Drum Island, Big Horn Village.
“My house call fee is one-quarter of your family’s assets.”
Dr.
Kureha tossed her stethoscope casually into her medical kit, the bottles and jars clinking together with a crisp sound.
She sat in a chair with her legs crossed and downed half a bottle of shochu in one gulp.
“You’re robbing us!”
“What kind of crappy doctor are you!
You’re just an old hag scamming people for money!”
“You’re 120 years old and still so heartless, watch out, you’ll meet a terrible end!”
The patient’s parents’ friends exploded in anger, pointing at Dr.
Kureha’s nose and cursing loudly.
The little girl lying on the bed was as pale as paper, her breath faint.
She struggled to open her eyes and looked at Dr.
Kureha: “Doctor…
thank you…
I feel much better…”
Dr.
Kureha made an OK gesture, grinned, and revealed a set of neat teeth: “I’ve received your tip, I’m very satisfied.”
The girl’s parents exchanged glances, forcing extremely fawning smiles onto their faces.
The man handed over a heavy money bag with trembling hands: “Thank you for saving her life, Doctor…”
Their downcast eyes were filled with resentment and unwillingness.
They never intended to save this money-losing daughter, thinking they would just have a son after she died.
Now, they had lost a quarter of their family’s assets for nothing.
Dr.
Kureha snatched the money bag, slung it over her shoulder, pushed open the door, and strode into the snow, quickly becoming a blurred black dot in the snowy landscape.
Inside the house, the smiles on the parents’ faces vanished instantly.
They glared viciously at their daughter on the bed and walked into the next room without a word.
Soon, the sounds of things being smashed and mutual accusations and curses could be heard through the thin wooden walls.
When Dr.
Kureha walked to her doorstep through the wind and snow, she found a silver-haired young man had been waiting there for a long time.
He was covered in a thick layer of snow, almost looking like a snowman, yet he still stood straight, like a pine tree rooted in the snow.
“I would like to ask you to examine my body.”
Lucas stepped forward and brushed the snow off his shoulders, “But before that, I would like to ask one question: how much do you know about the Lineage Factor?”
This was the question he cared about most.
“16 years ago, a brat named Vegapunk published a paper on the Lineage Factor.”
Dr.
Kureha took out her key and inserted it into the lock, “I spent an afternoon reading it.
It’s more than enough for treating illnesses.”
“Click.”
The door opened in response.
Lucas’s mouth twitched.
Vegapunk…
a brat?
He paused for a moment, then realized.
The person in front of him was already 119 years old this year, while Vegapunk was only 45.
In her eyes, let alone Vegapunk, even Garp and Sengoku were just a bunch of wet-behind-the-ears boys.
Thinking about it this way, the term didn’t seem wrong at all.
He collected his thoughts and stepped into the house.
To his surprise, the dilapidated wooden house was actually a high-tech medical room inside.
Various precision medical instruments were neatly arranged on shelves, and a small generator in the corner was humming, providing power.
“Some medicines can only be made with electricity.”
Dr.
Kureha explained casually and pointed to the hospital bed in the corner, “Lie down.
Take off your clothes.”
Lucas complied.
Over the next few hours, Dr.
Kureha used various instruments he couldn’t name to give him a comprehensive examination.
Lucas didn’t hide anything; he told her everything about his special constitution, the abilities of the Vampire Fruit, and the fact that he had absorbed Aily’s lightning Lineage Factor.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to hide it, but lying to a doctor while seeking treatment was undoubtedly irresponsible to himself.
He trusted that Dr.
Kureha wouldn’t go around spreading the word.
As the sun set, the last ray of sunlight shone into the room through the window.
Dr.
Kureha took off her glasses and wiped the fog off them.
“There is one piece of good news and one piece of bad news.
Which one do you want to hear first?”
“The good news.”
“The good news is, you won’t die.” Dr.
Kureha poured herself a glass of wine and said slowly, “Your constitution is very special.
The second Lineage Factor you have integrated has excellent compatibility with your original body, and there will be no problems continuing to develop it.”
“According to my tests, you can absorb at most one more Devil Fruit Lineage Factor.”
“The premise is that it cannot be Zoan, it cannot be Logia, and those Paramecia types that change body shape are also out.
Otherwise, your Lineage Factor will collapse directly, and even the gods won’t be able to save you.”
“And the bad news?”
“The bad news is that your life energy is too active and has rewritten your genetic material.”
Dr.
Kureha took a sip of wine and looked at him with a playful glint in her eyes, “The women you sleep with will have their Lineage Factors optimized by your genetic material, becoming younger and stronger.
But they will not bear your children, unless their Lineage Factors are optimized to the point of touching their racial barrier.”
Lucas’s expression became a bit strange.
Why did he feel…
that both of these were good news?
Racial barrier…
It should be the upper limit of an individual’s power for that race.
If that was the case, then whether he had children or not didn’t matter at all.
“I have one last question.” Lucas sat up and put on his clothes, “Since I can only accommodate one more Lineage Factor, can I separate other Lineage Factors I absorb later?”
If this operation was feasible, it would be equivalent to him mastering a divine skill—making Devil Fruits reborn on the spot.
“Yes, you can.”
Dr.
Kureha answered cleanly and decisively, then reached out and rubbed her fingers: “But that is another price.
The extraction and separation technology of the Lineage Factor is very expensive.”
Lucas pulled a bulging money bag from his backpack and tossed it over, landing precisely in Dr.
Kureha’s lap.
“This contains the consultation fee from before, plus the tuition.
Is it enough?”
Dr.
Kureha opened the money bag and glanced at it, her eyes lighting up instantly.
She weighed the money bag and nodded with satisfaction: “It’s enough.
Starting tomorrow, come over for lessons at nine every morning.”
For the next month, Lucas stayed in Big Horn Village.
Every morning, he would perform ten thousand sword swings in the knee-deep snow, until his sweat soaked through his clothes and formed a shell of ice on the outside.
In the afternoon, he would go to Dr.
Kureha’s place to learn everything about the Lineage Factor.
Dr.
Kureha’s teaching style was just like her: rough and direct, but extremely effective.
Lucas’s talent was already extremely high, and in just one month, he had fully mastered the Lineage Factor identification and separation technology, as well as how to change the transformation wavelength of Zoan types.
Sea Circle Calendar year 1521, April 15th.
Late at night, pitch-black darkness shrouded Drum Island, with only the sound of howling wind and snow echoing between heaven and earth.
Lucas, carrying a simple backpack, said goodbye to Dr.
Kureha.
“Get lost.” Dr.
Kureha leaned against the doorframe and waved her hand, “Don’t die out there in the future.
Don’t expose your abilities easily; not everyone has the secret to eternal youth like I do.”
“I will remember that.”
Lucas turned and walked into the wind and snow, carrying a bag of fresh fruit in his hand.