27 Chapter 27: Treatment or Torture?

Third Person's PoV:

"What do you think?" Josh asked. Everything was already settled and the fight between Luffy and Don Krieg just ended.

During the entire fight, neither Josh nor Mihawk interfered one bit. They would share a few comments once something different occurred but not really a lengthy conversation. From this, Josh mentally noted that Mihawk was a man of few words.

"Hm. His will is impressive. Not a lot of people can be that fearless towards death." Mihawk nodded. He didn't really comment much on the actual fighting because it was all child's play to him.

"Oooi...Josh! What are you doing!?" From the boat, The two calmly conversing men could hear the loud shout of someone from their side. Turning that way, Josh saw Usopp frantically waving at him.

"Excuse me for a moment...and don't you leave!" Josh said. His expression was helpless as he flashed away into lightning and reappearing by Usopp's side, greatly surprising him.

"Wha-How did you do that!?" He stammered. Usopp nervously gulped and took a step back.

"Relax. It was just my devil fruit. Now, what did you need?" Josh calmly asked. He was just about to make his move and had to be swift about it, or else Mihawk would leave, and it'll be a long while until they met each other again.

"Oh right! What were you doing with that man? And why didn't you help out when Luffy was fighting?" Usopp questioned suspiciously after regaining his bearings. To him, Mihawk was an enemy, and his crew mate was just sitting around with him and not helping them out.

"I was trying to coax him to fight me. He stubbornly insisted to leave, so I had no choice." Josh replied. Purposefully leaving out the answer for the second part of his interrogation.

"You still want to fight that monster after what we saw him do!?" Usopp yelled in surprise. After a bit, he suddenly realized something. "That could count as an answer for the first question but what about the second one?"

"That..well, I trust Luffy and he didn't ask for help. Besides, if I interfered with low level fights like this every time, how would you guys ever improve?" Josh shot back. He had to eventually answer to the reason for his inactions. If he felt that any of the crew members were in any life threatening danger, then of course he would intervene.

However, if he took away the experiences that the crew would gain after fights, how would they ever better themselves. With those thoughts in mind, Josh hoped that it was enough to convince the cowardly man.

"That's it!? What if one of us lost our lives because you weren't there to help!?" Usopp shouted again in actual fury. It was well justified and it stemmed from worrying about his friend's lives, and mostly his own.

"Chill. If something like that were to really happen, I'll be there to stop it. Questioning can't be the only reason you called me right?" Josh raised his hands in his own defense and replied.

Usopp wanted to ask further about how he would know or how he would get there in time, but decided not to, because there was a more urgent issue at hand. "Oh right. We were able to stitch together most of Zoro's injuries, but the cut on his torso is too difficult for us since none of us are actual doctors. Is there anything you know or can do to help?"

"What? You can't patch him up!?" Josh asked in surprise. He was confused. In cannon, Zoro's injuries were all stitched together without any problems so how is it possible that they couldn't do it now?

'This doesn't make sense. How come they can't fix him up? Does it...have something to do with me?' Josh pondered to himself silently. One hand was placed on his chin as he did so. Suddenly, an idea came to him.

'Is it because of what I did before their fight!? Did Mihawk cut him too deeply because of my interference?' This idea was becoming more and more likely in Josh's mind as panic slowly creeped into him.

"Yeah, it's getting bad. If we don't get it treated properly soon, he could die from blood loss." Usopp said in a sad tone.

"That's bad. But..I'm not a doctor, what can I—!" Josh was about to question himself when an idea struck him again.

'System, can I buy some medical skills?' He asked the system in his mind.

[Ding! Certainly Host.]

'That's great! How much does it cost?' Josh was ecstatic when he heard the system's reply so he immediately asked how much they cost.

[Ding!

Beginner Medical Skills cost 100,000.

Intermediate Medical Skills cost 1,000,000.

Advanced Medical skills cost 10,000,000.

Master Medical Skills cost 100,000,000.

Godly Medical Skills cost 1,000,000,000.]

Those astronomical numbers towards the end shocked Josh greatly.

'With my current amount of points, I can only afford the intermediate skill. Would that be enough to save Zoro?' Josh asked again in worry.

[Ding! Negative, Host. To treat an injury of that level would require the purchase of at least Advanced Medical Skills.]

Josh's hopes were smashed by the system's words. His previously hopeful face seemed to sag a bit in despair.

Usopp was on the side watching him go through a series of facial expressions and was slightly confused. He then asked, "do you have anything that can help?"

"I..I don't kn—wait! I think I might have something. I've watched a bunch of survival shows and in one of them, there was a guy that did something like that...yes, it could work. Bring me to him immediately!" Josh exclaimed. He was going to disappoint Usopp at first, but then a idea came to him again for the third time.

"I don't know what a 'survival show' is but if it'll help, then that's great." Usopp said, and led him inside a small room with a single bed. Around the bed were three people.

Nami and the bounty hunter duo were standing in the room with worried expressions on their faces. This was especially true for Johnny and Yosaku. Tears were running down their faces non-stop.

"Make way. I think I can patch up his wound." The door was slammed heavily against the wall and a voice echoed out. The trio looked back to find Josh and Usopp so they opened up a path for him without delay.

Josh came up to the side of the bed to find Zoro. The man's face looked much paler when compared to his usual self, letting Josh know the severity of the situation. Zoro was having a hard time keeping his consciousness and his gaze kept going in and out of focus.

The swordsman's injury was a really severe one. Nami and Usopp tried their best to stitch it up but it just wouldn't stop bleeding even after applying pressure on it for a long time.

This was because the wound was too deep. The stitches weren't able to completely seal it off. There was even the possibility of internal bleeding.

Without further delays, Josh brought his hands before the wounded area. He was going to try out the idea that came to him from a certain survival TV show.

On command, Josh's hands morphed into blue lightning and made a piercing sound. This turn of events didn't relieve anyone in the room, instead, it made them even more worried because they didn't know how electrocuting Zoro could possibly help.

This simple lightning wasn't what Josh wanted so he continued supplying his right hand with more energy. After a bit of time, his hand slowly glowed a dim red and steam started to be emitted from it.

"I'll give it to you straight. This is going to hurt a lot, so brace yourself." Josh cautioned. There was no indication of Zoro's acknowledgement but Josh proceeded anyway. He made sure to put a rag in Zoro's mouth just in case the pain was too unbearable. Josh was also slightly worried that Zoro might bite his tongue off in the process.

Josh slowly brought the outstretched hand on to the deep cut, starting from the very top near his shoulder. As soon as it made contact, loud hissing sounds were heard and Zoro's muffled screams of pain began. Steam filled the room along with the constant smell of burnt flesh, although it wasn't very strong.

"Phew...that was a horrifying experience..." Josh sighed as he wiped the sweat that formed on his forehead. He was finally done with the treatment and now, Zoro laid on the bed unconscious. The deep gash on his torso that was originally supposed to be covered in stitches were now as red as a blood stain.

With time, the wound will slowly heal and the scar will resemble the one Luffy had after escaping Marineford.

"I don't know if that just now can be considered a treatment or a torture session..."

"No comment."

"..."