Chapter 45: King Hiriluk
"Captain, can we go to more islands like this?" Monet asks with a smile, relishing the environment of Drum Island. "I feel like even if I fought you on this Island, I would stand a chance."
"Oh, do you want to test that theory?" Rex said, revealing a glowing red claw.
From sparring with Monet, Rex knew that as long he created sufficient heat, he could 'melt' her body, making it difficult for her to recombine. What's more, in the past two months on Kenzan island, Rex had been working on Lucci's ultimate move, the Rokuogan, believing that it was the pathway to learning armament haki.
While Rex had tried consulting Kid on the matter, Kid had been about as useful as a pile of bricks only saying 'it's like wearing armor, but different'. If anyone could learn Haki with that tip, they would have to be a godlike super genius.
However, Rex knew that in order to beat Doflamingo, he would have to learn the power.
When Rex and his crew reach Bighorn, the first town of Drum Island, they are surprised by the sight before him.
"Come on, ten pounds of metal each civilian, in the crate, now!" A pair of grinning men cry out, wheeling around a crate through the streets of Bighorn.
"But that's ridiculous! You already taxed us like this last month! And the month before! We need metal for our knives, our hunting traps our armaments!"
"Yeah! Zapol never would have treated us in such a way!"
"Down with WAPOL! Down with WAPOL! Down with WAPOL! Down with WAPOL!" The people start chanting angrily.
"Guards! Arrest these treasonous civilians." Chess shouts out angrily. "Defaming the good name of Lord Wapol is a crime that is punishable by death!"
The guards look at each other nervously, not wanting to arrest innocent civilians.
"Halt!" A booming voice comes out as a tall man slides down to the mountain on a patient gurney. "I will supply enough metal for all the civilians!"
That man was Hiriluk, grinning from ear to ear like a hyena as he procured a large crate of metal.
"Hiriluk!" Chess and Kuromarino cried out in surprise.
"Yes, it is I, the renowned doctor of Drum Island, Hiriluk, here to save the good people of Drum Island from unfair taxation, without representation!"
Rex grinned, feeling the urge to throw some tea into a harbor hearing Hiriluk's speech.
"How do you have so much metal?" Chess asked in shock. "There is no way some penniless fake doctor like you could be so rich!"
"When one has the power of benevolence on their side, all monetary concerns become null!" Hiriluk declares mysteriously.
The two ministers grumble but they then weigh the goods, confirming that they are indeed sufficient, before leaving the town.
Hiriluk is then cheered on by the numerous civilians who try to pay him for his services.
Hiriluk shakes his head. "No payment is necessary! This one is simply repaying old debts from his youth. Now, I must go on, to the next town!"
Hiriluk then rushes off in his gurney sled, using two crutches to propel himself forwards.
As he sleds on, Hiriluk suddenly runs into a group of mysterious masked strangers, sitting around a campfire feasting themselves like kings. While Hiriluk could not claim to know every Drum Island citizen, their clothes were definitely not made on the island, implying they were wealthy enough to buy abroad.
Frowning at the sharp contrast between the civilians and these strangers, Hiriluk sleds his way over.
"Ho, strangers, I am Hiriluk, doctor of Drum Island. Where do you strangers come from, and what do you seek?"
Rex smiles, knowing that his display of extravagance would lure Hiriluk over. He was currently in his Jacket D. Hoodie appearance, planning on doing his 'civic duty' the moment he recruited Kureha.
"We are pirates, come here to Drum Island to acquire a doctor of some skill to join our crew!" Rex said with a grin. "I've heard that some of the best doctors in the known world reside on this island and am curious to see if I could acquire one."
Hiriluk frowns. "Good sir, Drum Island's doctors are its main source of revenue, surely you don't mean to take them away. That does not seem in the spirit of Pirate Adventure! Besides, most of the doctors in the land are currently in the royal palace, treating the dying King of Drum Island."
"Ah, I see." Rex says, surprised that Hiriluk would just give him the information he desired. When Rex had tried asking a civilian at the port, they claimed that the Doctors had all just disappeared, leading Rex to fear that Wapol had started his doctor hunt early.
Rex then stands up, clearing away the food and getting ready to set off.
"My good friends, you can't be intending to go off towards Drum Castle, are you?" Hiriluk asks in surprise. Since when had pirates been so bold, walking straight into the kingdom of a World Government affiliated Kingdom and demanding a doctor.
"I am, unless that's the wrong direction." Rex said, not even having the slightest fear of Wapol.
Rex then stands up and departs, paying no heed to Hiriluk who was running behind him.
"But you can't beat Wapol! He had hundreds of guards and he himself is a powerful devil fruit user!" Hiriluk tries to persuade him.
Rex doesn't even turn his head.
"How about you recruit me instead? I'm an excellent doctor and I love piracy!" Hiriluk says, trying to dissuade Rex.
Rex pauses for a moment, resisting the urge to burst out in laughter. He intended to recruit a doctor, not a poisoner. In fact, Rex had long suspected that Hiriluk had been the cause of the resurgence his own mysterious disease by drinking one of his poisoned concoctions.
But Hiriluk doesn't relent for even a second, trying every trick he was aware of in order to stop Rex from making it to Drum Castle but they all fail.
In the end, Hiriluk just stands in front of Rex with his arms stretched out.
"NO! I refuse to let you go to the castle!" Hiriluk says.
"Jakekeket! Has my name truly decayed to the point that you don't know who I am?" Rex laughs, finding Hiriluk to be positively amusing. "I am Jacket D. Hoodie, and I have come to Drum Island to liberate this Kingdom from the tyranny of Wapol."
"You still can't pass!" Hiriluk says, having no idea who Jacket D. Hoodie was.
Rex smiles. "Good man. When Wapol is dead, I'll make you king."
Then, Rex knocks out Hiriluk and continues skipping on his way up the mountain.
"So, captain, what should we do now?" Killer said, as the crew reach their first barrier, the massive gate to the palace.
"Cut it down." Rex says, simply. He honestly couldn't care less about the marines anymore. Most of the vice admirals were deployed to the New World to defend against Big Mom's rampage and the remaining ones were either too far or too busy to be dealing with him.
Killer nods, taking in a deep breath before drawing his swords. If one blinked, they would barely see it as Killer created a massive cross slash on the doors.
Bang!
The doors fell to the ground.
Rex grinned as he sees a legion of guards rushing towards him immediately. Now, should he do this the easy way or the fun way.
Sugar moves out at once, using her incredible speed to move through the soldiers like a ghost. Looks like it was the fun way then.
The rest of the crew dashes out, making quick work of the guards. Rex grins as he watches his Electro arc from guard to guard, their precious armor working against them.
Inside of a minute, the guards are all down. Rex walks towards the palace slowly, as if he has all the time in the world.
Wapol, who is at the topmost window of the palace shivers in terror at this.
"Impossible! Didn't the papers say he was dead!?" Wapol stammered out.
In fact, Wapol's father was not ill, he had been killed by Wapol some time ago. Initially, Wapol had been intending to let his father die naturally from his illness, but when an old friend of his, the former King of Deul, Chap, had been usurped by Jacket D. Hoodie, Wapol had accelerated his plans.
Wapol had poisoned his father to gain access to the throne and used his 'illness' as an excuse to trap all the doctors in the kingdom inside of his Castle. He felt that with his castle's defenses and all the doctors of Drum Island at his beck and call, nobody could possibly kill him. He could not have been more wrong.
Wapol rushes to his imperial chamber, bringing in as many doctor hostages and weapons as he could before sealing the doors shut.
Moments later, the doors burst open.
"Stop!" Wapol shouts out, his body turning into a massive array of guns trained on numerous restrained doctors. "If you take one more step, I'll kill all these hostages! Now get out of my castle."
Rex looks at Wapol coldly through his Jacket D. Hoodie mask. For all the troubles Rex got for his mercifulness, his patience was starting to wear thin.
Rex spared Foxy and Devon, and he was 95% sure they were the ones who called Borsalino. He spared Arlong when he left the Sun Pirates and he almost went to the East Blue to commit his acts of terror again. Robin spared Spandine and he almost died. Mercy was overrated.
"Do you know what my father used to tell me about hostages?" Rex said, casually pulling up a seat and lounging down.
"I said get-"
Whoosh!
Rex dashes past Wapol, sitting back on the throne to Drum Island.
"Keeping a hostage relies on the fact that you can kill them, before I can kill you." Rex mutters. "Even a fool knows that you should always have a backup plan."
Wapol then looks down at his body, seeing that there is a massive hole where his heart should be.
"Ironic isn't it?" Rex says, watching Wapol fall to his knees and bleed out. "A man who is so afraid of being killed will die in his own throne room due to his own actions."
Wapol then bleeds out on the floor, a shocked expression on his face dying right there.
"Irony is a bit subjective you know." An aged female voice calls out. "What one person finds ironic; another may find sincere."
"Perhaps. But I feel that most of us here can agree with the irony of this situation."
The aged woman grins as she turns to face Rex. She was Kureha, famous Doctorine of Drum Island.
"So, I gather you're not here to go grocery shopping. Eh, Mr. Jacket D. Hoodie?" Kureha asks, curious as to why a 'dead' revolutionary would come to Drum Kingdom.
"I am indeed not. I am curious lady Kureha, would you be willing to-"
"STOP!" A booming voice comes as a figure comes flying through the destroyed door of Wapol's throne room. "Lord Wapol, please don't kill that humble pirate, I'm sure he didn't mean to offen- EHHH!?"
Hiriluk's eyes are about to bulge out of his head as he sees Wapol dead in front of him.
"Ah perfect timing!" Rex says clapping his hands together. "Doctors of Drum Island, may I introduce you to your new king!"
(One Week Later)
"Man, the world government must be full of idiots to believe that story you concocted." A young woman says cackling boisterously as she downs a bottle of plum whiskey. In her hands is a newspaper with the headline: 'Drum Royalty Ravaged By Disease.'
Rex grinned. With the death of Wapol's father by a 'mysterious' illness and Wapol's imprisoning of the doctors, it wasn't hard for Rex to create the fake story of Wapol dying to the same disease.
With that, the new King, Hiriluk, had assumed the throne and opened up Drum Island to any who would seek medical care.
"That dumb quack Hiriluk looks so happy." The woman snorted, looking at the page that discussed Hiriluk's new laws.
The woman was Kureha, having joined Rex's crew in exchange for him aging her down into a twenty year old woman. With that, Rex's crew was officially closed for business. While Rex might make an exception for an extremely talented crewmate like maybe King or Katakuri, if they were loyal to him, anyone else was out.
Other than Kureha, Rex had two more significant gains this trip. For one, he had gained a close relationship with a Levely-participating World Government Kingdom. For another…
Rex stared down at the purple-blue fruit in his hand. He was really getting way too many of these things at this point in time.
While Rex had put the Candy and Memory fruits to good use and had sold the other two to Dragon, he still had the Axolotl fruit and the Swamp fruit in hand. Unfortunately, those were both too valuable to sell for their regenerative and infinite storage capabilities respectively.
Still, Rex didn't have anyone he trusted enough who wanted to eat them. Rex wouldn't give a devil fruit to a low-level crew member, as that would mess up the ship's ecosystem and all the officers were annoyingly particular.
Sugar wanted a 'fun' devil fruit, that was way stronger than everyone else. Thatch wanted one that would help his cooking and Rose wanted one that would help her research. As for Kureha, Rex hadn't asked her yet, but odds were, she wanted one to amplify her medicinal skills.
Rex also wanted a human fruit for Rouge, but couldn't find the one on Drum Island, and a real Tiger fruit to create a body double. Life was just annoying like that, you get what you don't want, and you want what you don't get.
Now, it was time for his last paradise adventure.
"To Sky Island!"
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone