There were many mountains on Drum Island, and there were two ways to go up them.
One was to climb with your own strength.The other was to pay and ride a cable car straight to the top.
El and Nami both had enough ability to carry the other two up the mountain if they really wanted to.But with one billion Belly in savings, none of them felt like suffering for no reason just to save pocket change.
So, after paying the fee, the four of them took the cable car up the mountain.
What greeted them at the summit was a castle that stood like a lone monument in the snow, exuding a heavy, ancient aura.
The place had clearly been standing for decades—maybe even centuries.
And its owner was a 129-year-old "witch."
For giants, an age like that wasn't impressive at all.
But for a human—Even for mutated monsters like Whitebeard and Charlotte Linlin—it was already reaching the limits of the species.
And yet Dr. Kureha not only lived to be 129, even ten years from now, she would still appear unchanged.
To live that long, a normal human had to have some kind of secret to longevity.
Maybe she had been drinking her own "medicine" for more than a century.
No one really knew just how far Dr. Kureha's medical skill had reached.
But one thing was certain:
Even the Pirate King's ship doctor, Crocus, couldn't compare to her.
If she was willing to teach El how to make nutritional supplements, then what he would obtain would be the highest-grade supplements in the world.
On Drum Island, the doctors could roughly be divided into three types:
Those not yet famous,
Working in hospitals built by the Drum Kingdom,
Or employed as normal, salaried doctors.
Famous doctors with reputations and status,
Who now only treated nobles and VIPs.
Independents who didn't work under the kingdom at all,
Running small private clinics in remote areas,
And choosing their patients by "fate."
Dr. Kureha belonged firmly to the third type.
Although the name "Witch" was very famous on Drum Island, only some elderly locals truly understood how terrifying her medical skill was.
The younger generation, and people from outside, were far less likely to seek her out.
For one, she'd been semi-retired for years. As long as the island's hospitals still had functioning doctors, she refused to "steal business" from her juniors and only treated people when she felt like it.
For another, her fees were outrageously high—Even more expensive than the kingdom's top hospital specialists.
As a result, her castle rarely saw visitors and was usually very quiet.
Dong, dong, dong…
Reaching the front of the castle, El lifted a hand and knocked on the heavy door.
"…Come in. The door's unlocked."
An old yet powerful voice rang from somewhere above the entrance.
Glancing at the horn-shaped speaker over the doorframe, El pushed the door open and stepped inside, walking toward the presence he had sensed with his Observation Haki.
No one came to greet them on the way.
Sure enough… almost one hundred and thirty years old, a monster who's lived through countless eras—of course she'd use Observation Haki.
The aura he'd felt hadn't moved even once. And through his ability to read hearts, he could sense just how strong the owner of that aura was.
She might very well have sailed the seas before Rocks D. Xebec's father was even born.
"…When you see the doctor, remember not to call her 'old woman.'"
As if remembering something important, El leaned down and whispered a warning to the three girls.
"Uh-huh…" the three of them nodded obediently, even if they didn't quite understand why.
Dong, dong, dong…
After walking down a corridor, El stopped in front of another door and knocked again.
"…Come in."
The same old and powerful voice answered, this time from directly inside the room.
"Excuse us," El said politely, then opened the door.
The four of them stepped into what looked like a laboratory—Counters lined with glassware, shelves of bottles, and complex machines humming and ticking away.
In front of one of the instruments stood an old woman dressed in an incredibly stylish outfit, sunglasses pushed up on her forehead.
Seeing her, if not for El's warning, the three girls would've blurted out in unison:
"What a fashionable old lady!"
Fortunately, they only let their lips part slightly and managed to hold the words back.
"Hm? So small…"
Dr. Kureha, fiddling with the liquid in a test tube, glanced over casually when she sensed their presence.
When she saw that the powerful aura she'd sensed with Observation Haki belonged to a boy with baby fat still on his cheeks, a trace of surprise crossed her deeply lined face.
To have awakened Observation Haki at this age… Born with it, huh?And that physique too… Where did this little monster crawl out from?
Kureha, full of questions, didn't ask them aloud.But everything flowing through her mind was perfectly visible to El.
As expected of an old monster over a hundred years old.
Just from sensing him earlier with her Observation Haki, she'd already guessed he had it too—And even jumped straight to the possibility of it being innate.
Feeling a flicker of admiration, El bowed respectfully.
"Hello, Dr. Kureha. My name is El. I've come to ask for your guidance. Please… teach me."
The corners of Kureha's lips curled upward into a smirk as she slipped into her usual line:
"What, you want to know the secret of my eternal youth?"
El froze for a moment, looking for all the world like an honest child.
"I'm only eight this year," he said. "I don't need the secret of eternal youth yet. I came to ask you, Senior, how to make nutritional supplements—ones that can help our bodies develop ahead of time in a healthy way and fully bring out our talents."
"Nutritional supplements that let you advance your physical development in a controlled way, huh? Didn't expect a kid your age to think of something like that…"
Kureha's eyes lit up a little, then she gave him a long, measuring look.
"I thought you were twelve or thirteen. Didn't expect you to actually be eight…"
She snorted softly.
"You're already prematurely developed as it is. You're not here for yourself, are you? You came to ask me all this for the sake of those little girls around you?"
"Yes," El replied without hesitation.
"I can teach you," Kureha said bluntly. "But my fee is very expensive."
"I know."
El took the only box they hadn't deposited in the bank from Carina and opened it in front of her.
"Is 100 million Belly enough? If not, please give us a little time—I'll go out and earn more."
"…Brat, you remind me of two little devils who were running wild on the sea decades ago."
Kureha stared at the box stuffed full of paper notes, then lifted her eyes to give El a long, deep look.
Her gaze shifted to the three girls at his side.
"With so many cute little girls following you, I was sure you were the same kind of lonely idiot as that kid," she muttered.
Then she looked away, focus returning to the test tube in her hand.
"One hundred million Belly is enough. Go wait in the living room."
"Thank you, Senior."
El bowed again, then left the room with the girls and quietly closed the door.
Through his ability to read hearts, El already knew exactly who those "two little devils" in her memory were.
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