Sailing and Cultivation

After a brief pause, the Den Den Mushi finally responded amidst Rear Admiral Garp's anxious waiting.

"Very well, Monkey D. Garp. Remember your promise!"

Brook didn't have high expectations, so he agreed to Garp's terms. He hadn't truly counted on Garp making such a decision; he only needed this mad dog to stop chasing him.

After speaking, he ignored whatever Garp had to say next, hung up the Den Den Mushi, and signaled his crew to evacuate immediately, leaving behind three naval warships and the injured marines.

Not long after, Garp's warship arrived in the waters of Asuka Island. Upon discovering Rear Admiral Temp and his men and waking them up, he found that the officers, including Temp, didn't even recognize him, as if they had lost their memories.

It wasn't until the ordinary marines woke up that they learned they had encountered Brook's Hell Pirates.

"So it was Brook. They actually have a crew member who can make people lose their memories? Is it a memory-related Devil Fruit?"

Left with no choice, Garp had to personally escort these amnesiac naval officers back to Marineford. The final conclusion was that their memories could not be restored; they would have to learn and be trained from scratch.

This left Garp feeling quite frustrated. So much for "everything will be fine"!

Now they had lost their memories—Brook, you bastard, you actually lied!

The Marine Headquarters learned about the situation of the Hell Pirates through the few marines who hadn't lost their memories. Combined with the investigation on Asuka Island, they finally reconstructed the personnel structure and bounty posters of the Hell Pirates.

Meanwhile, the Yomi was already sailing toward the next island.

"Captain Brook, our target this time is Drum Island. It's a world-renowned medical powerhouse, so we'll definitely be able to find a powerful doctor to join us!"

Shakky looked into the box, which contained only a few Log Poses, all prepared by Moore Thomas himself. She carefully took out the Log Pose for the World Government-affiliated Drum Kingdom.

"Not bad. I recall there's a powerful female doctor on Drum Island who is over eighty years old."

Brook thought of Dr. Kureha. The woman now known as Doctorine must be 89 years old; he wondered if she would still be willing to go out to sea. At the same time, he also thought of Crocus, who was also a brilliant doctor.

Beyond guarding Twin Capes, Crocus would often travel to the medical powerhouse of Drum Island to purchase medical texts for self-study. His medical talent was immense, and he was entirely self-taught. Later, he would be invited by Roger to join his ship, where he would treat Roger's terminal illness and extend his life by three years.

The Rumbar Pirates had previously been on good terms with Crocus, even entrusting the island whale Laboon to his care. It was unclear if he would be willing to abandon his post at Twin Capes to join Brook as a ship's doctor.

He had been invited by Roger in his forties, and it was largely to help Laboon keep an eye out for news of the Rumbar Pirates that he had boarded the Roger Pirates' ship to serve as their doctor for a time. This showed just how deep Crocus's feelings for Brook and his crew truly were.

If they couldn't find a doctor willing to be a pirate on Drum Island, they would go find Crocus and bring Laboon along. Brook believed he could protect Laboon, and the whale's potential was significant—it was, after all, a member of the island-whale species that could rival the size of an island.

"Let's not go looking for an eighty-year-old doctor, Captain Brook. Pirate adventures aren't a vacation!!!"

Shakky complained. She couldn't fathom what was going on in Brook's head. An eighty-year-old hag might drop dead on the voyage at any moment—how could she save anyone?

"Doctorine is a physician who has mastered the secret of longevity. Even at one hundred and fifty, she'll still be as spry as ever. Don't you underestimate her!"

One had to remember that even at 139, Doctorine could still chase Luffy's crew away with throwing knives. Furthermore, as the only doctor operating freely under Wapol's tyranny, her strength was not inferior to Wapol's, and she was arguably stronger than Luffy's crew at that time.

As the saying goes, with great age comes great cunning. Whenever the quack Dr. Hiriluk botched a treatment and caused an accident, she was always the first to arrive on the scene to remedy it, which spoke volumes about the strength of her Observation Haki.

Moreover, she knew the secrets of the Will of D, which proved she was no simple old lady.

"No matter how 'not simple' she is, she's still an old hag. Captain, don't recruit her onto the ship, or she'll drive up our average age!"

Shakky didn't want to face an old hag of a doctor every day and hastened to express her opinion.

"It's not like I could recruit a master-level doctor just by asking, anyway. Don't get your hopes up!"

Brook wasn't confident about recruiting Doctorine either. A cunning old fox like her wasn't easily swindled, and he couldn't force her—otherwise, a doctor could kill you in your sleep without you ever knowing how.

"Captain Brook, there seems to be a massive waterfall cloud ahead. It's so spectacular!!"

Fish-Man Tom, who was at the helm, shouted to alert Brook. Soon, the others saw the waterfall cloud in the distance, stretching for over ten kilometers like a curtain across the sky, seemingly connecting the heavens to the sea. It was breathtaking!

The wonders of the Grand Line were truly awe-inspiring; this was the beauty of nature!

"Captain Brook, should we go over and take a look? I wonder what secrets are hidden inside the waterfall cloud?"

Fish-Man Tom was eager to explore, but Brook, as a Devil Fruit user, was somewhat wary of such an unknown natural phenomenon.

"I want to go see it too, Captain!"

Redfield was also excited to go on an adventure with everyone. Wasn't a place full of the unknown the perfect spot for an expedition?

Seeing that Shakky and Silvers were also very interested, Brook had no choice but to follow the group's wishes and head into the waterfall cloud to explore. As for Antonio, he would naturally defer to the majority.

"Woo-hoo! Let's go on an adventure!!"

Since Redfield stopped using his special Observation Haki on his own crewmates, he had become much more cheerful. As they say, seeing things too clearly brings pain; being a little oblivious is the only way to enjoy happiness!

After devouring so many memories, the Memory Seahorse had grown significantly and could no longer stand on Brook's shoulder. Even more miraculously, after consuming the memories of Rear Admiral Temp, it seemed to have learned a bit of the Six Powers.

At the very least, it could now perform the Jashin-chan Tail Kick. With Shigan: Tail Kick and the ability to use a bit of Geppo to hover briefly, it made Shakky and the others quite envious.

The group each took the Six Powers and Haki awakening methods that Redfield had transcribed and began to train, especially the bull-horned Fish-Man Tom. With his incredibly robust physique, he already showed signs of awakening Armament Haki.

Redfield's Observation Haki was also improving rapidly, and his swordsmanship was becoming increasingly formidable—his talent was far superior to Brook's.

Silvers, the sniper, followed Brook's guidance and put great effort into his Observation Haki, aiming to master the Soru and Geppo movement skills to quickly find optimal firing positions.

As for Antonio, no one expected him to kill enemies; he just needed to learn some survival skills. He prioritized training in Soru and Geppo, as Haki was out of the question for him.

Shakky wanted to learn everything and was already putting it into practice. She didn't slack off at all; she was very self-disciplined and possessed a heart that yearned to grow stronger.