Recovering

The aroma of rice porridge drifted into Robin's nose. "That smells wonderful." Her protesting stomach woke her, and as soon as she opened her eyes, she instinctively looked around for Li Ziming.

"You're awake?" Li Ziming walked in carrying a tray. "You're still a little weak. Have some porridge." He sat beside Robin's bed, scooped up a spoonful, and blew on it a few times to cool it before holding it to her lips. "Say ah..." He looked as though he were feeding a child.

Robin gave Li Ziming a puzzled look. Unless she remembered wrong, he was supposed to be the injured one. Why was the injured man looking after her instead? Despite her confusion, she opened her mouth and accepted his care.

"Hey, what are you doing?!" Chopper rushed in. "Your injuries haven't healed! You can't just get out of bed whenever you like, or you'll make them worse!"

"Yes, yes." Li Ziming smiled. "But I've been recovering wonderfully under the care of such a skilled doctor as you, Chopper. Oh, and when I was making the porridge, I noticed an oven, so I baked some multigrain cookies. Want to try them?" He pointed to another plate on the tray.

"Calling me a skilled doctor won't make me happy!" Chopper said, but his wriggling body and the delighted curves of his eyes and mouth completely betrayed him.

"This little guy is the doctor who saved us?" Robin found it hard to believe, no matter how she looked at him. After all, Chopper looked more like a pet than a doctor.

"Don't underestimate Chopper. He's an excellent doctor." Li Ziming suddenly felt someone tugging at the hem of his shirt.

"Um, do you have any more cookies?" Chopper held up the empty plate sheepishly. "Sorry. They were so good that I accidentally ate them all."

"It's fine. I made plenty anyway." Li Ziming patted his head. It really did feel wonderful.

"Yahoo!" Chopper cheered and ran toward the kitchen.

"What an adorable little guy." As Robin watched Chopper, she seemed to forget the darkness in her heart for a moment.

"You brat, you really are trying to get yourself killed!" Kureha suddenly barged in and planted a foot on Li Ziming's back. Startled, Robin instinctively moved to use her power, but a hazy memory reminded her that this old woman seemed to be the doctor she had met before passing out. She immediately put on a smile. "Thank you so much."

"Want to know the secret to my youth?" With a bottle of plum wine in hand, Kureha looked smugly at Robin.

"And she is...?" If Robin had been full of gratitude toward Kureha before, she now felt utterly helpless.

"Dr. Kureha. You can also call her Doctorine. She's the one who treated us," Li Ziming explained briefly.

"Thank you so much for saving us, Dr. Kureha." Robin tried to get up to express her gratitude, but Li Ziming held her down.

"All right, you're still very weak. You can thank her once you're feeling better," Li Ziming urged.

"Hah! I can't stand this brat, but he's right. Patients should stay in bed." Kureha first shot Li Ziming a displeased glare, then took a swig of wine and gave Robin the same advice.

"Well, sorry," Robin said sheepishly.

"It's fine, it's fine." Kureha waved a hand. "Boy, you haven't recovered yet either. No strenuous activity."

"Don't worry. There won't be any." Li Ziming shrugged helplessly. Feeling a pain in his waist, he said with resignation, "She definitely did that on purpose."

"..." Robin said nothing, but Li Ziming felt the pain in his waist grow even worse.

Ring, ring! One of Robin's Den Den Mushi began ringing. She glanced at its nameplate, and her expression fell.

"What's wrong?" Li Ziming took the Den Den Mushi from Robin and saw that the call was from Crocodile. "Heh, mind if I answer for you?" Despite asking, he had no intention of waiting for her consent and picked up immediately.

"Hello, hello. Li Ziming speaking. What can I do for you?" The Den Den Mushi reproduced his smug smile.

The Den Den Mushi perfectly mirrored the hesitation on Crocodile's face before his expression darkened. "I never imagined you'd still be alive."

"Well, well, I'm not that easy to kill," Li Ziming said smugly. "At the very least, I have no intention of dying at your hands so easily."

"So that wretched woman Robin belongs to you now?" Crocodile's voice brimmed with anger.

Li Ziming glanced at Robin. Although he knew Crocodile couldn't see him, he still tried to put his arm around her waist, only to have her reject the attempt with an elbow.

"Hiss... That's right," Li Ziming said, enduring the pain.

"..." Crocodile fell into a distinct silence. "As long as you stop interfering with my plans and have that woman help me find information on the ancient weapons, I can spare you." His voice was deeply menacing.

"The ancient weapons?" A mischievous smile appeared on Li Ziming's face. "You mean Pluton, Uranus, and Poseidon?"

Li Ziming named all three ancient weapons outright. Not only Crocodile, but even Robin was stunned.

"You. Know!" Crocodile practically ground out each word.

"Well, well, what am I supposed to do? My memory isn't very good. I might just forget." Li Ziming could clearly see Crocodile's fury through the Den Den Mushi, but with such a firm grip on his weak spot, he teased him without a care.

"What do you want?" Li Ziming felt that if he appeared before Crocodile right now, the man would probably chop him into pieces and swallow him whole. Although he had Crocodile over a barrel, he hadn't actually decided how to use that leverage. He knew about the ancient weapons, but lacked the strength to protect that information. If Crocodile caught him and resorted to certain methods, Li Ziming couldn't guarantee he wouldn't cave. He turned to Robin, trusting that her intelligence could solve his problem.

Robin, however, gestured for Li Ziming to wait.

Both Li Ziming and Crocodile were patient, and neither said another word.

"Whew." Robin shrugged and spoke quietly enough to ensure Crocodile couldn't hear. "Whiskey Peak has been overrun. Apparently, it was the Straw Hat Pirates, who've recently made a name for themselves in the East Blue. Princess Vivi's identity seems to have been exposed, too. Black Friday has already reported her to Crocodile."

"Oh, then forget it. We quit!" Li Ziming spoke straight into the Den Den Mushi, then hung up without waiting for Crocodile's reaction.

"You..." Robin stared at Li Ziming in disbelief before saying helplessly, "You trust the Straw Hat Pirates that much? They may have shown impressive strength in the East Blue, but that's only the East Blue. There's still a gap between them and Crocodile, isn't there?"

"The Straw Hat Pirates aren't as simple as you think." Li Ziming shook his head. "Take Buggy, for a start. He may be pretty weak, but how many people who sailed aboard One Piece's ship could be ordinary?"

"Buggy was a member of One Piece's crew?" Robin evidently knew Buggy's name, but she had never imagined that such a weak pirate could have been a member of One Piece's crew.

"Then there's Arlong. He used to be a member of the Sun Pirates, and he was pretty strong himself," Li Ziming continued explaining to Robin. "The other enemies were stronger than Straw Hat, too, but when has he ever lost?"

"Now I'm less interested in Straw Hat than I am in how you know all this. Those two things you just mentioned aren't information an ordinary person would know, are they?" Robin looked at Li Ziming curiously.

"Ha, take a guess." Li Ziming had Robin lie back down. "All right, get some more sleep. I need to have the doctor treat me, too."

"What do you think about joining Straw Hat's ship?" Robin asked Li Ziming from her bed.

"Sure." Li Ziming readily agreed.