Chapter 105: The Witch

Adrian turned abruptly at the sound.

Before him stood a lady with wavy blonde hair, cradling a bottle of alcohol. Her attire—a short-sleeved crop top—seemed out of place in the chilly climate of Drum Island. A gold belly button ring adorned her midriff.

Although her outfit was very young, the lady's face was covered in deep wrinkles.

Despite her youthful outfit, the lady's face bore deep wrinkles, evoking thoughts of "witch" or "hag."

And there she was—the visitor—none other than Dr. Kureha!

A true old witch who had just celebrated her 118th birthday this year!

Dr. Kureha also held the esteemed position of being the medical mentor to the future Straw Hat Pirates' doctor, Tony Tony Chopper.

"Why the silence? Has my beauty left you speechless?" Dr. Kureha quipped, taking a sip of her alcohol. Her gaze swept sideways to Adrian. "Kid, would you like to know the secret to my eternal youth?"

Adrian smiled faintly and said, "I was just thinking about how to answer your question, but..."

Adrian's faint smile faded as he glanced at Sliver, still unconscious on the ground.

"Ridiculous? I don't find him ridiculous at all," Adrian replied. "Despite the beating he endured from those guards, he resisted."

"Yes, resistance!" Dr. Kureha's body wavered slightly. "But it also means he can no longer remain on this island."

Changing the topic abruptly, Dr. Kureha leaned in. "Kid—or Adrian, if you prefer—tell me, are you a doctor?"

Adrian's brow furrowed. "I'm not a 'kid.' You can call me Adrian or White Ghost."

Dr. Kureha waved her hand dismissively. "It's all the same. If you're a doctor, we need your help. The town is filled with injured people, and there simply aren't enough doctors."

Just then, a prompt materialized on the panel:

[You have triggered the quest "Rescue!"]

[Detected that the "Doctor" level is maxed out, and "Basic Disease Treatment" is maxed out.]

[Quest changed!]

[You have triggered the C-level profession upgrade quest 'Physician!']

[Quest requirements: Treat at least twenty injured residents of Gyasta Village, with a cure rate of at least 60%.]

[Quest rewards: 'Doctor' profession upgraded to 'Physician', 'Basic Disease Treatment' upgraded to 'Common Disease Treatment']

Adrian glanced at the panel and naturally chose to accept the quest.

"I'm not a great doctor, but I do know some healing methods," he said to Dr. Kureha. "But I don't have any healing supplies on me."

Dr. Kureha reassured him. "Don't worry, I have plenty of supplies here."

Adrian nodded gratefully. He knew that he would need all the help he could get to complete this quest.

Dr. Kureha continued, "There are plenty of medicine and equipment in this town! If you really can't find them, just go to the pharmacy. No one will bother you at this time anyway."

Adrian broke out in a cold sweat. The witch's way of doing things was a little too rough, wasn't it?

After a simple test of Adrian's medical skills, Dr. Kureha confidently assigned a large area of the town to him and told him to call her if he encountered any problems.

After a busy half-day, the two of them finally treated all the injured residents of Kesda Town.

Some of the residents with more serious injuries had already shown significant improvement under Dr. Kureha's miraculous healing.

As for the residents with less serious injuries, they were already starting to clean up the chaotic environment.

Dr. Kureha seemed to have a unique deterrent power among the residents of Gyasta Town. Even though she helped to heal many people, only a small number of them dared to come forward to express their gratitude.

Of course, Adrian believed that the main reason why not many people expressed their gratitude to Dr. Kureha was that she would always say to the injured person after treating them:

"Don't forget to reimburse me for my medical fees! My fees are not cheap!"

Having completed the healing task, Adrian had treated far more than 20 people. As their injuries were completely healed, he believed that his professional upgrade task would also be successfully accomplished.

The two bid farewell to the residents of Gyasta Village and returned to the lakeside where the earlier battle had erupted.

Adrian inquired, "Doctor Kureha, what should we do with these deceased guards?"

"We'll leave the dead here," Dr. Kureha replied. "During the night, the animals and snow will naturally take care of the aftermath. As for Sliver…"

She sighed involuntarily.

Adrian pressed further, "Actually, I'm still in the dark about the situation. Dr. Kureha, you mentioned earlier that this Sliver is also a doctor from Drum Country?"

Dr. Kureha naturally had nothing to hide about this. She simply explained in a few words the beginning and end of the incident that had occurred in Gyasta Village.

Sliver, once a talkative and optimistic doctor in Gyasta Village, enjoyed a favorable reputation among the villagers. However, half a month ago, he accidentally consumed a peculiar Devil Fruit while gathering herbs in the mountains.

The Devil Fruit that Sliver ate was called the Bandage Fruit.

In theory, its abilities should have complemented Sliver's profession as a doctor and bandage manufacturer seamlessly.

However, the insular and primitive residents of Gyasta Town couldn't fathom the strange ability that caused bandages to spontaneously emerge from Sliver's body. To them, Sliver appeared as a demon-possessed monster!

Some residents who were a little more timid chose to report Sliver's matter to the palace.

The current ruler of the Drum Country, King Swaro, also had a very simple and crude way of dealing with such strange events.

He directly dispatched royal guards to Gyasta town, intending to wipe Sliver out, or at the very least, drive him out of the Drum Country!

"From the ruler's perspective, such a statement is not necessarily wrong, but it is also absolutely not right," After a moment of silence, Adrian expressed his opinion.

"But why were even the other residents of Gyasta Town included in the attack range by the guards?" he inquired.

Dr. Kureha responded bluntly, "What else could it be? The amount of money they wanted to extort was not agreed upon, so the side with the bigger fist chose to flip the table!"

"Don't think that those palace soldiers are any good people!" she continued. "They work for the king, collect treasures from the people, and profit on both ends! Essentially, they are no different from pirates who make a living on the sea—they are just wearing a legal coat!"

"As early as when Swaro, that little brat, sat on the throne of the king," Dr. Kureha declared, "I knew that one day Drum Country would be ruined by him! Even if it wasn't ruined by him, it would be ruined by their family!"

Adrian regarded Dr. Kureha with surprise. When had this witch also taken on the role of a 'prophet'?