Not long after Sherlock regrouped with Luffy and the others, Chopper, now in his Reindeer Point, came sprinting toward them pulling a sled.
Following closely behind him was Dr. Kureha, who was throwing knives like a fiend.
Immediately after, the Straw Hats were forced to experience the sensation of flying down a ropeway on a sled from a peak 5,000 meters above sea level.
"She really isn't an honest old lady..." Sherlock sat on the speeding sled, pushing up his glasses calmly. The silver full moon hung right beside them, appearing as if it were close enough to touch.
At this moment, the reactions of the Straw Hat crew could be divided into four categories:
The Calm and Composed Type. Representatives: Zoro, Sanji, and Sherlock. Sanji, in particular, was actually smoking a cigarette with a look of contentment.
The Scared Out of Their Wits Type. Representatives: Nami, Usopp.
The Thrill-Seeker Type. Representative: Vivi. Although the blue-haired girl wore an expression of excessive shock, her eyes twinkled with excitement. It seemed this outwardly well-behaved princess actually harbored a deep longing for stimulation and adventure.
The 'Not Satisfied, Let's Go Again' Type. Representative: Well, you know who.
The moment the sled hit dry land, Luffy hugged Chopper with a look of pure excitement and begged, "Hey, hey, Reindeer! Let's go again, okay? That was so much fun! I..."
Bang!
Nami punched the goofy captain to the ground. Just as she was about to say something, she was interrupted by the dense sound of cannon fire.
In the dead of night, the loud booming was extremely attention-grabbing. The people of Drum Island stepped out of their homes one by one, looking toward the source of the sound.
Then, they witnessed a beautiful scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
In the silent night sky, pink snow drifted down, resembling an auspicious cherry-colored cloud shrouding the Drum Rockies, which had always stood as the symbol of the King's power.
The mountain peak served as the tree, and the flying snow as the blossoms.
Dr. Hiriluk's miraculous cherry blossoms had finally bloomed on this Winter Island, a place of eternal ice and snow!
Those cherry blossoms, which should have been subtle and elegant, bloomed with such intensity, such dazzling brilliance, and such intoxicating beauty in this pure white world.
The pink-white cherry blossoms were like smoke, blurring their vision. As the breeze brushed past, falling petals danced in the air, vaguely carrying a wisp of alluring fragrance.
Everyone watched in entranced fascination as the cherry blossoms bloomed for the first time in the history of Drum Island.
"Sure enough, such a foolish idea could only be thought up by a fool!" Dr. Kureha looked up at the sky filled with dancing pink snow, her eyes already brimming with hot tears.
"I hate sobbing and crying the most."
"Go quickly, my foolish son..."
(Under the pirate flag, nothing is impossible!)
(Chopper! I will make the winter island bloom with miraculous cherry blossoms!)
"Ooooooooooh..."
Chopper looked at the distant cherry blossoms with a moved expression and burst into loud wails.
"Cherry blossoms usually bloom in early spring, symbolizing a new year and a new beginning," Sherlock adjusted his glasses. "These blooming cherry blossoms foretell that the people of Drum Island are about to turn a new page and build a new country."
"Dr. Hiriluk was truly a great man, Chopper. His cherry blossoms cured this country's sickness," Sherlock said with a look of admiration.
Hearing Sherlock's words, Luffy and the others looked toward the distant cherry blossoms again. That warm cherry color actually made everyone in the cold winter feel warm all over, as if spring was about to arrive, making their spirits feel extraordinarily refreshed.
(Even if I die, my dream will come true! The wounded hearts of the citizens can definitely be cured!!)
(This is truly... an awesome life!)
(Thank you, Chopper!)
"Oooooooooh! Doctor..." Chopper cried even more heartbreakingly.
After leaving Drum Island, the Going Merry sailed slowly across the calm sea. The Straw Hat crew was holding a banquet to welcome their new partner.
With Sherlock's introduction, Chopper quickly became acquainted with everyone in the Straw Hat crew. The little reindeer, who had initially felt quite sentimental about parting ways, was immediately won over by Sanji's delicious cuisine. His wolfing down of the food made the curly-browed chef immensely proud.
The addition of a new partner raised everyone's spirits to an all-time high—except for a certain stupid duck who had nearly frozen into a popsicle.
Immediately afterward, Chopper demonstrated the importance of knowing a foreign language...
"So it was all because of you!" Nami punched Zoro, the culprit, to the floor, then looked at the little reindeer in surprise. "Chopper, you can actually understand what animals say?"
"Mm." Chopper scratched his head, feeling a bit shy. "After all, I am an animal myself..."
"That's amazing, Chopper! You know medical arts and animal language."
Hearing Nami's praise, Chopper froze for a moment, then began dancing with joy, looking absolutely delighted.
"Stu... Stupid! Praising me like that won't make me happy, you jerk!"
(But you're clearly very happy...) Luffy and the others thought to themselves.
"By the way, Nami-san." Sanji placed a freshly cooked dish on the table and asked with some confusion, "What did you mean by medical arts?"
"Chopper is an excellent doctor, you know," Sherlock chimed in. He pushed up his glasses and glanced at Sanji and Luffy. "Otherwise, why did you invite him to join?"
"Because he's a Seven-Transformations Reindeer!"
"Emergency Food Supply!"
The two goofballs answered with straight faces.
(Doctorine, I want to go home!) Chopper's inner world was practically collapsing at this moment.
Perhaps feeling that the banquet lacked entertainment and wasn't lively enough, Luffy took out two chopsticks, stuck them in his nostrils and mouth, and began performing a bizarre dance while twitching his whole body. It amused Zoro and Usopp so much that they sprayed the food from their mouths all over a certain unlucky cook's head.
Sanji roared in anger and lunged at the two of them. Then, the three stooges began a brawl (or more accurately, two people fought evenly while the long-nose took a beating). The rest of the crew looked on as if this were perfectly normal, with no intention of stopping them, leaving little Chopper staring in stunned silence.
"Aren't they partners? Why are they fighting?" Chopper couldn't understand it at all.
"Don't mind those idiots; they're always like this." Nami patted the little reindeer's head and flashed a brilliant smile. "If they accidentally get hurt, we'll have to trouble you, Dr. Chopper."
"Mm!" Chopper nodded happily, agreeing repeatedly.
"Hey! Chopper, come do this dance too!" Luffy, with chopsticks still stuck in his nose, made an extremely exaggerated funny face at the little reindeer.
"Luffy, don't be a bad influ—" Before Nami could finish her sentence, Chopper had already stuck chopsticks into his nose and ran happily toward Luffy.
Gracefully eating the food on his plate, Sherlock watched Chopper, who was having a blast playing with Luffy, and spoke faintly to Vivi and Nami.
"It seems there's going to be another idiot on this ship..."
The two women looked at each other and both sighed helplessly.
After a bout of chaos, the group, now tired from their rowdiness, settled down a bit and began to eat together quietly.
At the dining table, Usopp rubbed the corner of his eye, which was slightly swollen, and while secretly cursing Zoro and Sanji for their heavy hands, he raised a mug full of beer and shouted in high spirits:
"Let's toast to our new partner!"
"Oh!" Everyone raised the cups in their hands, and even Carue, the big duck, quacked along to join the fun.
"Wait, Sherlock, why isn't that alcohol in your cup?" Nami looked at the liquid in Sherlock's cup, which was clearly a different color from everyone else's, and asked suspiciously, "Can you not drink?"
The navigator's discovery immediately drew everyone's attention.
Luffy sniffed gently with his nose, then frowned and spoke seriously to Sherlock, "Sherlock, even though I like apple juice too, pirates should drink alcohol when having a party!"
Drinking booze and eating meat during a party—this was "valuable" experience Luffy had learned from Shanks.
(Is your nose really a human nose?) Sherlock thought.
"Really now, how can a man not drink alcohol? I really misjudged you, Sherlock!" Zoro revealed his customary smirk; he personally loved alcohol very much.
"Yeah, yeah, as a brave warrior of the sea, how can you not drink? Besides, today is a full moon, and we just admired those beautiful cherry blossoms. It's perfect for drinking," Usopp chimed in.
Sanji twitched his lips. "Idiots, don't force people to consume things they don't like." As a chef, Sanji knew very well that everyone had their own dietary restrictions.
"My alcohol tolerance is very poor; I get drunk very easily." Sherlock put on an expression that said 'you guys defeat me' and explained to the group, "Besides, my former companion told me that when I get drunk, something extremely [Terrifying] happens."
"So, to avoid trouble, I haven't drunk alcohol for a long time."
(Eh? Poor alcohol tolerance?)
Hearing this, Luffy, Nami, Usopp, and Zoro exchanged glances, their eyes twinkling with a strange light.
(I really want to see what Sherlock looks like when he's drunk...)
"Oh, So that's how it is, something extremely [Terrifying], huh" The plotting bunch deliberately dragged out their tone with sarcasm and playful expressions. It seemed the Warlock's words had only made them even more curious.
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