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Chapter 9
Victor, still casually munching away without a care, spotted Crocus returning to town. His eyes lit up. Finally—the person he'd been waiting for.
Crocus was easy to recognize, even at a young age.
"Hey! Konnichiwa, Crocus. I've been waiting for you a long time."
Victor finished his snack and walked over to greet him.
Crocus immediately sensed Victor's overwhelming strength and physique. His instincts told him: this young man was far beyond his own level.
"Konnichiwa… and who might you be?"
Crocus asked cautiously.
Victor got straight to the point. "Oh, right—forgot to introduce myself. I'm Victor. I'd like to invite you to be our ship doctor."
Crocus raised an eyebrow. "You know me? Why should I accept?"
Victor smiled. "Let's just say we've crossed paths in a way. I consider myself lucky to run into you here in Drum. I'm curious—aren't you supposed to be the doctor for the Rumbar Pirates?"
At this point in time, Crocus should still be sailing with the Rumbar Pirates—not back in Drum. Either that, or he was already at Reverse Mountain waiting with Laboon.
Crocus' expression shifted. "You even know about the Rumbar Pirates? How are they? I only recently returned from Reverse Mountain to gather some herbs."
Victor saw the genuine worry in Crocus' eyes and pressed gently. "I set sail this time specifically to recruit a ship doctor. What do you think, Crocus? If you join us, you might even find the Rumbar Pirates again somewhere in the Grand Line."
Crocus fell silent.
Victor didn't push. He simply waited patiently.
Deep down, Crocus had been thinking the same thing—he was deeply concerned about the Rumbar Pirates' safety. The offer from this powerful, promising young man who didn't seem cruel or tyrannical… it was tempting.
After a long pause, Crocus looked up. "Alright. I accept."
Victor's face broke into a wide grin. "Excellent! We've got our ship doctor. Come on—let me introduce you to the crew."
He happily led Crocus over to Heracles and the others.
Nearby, Dr. Kureha watched Crocus agree to set sail again and gave a small, knowing smile.
Soon, preparations in the town square were complete.
"Crocus," Victor said, "I'm about to publicly execute your king. Do you have anything to say about it?"
He wasn't going to just kill the man without checking—especially since Crocus was from Drum.
Crocus shook his head. "This guy deserves it. Captain, do what you need to."
Victor nodded.
He woke the unconscious King Wapol and began reading aloud the crimes they had gathered from the townspeople: oppression, forced doctor conscription, neglect of the poor, tyranny, corruption—the list went on.
The crowd's anger erupted. People hurled whatever they could find—snowballs, rocks, rotten fruit—at their former king.
The king, seeing the hatred, cursed them as "filthy peasants" before immediately switching to pathetic begging toward Victor.
"If you'd acted like a proper king from the start, things wouldn't have come to this. Next life—don't be born human."
Victor shook his head in disgust.
With one clean slash, he executed the tyrannical King of Drum.
It was the first time in Drum Kingdom history that an outsider had executed their ruler.
Some townspeople screamed. Others covered their eyes. But most felt a deep, cathartic release—like a heavy chain had finally been broken.
"He should've died long ago."
"The royal family never did a single good thing—just squeezed us dry."
"Because of his orders, every doctor was locked up in the castle. We couldn't even get treated when we were dying."
"Now that the king is gone… what happens to us?"
The townspeople voiced their grievances and began discussing their uncertain future.
Victor ignored the crowd for now and turned to the nearby fruit stalls.
He wanted to see if—upon the king's death—the Baku Baku no Mi would reincarnate into a nearby fruit.
He rummaged through every stall, turning over apples, oranges, bananas—nothing.
A wave of disappointment hit him. It seemed Devil Fruits truly reincarnated randomly. No convenient inheritance or guaranteed nearby rebirth.
With a sigh, he simply stored every single fruit in the square into his inner spatial pocket.
He couldn't help but wonder why Wapol ended up with the Baku Baku no Mi in the original story. Could the fruit's power be passed on somehow? Spit out after eating? Victor shook his head—pure speculation. No way to test it now.
Only Dr. Kureha seemed to notice something odd about his fruit obsession. Everyone else just assumed he was hungry.
The next matter—electing a new king—was none of Victor's concern. Let Dr. Kureha and the townspeople deal with that headache.
Victor instructed the crew to reinforce the ship and buy more medical supplies, medicines, clothes, and daily necessities.
He and Heracles watched Drum's first real election unfold from the sidelines.
The surviving guards (minus their dead captain) had woken up and meekly stood to the side, awaiting their fate.
In the end, at Dr. Kureha's recommendation, the townspeople elected a respected, honest middle-aged man from the town as the new king.
His first decree: release all doctors, restart production, and heavily promote the medical industry.
None of it concerned Victor's group anymore.
Crocus returned to pack his belongings, along with essential medicines and medical equipment.
The rest of the crew bought additional supplies.
After a few days of rest and resupply in the Drum Kingdom, they set sail once more.
The new king personally saw them off.
On board, a discussion was taking place.
Heracles spoke up: "Victor… I think you should be the captain. The rest of us—including me—just want to focus on being botanists and researchers."
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