On the way back, Chopper curiously stroked the Flying Nimbus, occasionally poking his head over the edge to look at the ground far below, only to quickly yank it back in fear.
When Chopper leaned down, attempting to take a bite out of the Nimbus to see how it tasted, Bardock stopped him. "Chopper, you can't eat the Flying Nimbus. But don't worry, once we get back to the ship, I'll treat you to some cotton candy."
"Cotton candy?"
Being a reindeer, Chopper's diet up until this point consisted entirely of mountain moss, lichen, mushrooms, and the occasional tender tree shoot. He had absolutely no concept of what cotton candy was. However, he was about to discover that all the food he had eaten in the past was absolute garbage compared to cotton candy.
"Yep! It's soft, incredibly sweet, and melts in your mouth! You're going to love it! Uh..."
Bardock suddenly remembered something.
Speaking of cotton candy... a cheap stick of cotton candy usually cost around 10 Berries. Which immediately brought to mind Chopper's future canonical bounty: a grand total of 50 Berries. Then, a dead memory suddenly violently attacked Bardock's conscience. He remembered how, a few years ago on the Sabaody Archipelago, he had disguised himself as Chopper and gone on a massive crime spree. To this day, the terrifying legend of 'Black-Jack Chopper' still circulated among the underworld brokers on Sabaody.
Talk about a boomerang hitting your own teammate in the back of the head.
Seeing Bardock's expression suddenly twist into guilt, Robin asked curiously, "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing, nothing at all! Let's just hurry back. Mansherry still has three days of medical training with Kureha left. We'll lay low and avoid causing any trouble until then."
Originally, Bardock had planned to go stir up trouble with King Wapol immediately after securing Chopper and the doctor's training. But since Wapol was officially the King of a World Government-allied nation, it was best to cause a massive scene right before setting sail to avoid the immediate Marine fallout. They would have to wait.
The three days flew by. Chopper got his first taste of cotton candy, and just as prophesized, it instantly took the absolute #1 spot on his favorite foods list.
Once Mansherry and Leo returned to the ship, Bardock called everyone together. Chopper had already awkwardly met the main crew, but this was his first time meeting the two Tontattas. This meeting marked his official inauguration into the crew.
Mansherry and Leo were intensely fascinated by Chopper. Upon learning that he was a reindeer who had eaten the Human-Human Fruit, they bombarded him with endless questions: How do reindeer talk to each other? How do you communicate with other animals? Are there actually reindeer who pull a fat guy's sleigh on Christmas?!
Chopper was completely overwhelmed. Having been violently ostracized his entire life, experiencing such genuine, overwhelming enthusiasm from other people was a completely alien sensation. He did his absolute best to stammer out answers to all their rapid-fire questions.
It was during this chaotic Q&A session that Robin and the others realized a crucial detail: Chopper could genuinely understand and communicate with all animals. He was an invaluable, universal animal translator.
"Alright, that's enough," Bardock intervened, physically lifting Chopper by the scruff of his neck to rescue him. These guys were treating him less like a crewmate and more like a petting zoo attraction! "You can ask him questions later, but stop constantly petting him! And Perona, stop poking him with your parasol! Can't you see you're making him uncomfortable?!"
Once Bardock pulled him out of the mob, Chopper let out a massive sigh of relief. Being saved from his overly enthusiastic crewmates was nice. But at the same time... his heart was bursting with happiness. What was he supposed to do?! He felt like he had just eaten a mountain of cotton candy!
"Chopper, for now, you'll study general human knowledge and basic academics under Robin. Once you're caught up, you can decide what field you want to specialize in. I already know you possess a massive natural talent for medicine and scientific research. If you're interested, you can absolutely pursue those fields on this ship," Bardock instructed. "Also, you're going to start physical combat training immediately. You're still young, so we need to build a solid foundation first."
"Understood!" Chopper nodded eagerly.
"Moving on to our next objective," Bardock addressed the rest of the crew. "Bonez scoured the local black market but could only find an Eternal Pose pointing back to Drum Island. It seems we'll just have to follow the standard Log Pose to the next island and hope for the best. The Log Pose has already fully locked onto the next magnetic field. I'm going to go pay a quick visit to the local King. Prepare to set sail the moment I get back."
With that, Bardock hopped onto the Flying Nimbus and shot straight into the sky, rocketing toward the massive, drum-shaped mountain peak where the royal castle sat.
Wapol's father had been a kind, beloved, and competent King. But for some inexplicable reason, both of his sons turned out to be absolute, irredeemable scumbags. It honestly made one wonder if the late King had been wearing a very bright green hat. The only reason Wapol—the younger brother—managed to inherit the throne was because his older brother, Musshuru, was somehow even more psychotic and had been permanently exiled by their father.
Ever since Wapol took the throne, he had done absolutely nothing but indulge in gluttony, laziness, and flaunting his royal authority. The only reason the Drum Kingdom was still so prosperous was because the foundation his father built was incredibly solid. As long as Wapol didn't actively do anything completely brain-dead, the country could coast on its momentum for decades.
Reaching the airspace above the castle, Bardock shifted into his Beast-Human Monkey King form and leaped off the cloud, plummeting toward the courtyard.
BOOM!
He landed with the force of a meteor, cratering the stone courtyard and throwing up a massive cloud of snow and dust, completely obscuring the area.
"Who's there?!"
A large squad of royal guards instantly raised their rifles, aiming nervously into the swirling snow, ready to open fire at the slightest movement.
"There are way too many people here. It'll take forever to find him in this crowd. Go to sleep!"
A terrifying, invisible pressure exploded outward. It was Bardock's Conqueror's Haki. The guards, the royal attendants, the chefs—every single ordinary person in the castle's vicinity instantly rolled their eyes back into their heads and collapsed unconsciously into the snow.
Sweeping the castle with his Observation Haki, Bardock noted that only four people were still conscious and moving. One of them was rapidly sprinting toward the courtyard, while the other three were desperately fleeing in the opposite direction.
"I don't even need to guess. The guy running toward the danger is definitely Dalton. The three cowards running away are Wapol and his two lapdogs," Bardock chuckled. "You truly never fail to disappoint, Wapol. When it comes to letting your people down, you're the absolute gold standard."
Amidst the heavy, thundering sound of hooves, a massive, muscular bison burst through the snow and charged directly into the courtyard.
Seeing the Zoan transformation, Bardock couldn't help but laugh out loud. A classic meme from Journey to the West immediately popped into his head: "Open your mouth, Sister-in-law! Old Sun is coming out!"
"A shame you're just an ordinary bison," Bardock quipped.
Those were the last words Dalton heard before he felt a sudden, sharp pain in the back of his neck. His vision went black, and he collapsed heavily into the snow like a sack of bricks.
Meanwhile, Wapol was desperately wishing he had been born with a few extra legs. It was terrifying! The overwhelming, oppressive aura that had washed over the castle felt like a T-Rex staring down a fluffy bunny! He had nearly died of sheer fright on the spot!
Right now, he was absolutely furious with Dalton. He had specifically ordered the Captain of the Guard to transform into a bison and carry him away to safety! Instead, that idiot Dalton had actually run toward the intruder! Hmph! Hopefully, he can buy me a few seconds of time!
Thud.
Wapol was running so fast and panicking so hard that he didn't even notice the massive obstacle appearing right in front of him until he ran face-first into it.
"Ouch! What the—?!"
Wapol rubbed his throbbing nose, preparing to furiously curse out Chess and Kuromarimo for stopping. But when he looked down, he saw his two elite bodyguards lying completely motionless in the snow. If it weren't for their faint breath slightly disturbing the snowflakes around their mouths, he would have thought they were dead.
"So, you're the one they call 'Tin-Plate' Wapol, huh? Are you going to look up at me, or just stare at the snow?"
A booming, resonant voice echoed from above, vibrating in Wapol's chest.
"N-no... I wouldn't dare!"
Wapol buried his face even deeper into the snow, absolutely terrified that if he saw the intruder's face, he would be instantly murdered to silence him. Based on the current situation, the intruder hadn't actually killed anyone yet. Preserving his own life was the top priority!
"Trash. From this day forward, you are absolutely forbidden from using the title 'Tin-Plate'! And you can't use 'Black Iron' either!"
Bardock's opinion of Wapol actually shifted slightly. The man wasn't completely brain-dead; he possessed excellent survival instincts and knew exactly when to grovel. His later canonical actions were just born of pure, unadulterated selfishness and malice.
Hearing the phrase 'from this day forward', Wapol let out a massive sigh of relief. He was going to live! That was all that mattered! "Yes! Yes, absolutely! I swear, I will never use the word 'Plate' or 'Iron' in my title ever again!"
CLANG! CRASH! BANG!
A massive, deafening avalanche of metal suddenly rained down around Wapol.
"I hear your Devil Fruit allows you to eat metal objects and permanently merge their properties," Bardock said, hovering above him. "This pile of scrap is every single weapon, cannon, and suit of armor I could find in your royal armory. I want you to eat all of it and synthesize a single, solid bo staff. It needs to possess Shape Memory Alloy properties, and it needs to be completely indestructible. The exact physical dimensions and design specs are on this blueprint. If you fail to produce it... I'll beat you into a bloody paste."
Bardock dropped a rolled-up blueprint onto the snow next to Wapol's head. It was his personal design for his 'As-You-Will Staff'. It looked more like a solid metal pole than a traditional martial arts staff, featuring heavy metal bands cap-ended on both sides.
The Flying Nimbus was an incredibly versatile weapon, but forcing it to maintain the density of solid steel while simultaneously acting as a weapon constantly drained a massive amount of his Armament Haki. In a drawn-out battle against an equal-tier opponent, that stamina drain would eventually become a fatal disadvantage.
Until he figured out how to permanently upgrade or Awaken the Nimbus's physical density, having a physical, indestructible, shape-memory metal staff to use as his primary weapon was the smartest tactical move.