Xie Wen turned around and saw Shirahoshi's anxious face. Only then did he belatedly remember that the "little" mermaid's Observation Haki wasn't very good at gauging the strength of someone's presence.
But...
"With all those IV bottles hooked up to Whitebeard, how healthy could he possibly be?"
"I-I know Pops isn't in very good health, but..."
After her startled cry, Shirahoshi had calmed down a little, but she still muttered with worry written all over her face, "Boss Xie Wen, you just said Whitebeard Pops only had a few years left to live..."
"You don't need to worry about that. As long as Whitebeard doesn't go off to war against the other Four Emperors or the Navy, he should have no problem living another seven or eight years."
Xie Wen's words offered no comfort whatsoever. Shirahoshi still looked deeply worried.
"Edward Newgate?"
After a moment of distraction, Dr. Kureha couldn't help remarking, "That young man has grown old too..."
Xie Wen wasn't at all surprised that Kureha knew Whitebeard. After all, she was an old-timer whose age could rival the Giant Tribe's. And given the way she acted, if she said she had been a pirate in her youth, Xie Wen would have believed her one hundred percent.
After Xie Wen stirred up her memories and she spent a while reminiscing, Kureha came back to herself and said, "Although I haven't seen Whitebeard's current condition, for someone with his strength to need IV drips to stay alive at such a young age, he must either have too many accumulated injuries or some incurable disease."
Huh?
Xie Wen froze for a moment.
Kureha's first guess matched his own, but her second was a little unexpected.
Still, now that she mentioned it, that did seem possible. After all, there seemed to be