[A Few Days Later]
Outside the VIP intensive care ward at Drum Kingdom's First Hospital.
Even the well-traveled Straw Hat crew, after getting through their initial anxiety, was now deeply shocked by the way this hospital, and even this entire island, operated.
"It's unbelievable..."
Nami held several brochures introducing Drum Island's medical system, her eyes full of astonishment.
"As long as you have World Government citizenship, medical treatment here is actually completely free. The World Government covers every expense, even surgeries that cost tens of millions of Beli... That's an astronomical amount."
As the crew's most careful navigator, Nami understood better than anyone what that really meant.
"There's more."
Usopp, who had just come back from buying food outside, walked over with the same amazed look on his face, gesturing as he spoke.
"I took a walk around town just now. Guess what? This island has over a dozen major medical academies."
"I looked at one of their notices. Unlike the East Blue, where anyone who knows a bit of first aid and a few medicinal herbs can put up a sign and call themselves a doctor..."
"Here, you have to complete at least four years of full-time professional training before you can even get a medical license."
This was something he had already known before, but only mentioned now.
Kuro, who had been quietly standing off to the side, pushed up his glasses and explained at the right moment.
"That's only because the world is desperately short on doctors right now. The World Government lowered its standards to fill the ever-growing medical shortage."
"Originally, according to the Holy Land's initial plan, the training period was supposed to be at least twice as long."
"But fortunately, the one thing this world doesn't lack is people. The huge number of patients and injured gives these young doctors plenty of time and real cases to learn from."
Listening to everyone's discussion, Zoro, who had been resting with his eyes closed against the wall, slowly opened them.
His gaze drifted through the hallway window toward a corner of the lobby below.
He hadn't spent the last few days staying here the entire time.
While wandering around the hospital, he had witnessed many harsh scenes.
Even here, in Drum Island's finest hospital, he had seen young doctors bow painfully before stretchers covered with white sheets after failing to save their patients.
He had also heard family members crying in despair in the hallways.
The medical system here still had many flaws, and the doctors' skills varied greatly.
If even Drum Kingdom, the medical special zone, was like this, then the medical conditions in less important regions were probably even worse.
But to Zoro, it was already a miracle worthy of respect.
"Be satisfied."
With his arms folded, Zoro spoke calmly, though there was a rare heaviness in his voice.
"If this were the sea ten years ago, forget an organized hospital. If you got seriously sick or badly injured at sea or on an ordinary island, ten islands might not even have one real doctor. Whether you lived or died depended entirely on luck."
"Compared to waiting helplessly for death back then..."
He paused, looking out at the modern city standing amid the snowstorm.
"For ordinary people suffering from illness on this sea... today's world really can be called a paradise on earth."
Everyone silently nodded in agreement.
A place where ordinary people could afford medical treatment, or even find a doctor at all, what else could it be but paradise?
Yet right in the middle of this thoughtful atmosphere came a completely out-of-place snore.
"Snore... Snore... Meat..."
Luffy was sprawled across a row of benches in the hallway, a huge snot bubble hanging from his nose as he slept soundly.
Only when Nami walked over and kicked the bench did he wake up.
"Huh? What's going on? Is it time to eat?"
Luffy shot upright and looked around.
"You idiot, were you listening to anything we just said?", Usopp said helplessly, rubbing his forehead, "We were talking about Drum Kingdom's incredible medical system!"
"Huh? Systems and whatever, I don't get it, and I don't care."
Luffy casually picked his ear with his little finger, adjusted his straw hat, and showed his usual carefree grin.
"When people get sick, they die. When they get old, they die. Isn't that normal? I don't care how doctors are trained or who built this hospital."
He stood up, walked over to the window, and looked out at the sky. His eyes became incredibly clear and firm.
"The only thing I care about is that when my friends, or someone important to me, is hurt and needs help, if I shout for a doctor, someone will come save them. That's enough! Everything else is too complicated. It has nothing to do with me."
"As long as I can live freely and go wherever I want, that's what being a pirate is all about. I'm gonna be the King of the Pirates! Hehehe!"
In the eyes of this young man, birth, aging, sickness, and death were merely scenery along the journey. He had no interest in systems or reform. All he ever saw was the purest, freest sea.
Just as everyone rolled their eyes at Luffy's simple-minded remarks and Sanji was about to make another sarcastic comment...
Click!
The door to the VIP ward opened gently from the inside.
The attending physician walked out.
Removing his bloodstained mask, he let out a long breath.
"His life has been saved. With elementalization collapse that severe on top of fatal physical injuries, he would have died anywhere else in the world. Fortunately, our hospital recently introduced the latest cellular tissue repair technology."
The doctor wiped the sweat from his forehead and stepped aside.
"The patient just regained consciousness, though he's still very weak. As family members, you may go in and visit him. Just don't stay too long."
In truth, treating Crocodile hadn't been difficult.
The doctor wasn't even particularly famous. He had simply used a medicine produced from Stella's Heal-Heal Fruit before carrying out the treatment.
The only reason it had taken so long, according to Shirahoshi, was because "the plot demanded it."
According to Vivi, though, it was simply because she was annoyed that Crocodile hadn't known his place.
The moment he heard the doctor's words, Luffy's eyes lit up. He immediately squeezed past the doctor and rushed into the room.
The others hurried in after him.
The room was filled with the sharp smell of disinfectant and the steady beeping of medical equipment.
Crocodile was wrapped in tubes of every size, his entire body covered in thick sterile bandages, looking like a lifeless mummy.
But the eyes that had remained shut all this time finally trembled.
Then those once-proud eyes, now bloodshot and filled with confusion, slowly opened.
The first thing Crocodile saw through his blurred vision wasn't the cold sea, nor Shirahoshi's merciless gaze that had looked upon him like an insect.
It was a boy wearing a straw hat, grinning from ear to ear like an idiot.
"Yo! Pompadour! You're finally awake!"
Luffy leaned against the bedside and waved with a cheerful smile.
"It was... you... who saved me? Who... are you?"
Crocodile stared at the carefree Straw Hat boy before him with his bloodshot eyes.
He could feel how ruined his body was. Even taking a breath sent tearing pain through his lungs.
"Hehe! No need to thank me."
Grinning broadly, Luffy held down his straw hat and loudly declared,
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The man who's gonna become the King of the Pirates."
"King of the Pirates?"
Crocodile froze for a full two seconds.
Then his chest began heaving violently.
"Heh... hahaha... hahahahaha!"
He burst into loud laughter, his hoarse voice sounding like the shriek of a night bird.
The violent shaking caused his freshly stitched wounds to split open again, bright blood soaking through the white bandages.
"What are you laughing at?", Luffy frowned.
"I'm laughing at your ignorance and stupidity, Straw Hat..."
Crocodile stared at him, his eyes filled with mockery and desolation.
"King of the Pirates? Don't you know that in this era, anyone who wants to become the King of the Pirates is destined to become the least free man on the sea? A stray dog?"
Luffy looked at him silently, simply listening.
"You understand nothing..."
Crocodile gripped the bedsheet tightly with his left hand, veins bulging across the back of it. His voice was filled with despair.
"This world has been dead for over ten years!"
Grinding his teeth, he poured out all the anger he had suppressed for the past decade.
"The World Government has covered everything with an airtight iron net! They've arranged every person's fate, even the rise and fall of every nation."
"For ordinary people who only want enough to eat, maybe that's a blessing. But for someone like me, who refuses to live beneath anyone else..."
"This order is nothing but a suffocating prison!"
Crocodile let out a cold laugh.
But as he laughed, he gradually fell silent.
Why had he gone to Arabasta?
Why had he secretly supported Koza's uprising among the people, spreading rumors that Queen Vivi wasn't Cobra's biological daughter?
Because he wanted an opportunity.
A chance to break free from the prison he had been trapped in.
"Then go change it! As long as you do something, there'll definitely be a result."
Luffy laughed with an innocent smile.
But the meaning behind his words made everyone in the room fall silent.
If you acted, would there definitely be a result?
Not necessarily...
"You understand nothing, Straw Hat!"
Crocodile gave a miserable laugh.
"If you do something, there'll definitely be a result? What a childish idea. Do you think I never resisted?"
"Not long ago, the World Government approached me themselves. They wanted me to cooperate in putting on a play. As a reward, they offered to let me join the World Government. I refused without a second thought."
"I, Crocodile, will never become anyone's puppet! I want true freedom."
But the pride in his eyes was soon swallowed once more by hopeless despair.
He had refused.
And the price...
Was personally experiencing just how powerful the World Government truly was.
The moment he rejected them, he lost consciousness without the slightest chance to resist. By the time he woke up again, he was already falling toward Little Garden together with that enormous spear of water descending from the sky.
He couldn't move.
He could only watch himself being slammed into the ground like an insect.
He even knew perfectly well...
The only reason he hadn't died wasn't because he was lucky or strong enough.
It was simply because they hadn't wanted him dead.
"The gap in power is too great..."
Closing his eyes, Crocodile spoke bitterly.
"In front of those monsters, my struggle was nothing but a joke. Straw Hat, face reality. The word 'pirate' was left behind by this era long ago."
"If you want to become the King of the Pirates in this airtight world, what you'll face won't be storms or rough seas, but the World Government crushing you."
"You'll be hunted by gods filling the sky. You and your companions will die because of your dream."
"Your freedom is worthless in the face of absolute power."
The room fell silent.
Zoro, Nami, and the others stood behind Luffy without saying a word.
They had all been through Loguetown. They all knew how terrifying the World Government was.
It simply had nothing to do with them.
Unlike Crocodile, they didn't have those kinds of ambitions. Their dreams didn't conflict with the World Government.
They had chosen to go along with the performance.
Crocodile had chosen to refuse.
That was the difference.
Unlike everyone else, Luffy simply lowered the brim of his hat, its shadow covering the upper half of his face.
"Finished, Pompadour?"
Luffy's voice was surprisingly calm.
Not even slightly shaken.
He slowly raised his head.
In those black eyes burned a light so dazzling that Crocodile found it blinding.
"You wanted to break out of your cage... and all your struggle amounted to was refusing the World Government?"
Without mercy, Luffy tore away Crocodile's last excuse.
"You're not chasing freedom at all! You're just afraid!"
"What did you say?"
Crocodile's eyes widened in fury, as though he had suffered the greatest humiliation imaginable.
"Isn't that true?"
Luffy took a step forward, looking straight at the pirate worth five hundred million Beli.
"You're afraid of those monsters, so you don't dare face them head-on! You think they're stronger than you, so you blame everything on this era and the World Government!"
"You said the King of the Pirates is the least free person?"
Luffy suddenly raised his voice, every word striking Crocodile's heart like a great bell.
"Then let them come!"
"The World Government, the gods in the sky, it doesn't matter!"
"If this world is an iron cage, then I'll smash every last bar! If there are monsters ahead that nobody can beat, then I'll bet my life and send every one of them flying!"
Pressing a hand against his chest, an overwhelming spirit burst from the seemingly thin body of the young man.
"Freedom has never meant barely surviving inside a safe greenhouse. And it definitely doesn't mean getting scared just because your enemies are stronger!"
"Freedom means knowing there's an abyss ahead, knowing the whole world might become your enemy, and still refusing to bow or change your course!"
"I don't know what era left pirates behind."
"I only know that as long as these fists are still here, there's nowhere on this sea that I can't go!"
"I'll become the King of the Pirates!"
"And if that's the least free person you were talking about..."
"Then I'll prove it to you!"
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