Chapter Text
The waves crashed gently against the yellow hull of the Polar Tang as it drifted away from the island. The Heart Pirates were in high spirits after restocking their supplies, though the energy aboard the submarine remained disciplined as they prepared to leave the surface. Bepo stood tall behind his captain, ready to report.
"The currents are too strong around the island. It'll take a few miles before we can dive safely."
"Understood. Keep an eye on the horizon."
"Aye-aye, Captain!"
The crew moved efficiently, securing the last of the equipment and watching their surroundings. As Shachi set down a crate near the hatch, a shade in the water caught his attention.
“Oi, Penguin!” he called, waving his arm. “Look at that!”
Penguin joined him, squinting at the lone barrel bobbing in the water. Shachi’s grin widened, the possibility of unexpectedly finding good alcohol lighting up his expression:
"Rum?"
"Think so!" Penguin retorted. "Could’ve been knocked off some merchant ship."
The two of them leaned eagerly over the railing, watching the barrel drift closer. Its uneven movements made it hard to track as it wove through the choppy sea. As it spun with the motion of the swell, Penguin squinted again, and his smile faltered.
"Wait—look... what the hell?"
"What?" Shachi frowned. "I don't see— oh, shit."
For a moment, neither of them moved. Then Shachi’s voice rang out, sharp and loud.
"Uh... guys? There’s someone tied to that thing—"
The crew reacted instantly, joining them to observe the scene with their own eyes. Uni yelled below deck for someone to tell Hakugan to slow the submarine down. After a few seconds, the Polar Tang finally lurched slightly as it eased to a halt. Law didn't move from his spot, his gaze locked on the distant object. Shachi pulled his cap tighter, kicking off his boots.
"You need help?", Penguin asked.
"Nah, I got this."
With a quick dive, he cut through the water like a knife, closing the distance to the barrel in no time. The rest of the crew waited tensely as he reached it, confirming what they’d seen: a person tied to the battered wood - a woman - unconscious and bound with sodden ropes.
Shachi swam back toward the sub, securing a line to the barrel before signaling to the crew to hoist it up. The barrel creaked against the hull of the Polar Tang as it was pulled aboard. Shachi followed soon after and wringed water from his clothes as Bepo and Ikkaku busied themselves to cut the ropes, which were rough and thick as vines.
"We can’t get them off, Captain."
"Move aside."
Law stepped forward, his long coat billowing slightly in the breeze. He reached for his sword and barely unsheathed the blade—just enough for the steel to glint in the sunlight. As he sheathed it, the ropes fell to the deck in a heap, and he took a moment to study the woman his crew had just fished out of the sea.
She must have spent several days adrift, bound like that, judging by her hair, stiffened with a fine crust of salt, her bloodless lips, and her clothes, torn and bleached by the relentless assault of water and sun.
"Her body’s covered in wounds... and some of them look infected", Ikkaku murmured as she carefully turned the woman over.
"Yeah, she doesn’t look too good", Penguin added.
On that point, Law could only agree. Her skin was alarmingly pale and left no doubt about the severity of her condition: she was in desperate need of medical attention. It was already a miracle she had been found alive. He touched her forehead—burning hot—while the rest of her body felt as cold as a block of ice.
"You think you can save her?"
"As long as her internal organs aren’t mush", Law replied, straightening up. "Bepo, grab a sterile blanket and warm her up. I won’t be able to do anything if she dies of hypothermia."
The Mink complied immediately, apologizing in advance to the unconscious woman in his arms as he rushed inside toward the operating room.
"Ikkaku, tell Hakugan to dive as soon as possible. The rest of you keep an eye on the surroundings while I deal with that. I don’t want to fall into a Navy's trap."
"Understood, Captain!"
Law followed close behind his crewmate, his thoughts racing. Just what he needed. Between her, Jinbe the former Warlord, and Straw Hat Luffy, his ship was turning into a floating hospital. Even so, throwing her back into the ocean wasn’t an option. Treating the wounded was a matter of honor.
As soon as he arrived into the room, he instructed Bepo to lay the woman on the operating table. The Mink complied, then left the room, carefully closing the door behind him.
"Scan."
The diagnosis was quick. As he suspected, there was nothing too serious internally: no fractures or damaged organs, just widespread muscle dislocations. She’d likely get away with two weeks of soreness at best. On the surface, though, it was a different story. Cuts, shifting from red to black, mingled with bruises and welts in varying shades of purple. Her salt-dried skin almost threatened to peel off along with the fabric of her mostly-shredded clothes.
In the folds of what remained of her jacket, Law found a baby Den Den Mushi along with a thick wad of 10,000-berry notes, all soaked and faded by seawater. However, the three belts she wore around her waist and slung across her chest were almost entirely undamaged, as were the pistols, knives, and empty vials tucked into them. Setting these aside, Law quietly got to work.
Thankfully, this meticulous and precision-driven task was well-suited to someone whose nickname happened to be the Surgeon of Death.
***
Lilia stirred awake slowly, her body wrapped in bandages. The last thing she remembered was drifting in the open sea, clinging to a simple barrel to keep from sinking. She felt better—much better. How long had passed since then? Clearly, someone had found her and taken care of her, but who?
All of her body ached. If she had stumbled upon slave traders, it would be best to throw herself back into the water right away. She needed to find out exactly where she had ended up.
Pushing the sheets aside with one hand, the young woman glanced around the small room she found herself in. The bed was narrow but comfortable, with a small nightstand placed to her left, on which her earrings had been carefully set. She gently hooked them back onto her earlobes before sitting up.
The room had no windows, and it resembled an infirmary. She was most likely aboard a vessel, though she didn’t feel the slightest sway from the waves. The sea was probably calm. Still, the New World wasn’t known for its accomodating sailing conditions. There was also a faint humming sound, like a constant background noise that seemed to fill the space.
As she stepped out of the small room, Lilia realized she had been right. She was indeed in an infirmary. The young woman made her way towards the door of the main room, her eyes subtly scanning every inch of her surroundings. There was nothing here she could use as a weapon, and her belts, where she kept her weapons, had been taken away—along with everything else she carried. Lilia cautiously stepped out, her pace slow, taking in the new environment around her. She had never been aboard a submarine before, but it matched the mental image she had of it: narrow corridors lined with piping, low ceilings, and somewhat cramped passages—but less so than she had anticipated.
Her Observation Haki picked up twenty-one human presences on board, all gathered in one place. She had no choice; that was where she needed to go. It had to be them who had pulled her from the water and tended to her wounds. As she joined the upper deck, the young woman stopped before the room where she heard voices chatting, and knocked before stepping inside, somewhat hesistantly. Her appearance was met with a chorus of remarks and curious stares.
"Hey! Look who's up!"
"She’s awake!"
"How do you feel?"
Not slave traders, Lilia immediately thought before mentally giving herself a mental slap. She couldn’t let appearances fool her, and while her Haki didn’t indicate any outright hostility around the table, it wasn’t an absolute guarantee either—especially since she was still injured and in the middle of healing.
"Fine, thank you…" she responded cautiously. "My name is Lilia. Pleased to meet you all. You saved my life, I’m extremely grateful."
“Oh, we just pulled you out of the water,” replied the man with the orca cap, whose gaze was hidden beneath it. "What were you doing tied to a barrel out there?"
"The crew I was with ran into a Vice-Admiral. He destroyed the mast and hull before we could even make it to the deck to confront him. I had to jump into the water after tying myself to whatever I could find to keep from sinking. I think the others are all dead. It’s a shame; they were rather kind", she added with a sigh.
"You were traveling with them?"
"Yes, I sail with whoever accepts me on their ship. I’m a writer, an anthropologist, a cook, a seamstress, a cordage maker... and plenty of other things. You’ve got to have multiple skills when you move from crew to crew. It’s rare to find people who will take on just anyone. Thanks to that, I get to follow my two great passions: sailing the seas and writing my book. Now, you know pretty much everything about me."
"Writing a book? I didn’t think a pirate would have an eye for literature."
The young woman turned her gaze to the opposite doorframe. The captain of the crew, who had so far been listening quietly from the side, finally joined in the conversation. Lilia recognized him immediately from his wanted poster. No doubt about it: this was Trafalgar Law, a member of the Worst Generation with a bounty of 200 million berries.
"And you, Surgeon of Death? I didn’t know you were merciful enough to tend to a stranger."
"Shachi's the one who pulled you up, not me. I didn’t ask for it."
"That explains it. I was thinking, with a reputation like yours... You seem quicker to cut heads than sew them back on."
A smile curled on the young woman’s lips, her azure eyes sparkling like mischievous jewels. Law didn’t flinch, remaining stoic.
"You talk a lot for someone who just barely escaped drowning."
"Well, I didn’t escape the bottom of the ocean just to keep quiet for the rest of my days", she said with a light tone.
The captain took a step forward, his gaze hardening.
"If you’re still alive, it’s because we’ve decided to spare you... for now. Don’t think your fate is sealed."
A heavy silence fell over the room, each word carrying the weight of an unspoken threat.
"I didn’t expect anything less from you, Captain", she murmured. "But I’d suggest you keep me alive rather than slit my throat. Some of my talents come in quite handy."
"For handling ropes and cooking, we’ve got that covered. As for your book... I doubt it could serve us."
"My work holds more than just prose. It’s a collection of knowledge. About the Marines, trade routes, sea charts, islands and their people, the secrets and alliances that govern the New World, and everyone who crosses my path. All these bits of information are worth more than gold, if you know how to use them."
Law kept his gaze locked on the young woman, his sharp eyes searching for any flaw in her words. The atmosphere was charged with tension. Finally, he gave a faint, dark smile, almost imperceptible, before breaking the silence.
"So, you consider yourself a valuable ally. That's ambitious, for someone whose life is hanging by a thread."
"It’s not ambition, Captain, it’s reality. There aren’t many big players roaming these seas without having already made use of my information at least once. So why not make use of my presence, now that you’ve found me and decided not to let me die?"
Lilia paused for a moment before continuing. It was definitely embarrassing, but she spoke with determination:
"Besides, I owe you a great debt, and I wish to repay it in full."
Law kept his gaze locked on her. Give and take. That made sense, but a part of him screamed that it was out of the question to keep someone as unpredictable as her aboard. Drifters like her had no loyalty, no other goal than to serve their own purposes. And part of him wondered whether her intelligence was that valuable or not
On the other hand, a part of him wondered if her information was truly that valuable. In any case, he would find out soon enough. It would just be a matter of keeping a close eye on her at all times.
"Let’s say you’re useful to us. This isn’t just about sharing secrets and information. Here, we fight, we kill, we survive. Every one of my men plays a key role in that. So tell me, where would you fit in?"
Lilia considered his words for a moment.
"My place? Wherever you need me, Captain. I’m quick to learn and versatile."
"Better for you that your information is as versatile."
A smile spread across the young woman’s lips.
"It’s even more so. Just tell me what you want to know, and I’ll give you answers. Are you planning to strike the Marines? I can give you the routes of the most vulnerable ships in the area. You want to eliminate rival crews? Same. Take down an Emperor? I’ll give you the names of traitors willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder. The trade of information is my primary means of livelihood, my currency, and the guarantee for my life."
The other members of the Heart exchanged thoughtful glances. They were used to direct threats, swordplay, and gunfire. But information as a weapon? That was unexpected, insidious, and undoubtedly dangerous.
Law stepped closer, coming to stand directly in front of her, his hands on the table. His voice lowered, cutting through the heavy atmosphere of tension.
"Do you really think we can trust you?"
Lilia knew he was only testing her. Trust was a luxury few could afford on those seas. She could tell he had no intention of granting her his, and she wasn't willing to offer hers either.
"Of course, but I doubt my answer will change your opinion. Interests, however... they never lie."
"That’s our problem. I highly doubt our goals align."
Fair enough. After all, he knew nothing about her or her motivations, and she wasn’t about to reveal them so easily. But she had made her choice, and nothing would make her turn back. Perhaps it wasn't a wise one. Perhaps she was making a mistake. But people like her couldn’t afford to carry this kind of debt.
"No matter your goal, I’ll help you achieve it to the best of my abilities, for as long as I can. It’s the least I can do. So, tell me what you want, Captain. What you desire the most in the world."
Lilia already knew what his answer would be, and had mentally prepared herself to set out on a long journey aboard this submarine. As with any pirate who sailed at the helm of a crew, Trafalgar Law’s goal was to find the One Piece. That, at least, was rather obv—
"I want to bring down Donquixote Doflamingo."
Lilia remained silent for a moment, her gaze fixed by surprise. The unwavering, absolute determination she sensed from him left no room for doubt: not only was he serious, but he was honest too. She felt no hint of lies or deception. Why had he revealed this to her, knowing she could easily spread the information or leak it? Then, her gaze landed on the black scabbard marked with white crosses at his side. One wrong word, and her head would join his collection.
Lilia thought quickly. Taking down Doflamingo, the patron saint of the underworld? Given what that would entail, it was pure madness, but it wasn’t really her concern. Besides, she would benefit immensely if it succeeded.
"Fine by me", she finally nodded. "But let me at least say it for form’s sake: that’s a seriously risky gamble."
"That’s why we’ll see if you’re as useful as you claim to be. If you ever lie to me or become dead weight..."
He didn’t need to finish his sentence. The threat was as clear as the steel of the blade resting on his shoulder.
"Should I take it you won’t slit my throat today?"
"Welcome aboard", Law simply replied.