who was about to catch up, "Zoro, you stay and guard the ship, and we can go find a doctor."

Zoro looked at Qi and nodded. Although he also wanted to go with them, he also understood what Qi meant. They were on an island that hated pirates very much and needed to prevent anyone from destroying the ship.

……

Dalton led the Straw Hat Pirates through the snow to his house, then had them put the sick boy to bed "I'm sorry, please forgive our earlier faux pas, my name is Dalton, and I'm in charge of protecting this island."

"It's okay, can you tell us more information about that witch doctor?" Qi asked.

Dalton looked at the boy who was lying on the bed with red cheeks and painful breathing and couldn't help asking, "How high is his fever?"

"We don't know either. The thermometer can't record his temperature." Qi looked at the sleeping Luffy and said, "The thermometer broke when we measured it last time."

"What?! That's impossible." Dalton gasped and said in shock, "The thermometer must be broken. He can't survive in such a high temperature!"

"But he's still alive," Qi said.

"If he keeps going like this, he'll die," Dalton said.

"We know, no matter what, where is the doctor?" Sanji asked. He put his hand on the cigarette box, and part of him wanted to smoke, but when he thought that they didn't know Luffy's specific condition, or even what caused it, he gave up. He didn't want to gamble whether the smell of cigarettes would have an impact on Luffy's condition.

"Dr. Kureha lives on the top of the highest mountain over there. The castle on top is where she lives now." Dalton pointed to the mountains outside the window and said, "She is also the only doctor in this country, although people call her a witch."

"Is there any way we can get her over?" Usopp asked.

"We have no way to contact her." Dalton said, "She is a doctor with a weird personality. She will only treat patients according to her own wishes. As long as she wants, she will come down to treat the patient and then take what she wants from the patient's home as a reward. Someone once saw her riding an unidentified creature coming down the mountain during the full moon, so everyone called her a witch."

Usopp and Nami looked at Dalton in horror. They were frightened by what Dalton said. Vivi also looked in disbelief, and Sanji found it hard to accept. He didn't believe that Luffy would not be able to get treatment soon.

"I'll take Luffy up the mountain to see a doctor." Qi said as he gently patted Luffy's cheek to help him regain some consciousness "Luffy, we need to go up the mountain to see a doctor. It might be a little cold."

"I'm fine." Luffy looked at Qi in front of him, his voice a little unclear.

"I know." Qi chuckled, then looked at Luffy who fell asleep again, and said softly, "I will take you up."

"Wait a minute, are you crazy?" Vivi pointed at the mountain outside the window in disbelief and said, "Do you really think it's okay? This may make Luffy's condition worse, and if you fall down, you may..."

"I'll go with them." Sanji interrupted Vivi.

"Trust them, they can do it," Nami said as she helped Qi secure Luffy on his back.

"If you really want to go, I won't stop you, but at least climb up the mountain from the other side. If you go up the mountain from here, you might encounter Labang. They are a group of very ferocious carnivorous rabbits. If you encounter a group of them, you won't be able to escape." Dalton warned, although he still couldn't figure out why the boy was still alive.

"It's okay, we're in a hurry." Qi said. He just wanted Luffy to get treatment as soon as possible. He could feel that Luffy's temperature was getting higher and higher. He could even feel the burning sensation coming from Luffy through his clothes. He could even feel the burns in the places where there was no clothing to isolate him.

"I'll kick away anyone who stands in our way." Sanji said. He wouldn't let Qi do it.

"Let's go!" Qi said as he ran towards the snowy mountains.

"Can they really do it?" Dalton couldn't help asking, looking at their backs.

"Yeah, they will do it. Luffy will be fine." Nami and Usopp said firmly.

"I still can't understand the boy's body temperature." Dalton couldn't help but say, "How did he survive? A normal person can't survive at that temperature."

"Well, Luffy is indeed a mystery." Usopp said, Luffy is a miracle, he always surprises them.

"…Okay, let's go in." Dalton said as he pushed the door open and invited them in, but none of the three of them moved. "What's wrong?"

"I want to stay outside now." Nami said first.

"Me too." Usopp and Vivi said at the same time.

"Really? Then I'll come and accompany you..." Dalton said as he sat on the snow. He turned his head and looked at the mountains. "I also want to be able to help you better."

"Why do you say that?" Weiwei asked puzzledly.

"There were many doctors in this country before, but it was destroyed by several pirates not long ago." Dalton looked at the white snow on the ground and said, "It was a group of pirates with only five people. The captain was called Blackbeard. For ordinary people like us, they had extraordinary power and destroyed the country in an instant.

Dalton continued, "When the king of this country, Walpo, knew that he could not defeat the pirates, he immediately abandoned his people and fled to the sea with his royal army to become a pirate. He also took all the doctors with him."

"This is outrageous! How can a king abandon his people?" Vivi shouted angrily.

"That's right, but it's also because of this that Valpo's tyranny has ended. Now everyone is united and ready to build a new country on this island."