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Elsewhere, Dalton was taking the Straw Hats not currently climbing the mountain to Cocoa Village in a sleigh.

"So who exactly are you?" Usopp asked. "The manner in which you speak reminds me of someone from the military."

Dalton sighed. "I used to be a subordinate to Wapol. I was captain of the security squad during the reign of the previous king. But when the king died, his son Wapol inherited the throne. That's when the country changed. Wapol got it into his head to exile all the country's doctors. He only kept twenty on retainer for his private use. His 'Twenty MDs' he called them."

"Good lord, that's no better than tyranny!" Double-D exclaimed, aghast.

"His magistrate Kuromarimo and minister of defense Chess approved this action, but I called him out for being foolish. I asked him what would happen when the people got sick. He just laughed it off, saying their illness had nothing to do with him, and that those who needed a doctor would have to prostrate before him and pay excessive medical fees." Dalton said, grunting at the memory. "There was no one at the time who could go against him and those who could agreed with him. I felt powerless."

"That's no better than holding the country's citizens hostage!" Vivi declared. "That's not true governing! It's no different than a crime!"

Dalton looked back at Vivi with a knowing look in his eyes. Little did they know Kureha was already traveling back up the mountain in a sleigh being pulled by Chopper.

At the same time, the Bliking had arrived on the island.

"Ah, finally returned! The Drum Kingdom at last!" Wapol declared as he looked up at the frozen mountains.

He and his men had taken out the small group of security officers that tried to stop them from arriving.

"My castle awaits me. Chess, how does it look?"

The jester known as Chess looked up using binoculars.

"Seems it's still in good shape, Lord Wapol. Just as we left it."

"Wonderful! Then let's return at once! Being a pirate is not the life for me. I much prefer the life of a king." Wapol said as he patted the giant furry hippo he was riding. "Onward, Robson!"

"Lord Wapol! That ship from earlier was seen docked on the island!" A soldier called out.

"Those pirates from the other day? Just what are they doing in my country?" Wapol demanded. "They dare to waltz all over my territory after what they did to me?! Go over and kill them already!"

"Uh, two problems with that, your lordship; One, the ship is empty. Two... They kinda beat the crap out of us last time."

Wapol grumbled. "I'll forgive that second outburst only because the first one is a good point. Chess, Marimo, track them down."

"Already done, sir. We identified a group of footprints heading in the direction of Big Horn." Kuromarimo said.

"Then we'll start by firing a salute in Big Horn. To celebrate the restoration of the Drum Kingdom!" Wapol decided.

What Wapol didn't know was that Marianne had used her Color Trap to instill a Purple of Ignorance on the soldier to keep him from finding her, Gem, and Mikita. She then used a Transponder Snail she kept in her pack to contact Grahambel.

"That Wapol guy from the other day just showed up. It looks like he's going to attack Big Horn."

"Thanks for the heads up, lass! I'll alert the rest of the gang!"

After getting Marianne's message, Grahambel turned to alert the rest.

"Dalton, we have to turn around!"

Dalton nodded, then halted the sleigh before hooking himself up.

"Why are you doing that?" Delphia asked.

"Because I can move faster than the other animals here, thanks to my Devil Fruit."

To everyone's shock, he transformed into a bison and raced off at incredible speed.

"This is the power of my Devil Fruit; the Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Bison!"

"Ah, I see you are a fellow Zoan as well," N'Doul noted.

As they started to approach Big Horn, they overheard Wapol posturing.

"Everything in this country is mine!" He declared. "And why is that?"

"Because you are the king, Your Highness!" Kuromarimo replied.

"Exactly!" Wapol replied. "So if I want to eat a building, there's nothing like one cooked well done to a golden brown!"

"If I may report, I've just learned that the Straw Hats are apparently looking for a doctor on this island, and are rudely heading for Drum Castle." Kuromarimo said.

"Rudeness aside, why would they head there?"

"Apparently they took a sick woman to have her treated by a doctor."

"Ha! What idiots! No one lives in that castle now, let alone a doctor."

"Actually, that's not entirely accurate," Kuromarimo clarified, "It seems that outrageous Doctor Kureha has taken up residence there."

Wapol gritted his teeth. "That old hag is so rudely living in my castle?! Just how much does she intend to mock me?! I'll devour them all! Her! The Straw Hats! We'll kick them all out! Head for the castle at once!"

The soldiers all started to cheer, only to get interrupted by a massive air horn.

"Who dares interrupt my loyal subjects?!" Wapol snapped.

"Just hushing the sycophants," Grahambel replied as the group's sleigh stopped right in the middle of Big Horn.

Wapol stood there stunned. "I thought you were heading for the castle!"

"Things got complicated. But our four toughest members are escorting Nami there as we speak." Usopp explained.

Dalton suddenly leaped in and slashed Wapol across the chest with his spade. Severa's doctors quickly moved in and repaired the injury in seconds.

"That was close! I almost died!"

Dalton scoffed. "You dying would suit me just fine."

"Dalton! So you're still alive!" Chess realized.

"How dare you hurt Lord Wapol!" Kuromarimo admonished.

"He's no lord of mine and hasn't been for months. Just like what happened then, Wapol is the only one protected while the citizens have no choice but to suffer." Dalton scowled. "This used to be a country of great medical advancement. Now I see so many people failing to understand basic medical knowledge!"

"You were my retainer, Dalton!" Wapol called out. "Doesn't that make you just as guilty as these so-called atrocities?"

"I won't deny that my inaction does make me just as guilty, but I intend to take responsibility for that now... By taking both of us out of this country!" Dalton declared.

"Dalton, you didn't do anything wrong! You're the only one in the government who fought for the citizens!" A civilian called out.

Wapol laughed. "Honestly, you were better off dying as my head of security. I'm surprised that you even survived in a country without doctors."

"Wasn't it you who decided to exile all of this country's doctors?" Dalton pointed out. "Keeping only the twenty best for yourself?"

"Of course! Those who become sick can beg for their lives! Then I might just lend the aid of the Twenty MDs. If they don't want to die, all they have to do is obey me, the king! With that my ruling is perfect!"

Suddenly something rose up from the air.

"I can't believe he's still forcing us to work like this..."

"We should be helping these people who are sick..."

"If not for his fat wallet I'd have left long ago..."

"Does he not realize he can't be king in a country with no people...?"

"How many times was he dropped as a baby?"

"I miss Musshru. Can't believe I'm saying that, but it's true."

"Yeah, the guy was a psychopath, but he at least listened to us and would've TRIED to fight off pirates.."

"Who's saying that?!" Wapol demanded.

"Your 'loyal' doctors. I heard them whispering to each other." Grahambel noted. "Seems they don't like what you're making them do. How's your perfect rule now? If they wanted, they could sneak out at night or something and treat people regardless of your laws."

Wapol started to get angry, then noticed Dalton shifting into his Hybrid Form.

"I have served your father before you, and he was a wise king. I had hoped you would eventually come to your senses, wandering out at sea with no subjects to tend to your whims. To understand why people are so important to a kingdom. But it seems I was naive!"

He charged forward at once. Some of the soldiers tried to fire, only for Usopp to start sniping the rifles out of their hands, with Eddy following up by taking the rifles and disassembling them into weapons for the villagers. This left them wide open as Dalton charged in.

"I won't show any mercy even to my ex-subordinates! FIDDLE BAM!"

He struck with his spade in a spinning attack that slashed at the soldiers, knocking them to the ground.

"Yeah! Show 'em how awesome a Zoan is!" Bella cheered.

"A country where the king is the first to run off when the country is in crisis should just die out!" Dalton announced as he stood up from his attack.

"Do you really think you stand a chance fighting against the two of us?" Kuromarimo taunted.

"Um, hello!," Carue called out, "What are we, chopped liver?"

"DID THAT DUCK JUST TALK?!" Chess called out.

"Seriously?! The talking duck is the weird thing about all this?" Ariala asked incredulously.

Chess then noticed several villagers trying to approach and smirked as he knocked some arrows on his bow. But just as he fired, Katsu sprang into action.

"SHINING THREAD SPEARS!"

With expert precision in her Hybrid Form, Katsu sent several sharp speared threads of silk to pierce the arrows out of the sky before they they could even reach the charging villagers.

Chess was stunned for a moment, then saw something fall right in front of him, making him scream like a little girl as he jumped into Kuromarimo's arms.

"Wait... Is that... A Lapin?"

"Falling from the sky? How did that happen? That should be impossible." Wapol wondered before his eyes widened in realization. "Unless it came from the path to the castle! Those other Straw Hats are fighting their way up there! We can't waste time down here, we need to reclaim my castle! Soldiers! Ward them off while we head up!"

He grabbed Chess and Kuromarimo and rode off on Robson, leaving the soldiers gobsmacked as they got left behind with a bunch of angry villagers, pirates, and Dalton.

"So..." Delphia said before forming wood over herself to become a giant tree monster. "Who wants to get pruned?"

"I gave you the stuff to kick their asses, people!" Eddy said, gesturing to the weapons he made for the villagers with the Clank-Clank Fruit. "GET 'IM!"

"Hold it right there, you cheeky brats!" Wapol called out as he approached the ten Straw Hats climbing the mountain.

"Oh, not this guy again," Sonson groaned.

"Didn't we send you into the ocean?" Luffy asked. "Out of our way. We have a doctor to see."

"And why would I do that?" Wapol asked.

"Because if you don't we force you out the hard way," Zoro pointed out. "And I seem to recall we kicked your ass last time."

"Better make that choice now. It's a long way down." Sanji said.

Meanwhile, Merone had just gone around, not wanting to waste time. Wapol noticed this and was flabbergasted.

"Hey! I'm supposed to be in your way, asshole! Chess, new law! Those who ignore the king are to be executed!"

Chess started to write it down but noticed Merone did not turn around.

"The hell?! That's supposed to get you to acknowledge me!" Wapol called out. "Seize her! And take the sick one too!"

The tyrant suddenly screamed in pain as Sanji slammed him in the back of the head with his leg. He then grabbed the paper Chess had and placed his cigarette against it, burning the paper.

"Now there's no law against ignoring you. Some king you are, not making exceptions for the sick and injured."

"You damn bastard! What the king does is absolute!" Wapol snapped. Chess! Marimo! Kill these idiots!"

Kuromarimo leaped in with his gloved fist, his glove suddenly extending spikes as he tried to punch Luffy..

"MARIMO SURPRISE!"

"KAMI-E!"

Luffy easily dodged the strike as his body fully relaxed. Kuromarimo was stunned and kept trying to punch Luffy, only for his every strike to be dodged. Chess tried to fire off several arrows, only for Zoro to slice them out of the air with his swords and Hunter to shoot them with his HMG. Wapol was just standing there with his jaw dropped.

"Who knew reclaiming my kingdom would be so hard?"

Merone had managed to reach the base of the Drum Rockies along with Lithos, Sonson, Choi, and Hsiao and looked to see how tall it was.

"Now we just gotta figure out how to climb it!" Choi noted.

"Don't worry! I got just the solution!" Hsiao grinned.

She then transformed into her full beast form, a majestic western dragon with dark blue and silver scales, golden horns, and large wings with just enough room for everyone to ride on her back.

"Going up!"

With this, it only took a matter of minutes to climb to the top of the mountain, where the five saw the castle in full.

"Wow. No wonder Wapol wanted this place back."

Lithos noticed something nearby. What looked like a giant humanoid reindeer.

"Hello, we're here with a sick woman looking for a doctor."

Merone shifted her water body to reveal Nami still tucked away inside him. The reindeer creature nodded and led everyone inside the castle.

Kureha had returned by now, and admitted Nami into her personal hospital inside the castle. The reindeer humanoid shrunk down to a more child-like size, and apparently was capable of speech.

"The antibodies are responding, Doctorine. The patient appears to be suffering from from a Kestia bite."

"That's a tick native to Little Garden, the last island we visited before coming here." Hsiao noted.

"So you survived that prehistoric island?" Kureha asked. "You and your crew must be tough cookies. I must say the girl has exceptional control over your Devil Fruit. Not a trace of water in the girl's lungs. Chopper, attend to the girl while I make sure we have the proper medicines for treatment."

"Yes, Doctorine," the little reindeer kid said as he started working on some herbs and roots as Nami started to come to. She was shocked by the strange creature before her.

"Who are you?"

Chopper whirled around, knocking into the chair behind him, then moving to hide behind a wall. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at it.

"We can still see you," Lithos pointed out.

Chopper moved to better hide, but it was already too late.

"What are you?" Nami asked.

"Sh-Shut up, human!" Chopper called out, "And how's your fever doing?"

"It can talk!?," Nami called out before catching herself. "Actually, forget I even asked that. We have a talking snail that in turn can allow a duck to talk."

Hsiao and Sonson both giggled impishly while Choi just burst into a full belly laugh. Chopper actually ended up laughing too.

"You're too loud, Chopper," Kureha said as she entered, "And you, young lady. It looks like your fever has started to come down. You feeling happy?"

Nami was confused as the woman touched her forehead while drinking from a bottle.

"And who are you?" Nami asked.

"This is Doctor Kureha," Merone explained. "We brought you all the way up here to get treated by her."

"They made good time on it, too, otherwise treating your condition would have been a lot more touch and go with the current weather." Kureha noted. "Down to 38.2 degrees... You seem to be doing alright."

"So then this is...?" Nami said as she looked around.

"The secret to my eternal youth?" Kureha asked.

"I'm gonna say healthy living?" Sonson asked.

"Close, but not quite. Anyway, you're in the castle on top of the mountain."

Nami then realized something. "Where's Luffy? And Zoro and Sanji?"

"Probably on their way up after kicking Wapol's keister again," Choi suggested. "Ed and Hunter are with them as well."

"So that old tin can is back, huh?" Kureha noted as she sat on Nami's bed and pulled up her shirt just enough to show the bug bite, which had started to bruise. "The cause of your illness was a Kestia bite. They live in humid jungles and carry a dangerous bacteria that causes extreme pain after lying dormant for five days. Symptoms include high fever, coinfection, myocarditis, arteritis, and cerebritis. Judging from the mark, I'd say you've been infected for three days."

"Sounds about right. I'm just glad we got here before two more days passed." Lithos said.

"What do you mean?" Nami asked.

"In two more days the illness would have eased up even without treatment...because you would have been dead." Kureha explained.

Nami blanched when she heard that.

"Yeah, the Five-Day Illness is no joke," Merone said.

"You said you came across a Kestia on Little Garden?" Kureha noted. "That makes sense. I had thought the Kestia went extinct a hundred years ago. But I kept the antibiotic for the disease around just in case. You never know when a certain illness is going to rear its ugly head."

"Ooooh, smart thinking!" Hsiao said.

Kureha scoffed. "But really, who goes to a jungle climate and leaves their bare belly exposed?"

Nami just looked at her with a bemused stare. Kureha ignored that and pushed Nami back into a lying position.

"Now you need to stay in bed. Your treatment hasn't been completely finished yet."

"Hate to say it, Nami, but we're gonna be here a while. Five-Day Illness takes a full ten days to properly treat." Lithos "I remember one of Father's rookies caught it back when I was a kid."

"We can't stay here for ten whole days!" Nami pointed out. "We still need to get Vivi to Alabasta!"

"I'm sure she'd be the first to point out that the fastest way to resolve things there would be for all of us to be healthy," Merone retorted, "We need our Navigator at her best, after all."

"You should listen to your friends. I don't let any patient leave until they're back to full health." Kureha said in agreement. "And it's not like you need to stay ten days. With my treatments, you'll be here three days at most. Just lay back and rest for now."

"MAN, AM I HUNGRY!"

"Ah, Luffy's here," Merone noted calmly.

Indeed, Luffy had managed to climb the entire mountain, stretching his arms to their limit while carrying Zoro and Sanji. Hunter had transformed into his Full Beast Form and had Ed ride on his shoulder as he effortlessly scaled the mountain before turning back to normal.

"Beauty didn't kill this beast!" Ed joked as Hunter laughed.

"You got that right! I'm my own beautiful!"

Luffy then noticed Chopper, and his mouth started drooling. Sanji also looked interested.

"Venison stew needs to be cooked for three hours in the pot before the meat becomes properly tender."

"No! Don't eat him!" Ed said as he picked up Chopper and hugged him. "He is so small and fluffy and adorable!"

"Hey! Put me down, human!"

"Wait, he can talk?" Zoro asked in slight surprise.

"And apparently he's a doctor as well!" Choi laughed as he took a swig of his gourd. "Gotta say, I just keep seeing new things every day!"

"You can join our crew!" Luffy called out.

The others looked at him in bemusement, having already guessed he would say that.

"All that aside, how's Nami doing?" Sanji asked.

"She's starting to recover," Lithos assured him. "Turns out she contracted Five-Day Illness from a Kestia bite, but luckily Doctor Kureha-"

"She prefers Doctorine," Chopper chimed in.

"Right, Doctorine." Lithos acknowledged. "Still had the antibiotics for it despite the little parasite being nearly extinct for a hundred years. That said she's not fully recovered, so we're going to be here for a few days."

Luffy nodded. "So what's this little reindeer guy?"

Hunter rubbed his chin. "No doubt a being that ate a Devil Fruit, but I'm not sure what kind."

"It was the Human-Human Fruit. I was born a reindeer." Chopper explained, still trying to get out of Ed's hug.

"Wow, I was aware that Zoan-type Devil Fruits have a base model for each animal, but I didn't think one would crop up so soon." Sonson noted. "It's more common to see the variable models for Zoan types."

"Well, that's what I ate. My name's Tony Tony Chopper, and I'm Doctorine's apprentice." Chopper said. "She taught me everything she knows about medicine, and I've studied a lot on my own."

Meanwhile, Wapol and his two subordinates had finally dug themselves out of the snow.

"Damn those Straw Hats! This is not how you treat a king!"

"They're probably at the top of the Drum Rockies by now," Chess noted.

"Then we're heading up there ourselves!" Wapol declared."I'm starting to feel hungry anyway."

As it turned out, Luffy was hungry as well. After all, one does not climb a 5000-meter mountain and not burn a ton of calories, even with rubber powers. So Kureha let them have a go at her food supplies, which as it turned out were massive.

"So you've been attending Nami this whole time?" Luffy asked Chopper.

"Uh, yeah," Chopper replied, a little unsure of this group. They did admit to being pirates, after all.

"That's great! We need a good Doctor, and you'll be perfect for our crew!"

"Double-D is our reserve doctor but he could use a friend!" Ed added.

Chopper then did something weird.

"D-Don't go thanking me, stupid human!" He said in a happy voice while dancing like he enjoyed the compliment.

Kureha laughed. "Chopper wears his heart on his sleeve, so he can't properly insult anyone."

"By the way, why is the entire interior of the castle covered in snow?" Zoro asked. "I could understand the outside being so frigid, but the inside is just weird."

"Well it's not like me and Chopper are living in the whole castle," Kureha pointed out. "Most of it froze over from lack of use. Many of the doors are iced shut."

Chopper inched over to Luffy and poked him.

"So... Are you guys real pirates? Like, with a skull flag and ship and such?"

"Of course! Are you interested in pirates?"

Chopper leaped back. "Of course not, you idiot!"

Luffy grinned. "If you are, you can join our crew."

"A-Are you nuts?!" Chopper said, "Look at me! I'm a reindeer, but I walk on two legs, talk, and have a blue nose! I'm a monster!"

The Straw Hats looked at each other and laughed. Even Merone was giggling.

"What's so funny?!" Chopper demanded.

"Sorry, sorry, it's just... You look too adorable to be a monster." Sanji said.

"And anyway, our whole crew is full of monsters," Sonson pointed out, "We have two Fishmen, a talking Transponder Snail, a girl who can turn into a living forest. And then there's us!"

Luffy demonstrated his Gum-Gum Fruit in a comical way while Lithos formed balls of stone that he juggled on while balancing on a small rock spire. Merone turned her hand into water and squirted some from her finger on Chopper's face. Ed then touched some ice, absorbing its properties as he slid around while laughing. Choi and Sonson shapeshifted into different forms while Hsiao and Hunter turned into their Hybrid Forms.

"So yeah, you'll fit right in with all of us. And we could certainly use a doctor on the crew." Luffy said. "We have a friend who can manipulate medical drugs and has some skills, but he's only a reserve doctor right now."

Kureha chuckled. "You're gonna find this world has way scarier monsters than you, Chopper. You might be better off traveling with these kids."

Chopper simply walked out of the room, causing the old woman to sigh.

"You're gonna have a tough time convincing him to join. The boy carries a scar on his heart that I can't cure. You see, he was born with a blue nose, which got him shunned by the other reindeer. He was always walking at the back of the herd all by himself, despite being a newborn. Things only got worse for him when he stumbled upon the Human-Human Fruit and ate it. Now the other reindeer saw him as even more of a monster."

"That's just awful!" Sonson cried.

"And a huge case of wrong perspective. "Lithos added. "When a human eats a Devil Fruit, sure they might get called a monster, but they never get flat-out ostracized from society. Quite the contrary, many are offered high-ranking jobs or go on to become legendary heroes."

"Well that's because humans better understand Devil Fruits," Kureha pointed out. "As far as the reindeer were concerned, Chopper was always a freak and now he was just showing it better. So they forced him to leave the herd."

"That's just too sad," Luffy said before brightening up. "That little guy needs more friends! We should be his friends!"

"Funny you should say that, because Chopper always wanted friends. In fact he first went to a human village to find friends. But his appearance wasn't quite human or reindeer, just a mix of both. Between that and his blue nose, the settlers mistook him for a yeti." Kureha said. "Now yetis are legitimately dangerous to humans, so the settlers attacked Chopper thinking he would attack them. They shot at him and called him a monster."

"Poor guy..." Hsiao said sadly.

"Now you have to understand that Chopper was just getting used to having human intelligence, so the situation was confusing to him. And he was forced to run." Kureha said. "He caught between being human and being a reindeer, called a monster by both sides. And so he wound up living alone."

Merone smiled. "Well, don't worry, Doctorine. Unlike you, we happen to specialize in healing a scarred heart like that."

Luffy noticed Chopper was checking the open gate, upon which a nest of baby snowbirds was perched.

"So that's why the entire inside is frozen over." He grinned. "So he's compassionate, a doctor, and an awesome monster? Now I really want him on my crew!"

He then noticed Chopper dancing into the room, having apparently been listening in the entire time.

"Y-You can't butter me up with high praise, you jerk!"

Kureha cackled. "I see what you mean! You might just be the sort of people who can heal the scar on Chopper's heart."

Jeez, mtnetsurfer really made the Drum Island Arc long as crap! Hopefully, I can gloss the whole exposition with Dr. Hirulik next chapter...

Also, has anybody seen the latest chapters of the manga yet? HOLY CRAP!