"See that? A person fell out of his stomach."
"And there's a strange creature over there."
Luffy and Tom stared blankly at where Wapol had been. Neither expected things to fall out of Wapol.
"Scared, aren't you? This is Lord Wapol's trump card, the power of the Munch-Munch Factory!" A man with two heads (one on top of the other), four arms, and wearing a two-colored jester's scarf said smugly to Luffy and Tom. "We are now the Drum Kingdom's strongest warrior! Jesmorgrey!"
After being eaten by Wapol, Jes and Morgrey had fused into one person. When the top head spoke, both heads shouted the words together, making it look bizarre.
"Isn't that just ordinary piggybacking?" Sanji sincerely felt their so-called fusion was just them stacked on top of each other.
"So cool!" Luffy's eyes nearly popped out, his face full of shock.
Tom didn't even glance at Jesmorgrey. His attention was drawn to the strange creature beside them, which had also fallen from the defeated Wapol.
This strange creature had a smooth, fat upper body but a very thin lower body covered in light pink fur. Its firewood-like legs somehow supported its massive body.
Its head was also bizarre. At first glance, it had a hippopotamus face, but the pair of long rabbit ears on its head made it look not quite like a hippo. Plus, there was another rabbit face on its stomach, its red eyes looking around, faintly revealing a fierce glint.
"What is it? A hippopotamus-rabbit?" Tom watched as the creature, after looking around, suddenly jumped seven meters high, landed heavily, then bounced again, leaping far away in moments.
"Don't let it get away! Catch it!" Luffy also noticed the strange hippopotamus-rabbit. Seeing it about to escape, he said urgently to Tom while drooling. Clearly, he wanted to eat it.
"Alright, leave it to me!" Tom excitedly chased after it.
"Damn fisherman, getting so excited the moment he sees a strange creature," Sanji muttered, watching Tom disappear. Wapol had stood up, leaving only two enemies.
Sanji wanted to deal with the fused Jesmorgrey, but after taking a few steps, a crisp cracking sound came from his body, followed by an unnatural stiffness in his waist, as if he'd thrown his back out.
Kureha kicked the struggling Sanji down. She could see the injury to his spine wasn't fully healed and had relapsed. As a doctor, she immediately stopped him from messing around.
After Wapol stood up, he quickly dropped back down on all fours and acted like a hippo again, frightening Jesmorgrey so much his face turned pale. "Lord Wapol! What's wrong with you?!"
Jesmorgrey hadn't expected Wapol to act like a hippo. The golden triangular pattern in Wapol's pupils also made him uneasy.
Before Jesmorgrey could figure out why Wapol wanted to be a hippo instead of a king, Chopper walked over.
"You monster again! I won't let you touch a single hair on Lord Wapol!" Jesmorgrey mocked. "You're the yeti that caused a stir among the people years ago, right? A monster like you, growing up in an environment where everyone despised you... how pitiful. You think you can save a whole country by yourself? Don't make me laugh!"
"Shut up! Even without companions, as long as the doctor's flag is here, I'll fight to the end!" Chopper said seriously.
The moment he finished, Luffy, while attacking Wapol, said to him: "Of course you have companions! I'm your companion!"
Seeing Luffy's fierce punch, Jesmorgrey didn't dare block it and hurriedly pulled away the still-crawling Wapol.
Tom had run off after the strange creature. Sanji was temporarily unable to fight due to injury. So Luffy asked Chopper if he could handle Jesmorgrey.
"Of course! He's nothing!" Chopper said firmly, looking at Jesmorgrey. Luffy decided: "Then it's settled! You deal with that guy. I'll punch the nuisance flying!"
"Monster! You think you can defeat me?" Jesmorgrey was wary of Luffy but looked down on Chopper, not taking him seriously at all.
Sanji wanted to help fight but was currently pinned under Kureha and couldn't get up.
"I am Tony Tony Chopper! That's the name given to me by the greatest doctor in the world!" Chopper announced his name, a trace of reverence appearing on his face. "I won't hesitate anymore! Even if the doctor forgave you, I won't let go of you people who mocked his way of life!"
"It's not your place, monster, to lecture us!"
"We'll soon crush you into paste!"
Jesmorgrey's two mouths spoke different sentences simultaneously. He absolutely didn't believe Chopper could defeat him.
Years ago, Jesmorgrey had witnessed Chopper's strength. Back then, Chopper couldn't even defeat Dalton. How could he beat their fused form, which was far stronger than Dalton?
"Watch! I'll defeat you in just three minutes!" As Chopper said this, he took out ten golden balls and swallowed them. "Rumble Ball!"
The Rumble Ball was a drug Chopper accidentally developed years ago. It could disrupt the transformation wavelengths of a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. After five years of research, he discovered four more transformation points, increasing them from three to seven. But the Rumble Ball's effect lasted only three minutes.
Jesmorgrey didn't know what Chopper had taken. He held a bow in each of his four hands, aiming flaming arrows at Chopper. "What can a small character like you do now?"
Luffy, hearing Chopper could win in three minutes, looked over and saw Chopper dodging arrows. Chopper transformed from his two-legged human-beast form into a four-legged beast form for speed—his "Walk Point."
What followed was even more surprising. Chopper quickly closed in on Jesmorgrey.
When Jesmorgrey tried to smash Chopper with four large hammers, Chopper transformed again into a form with degenerated antlers, a beastly face, human arms, and beast legs for jumping—"Jumping Point."
Normally, a Zoan user only has three forms. But in moments, Chopper had used four transformation changes, greatly shocking Jesmorgrey. He thought Chopper was a human who ate the Reindeer Fruit, like Dalton with the Ox-Ox Fruit. He hadn't expected Chopper's original form was a reindeer, not a human.
Luffy, seeing Chopper's multiple transformations, immediately lit up, even forgetting about the Wapol who had stood up again.
Meanwhile, after Zoro defeated Wapol's men oppressing the villagers, they thanked him and hurried to dig out the deeply buried Dalton.
Dalton, shot with several arrows and buried for some time, was on the brink of death when dug out. Just as he seemed about to die, the twenty doctors who had served Wapol stepped forward and rescued him in time.
Many citizens deeply hated these doctors who had submitted to Wapol's tyranny. They were surprised the doctors would save the opposing Dalton.
These doctors, though they had submitted under Wapol's power, had actually been conducting research for the country's patients.
"Years ago, a quack doctor told us... never give up. We can't afford to lose another foolish man like him." The day Hiriluk died, those twenty doctors were present. Though they chose silence then, Hiriluk's actions moved them. Now, they finally had a chance to do something for this country, starting with saving Dalton.
After emergency treatment, Dalton finally survived. Vivi, worried about Luffy's group who had been up the mountain for some time with no news, wanted to climb Drum Mountain herself. But Usopp persuaded her not to, saying with Luffy, Tom, and Sanji there, Nami would be fine. They needed to trust their companions more.
Hearing this, Vivi's tightly wound nerves relaxed a little. She thought: Yes, trusting others is important too.
But Zoro bluntly exposed Usopp's real thoughts: Usopp was just afraid of climbing, worried about encountering yetis. Even after being exposed, Usopp, his legs shaking from fear, said righteously: "So what if I'm scared?! Got a problem?"
Vivi then realized Usopp had been tricking people.
As they talked, the revived Dalton emerged, determined to go up the mountain and settle things with Wapol.
Though gentle and kind, Dalton was now willing to use any despicable means to kill Wapol. He knew as long as Wapol ruled, the country had no future.
Before leaving, Dalton secretly wrapped several layers of explosives around himself, planning to die together with Wapol.
Usopp, seeing Dalton's heavily injured state and determination, was deeply moved. He had once fought desperately for his own village and understood Dalton's resolve.
Seeing Usopp standing in front of him without moving, Dalton thought Usopp wanted to stop him. He was wrong.
Usopp turned around and squatted down, clearly offering to carry Dalton up the 5000-foot mountain.
With Usopp's relatively thin body carrying the tall and sturdy Dalton, it was extremely difficult. Usopp was almost pressed into the snow after a few steps.
Dalton told him not to force himself, but Usopp insisted on doing it. He could feel Dalton's resolve to stake his life to protect the country, which made him feel like he was burning up.
Snow continued to fall. Zoro, watching Usopp's difficult figure, sighed softly, called him an idiot, then walked over and directly shouldered Dalton.
Though being helped, this made Usopp extremely angry. He had finally mustered the courage to go all out once, only to be interrupted by Zoro.
Usopp kicked Zoro several times like a resentful wife, calling him a bastard. Zoro unceremoniously knocked him down.
While going up the mountain with Zoro carrying Dalton, Usopp kept complaining about just starting to take things seriously.
Zoro understood Usopp's temperament. For the usually cowardly Usopp to voluntarily offer, he knew Usopp was serious, willing to die to see it through. That's why Zoro helped without hesitation.
As Vivi followed Zoro and Usopp, the villagers stopped them, saying if they must go up, they could repair the cable car to the summit.
Meanwhile, Tom, chasing the hippopotamus-rabbit, realized it was the fusion of the hippopotamus and carnivorous rabbit Wapol had eaten. But the key point was its astonishing jumping power when upright and speed when crawling.
After taking a hit from Tom, the creature fell, then continued running forward on all fours... upside down.
It turned out the creature had four legs on both its front and back, so it could run at full speed even flipped over.
Tom, seeing this, was not surprised but delighted, becoming even more excited, shouting that he absolutely had to catch it.
As for Chopper, his fight with Jesmorgrey ended quickly—exactly three minutes.
Using "Guard Point" for fur reinforcement, his spherical body's fur expanded, enhancing his defensive ability, easily blocking Jesmorgrey's four hammers and destroying them.
Jesmorgrey then attacked with four sharp axes.
The slashing power was considerable, each strike piercing thick castle walls. Chopper, his arm injured, knew he couldn't take it head-on. He used "Brain Point" for mental enhancement to analyze the enemy's weak point for a fatal blow.
Seeing Chopper put his hooves together and aim at Jesmorgrey, Luffy said Chopper must be about to fire a killing laser.
Sanji, still pinned by Kureha, bluntly told Luffy that was impossible, calling him an idiot.
Luffy couldn't stand it and started arguing with Sanji.
Jesmorgrey, hearing Chopper wanted to find his weak point, believed he had no blind spots. As he charged with four axes, he mocked Chopper as a shapeshifting idiot who could only dodge.
Just as Jesmorgrey was about to strike, Chopper found the weak point. Dodging the attack, he burrowed into the snow beneath Jesmorgrey.
Jesmorgrey ultimately fell to Chopper's seven-stage transformation. With a "Hoof Print," Chopper struck Jesmorgrey's weak point—the chin—leaving a red cherry-blossom-shaped hoof mark and knocking him unconscious.
Luffy, seeing Chopper really win in three minutes, happily cheered. Then Sanji asked him where Wapol had gone.
Luffy only then noticed that while he was distracted by Chopper's transformations, Wapol had slipped away without a trace.
Sanji quickly guessed Wapol might have slipped into the castle. With Wapol half-crazed by Tom, letting him near Nami would be dangerous.
To save Nami, Sanji lay prone on the snow and quickly crawled toward the castle, shouting he'd kill Wapol if he touched Nami.
Indeed, Wapol had entered the castle. But shortly after returning, the golden triangular pattern in his eyes rotated again, and he uncontrollably dropped to all fours, acting like a hippo.
Wearing his hippo-shaped coat, he looked even more like one.
Nami, trying to escape while Kureha was away to avoid three days of forced treatment, reached the castle entrance and saw a short, fat figure crouched on all fours staring blankly at her, drooling all over the ground, seemingly starving.
As Nami hesitated, Wapol returned to normal. Furious that Nami saw him acting like a hippo, rage rose in his heart, and malice followed. He decided to kill her.
Seeing his castle covered in ice and snow, no longer magnificent, and having lost face in front of someone, Wapol immediately thought of a new law: anyone who saw him being a hippo would be executed immediately.
Approaching Nami, Wapol pretended to be harmless, asking if she knew the Straw Hats.
Nami's intuition told her this short, fat man was no good. She denied it on the spot, saying she was just a passing navigator.
But just then, a man fell from the sky—Tom. While dragging back the hippopotamus-rabbit, he was flung into the castle, landing not far from Nami.
Seeing Nami, Tom happily greeted her: "Hey? What are you doing out here? I just got something to give you."
"What? Something I'll like?" Nami, who had been thinking Tom was an idiot for greeting her, forgot about pretending not to know him upon hearing about a gift, her mood instantly improving.
"Of course! I guarantee you'll be so happy you can't sleep at night!" Tom patted his chest, making Nami even happier, thinking he'd found treasure for her.
Wapol, seeing Nami and Tom chatting happily, clearly knowing each other, tried to sneak attack. But Tom noticed him creeping over.
"You haven't completely turned into a hippo yet. But looks like you can't hold on much longer." Tom saw the golden triangular pattern in Wapol's eyes had dimmed considerably, turning silver-gray.
Each rotation made the pattern dimmer. When it turned completely dead gray, it would stop, and Wapol would never have a chance to be human again.
Hearing this, Wapol grew even angrier. He had experienced the uncontrollable feeling of wanting to be a hippo, his body adapting against his will, even developing the urge to soak in water. The thought of living like an animal terrified him. As a king, he couldn't accept this.
As Wapol was about to fight desperately, Luffy kicked him in the face, sending him crashing heavily into the wall.
"Found him at last! This time I'm definitely punching him flying!" Luffy said. Seeing Wapol climb up and immediately run, he chased after him. "Don't run!"
Wapol had to run. He found he could barely use his Devil Fruit power now. He tried to eat himself to become thinner and faster but failed several times. He was truly panicking.
He initially wanted to reach the armory, eat weapons to become a human weapon, but unfortunately discovered the key was missing.
Now, Wapol only wanted to use the castle's last secret weapon: a giant cannon he called the "Royal Drum Crown Seven-Shot Cannon."
He wanted to blast Luffy away, smugly imagining the scene, then deal with Tom. But he quickly discovered another tragic fact: the cannon, unused for a long time, had become a snowbird nest and couldn't fire.
Chirping bird sounds came from the seven cannon barrels, with chicks poking out.
"Straw Hat! Stop! I'm the king! The ruler of a nation! The greatest king of the Drum Kingdom! Attacking me is a monstrous crime!" Held by Luffy with one hand gripping his head, unable to break free, a terrified Wapol threatened, hoping Luffy would fear his status.
"Whether you're a king or a god, who's great or not... it doesn't matter!" Luffy, holding Wapol, laughed. "Because I'm a pirate!"
Seeing Luffy show no mercy at all, Wapol began struggling desperately, barely growing a tail to swallow Luffy, but Luffy easily blocked it with his stretched fingers. Wapol had one more trick: his tongue turned into a cannon, firing point-blank.
Thinking Luffy was blown to pieces, Wapol hadn't even had time to laugh when Luffy dodged the cannonball and appeared behind him, grabbing his shoulders with both hands, spinning his body like a saw, striking his back and sending him flying upward, smashing through the roof.
Stuck in the small round roof, head bleeding, utterly miserable, Wapol faced the fluttering skull flag with three cherry blossoms.
In that moment, Wapol's face showed complex emotions—fear, confusion, anger. A thought struck him: the country he ruled... was defeated by a pirate flag.
Chopper, below, looked up at the stuck Wapol. Memories of life with Hiriluk flashed through his mind. He knew the Drum Kingdom's many years of nightmare was ending. The sick country was about to truly perish.
"Clueless fool! Don't touch another man's Jolly Roger!" Luffy climbed onto the roof. As he prepared to use "Rubber Rocket" to blast Wapol away, Wapol offered to make Luffy vice-king with high status and honor medals. After saying this, the silver-gray triangular pattern in his eyes rotated once more, turning lifeless dead gray. His eyes went completely dull, and he could no longer speak.
"Take off!" Luffy's "Rubber Rocket" sent the completely defenseless Wapol flying far away. Accompanied by faint, indistinct laughter, he turned into a point of light and disappeared completely.
Earlier, while crawling into the castle, Sanji told Tom the strange creature had woken up and run off. Tom immediately went after it.
Nami, seeing Sanji could only crawl, initially showed some concern.
But when Sanji asked for a gentle embrace for comfort, Nami mercilessly punched him into an intimate embrace with the ground.
When Luffy came down, Nami saw the coat she lent him was filthy and missing a sleeve. Her face immediately darkened.
Seeing her terrifying expression, Luffy felt something was wrong. Before he could speak, Nami launched into an attack, saying the coat was worth 28,800 Berries (after bargaining).
Seeing she was about to explode, Luffy honestly explained how it got damaged. Before he finished, Nami, with an expression of sudden understanding, said she had expected this long ago and forgave him.
For money-loving Nami to be so easygoing made even thick-headed Luffy feel something was off, his mind full of question marks.
Nami told him to pay triple the price plus interest—counting it as lending Luffy 100,000 Berries.
Hearing this and seeing Nami's sly grin, Luffy suddenly realized she had planned all of this when lending him the coat.
When Tom finally dragged back the escaped hippopotamus-rabbit, Zoro's group arrived at the summit via cable car.
Seeing Zoro's coat (taken from Wapol's men), Luffy initially thought he was an enemy and charged, but stopped in time, still knocking Zoro and Usopp down in the snow.
Luffy asked why Usopp, who was afraid of climbing, was here.
"Don't say stupid things," Usopp said, nose bleeding, with calmness and confidence. "I'm a man who climbs any mountain he sees!"
As Usopp was about to boast some more, Vivi passed by and told Luffy they came by cable car.
Being exposed on the spot, Usopp showed no shame, continuing with tales of giant attacks, but no one listened.
Vivi asked if Nami was okay. Luffy said she was in great spirits—she had the energy to extort him for 100,000 Berries, after all. Hearing this, Vivi felt at ease.
Dalton, arriving, heard Luffy and Zoro discussing Wapol being punched away. He asked again in shock.
After receiving confirmation, Dalton realized the hippo-like figure he saw flying past the cable car really was Wapol.
Wapol's defeat declared the official end of the Wapol-ruled Drum Kingdom.
Dalton gratefully knelt and kowtowed in thanks. The country could finally welcome a new beginning.
Luffy also pointed out Chopper to the still-boasting Usopp.
Dalton also saw Chopper. The blue nose reminded him of the snow monster from years ago. He now knew Chopper had never given up, still persisting in his own way.
Hiriluk called Chopper his son. It was true—Chopper had truly inherited his will.
Other villagers arriving via cable car saw Chopper and called him a monster, preparing to shoot. Dalton angrily stopped them.
Usopp, looking where Luffy pointed, saw Chopper hiding behind a big tree, his body exposed.
Seeing Chopper, his eyes nearly popped out as he shouted loudly.
Chopper, startled, immediately fled into the small forest.
Luffy scolded Usopp for scaring Chopper away and chased after him with Usopp, shouting, "Wait, monster!"
Vivi went to find Nami and saw her talking with Tom. She learned Tom planned to give Nami something.
Tom, seeing Vivi, invited her to see as well. He led them to the securely tied hippopotamus-rabbit.
"This is what you want to give me?" Nami had heard Sanji mention Tom caught a strange creature, but she hadn't expected something so ugly. That Tom wanted to give her this bizarre animal made her eyebrows twitch. "I definitely won't sleep tonight... from being scared."
"What on earth is this?" Vivi, seeing this creature with a hippo head, long rabbit ears, and four legs on both the front and back for the first time, was puzzled.
"Not sure exactly," Tom said, confused by their indifferent reactions. "Aren't you happy I'm giving this to you?"
"Are you an idiot? How could I be happy?" Nami said without blinking.
"Then... do you want it?" Tom asked Vivi, seeing Nami refused immediately.
"I don't want this kind of thing," Vivi said, shaking her head, her long aqua-blue ponytail swaying.
"You two are really strange," Tom said, looking at them.
As soon as he said this, Nami and Vivi waved at him in unison. "I think you're the strange one."
"Don't you know how precious it is? This creature may be one of a kind in the world! It's a rare exotic beast! Some people never see one in their lifetime! If you weren't idiots, how could you react so calmly?" Tom argued reasonably.
"Then what reaction do you think we should have?" Nami felt it was necessary to make Tom realize his mistake. If he kept giving her strange animals, how could she happily count money?
So this is why Nami got sick, Vivi thought, looking at Tom and Nami.
"You should at least be like them!" Tom pointed. Nami saw Luffy and Usopp looking excitedly at the hippopotamus-rabbit, with Chopper standing slightly farther away.
"It looks amazing!"
"Is this the real yeti? Hey, I once defeated a thousand of these alone!"
"A thousand?! You're so strong!"
Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper (who was stunned by Usopp's boasting) were now surrounding the hippopotamus-rabbit, poking and examining it eagerly.
"See? That's the normal reaction upon seeing it," Tom said, looking at Nami and Vivi with an expression that clearly said they were idiots.
Nami and Vivi had black lines all over their foreheads, unable to say a word.
"Speaking of which... why did you want to give it to me?" Nami felt it was time to change the subject before she beat Tom up.
"You forgot?" Tom said. "When I was carrying you up, didn't I say I'd catch a creature you've never seen for you to play with?"
Nami then remembered Tom had indeed said that on the rope climb. She hadn't expected him to fulfill the promise so quickly.
"Speaking of climbing... did you really climb that rope from the base?" Vivi asked, pulling Tom aside. While on the cable car, she had accidentally seen the cable stained with red marks—blood. She thought ordinary people wouldn't do such a crazy thing, but knowing Tom, it was possible.
"Yeah, how did you know?" Tom asked in surprise. She should have been in the village.
"I guessed," Vivi said, giving Tom a strange look before smiling.
So he wanted to give it to me because of that... In that case, I should accept.
Nami hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath and finally decided to accept. She asked what Tom and Vivi were discussing. Tom honestly told her.
"Alright... since you insist on giving it to me... I'll accept it." Remembering Tom carrying her up, Nami didn't hesitate anymore, revealing a bright, sunny smile.
"Oh... I was hoping you wouldn't want it, so I could keep it as a pet myself," Tom said regretfully, as if her acceptance disappointed him.
Nami's anger meter shot straight up, on the verge of exploding, when Luffy shouted: "What are you doing over there? Come eat!"
"What are you eating that smells so good?" Tom saw Luffy and some villagers holding bowls, drinking hot soup, having a small feast outside in the icy snow, which looked quite nice.
"This soup is really good," Tom said after taking a sip from the bowl Sanji handed him. It was sweet and delicious, with warmth flowing through him. In the cold weather, it was incredibly comfortable. The taste made him want more.
"Miss Nami, Miss Vivi, I specially saved some for you," Sanji said when he saw them.
Tom saw their bowls were almost twice as big as his, with much larger portions. He immediately exploded, joining Luffy in strongly condemning and protesting Sanji's favoritism.
"Although you provided the ingredients for the broth, I'm the chef. Food distribution is my call," Sanji said, taking a drag from his cigarette.
I provided the ingredients? Tom froze, then looked toward where the hippopotamus-rabbit had been... and found it empty.
"Where is it?!" he immediately asked Luffy.
"Oh, it's right there," Luffy said, pointing.
"My rare exotic beast... how did it turn into a pile of white bones?!" Tom looked and saw a pile of white bones, clearly the creature's skeleton. His jaw dropped on the spot.
"Rare exotic beast? I guess. It only took me a few minutes to completely butcher it, clean it, and make soup. Very short time. Such delicious, easy-to-process ingredients are indeed rare," Sanji said.
"None of that matters! I said it would be tasty, hahaha!" Luffy said.
Sanji and Luffy's words were echoed by Zoro and the others eating happily. Tom's face immediately turned as black as charcoal. Just then, Luffy waved and said, "I owe Nami 100,000 Berries. Can you help me pay her back?"
"I'll pay you back my ass!" Tom finally snapped, immediately wrestling with Luffy.
"No keeping weird pets like that!"
"Yeah, eating it was better."
Nami and Vivi, seeing Tom and Luffy messing around again, felt black lines appear on their foreheads once more…
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T/N :
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