Prescription

018. The Prescription

"You're here, old man."

A low, husky voice rang out as the wind blew open the newcomer's cloak.

"You're as punctual as ever. Looks like my son means a lot to you."

Mercer spotted the swaddled bundle in the newcomer's arms—only a head was visible, black hair, plump and fair-skinned.

"Dragon."

Gazing at the figure ten meters away, Garp walked forward with Mercer, uttering only that name. When he reached him, he took the infant from his arms.

"Monkey D. Luffy—that's his name. Born on the fifth of May. Your grandson, my son. I'm entrusting him to you."

Garp said nothing. He bent down and stuffed the baby, no bigger than his own two palms, into Mercer's arms.

"Wait a moment, Grandfather. Grandfather's really angry right now—he needs to blow off some steam."

Mercer knew this was directed at him. He obediently nodded and quickly backed away.

Not that the gesture was strictly necessary.

But standing in the strong wind was uncomfortable too.

A phantom blur flashed before his eyes, followed by a dull thud. Then he saw Dragon's head snap backward, his body rocketing away with rings of airbursts.

Garp gave chase without pause.

A gust of wind brushed Mercer's cheek.

He strained his eyes, trying to see what was happening.

But all he got.

Was a series of distant air explosions booming far away.

The vibrations in the air, accompanied by the ground shaking, rolled in from afar.

The wind carried low, furious roars.

Half an hour later.

Garp appeared in the distance, looking thoroughly refreshed. His sandals were long gone.

His floral short-sleeved shirt had a tear in it.

His big, bare feet.

He strode over quickly.

Reaching out, he ruffled Mercer's head and laughed. "Got tired of waiting, huh? Tired of holding him?"

He took the baby from Mercer's arms, and a flash of delight was clearly visible on Garp's face.

Garp smiled.

"This little thing's brows and eyes look just like mine. Mercer, this really is your grandfather's grandson."

Mercer smiled too.

"So, you've got a new favorite and forgotten the old one? Now that you have a blood grandson, you don't love your eldest grandson anymore?"

Garp's mouth twitched. His face was full of awkwardness. He stammered, quickly saying, "I don't. That's not it. Don't you think nonsense."

But then he saw the amused look in Mercer's eyes.

His face visibly darkened.

Garp took a deep breath, grabbed Mercer by the back of his collar, and hoisted him into the crook of his arm.

He rubbed his stubbly face hard against Mercer's cheek.

"Don't overthink it. You're both my grandsons."

"What a cheesy line."

Mercer curled his lips in disgust, but when he saw the helplessness in Garp's eyes, he said, "Fine, I'll stop messing with you."

He watched Garp sigh in relief.

The next moment, Garp feigned anger.

"You little brat, where did you learn that from?"

"Uncle Bogard taught me. He said that's how you pick up girls. It's called 'first suppress, then uplift'—put yourself in the weak position to achieve your goals.

He called it something else, um... right, 'tea talk.'"

Mercer shamelessly sold Bogard out. He wasn't lying—Bogard really did teach him that.

A while back, when Bogard and Mercer were eating at a restaurant, they saw a cheesy romantic drama at the next table, and Bogard sighed.

Then he passed on his "precious" life experience to Mercer.

That was also the reason Mercer had said Bogard was pretending to be some kind of Casanova that day.

Hearing this now, Garp's eyelids twitched uncontrollably as he cursed under his breath.

"What the hell has that brat been teaching you?"

"You already didn't learn properly from that woman Dolier—your mouth's been honey-coated since you were little—and now that bastard's stuffing you with more useless nonsense. It's driving me mad."

Mercer watched Garp, who looked about to turn red-hot with rage, and silently offered Bogard a second of mourning.

"Hope your bones are tough enough, old man. Hope you can take the old man's fists."

They reached the warship.

The moment Bogard came up to greet them, he saw that Garp's nose wasn't a nose and his eyes weren't eyes.

The old man shot him a furious glance.

Then brushed past him and walked into the cabin.

Bogard was a bit lost, unsure what he'd done to offend his superior.

He couldn't help looking at Mercer, his eyes asking, "What's wrong with him?"

Mercer grinned. "Grandpa's fine. He just found out about some things."

"What things?"

Bogard grew curious, his gossip-hungry heart blazing. Just now, he'd sensed that familiar aura.

There had to be some juicy story here.

"Spill it. Cheer me up."

His face now wore a full-on "let's watch the fun" expression.

Poor Bogard. You still don't know—watching the fun can backfire and burn you.

"Nothing much. I just told Grandpa about that flirting method you taught me the other day."

The next moment.

Mercer watched Bogard's face turn white, then green, at a visible speed.

So Mercer rose on his tiptoes, reached out, and patted Bogard's arm in consolation. "It's fine, old man. Grandpa won't do anything to you.

Probably. He shouldn't."

Bogard didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He looked at Mercer, who was trying to comfort him, with a face full of stomach pain.

A groan escaped his mouth.

"Well, thanks for that."

"If I die because of this, you'd better light a cigarette on my grave, or I won't rest in peace."

"Mm, don't worry." Mercer said with utter seriousness. "I'll burn a whole pack of cigarettes on your grave every year."

Bogard stared at Mercer, his heart aching: This little fellow's pretty good to me.

Like hell he is.

With a face full of despair, he went to arrange the departure. Following Garp's old method, the warship cut straight across the Grand Line, skirted the nearby Devil's Triangle sea area, crossed the Calm Belt, and entered the East Blue.

For half a day sailing through the Calm Belt, the atmosphere on the ship was especially tense.

No reason other than—

Sea Beasts were terrifying.

But whether by luck or something else, they passed through without a hitch, enduring the long, sweltering heat and crossing straight over.

A straight line between two points.

Guided by the sea charts, a few days later, a large, clean, and tidy port appeared in the distance.

Dawn Island, The port of the Kingdom of Goa.

But the warship didn't dock. It sailed directly toward the right front.

Less than half an hour later.

A simple, unadorned seaside village appeared—Foosha Village, Garp's hometown. The warship docked steadily at the wooden pier at the village entrance.

People came and went on the pier, carrying an air of rustic simplicity.

The faces of passersby were all brimming with genuine smiles.

Leading Mercer and carrying the baby, Garp walked down from the warship and followed the road toward the innermost house at the east end of the village.

Along the way.

The villagers they met all greeted Garp.

"Captain Garp, you're back! How long are you staying this time? Oh—and these two little fellows are?"

"Haha, my grandsons."

"Garp, back again, huh? Where are you headed?"

"I'm heading to Slab's place. I heard he became a grandfather too."

"So you're going to the village chief's house. Well, since you're back, you might as well go take a look."

Garp frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

An elderly villager, seeing Garp's puzzled look, sighed and said:

"His son and daughter-in-law ran into pirates on a voyage a while back. They made it back alive, but they suffered for it. The son passed away not long after. A posthumous child was born recently, and now it's come down with some unknown illness—looks like it might not survive either."

Garp fell silent for a moment, then thanked the villager. "I understand."

Without realizing it, Garp quickened his pace. In about ten minutes, he arrived at a door.

It was a single-story house with a small yard. The wooden gate was shut tight, but the lock on the outside wasn't fastened.

That meant someone was inside.

Garp reached out and pounded on the door with a loud "bang bang bang," shouting in his booming voice, "Slab? You home?"

Bang bang bang!

It sounded like he was trying to break the door down.

Before long, a middle-aged man yanked the door open, looking furious. The moment he saw Garp, he said in a sarcastic tone:

"Well, well, if it isn't the big busybody. Oh, it's Vice Admiral Garp. What's the matter? Got business at my place?"

Garp grinned, casually pushed Slab aside, and strode straight in, saying as he walked, "I heard something happened at your place. Need my help?"

Slab, who had been about to curse him out, gave a bitter smile at those words:

"What's there to say? Just misfortune and calamity. For us ordinary folks, having a home and food is enough."

"I heard your little one's sick. Did you see a doctor? How is he now?"

As he spoke, Garp had already walked into the house with practiced ease and plopped himself down on the sofa.

"Yeah, I went. They gave me two doses of medicine. There's been a little improvement."

Slab poured Garp some tea and handed Mercer a glass of juice.

"Thanks."

Mercer said politely.

Slab looked a bit curious now. "This little fellow and the one in your arms—who are they?"

"My grandsons."

"The big one's Mercer. The little one's Luffy."

Garp looked thoroughly pleased with himself.

"Dragon's kids?" Slab said, clicking his tongue. "Not bad at all."

"Tch, don't mention that bastard. Gets me riled up just thinking about him."

Garp didn't elaborate.

"Uncle Garp, you're here."

Just then, a black-haired woman in her late twenties came out from the inner room, also holding a baby in her arms.

"Long time no see."

Garp nodded at her. "Aying, it has been a while."

"Come on, let me see your boy."

Aying obediently walked over and handed the baby to Garp, her eyes full of affection:

"His name is Upp. Arthur. I hope he can live as happily as that legendary warrior, forever."

"Arthur? Good name."

Garp cradled both babies in his left arm and used his right hand to playfully poke at Arthur.

Mercer came over too, looking at the baby who was about the same size as Luffy. He was pretty cute.

But.

Mercer quietly activated his Observation Haki, sensing the two babies. A difference emerged. Compared to Luffy, Arthur's life aura was noticeably weaker—by more than a notch.

Raising an eyebrow, Mercer grew even more curious, intrigued by this strange phenomenon. He muttered under his breath:

"Interesting? This doesn't feel like an illness."

Mercer's muttering caught the attention of everyone in the room.

But before they could speak, Mercer closed his eyes.

He pressed his index finger to Arthur's forehead, using Observation Haki in tandem with Unity of Heaven and Man to probe deeper, his finger moving to press against various organs of the baby's body.

A few seconds later, the baby suddenly started wailing.

Aying moved to stop him, but Garp frowned, as if something had occurred to him, and reached out to hold her back.

Watching Mercer's somewhat unfamiliar yet highly professional technique, Garp squinted slightly. Slab, noticing this, asked curiously, "Garp, what is it?"

Everything has its own laws of operation, and so do people. In a special perceptive perspective, Mercer "saw" it.

"I see, so it's a premature baby, born with a congenital deficiency."

As he spoke, Mercer opened his eyes and immediately saw Aying covering her mouth, her face full of tension and bewilderment.

Slab reacted quickly. "Little Mercer, how could you tell?"

"I know a little medical skill. I've seen this kind of situation before."

During the years he spent with Kureha on Drum Island, they had encountered all sorts of difficult and complicated cases. Though he had never personally treated one, he had seen how it was done.

"Can you treat it?" Slab asked, then immediately regretted it. How could such a young child possibly know how to cure this?

"I can't, but someone else can."

Slab's heart leaped. "Who? Can you bring them here?"

"They can't come. They're far away, separated by the Red Line."

Slab's eyes dimmed.

Mercer continued, "But I can contact them with a Den Den Mushi and have Doctor Doriel guide us remotely."

"Grandpa, can I borrow your Den Den Mushi?"

Mercer reached out to Garp, who chuckled. "Take it yourself."

With no other choice, Mercer reached into Garp's pocket and pulled out a small Den Den Mushi.

He dialed the dedicated number.

The last time he was on Drum Island, Garp had brought a Den Den Mushi for Kureha.

Burururururu!!

Click!

"Little Rascal, what do you want?"

In less than a minute, the call connected, and Kureha's indifferent voice came through. "Spit it out, I'm busy."

"Oh, okay. I've run into a premature baby, one that won't live long. I checked, and their internal organs are mildly failing, not fully developed."

Mercer reported all his findings to Kureha.

"That's the situation. I wanted to ask Doctor Doriel what to do."

The Den Den Mushi's face mimicked a mocking grin, and a "hehe" laugh came through. "Little idiot, do you remember the tonic you grew up eating?"

"Reduce the ratio to one-fifth. Add cordyceps, astragalus, and ligusticum chuanxiong to the tonic. If the mother is still alive, mix the decoction into the milk and feed it. If she's dead, use goat's milk."

"Remember to give the little brat an injection in the navel to stimulate their vitality. I remember teaching you that. Alright, I'm busy. Hanging up."

Click!

"So that's it?"

Mercer spread his hands and looked helplessly at Slab. "I'll write down the prescription for you later. We'll treat it tomorrow, and then you can handle it yourselves."

Seeing Slab's dumbfounded, skeptical expression, Garp couldn't help but laugh. "Mercer's medical teacher is among the best in the world. If she's willing to give you a prescription, you should be grateful."

Unlike Slab's daze, the child's mother, Aying, had already gone to get paper and pen when the prescription was mentioned.

Now, with eager anticipation, she handed them to Mercer, who wrote down the required herbs and their dosages.

He handed it over. Aying took one look at all the expensive medicinal ingredients and felt her vision go dark.

Her face turned pale, and she seemed about to faint. Garp reached out and steadied her.

New book from a new author! Please follow-up reading!

Please vote! Please invest! Please recommend!