The Pirate Who Refused Red-Hair's Invitation

"Oh no, I even said he had no manners. Do you think he'll hold it against me?"

Lin Mo ignored the noise behind him. As he walked, he uncorked the two bottles he had just received and poured them into his Wine Gourd.

Once the Wine Gourd was full, he tipped back the half-bottle that remained and gulped it down in one go.

The Wine wasn't particularly good.

But something was better than nothing.

Warmth quickly spread through Lin Mo's body.

Before long, he spotted an inn that was still open.

Without giving it much thought, Lin Mo went in and booked a room for seven days.

He slept comfortably at the inn.

By the time he woke, it was dark outside.

He was feeling a little hungry.

Lin Mo was about to go out and buy something to eat.

He had just stepped through the inn's front door.

Not far away, a boy hurried past a row of houses with a stack of books in his arms. He was a head taller than Lin Mo and wore a long black padded coat, a furry winter hat with leopard spots, and two small gold earrings. Dark circles stood out beneath his eyes. He caught Lin Mo's attention.

Was that... Tra-guy?

Tra-guy was the nickname Luffy would give a man named Trafalgar Law in the future.

As Lin Mo remembered it, Trafalgar Law had suffered the loss of his loved ones as a child. At ten, he joined the Donquixote Family to take revenge on the world. Later, Doflamingo's younger brother Corazon saved him and changed him. When Law was thirteen, Doflamingo killed Corazon, and Law left the Donquixote Family to avenge him. He went on to found the Heart Pirates and become famous throughout the world.

At this point in time, Law should have been around thirteen or fourteen.

Lin Mo was certain there were no people from Doflamingo's crew nearby.

Corazon, the man who had changed Law, wasn't with him either.

That meant Corazon was most likely already dead.

As for Law, he had probably left the Donquixote Family and was looking for companions to form the Heart Pirates.

Sensing someone watching him, Law turned toward Lin Mo.

Their eyes met.

Law froze for a moment, but he had no time to think about it.

Two burly men were already chasing him from behind.

"You little brat! Stop right there and put those books down!"

"I've seen people steal money and food, but this is the first time I've seen someone steal books! Hey, kid, stop!"

Seeing them close in, Law broke into a run.

He didn't get far before townspeople who had come to help cut him off.

Clutching the books, Law backed away with a grim look on his face.

The townspeople surrounded him. One of the two men caught up and immediately tried to snatch the books from his arms.

"Let go!" Law said through gritted teeth.

"You little brat, you think you're in the right after stealing?" The man grabbed the books with one hand and hauled Law up by the back of his collar with the other. He tugged hard, but the books might as well have been attached to Law's hands. "You're pretty strong for a kid. Let go already, unless you want a beating!"

"That's right. Let go. You're still a child, so it's not too late to make this right."

"Don't be stubborn, kid. You're the one in the wrong. Give him his books back."

The townspeople urged him from all sides.

Law clenched his teeth. "Your country's almost out of doctors anyway. What do you need these medical books for? Sooner or later, they'll be banned here too. You might as well give them all to me before that happens!"

The man pulling at the books immediately lost his force.

The noisy townspeople fell silent too, and a heavy gloom settled over the crowd.

The man set Law down. His body trembled slightly, and anger edged his voice. "What do you know? What could a child understand? Maybe these books really will be banned in this country someday, but they haven't been banned yet, have they? Anyone's family can fall ill. If we can't even protect these books, there really is no hope left for our country."

After speaking, the man covered his eyes with his arm and began to sob.

Sighs rose from the surrounding townspeople.

Law held the books tight, seething inside.

He had come to Drum Island to improve his medical skills. After all, the island was renowned for its medicine.

But as soon as he arrived, the island's king had ordered doctors hunted down and driven out.

With no one to teach him, Law could only study from medical books on his own.

He was only fourteen, but with his current strength, taking down these townspeople would have been easy.

Yet the sight of them suffering under tyranny, barely able to get by, reminded him of what he had endured as a child.

Law understood their pain.

That was why he hadn't used force to settle the matter.

But what good would keeping the books do them?

Medicine wasn't something a layperson could learn from reading a few books and then go out and use to save lives.

Law came from a family of doctors. Thanks to his parents, he had learned the basics of medicine growing up. If his town hadn't been destroyed when he was ten, perhaps he would already have become an excellent doctor.

"Can you understand these books?" Law asked without expression.

The townspeople said nothing.

Law went on. "It's hard for someone without training to teach themselves medicine. Keeping these books would only be a waste. I don't want to fight you, but I'm taking them. None of you will get them back from me!"

"Kid, do you know medicine?" the man who had tried to take the books asked in surprise.

Law nodded impassively.

Just then, a small figure walked calmly past the back of the crowd.

"Look! That's the kid who saved Old Xing's daughter with that strange technique!"

Someone shouted, though no one could tell who.

Every head turned toward Lin Mo, who was on his way to find food.

Come Be My First Mate on Drum Island! ### "Yeah, that's him! He saved Old Xing's daughter."

"Really? He only looks a few years old. Are you sure you didn't mistake him for someone else?"

"No mistake. I was there too. He cured the little girl without even touching her."

"Hey, kid, how did you do it? Tell us!"

Everyone started talking at once.

Lin Mo hadn't intended to pay them any attention. Then he thought better of it and asked, "Which restaurant is still open?"

"Huh? A restaurant? Most places should have closed up by now. New Rising Ramen was still open when I came by. Just keep going this way and you'll see it."

"The child must be hungry. Do you have money? If not, you can eat at my place."

"That's right. You can come to my place too."

The townspeople were suddenly so welcoming that they seemed like a different group from the one that had criticized Lin Mo earlier.

Lin Mo ignored them and kept walking.

When the townspeople's attention shifted, Law took another look at Lin Mo and immediately recognized him as the person he had made eye contact with earlier.

From what the townspeople were saying, Lin Mo seemed to know medicine too, though his technique was unusual.

"Who is he?" Law asked, watching Lin Mo walk away.

The townspeople shook their heads. None of them knew.

"No idea. Old Xing asked his name, but he didn't say," one of them replied.

Law asked, "How did he save her?"

"Like this." Another townsperson imitated Lin Mo, holding out a hand with the palm facing down. "He held it about half a meter above the girl's head. Then a pale green light appeared in his hand and slowly sank into her body. Her fever went down right away. It was incredible. I've never seen anyone treat a fever like that."

"Exactly! It was my first time seeing it too. That kid's amazing. I'd love to know how he did it."

"Me too. Too bad he's so aloof. He doesn't like talking to people."

"Oh, I nearly forgot to warn him. This country is driving out doctors. If the guards find out he knows medicine, they'll throw him out at once."

"Huh? Do we need to tell him? He came from the harbor, so he must already know."

"I'm not sure. Someone should remind him, just in case. He's too aloof for me to do it. Which of you wants to go?"

The townspeople began passing the task back and forth.

Law held his stack of medical books and watched Lin Mo disappear into the distance.

Then.

The man who had tried to reclaim the books spoke up. "Keeping these books gives us a little hope. We know not just anyone can learn medicine. Truthfully, I'd rather see them put to good use. Kid, do you really want to study medicine at a higher level?"

Law looked away from Lin Mo and turned to the man. Tightening his grip on the books, he nodded. "Yeah!"

The man gave a faint smile, as if a weight had lifted from him. "Then the books are yours. In exchange, go tell that other kid not to let anyone find out he knows medicine. I can see you're interested in him anyway. Go on."

Law stared at the man in a daze, then nodded and hurried after Lin Mo with the medical books in his arms.

After five minutes of walking into a cold wind thick with snow, Lin Mo reached New Rising Ramen.

It was mealtime, and plenty of people were already seated inside.

Lin Mo went in and ordered the house special. Seeing that they sold Wine, he bought two bottles as well.

Then he sat at the only empty four-person table in the dining room.

Before his ramen arrived, Lin Mo took a sip of Wine.

Law came in after him. He looked around, spotted Lin Mo, and went straight over to sit across from him.

"The people in town asked me to tell you not to reveal that you know medicine," Law said flatly. "Otherwise, this country's guards will drive you out."

"Oh," Lin Mo said casually.

Law watched him in silence.

Lin Mo went on drinking, entirely unconcerned.

Then his ramen arrived.

Lin Mo took a pair of chopsticks from the holder and began to eat.

The aroma reached Law. He couldn't help swallowing, and his stomach growled right on cue.

"Damn it!" Law's face reddened. He quickly grabbed the kettle of free hot water on the table, poured himself a cup, and drank it all at once.

Lin Mo glanced up at him and understood. Law had no money.

Law had a sword with him, but it wasn't the long sword Lin Mo remembered as Kikoku. Judging by that, Law probably couldn't use his Devil Fruit powers skillfully yet.

That was right: Law was a Devil Fruit User.

He had eaten the Paramecia-type Op-Op Fruit.

The Op-Op Fruit let its user create a spherical or hemispherical space. Within it, he could cut, swap, and join anything at will, even exchange two people's minds.

Living things cut by the user's sword wouldn't die or even bleed. They would remain alive, though they would feel a slight pain.

Anything cut with the Op-Op Fruit's power could be rejoined. It was fundamentally different from cutting something with an ordinary sword. Its attacks were supernatural rather than physical and could strike the bodies of Logia users.

In the hands of someone talented enough, the Op-Op Fruit could even grant a person eternal life. Performing that operation, however, would kill the user.

In short, the Op-Op Fruit's powers were formidable.

But they had a drawback: using them drained the user's stamina severely, and overuse could even shorten his life.

Law noticed the two swords at Lin Mo's waist. When Lin Mo had nearly finished his bowl of ramen, Law hesitated, then finally asked, "Are you a swordsman?"