The Divine Physician narrowed his eyes slightly, appearing to be immersed in that ancient memory.
His voice was soft, yet it clearly reached everyone's ears.
"That night, thunder roared as if the heavens themselves were in a rage."
"My ancestor held that elixir, which emitted a seven-colored glow, his hands trembling."
"It was a divine object forged by gathering the strength of an entire nation and consuming countless heavenly treasures."
"It was also the key to longevity that the First Emperor dreamed of."
Speaking to this point, the Divine Physician paused.
He turned his head and looked at Ace, who was listening intently.
A self-deprecating curve hooked the corner of his mouth.
"If you were him, what would you do?"
"Would you offer it to that tyrant in exchange for a lifetime of wealth and glory?"
"Or..."
Ace was stunned.
He subconsciously scratched his head.
This kind of question testing human nature was a bit beyond the scope of a simple-minded guy like him.
"If it were me... I'd probably throw it away."
In that laughter, there was a trace of sorrow and insight into human nature.
"Unfortunately, my ancestor was not you."
"He was just a mortal."
"A mortal who reached the pinnacle of medical skill but could never see through the cycle of life and death."
"Facing that elixir, he hesitated."
"That was longevity..."
"The ultimate desire carved into the bones of humanity since its birth."
"On that thunderous, rainy night, greed triumphed over loyalty."
"And it triumphed over reason."
Gulp.
Musk swallowed hard again.
In his mind, he had already imagined a thrilling palace drama.
"He... he ate it?"
Musk asked tremulously.
The Divine Physician nodded slightly.
A complex light flashed in his eyes.
"Yes, he ate it."
"Right there on that giant ship about to sail back."
"Right in the middle of that turbulent sea."
"He betrayed the Emperor of a Thousand Ages."
"He swallowed the only Elixir of Immortality into his own stomach."
Boom!
Even though they had already guessed the ending, when these words actually came out of the Divine Physician's mouth, everyone still felt their scalps tingle.
That was someone from over two thousand years ago!
If he really ate the Elixir of Immortality, doesn't that mean... that ancestor has lived until now?!
Everyone's eyes involuntarily drifted toward the Divine Physician.
Could it be that the person in front of them was that two-thousand-year-old monster?
As if seeing through everyone's thoughts, the Divine Physician shook his head, shattering their fantasies.
"Don't guess blindly."
"I am not him."
"If I were truly immortal, why would I need to travel everywhere looking for medicinal herbs?"
Hearing this, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
True.
If someone really lived for two thousand years, how strong would they be?
They could probably overturn this entire sea with a flick of a finger.
"But..."
The Divine Physician's tone shifted.
The originally relaxed atmosphere instantly froze again.
His expression became somewhat gloomy.
The purple patterns that looked somewhat eerie on that handsome face now seemed to become even more vivid.
It was as if they had come to life, faintly pulsating.
"Everything in the world has a price."
"The gifts of fate are already marked with a price in secret."
"The First Emperor's wrath might not have been able to cross the ocean to hunt him down."
"But the punishment of the Heavenly Dao has never been absent."
The Divine Physician slowly extended his right hand.
Under the sunlight, that hand was slender and fair, like a perfect work of art.
But if one observed closely, one could see an ominous blue-purple aura faintly showing beneath the skin.
That was a sign of potent poison entering the bones, and proof of dancing with the Shinigami year after year.
"My ancestor stole the authority of the gods and obtained medical skills and a lifespan unattainable by mortals."
"But as a price, his descendants—our lineage—must suffer the torment of a short life for generations."
The Divine Physician's voice was very soft, yet it was like a heavy hammer smashing into everyone's hearts.
"No matter neow divine one's medical skills are, no matter how many people on the brink of death are saved, the males of our family... not a single one has ever lived past thirty."
Boom!
As soon as these words were spoken, the deck instantly fell into a deathly silence.
Thirty years old?
What kind of concept was that?
For the people on this sea, that was the prime of life, the golden age for achieving great things!
Even for many powerful experts, at thirty, life has only just begun!
But for the man in front of them who possessed god-level medical skills, thirty years old was the end of life—a deadline that could not be crossed no matter how much one struggled.
"How... how can this be?"
Ace's eyes widened.
The shock on his face gradually turned into deep regret and indignation.
"This is too unfair!"
"Clearly possessing bundering medical skills, clearly able to save so many people! Why would the heavens treat you like this?"
The Divine Physician smiled indifferently.
In that smile, there was no resentment, only the detachment of one who has long seen through everything.
"A physician cannot heal himself."
"Perhaps this is a cruel joke fate has played on us."
"Using our lives to exchange for the art of saving others. It's quite fair, isn't it?"
"No! It's not fair at all!"
Ace suddenly clenched his fists.
"Thirty years old..."
Musk murmured the number, feeling a chill rush from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
He subconsciously touched his slightly balding head.
He was forty-two this year.
Although he lived like a "salted fish," with mediocre medical skills and even a bit of a lecherous streak, at least he was still alive.
He could still feel the warmth of the sun and smell the saltiness of the sea.
In front of this brilliantly talented doctor, for the first time, he felt that mediocrity might also be an unspeakable kind of happiness.
"This... this is too cruel!"
A young pirate couldn't help but have his eyes redden.
"Possessing medical skills that can bring back the dead, yet only being able to live to thirty? Is the heavens blind?!"
The surrounding pirates chimed in one after another, filled with righteous indignation.
On this sea, although it was full of slaughter and betrayal, people always held instinctive sympathy for this kind of cursed, tragic hero.
The Divine Physician merely smiled faintly.
He reached out and caught a withered leaf blown down by the sea breeze.
His eyes were as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
"Cruel?"
"Perhaps."
"My grandfather died at twenty-eight. Just before he died, he had only just researched a prescription that could cure lung fever."
"My father died at twenty-nine. At the moment he drew his last breath, he was still instructing me not to give up searching for that specific medicinal herb."
The Divine Physician looked up.
His gaze swept over everyone and finally landed on Ace's face.
His voice was gentle, but every word pierced the heart.
"I am twenty-four years old this year."
"The time left for me is only six years."
Six years.
For an ordinary person, it might just be a fleeting moment.
But for someone who knows their date of death, this is the Sword of Damocles hanging over their head.
Every minute, every second, is a countdown.
"I say..."
Ace suddenly looked up.
In those originally clear eyes, a raging fire was burning now.
It was an emotion even hotter than the flames of the Mera Mera no Mi.
"This bullshit fate... who exactly decided it?!"
Boom!
A majestic aura erupted from Ace's body.
It wasn't Conqueror's Haki, yet it was more awe-inspiring than Haki.
It was his bone-deep hatred for the word "destiny"!
As the posthumous son of the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, from the moment Ace was born, he carried the curse of the "Son of the Devil."
The whole world was telling him: You shouldn't have been born. Your existence is a sin. Filthy blood flows in your veins. You are destined to bring disaster to the world like your bastard father and then die a miserable death!
To hell with destiny! To hell with bloodlines! To hell with fate!
Ace strode toward the Divine Physician with large steps.
The distance between the two was mere inches.
One in purple robes, as cold as ice. One bare-chested, like a song of fire.
"You say this is a price?"
Ace stared intently into the Divine Physician's eyes.
"You say this is a punishment the heavens gave you? Because that so-called ancestor stole some longevity medicine?"
"Ha!"
Ace let out a cold laugh full of mockery.
"Don't be ridiculous!"
"Why should you have to pay the bill for some old history from two thousand years ago?"
"You've saved so many people! You saved that big green guy just now, too! You saved Deuce, too!"
"You're clearly a great doctor! Why should you have to die for such a ridiculous reason?!"