Just after Crocodile left, someone emerged from the shadows. "Was it worth it?" Robin did not know why she had come over. She had only known the man before her for a few short days, yet he already seemed to have found a place in her heart.
Holding the Den Den Mushi Li Ziming had left behind, she found another one in the clothes he had thrown aside. She set both down and sat beside his desiccated body. "What an idiot. Someone said a few words, and you got so fired up that you threw your life away." As she spoke, Robin began to laugh. "Maybe I really am an unlucky woman. Everyone who gets involved with me ends up dead." She laughed without restraint, but the tears on her face would not stop.
"You may be crying a lot, but that's nowhere near enough water to drag me back from death's door." Li Ziming's voice sounded like two rusty sheets of metal scraping together. It could hardly have been uglier, yet Robin did not find it unpleasant in the slightest.
"You're practically dead, and you're still cracking jokes." Robin sounded reproachful, but she could not hide the delighted surprise in her eyes. She hurriedly took out her waterskin, opened it, and poured water into his mouth.
"Ahh!" Li Ziming's body gradually returned to normal, but large wounds covered him, and blood kept spilling from his mouth. He still looked miserable, but it was far better than looking like a dried-out corpse.
"Come on. I'm taking you to get treated!" Robin hoisted Li Ziming onto her back and headed straight for the shore.
"Ah, you smell wonderful!" Even on Robin's back, Li Ziming would not behave, greedily breathing in her scent.
"Behave yourself!" Li Ziming saw that both her ears had turned a little red.
"Ha, no problem." Despite his words, Li Ziming did not pass up a single chance to take advantage.
"Hey, why did you want to help this country? Don't tell me you really did it because of those few things I said and because you'd had too much to drink?" Robin tried to divert his attention, but Li Ziming was not about to let such a good opportunity slip away.
"Who knows?" Li Ziming gave that simple answer, then went right back to taking liberties.
"Hey, if one day I needed you to turn against the whole world for me, would you..." Robin's voice grew softer and softer until it was barely audible. "Forget it. Pretend I didn't say anything."
"Now, that won't do," Li Ziming said at once. "Turning against the world for you would be such a perfect chance to hold it over your head. The whole world! Wouldn't that mean getting into fights wherever I went? Just think how miserable I'd be. I'd make sure you regretted it and felt guilty, so you couldn't refuse anything I asked. Then I could..."
"What are you thinking?!" Robin sprouted an arm right above Li Ziming's head and rapped him on the skull.
"Urgh." Li Ziming then slumped against her back.
"Hey?" Robin called. "Hey! Hey! Don't fall asleep! Wake up! If you fall asleep now, won't all my efforts to save you have been for nothing? Don't die! If you wake up, I'll grant you one request!"
"Really?" Li Ziming suddenly whispered beside her ear. "Then I've certainly come out ahead."
Feeling his warm breath against her ear, Robin blushed at once. Then anger surged through her—anger at the man on her back for tricking her like that.
Just as Robin was about to teach him another lesson, Li Ziming spoke. "Don't move!" His voice was weak, and his breathing was barely perceptible.
"You..." Robin's worry instantly overwhelmed her anger. "You're in this state, and you're still joking around!"
"Ha, if I don't, I'm not sure I can hold on long enough to see a doctor..." Even speaking now seemed to drain Li Ziming. "Tell me about yourself."
Robin's eyes reddened, and she hurriedly began talking about her childhood, constantly asking Li Ziming to respond along the way. She did not stop even after they reached her sea turtle mount.
Li Ziming responded every time. When he heard that Robin's parents had left, regret showed on his face. When she told him about the abuse she had suffered at her aunt and uncle's hands, he looked angry. When he learned that she had become an archaeologist at such a young age, his eyes filled with admiration. And when he heard about the destruction of her homeland, they filled with compassion.
With one talking and the other listening, they reached Drum Island before they knew it. By then, even opening his eyes had become extremely difficult for Li Ziming.
"We're here. This is Drum Island. They have the best doctors here. You'll be all right!" Fighting back her tears, Robin put Li Ziming on her back again and hurried toward town.
"Who goes there?!" The first person to spot them was a sturdy man in a green robe, with a shovel-like weapon strapped to his back.
"Please save him!" Robin pleaded anxiously with the sturdy man. "He's badly injured! Isn't Drum Island famous for its medical care? Please save him!"
"Ha, this boy's hurt pretty badly. But my fee is..." An old woman in fashionable clothes and sunglasses walked over.
"You can save him? Thank goodness." With those words, Robin collapsed. In a single night, she had traveled from Whiskey Peak to Alabasta and then to Drum Island, her nerves stretched taut throughout the journey. Even she could endure no more. Finally finding someone allowed her to relax, and she immediately fell into a deep sleep.
"Doctor Kureha, we don't seem to know who these two are." Dalton, the sturdy man, hesitated. "What if they..."
"Ha, I'm just a doctor. If a doctor refuses to help a patient, what's the point of being a doctor?" Kureha interrupted Dalton, then told him to carry Li Ziming and Robin to her castle.
Seeing that he could not persuade her, Dalton said no more. After all, even when the former king had been around, nothing had happened to this doctor. Rather than worrying about her safety, he would have been better off worrying about the wallets of those two seeking treatment. He then took Li Ziming and Robin to the castle on the island's highest peak.
"This boy really is badly hurt." Kureha looked at Li Ziming with a grave expression.
"Doctorine, what kind of injuries does he have?" Chopper approached, carrying the herbs Kureha had asked for.
"He has cuts from sharp weapons all over his body, along with bruises from heavy impacts. Inside, he's even worse off. It's practically as though someone set off a bomb in him." Kureha took the herbs from Chopper. "And he's severely dehydrated. Any one of those things could have killed him, but he stubbornly clung to life." As she spoke, she applied the herbs to Li Ziming's body.
"I guess even the Grim Reaper doesn't want my soul," Li Ziming suddenly said. "And could you be a little gentler? That hurts."
"Whoa, he came back to life!" Chopper stared at Li Ziming in alarm, then darted to the doorway and hid his head.
"With all those wounds, we'd have a problem if it didn't hurt!" Kureha gave Li Ziming an exasperated look.
"Yes, yes." Li Ziming had always felt that, although plenty of doctors were unscrupulous, it was best to follow their instructions during treatment. At least he would not get himself killed that way. He had no intention of arguing with Kureha's lecture, and besides, he was far more interested in that adorable little creature.
"Um, aren't you hiding the wrong part?" Li Ziming kindly reminded Chopper.
"Huh?!" Chopper looked startled, then hid himself again.
"Am I supposed to say, 'Found you! Now you're it'?" Li Ziming asked in amusement.
"Wait, I haven't finished hiding!" Chopper hurriedly stopped him, then ran outside to find somewhere to hide.
"Are you really planning to go look for him?" Kureha placed a hand on one of Li Ziming's wounds, reminding him that he was still a patient.
The corner of Li Ziming's mouth immediately twitched, but he forced a smile. "Breaking a promise is a bad habit."
"A bunch of fools." Kureha seemed to remember someone, then shook her head as though trying to shake away an unpleasant memory. "Suit yourself. But if you make those wounds worse, I'm charging extra to treat them!" With that, she got up to leave.
"Is the woman who came with me all right?" Li Ziming asked.
"Heh, I thought you'd forgotten about her." Kureha shrugged. "Exhaustion. She's much better off than you. All she needs is some sleep. And be careful when you're playing with the little fellow." Kureha did not want anyone to hurt Chopper's feelings again.
"Then you have my thanks, Doctor Kureha. And if possible, I'd love to ask you the secret to staying young," Li Ziming said with a smile. "As for Chopper, I'm sure we'll get along very well."
"You little brat." Kureha was certain she had never met him, yet he had casually brought up both her name and her catchphrase. He even knew Chopper's name. Instinctively, she drew a knife and pressed it to Li Ziming's throat. "Who are you?! Why have you been investigating me?!"
"I'm sorry. Please forgive me if I've caused you any trouble. I'm not a bad person, either. I'm simply interested in certain secrets." Li Ziming seemed utterly unfazed by the blade at his throat, his expression perfectly calm.
"That had better be true. I'm not someone you want to mess with!" After delivering that warning, Kureha left.
"Oh dear, did I go a little too far?" Li Ziming considered it for a moment. "But her reaction really was interesting." Well, it seemed this fellow would never shake that mischievous streak.
Before you continue