Chapter 17 Anorexic Valpo

The sea is not always calm.

At this time, Suzuki had brought all his belongings and was following a merchant ship on its way to Cigu Island.

Today is already the fifth day of sailing, and we will soon reach our destination, Cigu Island.

Drum Island is the island among the seven initial routes that is closer to Upside Down Mountain than Alabasta.

Starting from Twin Capes in Upside Down Mountain, if the first stop is Whiskey Peak, the second stop is Little Garden, and then choose to go to Saint Sacrifice Island, or you can change the route to Drum Island, or even go directly to Alabasta .

In the past few days, from the clear skies when leaving Alabasta, to the wind and rain halfway through the voyage, to the rain, snow and hail now, Suzuki seemed to have experienced the change of seasons in just a few days. .

But it's normal. Drum Island is a Winter Island, and Alabasta is located on the Sun Island. When you hear the name, you will know Summer Island.

Although in the initial route of the first half of the Grand Line, Drum Island and Alabasta were one behind the other, the distance between the two islands was much farther than it seemed on the map.

After a while, Drum Island arrived.

Suzuki put on the down jacket he bought in advance, said goodbye to everyone in the fleet, and set foot on this ice-covered island.

"Hoo~"

"Heh...huh~"

Suzuki walked on Cigu Island. The ground was covered with thick ice and snow. Every step he took would leave deep footprints, and every breath he took would turn into white mist. The weather here was indeed quite cold!

Suzuki walked leisurely on the road to the royal capital of the Drum Kingdom. The reason why he chose to come here this time was for the Devil Fruit that exists here - the Superman-type Tunton Fruit.

As early as in Alabasta, Suzuki had received news about Drum Island.

In fact, apart from the common ice and snow on Winter Island, this island is most famous for its doctors. Why do these doctors gather on Cigu Island?

We have to talk about the current king of the Drum Kingdom, Valkyrita. This is the father of the tyrannical king Valpo that Luffy met more than twenty years later.

Valkyrita is not a very good character, but he is an ambitious and visionary king.

Decades ago, Valkyrita got a batch of extremely precious medical books from unknown sources, and then used these books to attract many doctors to Drum Island.

After that, he successfully joined the World Government, and his son even dared to bully Princess Vivi of Alabasta. If the current king is arrogant and ambitious, then Valpo later was cruel and stupid.

Suzuki has his own speculation about the origin of those books:

There is a doctor on Drum Island who is over a hundred years old - Dr. Kureha. Although this doctor is relatively low-key, Valkyrita still knows about it.

Then he had a tough time, although he didn't dare to do it because he was afraid of the old monster's strength.

They failed to invite Dr. Kureha to come out, but they still took advantage of Dr. Kureha's sense of responsibility as a doctor and obtained almost all the medical books.

Of course, Suzuki didn't care much about the twists and turns, his goal was Devil Fruit.

Not long ago, Suzuki, who was still in Alabasta, got news that Valkyrita, the king of Drum Island, spent a lot of money to buy a Devil Fruit, which was said to be to cure his son Valpo's anorexia.

This news surprised Suzuki, but he was not sure whether it was true or not, and maybe by the time he got the news, the Devil Fruit would have been eaten by Valpo.

However, it was too conspicuous in the port some time ago, so Suzuki decided to come and take a look.

"Hello, is there a hotel here?"

Suzuki had already braved the wind and snow to walk to the village at the foot of the mountain of the royal capital, and asked a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, also wrapped in a cotton-padded jacket.

The middle-aged man looked a little shocked:

"Hotel? This is where I am!"

"Huh? What about you?"

Suzuki looked at the wooden house in front of him in confusion. It was ordinary and no different from other houses in the village.

Seemingly sensing Suzuki's doubts, the middle-aged man also looked at it, and then smiled sheepishly:

"Hahahaha, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, the snow is too heavy, my hotel sign fell down and was covered again~"

After saying that, the middle-aged man walked to the door of the wooden house. He scratched the ground covered with thick snow with his right hand. After a while, he found a wooden sign and stuck it firmly in front of the door.

"..."

Suzuki watched silently as he rearranged and returned the sign, thinking in his mind about how to start asking about Devil Fruits.

"Young man, do you want to stay in a hotel?"

The middle-aged man turned around and asked Suzuki.

"Ah, yes, staying in a hotel. How many Baileys a day?"

"Hahaha, it's not expensive. It's five hundred beli a day. If you pay for a monthly subscription, it's only ten thousand, and it includes three meals!"

"Okay, boss, I'll cover it for one month."

"Hahaha, come on in, young man, I'll get you a cup of hot water."

Later, Suzuki followed the boss into the hotel. The first floor of the hotel was decorated like a hotel. Suzuki randomly chose a seat by the window and sat down.

After a while, the hotel owner came to Suzuki with a cup of hot water and said with a smile:

"Come on, warm yourself up. If you want a drink, I can give you a hot spot."

Suzuki took the hot water, thanked the hotel owner, held it in his hands to warm them, and said casually:

"Boss, you have so many doctors here, do a lot of people come here for treatment?"

The hotel owner smiled and replied:

"Of course, since a few decades ago, there have been more and more people here. Many people have settled here after being cured of their illnesses."

Suzuki appropriately showed a curious expression:

"That's great, boss, so are you locals not sick at all, or can you be easily cured if you are sick?"

At this time, the boss’s face showed a look like “Why are you so naive” and he shook his hand:

"How is that possible? It is indeed cheaper for us to get sick, but we also have many diseases that are difficult to cure, and many of those patients have to stay on the island for long-term treatment. There are also some diseases that even the doctors can't cure. Like…”

The boss looked at Suzuki and hesitated to speak. Suzuki saw his worry in time.

"Don't worry, boss, I'm not a reporter. Besides, how can it be possible that all diseases in this world can be cured? Then where is the word terminal disease, don't you think so?"

The boss thought about it, and after all, there was nothing he couldn't say. Even if he didn't say it, Suzuki would still know what he should know if he stayed here for a few days. So he continued:

"Just like the old pirate to the west of the village, he was strong when he came here, but now half a year has passed and he has become skin and bones."

"There was also a businessman who lived in the front house before. He was not very old, in his thirties or forties. He had some strange disease. He left a few days after he arrived."

"besides……"

The boss became more and more enthusiastic as he talked, and Suzuki responded with expressions that were either serious, sympathetic, or sighing, until the boss started to say:

"And our prince, you know, he has anorexia, but so many doctors can't cure it. No, the king bought a devil fruit not long ago, but he refused to eat it."

"Tsk, this man will be in a bad mood if he has a bad appetite. Not to mention that the prince has a bad temper, and now he is even more bad tempered. I heard that he even beat to death a servant who sent him a devil fruit."

When Suzuki heard this, a flash of light flashed in his eyes...

Please collect it~Thank you! ! !