After sorting through all the shopping bags, Marcus spotted Chopper hiding inside a small igloo he'd carved out earlier as a heat shelter.
The little reindeer was sprawled flat on his back in the snow, looking completely drained.
"Finally... I'm alive again," Chopper groaned.
"Told you not to go out there," Marcus said with a grin, clearly enjoying the chance to tease their doctor.
Seeing it was Marcus, Chopper thought for a moment before answering honestly. "Actually, aside from the overwhelming smells, it wasn't too bad. The outside world is way more interesting than I imagined."
Seeing how serious Chopper looked, Marcus decided to drop the teasing and tossed him a notebook filled with experimental data.
Chopper picked it up and flipped through the pages, studying the brewing results.
"So it really is like this."
"You figured out the pattern?"
"More or less."
"What kind of pattern? Tell me," Marcus asked, curious about Chopper's medical insights.
Chopper pointed to the bottom section of the notebook.
"These herbs here mostly accelerate blood circulation and increase blood pressure. You could say most of them are auxiliary medicines with similar effects. Look at this hawthorn, traditionally it's used for heart conditions because it dilates blood vessels and strengthens cardiac contractions. But it just became a generic 'vitality' boost. Then here are the ones with side effects. What these herbs have in common is that they all carry some toxicity, but that's what stimulates their medicinal properties, basically fighting poison with poison. This foxglove extract, for instance, contains digitalis compounds that can be deadly in the wrong doses, but also incredibly potent for heart conditions."
"And up here at the top are the ones that replenish vital energy and aid digestion. Most of these got classified under 'vitality' effects. But what's interesting is how the brewing stand completely ignores the complex biochemical pathways that make these herbs work naturally."
Chopper flipped to another page, pointing out specific examples.
"Even some primary medicines that should detoxify or cure diseases when properly combined didn't show their intended effects at all. Sometimes they were even weakened. So one thing's certain: the auxiliary medicines actually worked because the extra materials you added each time, the ones that changed the potion's properties, they effectively became the primary medicine, taking over the main role."
He spoke confidently.
Marcus nodded as he listened, impressed by the reindeer's analysis. What struck him was how Chopper could identify patterns that he'd missed despite all his experimentation. The medical knowledge really made a difference.
"So the most useful herbs are these ones." Chopper circled several entries in the notebook.
Marcus looked and saw they matched his own guesses, all the herbs that had produced the most obvious effects.
These were all tonic herbs: turmeric, hawthorn berry, echinacea, elderberry, and similar supplements known for boosting immune function and overall vitality.
Echinacea, traditionally used by Native Americans and later adopted by European settlers, seemed to retain its immune-boosting properties but amplified them dramatically. Elderberry, with its rich anthocyanins and natural antiviral compounds, had somehow transformed into a vitality booster.
What fascinated him most was how the transformation seemed to isolate and concentrate the most potent active compounds while eliminating the more subtle, complex interactions.
These had produced surprisingly good results when processed through his Minecraft abilities.
The other herbs hadn't shown their intended effects at all.
"Ah, the snow feels so nice," Chopper murmured drowsily, then began drifting off to sleep in the cool shelter.
Marcus didn't disturb him and headed back up to the main deck.
By then, Sanji had returned from his shopping expedition, also loaded down with packages.
He'd bought plenty of different spices and specialty ingredients, but even more of his purchases consisted of revealing outfits, dancer costumes, silk scarves, and other barely-there clothing that left little to the imagination.
"I really want to see them wearing these. They'd look so beautiful, right?" he said dreamily, holding up a scandalous outfit that seemed to consist more of strategically placed ribbons than actual fabric.
Marcus examined the "clothing" with raised eyebrows. "I'm pretty sure this is just expensive string with some beads attached."
"It's traditional Arabastan dancing attire!" Sanji protested, though his nosebleed suggested his motives weren't entirely cultural.
Marcus sighed and shook his head. "Probably not as good as you think. Nami found discounted clothes, so your stuff will probably end up at the bottom of a trunk. Plus, have you considered that we're in a desert? These outfits would provide zero protection from sand and sun."
"Aww," Sanji looked disappointed.
"Speaking of Zoro..."
Just as Marcus mentioned him, the swordsman emerged from a corner of the port, also carrying multiple bundles.
"You made it back first? Guess even a lost man knows how to find his way home."
"That's my line for you! And... what the hell? Why do you smell like women's perfume? Don't tell me you snuck off to one of those places!" Sanji's nose twitched as he caught the scent, and smoke started coming out of his ears.
He'd resisted temptations from beautiful women all day just to complete his shopping tasks, and here was Zoro apparently having fun.
Zoro just gave him a blank look. "What are you, a bloodhound? This is just from the food, clothes, and spices I bought."
Sanji was still fuming, but when he saw Zoro dump out his packages, about half his anger faded. At least the swordsman had been responsible about the shopping, even if he did get lost.
But the moment Sanji opened the packages, he froze.
The food was fine.
But the "clothes" and "spices"...
They were dancer costumes and exotic women's outfits, all extremely revealing. Some even carried the distinct scent of women, clearly items that had been recently worn.
And the "spices" weren't cooking ingredients at all, they were aromatic powders, some with very specific mood-enhancing effects.
"You still claim you didn't go to those kinds of shops!" Sanji transformed into a demon, muttering furiously under his breath.
Zoro, meanwhile, looked completely confused.
"What kinds of shops?"
The two immediately started bickering.
Just then, Luffy and Usopp returned from their own shopping trip.
Luffy's body was noticeably rounder, he'd clearly found some good food stalls and hadn't held back.
Usopp was carrying plenty of bags too, but his purchases looked much more normal, mostly hardware and tools for ship maintenance.
"That just leaves Vivi and Kira. Hope their mission goes smoothly," Marcus said, pulling out an eye of ender to check on them.
Through the eye, he could see the two women still flying through the air, though they appeared to be descending toward their destination.
"They're still airborne, but they should be getting close."
Vivi and Kira were heading for Katorea, the Rebel Army's base. Vivi wanted to meet with Koza before making any major decisions about Arabasta's civil war.
Sanji lit a cigarette and took a drag. "Can Vivi really convince the rebel leader?"
Nami, already looking worried, said, "It should be fine... after all, she said the leader is someone she knows from childhood."
"Don't worry, even if something goes wrong, they'll be safe," Marcus reassured everyone with a smile.
The rest of the crew nodded at that. Both women were wearing full diamond armor that could deflect ordinary bullets and even cannonballs. More importantly, Marcus had given them ender pearls as emergency escape tools.
If danger appeared, all they had to do was throw one at the ground and Marcus would teleport to their location instantly, allowing all of them to escape together.
The pearls worked exactly like in the game, instant teleportation regardless of distance. There was one key difference though: only Marcus could actually use them for teleportation. If someone else threw a pearl, he would be the one who got teleported, not the thrower.
"Let's hope everything goes smoothly..." Nami said quietly.
Just then, Usopp cried out, "Look over there!"
"It's the Billions that Vivi mentioned! Six whole ships! With 200 men each... that's 1,200 people!" He gulped hard, his hands shaking as he tried to count the massive fleet.
Alvida narrowed her eyes at the sight. "Looks like the guy behind all this is making a move."
Nami felt a chill run down her spine. "They... they don't know about us, right?"
The Straw Hats watched nervously as the Billions' ships docked at the shore. Surprisingly, no one attacked them or even seemed particularly interested in their presence.
A few agents glanced in their direction, but when they saw the crew's completely unknown pirate flag, they dismissed them with disdain and walked away.
Clearly, to the Billions, pirates without bounties weren't even worth the effort to eliminate.
Then Marcus caught the sound of someone reporting through a Den Den Mushi:
"Mr. 11, there's a pirate ship on the shore, but it belongs to nobodies, they don't even have bounties on their heads."
Mr. 11? Marcus thought back to the original timeline. Wasn't this guy supposed to have been captured by Smoker and then eliminated by his own organization?
"Don't waste time on them. Just small fry. The main mission comes first," came the response through the transponder snail.
"Yes."
Marcus realized he'd already significantly altered the course of events. Luffy still had no bounty because back in Loguetown, there hadn't been that clash with Smoker. Did that mean the Marine captain wouldn't be heading to the Grand Line at all?
Would Luffy still meet Ace?
Just then, a figure leaped down from one of the Billions' ships and landed on their deck.