Chapter 166: The Sea Is Vast, and There Are Many Monsters!
The former king of the Drum Kingdom, "White Iron" Wapol, set foot once more on his homeland.
Behind him followed two ministers:
Chief of Staff Chess and Executive Officer Kuromarimo.
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Wapol spread his arms wide, laughing at the snow-covered island, "I'm back! Drum Kingdom! Your king has returned!"
By the harbor, several militia members on guard duty rushed over.
"W-Wapol?! Drum Island doesn't welcome you..."
Before they could finish speaking.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunshots rang out.
The militiamen fell in pools of blood, their eyes still open, filled with disbelief.
"Clean this up."
Wapol waved his hand as if shooing away flies.
Just then, a soldier ran over to report:
"Your Majesty! We found a pirate ship at the harbor! It's the same one that defeated us on the open sea!"
Wapol's face instantly darkened.
The Straw Hat crew.
That rubber girl!
I just wanted to steal your treasure and eat your ship.
How dare you knock me flying!
I am Wapol!
The great King Wapol!
"Where are they?!"
Wapol roared, "I'm going to kill them all!!"
"The sh-ship is empty, no one's on board."
The soldier trembled with fear, "We checked, it's empty."
"Empty?"
Wapol narrowed his eyes.
His subordinate was telling the truth; there really was no one on the ship.
Only Vivi's duck Karoo and Ralph's little dinosaur Munch-Munch.
Kuromarimo stepped forward, pointing at the footprints extending across the snow:
"Your Majesty, look at these footprints. They probably went to the nearest Bighorn Town."
A cruel smile spread across Wapol's ugly face:
"Then let's head to Bighorn Town first and take care of these damn pirates. We'll use their blood to celebrate my return as king and the revival of the Drum Kingdom!!"
Bighorn Town, village entrance.
Vivi, Nami, and Usopp braved the cold wind, standing in the snow, eagerly gazing toward the end of the road.
They insisted on waiting for Lufia and Sanji to return with a doctor.
And also for good news about Ralph's recovery.
"..."
Usopp hunched his shoulders, his snot frozen into icicles, "Why aren't they back yet?"
"It's been less than an hour."
Nami calculated the time, "Let's wait a little longer."
Vivi didn't speak, but her clenched fists betrayed her anxiety.
She was worried both about Ralph's condition and the situation in Alabasta.
With every passing minute and second, her country was bleeding.
Just then—
"Hey."
A familiar voice came from behind them.
The three turned around and froze collectively.
Zoro.
Bare-chested, wearing only green trousers.
His skin was purplish from the cold, his lips blue, white vapor rising from his entire body.
He stood there in the snow like an ice sculpture.
"...?"
Nami's eyes widened,
"Y-you... what are you doing here?! Weren't you supposed to be watching the ship?!"
Zoro sneezed, spraying a cloud of icy mist:
"It was too boring, so I set myself a winter swimming training session. While swimming, I saw a fish, chased it, and ended up chasing it ashore..."
He shivered:
"And finally ended up here."
Silence.
A full ten seconds of silence.
"Idiot!!"
The three shouted in unison.
Usopp jumped up:
"You can't even watch the ship properly! You got lost just by swimming?!"
Nami held her forehead:
"In such cold weather, you're shirtless, and you didn't freeze to death... that's a miracle in itself."
"Stop complaining."
Zoro shivered uncontrollably, "Shouldn't someone find me some clothes at a time like this?"
Nami sighed:
"Let's get inside first. Just watching you stand there makes me feel cold."
The four of them returned to the house Dalton had arranged.
Zoro wrapped himself in every blanket he could find and sat by the fireplace, finally ceasing to tremble.
"So," he took a sip of hot tea, "how's Ralph? Did they find a doctor?"
"Lufia and Sanji went to look."
Vivi glanced out the window, "They should be back soon..."
Before she could finish her sentence, commotion erupted in the distance.
Not cheers, not greetings, but—screams.
Gunshots.
Meanwhile, Ralph's search for medical help had gone surprisingly smoothly. He had become Dr. Kureha's patient and boarded her sled.
Piled together with Ralph were various daily supplies—payment Dr. Kureha had collected from her medical visits down the mountain.
Dr. Kureha jumped onto the sled.
"I'm taking this patient with me."
Lufia and Sanji exchanged a glance and were about to follow—
"No room left. You two, figure out your own way to keep up."
Sanji gritted his teeth.
"Doctor, please take care of him."
Lufia, who had been smacked on the head but bore no grudge:
"Please cure my friend!"
Dr. Kureha glanced at them, snapped her fingers, and the blue-nosed reindeer, Chopper, took a deep breath before pulling the sled into a run.
The two could only give chase at full speed.
Their astonishing running ability genuinely surprised both Dr. Kureha and her blue-nosed reindeer.
They chased them all the way to a massive treehouse.
A house hollowed out from a giant tree dozens of meters in diameter—it used to be Dr. Kureha's home.
A thick cable was tied to the enormous tree, with the other end secured at the peak of Drum Mountain.
Ever since Wapol left, Dr. Kureha had moved into the castle.
All cables leading to the castle had been cut; this one was her secret connection.
She used this cable to travel up and down the mountain, partly to maintain her witch-like mystique, and partly because she didn't want other residents of the Drum Kingdom disturbing her and Chopper's peaceful life.
Chopper pulled the sled, carrying Dr. Kureha and the patient Ralph, and stepped onto the cable. Like a legendary divine deer, he ran through the air, heading straight for the castle.
The sled lifted off the ground, rapidly ascending along the steel cable, soon reaching a height of over ten meters.
Chopper's four hooves tapped rhythmically on the cable with crisp "clip-clop" sounds, impossibly steady.
"Wow!!"
Lufia's eyes lit up.
"That looks like so much fun!"
Whoosh!
She also leaped onto the cable.
Lufia's incredible combat talent allowed her to move across the cable as if walking on flat ground, even faster than Chopper pulling the sled.
Sanji smiled slightly.
"This is nothing."
He leaped up, landing on the cable as well, following behind Lufia.
Dr. Kureha glanced back, a flicker of surprise in her eyes behind her sunglasses.
Halfway along, Lufia suddenly stopped.
She lay flat on the cable, her eyes wide.
"Sanji! Look! There are so many rabbits down there! Such fat rabbits!"
Chopper, running at the front, suddenly noticed something off about the footsteps behind him.
He turned around to find the straw-hatted woman and the blond-haired man had fallen off the cable.
"Ahhh! Doctorine!"
Chopper was so startled he nearly lost his footing.
"The two of them fell down! Is that okay?! They seemed to shout something as they fell?!"
Dr. Kureha didn't even turn her head, still leisurely leaning back in her chair.
"They jumped down to catch a few rabbits to make a meal to nourish this kid."
Her gaze swept over Ralph's handsome and youthful face, still unconscious.
"This kid really has a group of strong and reliable companions."
Chopper exclaimed in surprise:
"Jumping from such a high place, are they monsters? And the rabbits they mentioned couldn't be Lapahns, could they?"
Dr. Kureha laughed:
"That's right, Chopper. The world is vast, the sea is wide, and there are many monsters. Throwing a little one like you in there would hardly count for anything."
Chopper fell silent.
His steps pulling the sled returned to steady, his gaze complex as he looked ahead.
That castle stood atop the snowy mountain.
And at the highest point of the castle, there was a Pirate flag that was very important to it!
Down on the snowy slope below, Lufia and Sanji landed, kicking up a huge wave of snow.
"Got it!"
Lufia held up a giant rabbit the size of a bear, laughing like a child.
Sanji brushed the snow off himself, looking at the unconscious giant rabbit, then at the surrounding rabbit horde gradually closing in, their eyes gleaming with ferocity.
"...It seems we're surrounded, Miss Lufia."
"Isn't that even better?"
Lufia's eyes sparkled, "We can catch a few more!"