"Well don't just stand there looking like morons. Come in." Kureha ushered them in. She quickly locked the door after confirming that nobody saw them.
"What?" Kureha asked when she saw Roger's group looking strangely at her.
"You are not going to ask who we are?"
"Why should I? You are not the first group of people that Edward had suddenly showed up at my door with. At this point I don't care anymore" Kureha shrugged before turning her attention to Edward and asked. By the way what happened? We were not supposed to meet until after the heavenly tributes"
"Unfortunately my whereabouts was leaked to the marines. And now that they are actively searching for me, I had to speak up my plans. I even had a run in with a marine group at a bar on town. That was where I met this guys".
"How unfortunate indeed. Especially on the day of the tributes. It's going to be difficult to get off this island even with the help of your friends. More importantly can we trust them. According to what you just said, you recently just met them" Kureha looked suspiciously at the group. The reason she didn't bother to question them before was because the last group Edward brought was one that he had known for a while not one that he had recently met.
"That we can do. After all, they have wanted posters". Edward reassured with a grin. He also had his doubt about the group before. For all he knew they could have been hired by the marines to get to him. But after seeing their wanted poster he let go of that suspicion. After all, no marine in history has ever been given a wanted poster, not even those undercover.
"It seems that we have landed ourselves in a precarious situation" Rayleigh groaned before he glared at Roger who was the cause of their current predicament.
"So it seems. But we can handle it" Roger laughed ticking both Naruto and Rayleigh off. It took all their willpower to resist the urge to smash his head in.
"By the way how did you and Edward know each other. Are you guys lovers?" Naruto asked with a childlike curiosity. But his question startled everyone.
"Lovers?!" Edward and Kureha quickly became the center of attention. Kureha quickly shook her head and said.
"No, we are not lover. Edward only comes here to buy medicines from me. At most we have only known each other for two years now."
"Moreover I wouldn't want to date her. She's crazier than she looks"
"Shut up" Kureha smacked Edward on the head which only made him laugh.
"Wait you make medicines?"
"She might not look it hit she's one of the best doctors you'd find on this part of the Grand line." Edward said with a proud smile with ticked Kureha off as she pulled on his cheek and scold him.
"Why are you taking pride in my accomplishment?"
Seeing an opportunity Roger said. "Why don't you join us? It just so happens that out crew needs a ship doctor. Someone of your capabilities shouldn't be confined to one island"
Rayleigh and Naruto also nodded, expressing their supports of his words. They might not be able to get Edward to join them but if Kureha could then it was an even bigger win for them. If what Edward said was true then even the marines would fight to have her on their team.
However, contrary to their expectations, Kureha shook her head and said. "Sorry but I don't plan on living my life on the run. As a doctor I need time and freedom to do my experiments and research. And those two things are something a pirate don't have. Moreover, it would be a shame to have a beautiful face like mine on a wanted poster "
'Well she does have a point. Why didn't I think of that? Oh right I wasn't in the position to make such a choice' Naruto sighed dejectedly. Even Rayleigh didn't know how to refute her claim.
Everyone knew that time and freedom was definitely one thing that pirates lack since they'd be too busy running around the place to escape from the marines. For a doctor focused on research, it's a huge disadvantage.
"Then we'll get you those things If that is what you want" Roger retorted with a confident grin, refusing to back down. He and Kureha entered a staring context Both refusing to back down. When it felt like things were finally going to escalate, Kureha suddenly smiled and said.
"Okay if that's the case. Then if you manage to make a big name for yourselves at sea, then I'll consider it. If not you'll never show your faces to me ever again. Deal?"
"Deal." Roger grinned. That shouldn't be a problem since he planned on doing just that.
"I'll be waiting then" Kureha smiled a she watched Roger return back to his seat.
'Roger?' Naruto has never Roger so eager to prove someone wrong before. But it shouldn't be surprising since he hasn't known Roger for long but judging by his personality it still saying something. However even Rayleigh who had known him the longest was still surprised.
"Speaking of which, are you don't making the medicine?" Edward asked Kureha when he saw that they weren't going to argue anymore.
"Not yet. But I'm almost done. You guys can make at home. I'll be right back." Without waiting for their reply Kureha turned around and left the room.
"What do you need medicines for, Edward? You don't look sick" Rayleigh asked curiously.
"No it's not from me. I'm taking it to my hometown. There are a lot of sick people there who need it" Edward replied with a frown look as if recalling a bad memories.
"Your hometown? Are you reselling it?" Now Naruto was confused. Was Edward perhaps planning to give up piracy to become a doctor?
"No. I'm giving it away from free. You see in the past my island couldn't afford to pay the heavenly tributes and was abandoned by the world government causing it to become a lawless place, deepening put poor status. It's the reason I became a pirate. To help my island" Edward said which brought a frown to Roger and the others faces as they could hear the sadness in his voice.
"How noble of you. To become a pirate for the sake of your island. That explains why you are a lone pirate. Since there's rarely any pirates out there who shares the same vision as you, us included." Roger said. Everything was finally starting to make sense now. No wonder Edward w as so quick to reject his offer before. He would only be hindering himself by joining a group.
"Sounds more like extortion to me" Naruto frowned. If this was how the world government operated then they were no different from local thugs asking for protection money.
"Who knew there was such a side to the world government" Rayleigh rebuked. It seems the Grand line was a place for dirty acts.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg. It gets worse"
…
Meanwhile on one of the marine warship, Tsuru finally arrived in the meeting room where the other officers were gathered. One of them being the marine Edward had fought. The other officers present glanced at her when they saw her walked into the room before looking away. Only those she were familiar with nodded to her in greeting.
"You are finally here, captain. Take a seat." The burly man seating at the head of the table said prompting her to take a seat.
The man who spoke before was a recently promoted rear admiral. Rear admiral key, he was the one in charge of receiving and escorting the heavenly tributes from Drum kingdom.
When key saw that everyone had settled down he resumed the meeting.
"The reason I called this meeting is because captain jiro engaged the target in a bar on this island." The other officials turned to jiro who had a smug look on his face when he felt all the attention on him. It would have been even better if he had managed to capture Edward but he didn't expect for him to have allies.
"Moreover, he had accomplices which weren't mentioned before. I have already sent marines to the bar but they were long gone by the time they arrived there. As you all know apart from escorting the heaven tribute we were also asked to arrest Edward Newgate if possible. So I am now tasking you all with searching the entire island for them. I will also get the king of Drum kingdom to lend his soldiers in apprehending this criminals"
"Accomplices? Is he perhaps planning to start his own pirate crew? This is against what we heard"
"I don't like where he is going, we should capture him at once."
"Edward had been able to avoid direct contact with us so far. What if he has already left the island?"
The marine officers started discussing among themselves until someone suddenly raised their hand silencing everyone and becoming the center of attention.
"Yes, captain Tsuru. What is it?" Rear admiral key turned to the person in question. To be honest he didn't know what to think of Tsuru. She was someone who had only been in the marine for a year and was already granted the position of captain. This had caused a lot of commotion and dissatisfaction among the marines but there was nothing anyone could do about it. The decision was final.
However, after she successfully captured the captain of the Gorge pirates, those who objected were silenced. Any other dissatisfaction was completely cleared out when she later went on to capture all members of said pirate crew. Not only that but some infamous pirates had also fallen prey to her. She was quickly growing famous among the marines.
Imagine his surprise when he had been told that she was going to be under his command to escort the heavenly tributes from Drum kingdom. But whatever he thought of her doesn't matter.
'Moreover, I heard that she was from the same division as those monsters.' Key sighed before returning his attention to Tsuru. "So you were saying?"
"This pirates you speak of. Is there a way for us to identify this accomplices?" Tsuru asked. For some unknown reasons she had this bad feeling about the whole thing
"Yes, indeed." Key nodded before tossing a stack of bounty posters on the table for all of them to see.
"This!" Tsuru's eyes widened when she saw the faces on the bounty posters. Her mind flashed backed to the group she met on the street. There was no mistaking it.
'Its them!'