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The recruitment of Foxy was a trivial detour.
Arthur, in truth, didn't care whether the man could be subdued or not.
His only real interest lay in the potential of the Slow-Slow Fruit, and the fact that Foxy himself was still young enough to have room for growth.
With the vast territory the Thunder God Pirates now controlled, men like Foxy were a dime a dozen. A single recruitment order would have countless pirates clamoring for the chance to die for his cause.
As for the risk of Foxy leaking his current whereabouts? Arthur wasn't worried in the slightest.
Foxy had no idea where he was headed, so how could he reveal a location he did not know? At most, he could report that Arthur had appeared on Long Ring Long Land. By the time that news circulated, Arthur would already have reached his true destination.
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After several more days and nights at sea, and with no need to stop for supplies, they bypassed Jaya and the Alabasta Kingdom, finally arriving at the Drum Kingdom.
During the journey, they had passed near Jaya—a gathering place for pirates on the fourth magnetic route of Paradise, and the island where Arthur's own dream had first taken flight.
He'd heard it was one of Doflamingo's territories now. He couldn't be bothered to care. A small place like that was beneath his notice.
He had no time for childish notions like a sentimental homecoming.
The steel boat didn't even slow down. It shot past the two islands and arrived at its destination.
Drum Kingdom, the great medical nation.
The medical arts of this country were famous throughout the world.
Nearly every household had a deep understanding of medicine, a national specialty, much like the way Haki was practiced by every woman on Amazon Lily.
It was a strange phenomenon, this island-specific "specialization," but it was common enough on the Grand Line.
Drum Kingdom's specialty was medicine—medicine at the absolute pinnacle of the world. Most pirate crews, when seeking a ship's doctor, would think of this place first.
Of all the countless nations on the seas, only this one possessed such advanced medical capabilities. After all, when it comes to developing a certain skill, the efforts of an individual can never compare to those of a collective.
Shiryu stopped the boat.
He and Arthur stood side-by-side at the bow, gazing at the winter island before them. It was completely covered in a thick blanket of snow, and heavy flakes were still falling from the sky.
But at this moment, the island was eerily silent, as if something terrible had happened.
There was an air of decay about it.
To be a doctor was a very lucrative profession.
On the seas, no one could guarantee they would never fall ill. Even the great Whitebeard needed an IV drip when his body began to fail.
Logically, Drum Kingdom should have been prosperous and thriving. But perhaps its location, its climate—perhaps these factors had stunted its growth.
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"Captain, we've arrived. Shall we land?" Shiryu asked, after docking the boat and surveying their surroundings.
Protecting Arthur in his current state was his sworn duty.
"Let's go," Arthur nodded. He leaped from the deck, landing softly on the thick snow.
The two of them crunched through the snow, walking step by step into the island's interior. The world around them was silent, save for the rhythmic crunch, crunch of their boots.
As they walked further, they could hear the faint sound of weeping… Something had definitely happened in the Drum Kingdom.
Arthur took in the snowy scenery, his mind turning over what he remembered.
Around this time, the kingdom's prince, Musshuru—the brother of Wapol, the user of the Munch-Munch Fruit—had taken advantage of his father the king's absence to fire a spore cannonball from the castle.
And Musshuru's reason for this act of devastation?
He was bored and wanted to test his abilities. For a reason as simple as that, he had wiped out more than half the population of the entire Drum Kingdom.
Musshuru's whimsical personality was remarkably similar to that of the irrational emperors of the New World. If he had possessed Big Mom's strength, the world would have had another monster on par with her—or with Arthur himself.
A man who acted entirely on his own whims, with no regard for the terrifying consequences—he was the very definition of a lawless, reckless tyrant.
Arthur's Observation Haki spread out, blanketing the entire island. As he had thought, the whispers he heard from the minds of the people confirmed the story.
Unfortunately, the king of Drum, after apologizing to his people, had already handed Musshuru over to the king of Kilauea, who could neutralize his mushroom powers, in order to prevent trouble for other nations.
Otherwise, Arthur would have been genuinely interested in meeting such a lawless figure.
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"Let's go. I've found who I'm looking for," Arthur said. His senses had taken in the entire situation on the island and had located his target.
At this moment, all the skilled doctors on the island had been summoned by the king to treat the populace. But there was one person who remained above the fray.
And she was the reason for his journey—Dr. Kureha.
"Captain," Shiryu said after a moment of silence. "If you were just looking for one person, you didn't need to come here yourself. I would have captured her and brought her to you."
"This matter is too important. I had to come myself. I just need to know if a certain idea of mine is correct," Arthur said with a faint smile.
The medical arts of the Drum Kingdom had developed for centuries.
Was it not possible that, in all that time, world-shattering and blasphemous techniques had emerged? That was his true purpose in coming here: to discover whether the legendary "Forbidden Medicine" truly existed.
If it did, then the second and third steps of his grand plan could be realized.
On the seas, there was a physical condition known as "Atypical."
Its current possessor was a man lurking in the Whitebeard Pirates, waiting for the Dark-Dark Fruit to appear—Marshall D. Teach.
If this atypical body were a natural phenomenon, there must have been precedents in history. And if precedents existed, how could Blackbeard be the only one aware of his unique nature?
How could he know he could consume a second Devil Fruit—something no one else had ever achieved?
Here was the strange part:
If such an "atypical" constitution had truly appeared in the past, even if the World Government had attempted to conceal it, word would have spread. And yet, not even the World Government knew of such a terrifying constitution.
The only one who truly understood was Blackbeard himself.
Even the members of the Whitebeard Pirates learned of it only because of their long association with him, including Marco.
Therefore, Arthur had concluded, if Blackbeard's atypical body was not natural, then it must have been created… artificially.
And if it was artificial, what could have caused it?
A form of medical art based on human modification?
After thinking it over and over, Arthur had decided to come to the Drum Kingdom to gamble.
If he succeeded, he too would become an atypical.
And if he failed... then once he obtained the Heal-Heal Fruit or the Op-Op Fruit and restored his body, he would immediately strike the Whitebeard Pirates, capture Blackbeard, and dissect him for research.
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