Chapter 10: Deep Sleep
“You… are actually still alive?”
As soon as Su Xiao finished speaking, the deck fell into dead silence. Even Whitebeard himself looked somewhat surprised, and a large number of bubbles emerged from the breathing support device behind him.
“Of course I’m still alive, Gura la la la…”
Whitebeard laughed heartily. Holding a wine bottle at least half a meter tall, he tilted his head back and took a large gulp. Wine dripped from the corner of his mouth.
The tense atmosphere around them eased somewhat, but the members of the Whitebeard Pirates still had unfriendly looks in their eyes.
“Don’t crowd around here.”
Marco’s slightly lazy voice came through. Although the members of the Whitebeard Pirates treated each other like family, some matters couldn’t be fully disclosed—namely, that Whitebeard’s condition had deteriorated to the point where he could collapse at any moment.
The pirates leaning against the ship’s railing didn’t leave immediately. They were all worried about Whitebeard’s health but felt helpless.
“Ten years ago, a doctor said I wouldn’t live past five years. All bullshit.”
Whitebeard tossed the bucket-sized wine bottle in his hand. The bottle rolled to Su Xiao’s feet, where he stopped it.
With a flick of his foot, Su Xiao hooked the empty bottle into the air. He brought the mouth of the bottle to his nose and sniffed. Whitebeard wasn’t drinking the rum that pirates usually liked; it was hard liquor.
This meant only two things: either Whitebeard wanted to die sooner, or the pain from his injuries and illness was so unbearable that he needed alcohol to numb it. Given the current situation, Whitebeard clearly didn’t dare use painkillers anymore, fearing his liver couldn’t handle them. Any medication that entered the body would ultimately need to be metabolized by the liver.
Of course, the Whitebeard Pirates had a doctor. Su Xiao even noticed four very pretty nurses beside Whitebeard, constantly monitoring his life-support equipment. Only a few people on this ship knew that if those devices were turned off, Whitebeard wouldn’t live for more than three days.
As for where the Whitebeard Pirates’ doctor was, Su Xiao hadn’t seen him yet. More likely, the doctor had been left behind in the New World. Whitebeard probably understood that his injuries and illness had become irreversible. Alternatively, the doctor plus the Moby Dick were the key to attracting the other Emperors. If Whitebeard’s doctor and ship were both present, then he himself likely hadn’t left the New World.
Given Whitebeard’s current state, those four nurses were also quite good doctors. At the very least, they could help stabilize his condition.
Though reluctant, the pirates on the deck began moving toward the stern. Seeing this, Whitebeard took a deep breath, and the smile on his face gradually faded. A sharp pain was twisting in his chest, as if his heart might convulse and stop beating at any moment.
A blonde nurse beside Whitebeard began adjusting the portable medical equipment. After a moment, Whitebeard let out a long sigh, and fine beads of cold sweat appeared on his cheeks.
“Alcohol won’t relieve your pain. And if you keep drinking heavily, your liver will only get worse.”
Su Xiao hesitated for a moment. After assessing Whitebeard’s injuries and illness, he confirmed one thing: his chances of “curing” Whitebeard were actually not high. By “cure,” he didn’t mean a full recovery. Whitebeard had been drinking heavily for years while injured. Even if his vitality was monstrous, he couldn’t withstand such excess.
Compared to someone from the same era as Whitebeard, Garp was clearly much healthier. That old man barely drank. His worst dietary habit was eating rice crackers with tea, and Sengoku kept him in check. This kept Garp’s physical condition far better than his peers.
Even if Su Xiao’s surgery succeeded, Whitebeard would at most recover his condition for a period of time. As for what would happen after the Paramount War, Su Xiao couldn’t guarantee that.
With less than ten days until the Paramount War, Whitebeard clearly needed major repairs—no, he needed several consecutive surgeries. Failure in any one of them could lead to Whitebeard’s death. If Whitebeard died, Su Xiao would have to fight his way off this ship, and whether he could even escape was uncertain.
Risk and reward were balanced. After a moment’s hesitation, Su Xiao decided to give it a try.
“It’s possible to temporarily alleviate your injuries and illness. As for a complete cure, that’s basically impossible.”
“Alleviate?”
Whitebeard was clearly interested.
“That’s right. Alleviate. For example, letting you get through a fierce battle in relatively good condition. What happens after that, I don’t know.”
“…”
Whitebeard stared at Su Xiao in silence. He was the pillar of the Whitebeard Pirates. If something went wrong during treatment, it would be disastrous. Besides, Su Xiao, covered in blood and killing intent, didn’t look like a doctor at all.
“Don’t worry about trust. It will be the hostage. And if something goes wrong during treatment, my chances of escaping this ship are slim. I don’t care whether you live or die, but I don’t want to die yet. At the very least, I can fix your heart and spine problems.”
Su Xiao patted Bubu Wang, signaling for it to act as the hostage.
Bubu Wang could blend into its surroundings, making it obviously the least reliable kind of hostage. This showed that Su Xiao’s upcoming surgery wasn’t as reliable as he claimed.
“If my medical skills weren’t good enough, those cowardly Celestial Dragons wouldn’t trust me. So you can rest assured on that point.”
As he spoke, Su Xiao looked Whitebeard up and down. Finally, he took a syringe from his storage space and tossed it to a blonde nurse. The nurse looked at Whitebeard, who said nothing, so she took the metal syringe and entered the cabin.
About half an hour later, the blonde nurse came out of the cabin and whispered something to Marco.
“It’s impossible to analyze its composition using another method?”
“Impossible. But it can be confirmed that its nature leans toward…”
After a brief exchange, the blonde nurse returned the metal syringe to Su Xiao. Su Xiao walked over to Whitebeard.
“This is a greeting gift.”
Su Xiao pulled out all the IV needles from Whitebeard’s arms. His rough technique made the blonde nurse frown, and she nearly stepped forward to stop him several times.
Su Xiao ignored the blonde nurse and performed an intravenous injection on Whitebeard’s forearm.
As soon as the medicine entered Whitebeard’s body, the veins on his arm bulged. Whitebeard’s eyes widened slightly as he looked at Su Xiao. He could now feel that his entire left forearm had gone numb.
The bulging veins spread up Whitebeard’s arm and eventually dissipated at his neck.
A few minutes later, Whitebeard closed his eyes tightly, leaned back against the medical equipment behind him, and fell silent.
Seeing this, Marco’s scalp went numb, and panic appeared in his eyes.
“You made my old man…”
“Snore~”
A snoring sound came. Marco instinctively looked at Whitebeard, only to see him sitting there, fast asleep.
Su Xiao picked up a stethoscope nearby, listened to Whitebeard’s heartbeat for a moment, then tossed it aside.
Whitebeard suddenly falling asleep was completely expected. The pain had prevented him from sleeping peacefully for months. At most, he would doze off when too exhausted to bear it, or after drinking heavily. Now that the pain had suddenly disappeared, the comfort and relaxation caused his fatigued body to instinctively fall asleep. Besides, he had just drunk a lot.
Snap, snap, snap…
Su Xiao snapped his fingers a few times near Whitebeard’s ear. Whitebeard waved his hand, as if swatting away a mosquito while in deep sleep.
“Don’t disturb him for the next ten hours or so. Before the surgery begins, we need to restore his mental and physical state as much as possible. Also, Marco, you need to prepare some things.”
“What do you need?”
Even though Marco didn’t understand medical knowledge, he could tell that Whitebeard’s condition was quite good—at least he was sleeping soundly.
“I’ll give you a specific list later. First, carry him into the cabin. Don’t touch the back of his neck. Don’t ask why.”
“No problem.”
Marco quickly called some people over. A dozen or so men carried Whitebeard into the cabin and laid him flat on a bed. Now Whitebeard slept even more soundly, snoring like thunder. Seeing this, the pirates all showed happy expressions but dared not speak loudly.
[Whitebeard Pirates reputation increased by 180 points. Current reputation: Cold: 180/50.]
[Reputation increased to Neutral: 180/230.]
[Detected that the Hunter’s Charm attribute is too low. The compatibility between the Whitebeard Pirates and the Hunter is extremely poor. Reputation can be raised to a maximum of Friendly.]