Inside the guest room of Drum Castle, the hearth crackled, successfully driving back the high-altitude chill. Tucked into a warm bed, Nami slowly opened her eyes.
The heavy lethargy in her limbs had vanished, and the scorching fever that felt like it would dry out her organs had receded, replaced by a long-awaited lightness.
"Mm..." She propped herself up and looked around.
The room was quiet, save for a single figure sitting in a chair by the window. Viktor sat there, holding a thick medical tome (though in reality, he was browsing the System Mall). Hearing her movement, he closed the book and turned.
"Awake?" Viktor didn't display any grand emotion, asking with his usual flat tone.
"Where is everyone?" Nami rubbed her temples.
"Making a racket outside. They're probably throwing a banquet to celebrate your recovery." Viktor stood up and walked to the bedside.
Seeing the healthy color return to Nami's cheeks, a small smile played on his lips. Then, without warning, he pulled a long parchment scroll from his coat.
"Now that you're awake, let's settle the bill, Miss Navigator."
"Dr. Kureha's house call fee, heating costs, medicine... plus my mental distress fee, and the porter fee for carrying you up the mountain..."
"The total comes to 50 million Berries. We appreciate your business. Installment plans are available; interest is calculated separately."
"HUH?!!" Nami's energy returned instantly, her previous weakness vanishing in a puff of rage. She transformed into a sharp-toothed, angry kitten, clutching her blanket as she roared: "50 million?! Are you a demon?! Why don't you just go be a professional thief instead!!"
"And you're charging a labor fee for digging your own comrade out of the snow?! You bastard!"
Watching Nami curse him with such vigor, Viktor couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Ah, that's better. It seems you've truly recovered if you have the strength to yell like that."
Viktor tucked the "bill" away and sat back down. The atmosphere in the room suddenly grew quiet.
Nami looked at Viktor's face—still smiling, but with a fatigue at the corners of his eyes that he couldn't quite hide—and her anger evaporated.
She remembered the warm back she leaned on before losing consciousness; she remembered the embrace that shielded her when the avalanche struck.
Nami bit her lip, suddenly dropping her tough, money-obsessed persona. She leaned forward, reached out, and gently wrapped her arms around Viktor.
"...Thank you." Nami buried her face in Viktor's chest, her voice soft and trembling. "If it weren't for you... I might be dead."
Viktor froze for a moment, his body stiffening. Then, he smiled helplessly and raised a hand to gently stroke her soft orange hair. "Don't say such stupid things."
"If you died, who would I collect my hundreds of millions from?"
"Can't you say anything nice for once!" Nami grumbled into his chest, though her lips couldn't help but curve upward.
"Then... how about this?" Viktor's voice softened. "Welcome back, my Navigator."
The air in the room seemed to turn thick and sweet for a heartbeat. The firelight cast their interlaced shadows against the wall, creating a scene of tranquil warmth.
...Except for the reindeer peeking through the door.
Creeeeak—
The door was pushed open just a crack. A small blue-nosed reindeer had intended to check on the patient, only to stumble upon this scene. In Chopper's simple, animal-instinct-driven perspective, a man and a woman hugging, their scents mingling...
"AAAAAAH!!!!" Chopper covered his eyes in horror, his face turning as red as a tomato. He scrambled backward in a panic and fell flat on his butt. "S-sorry!! I didn't know you were mating!! My apologies!!"
A pillow slammed accurately into the door a second later.
"WHO'S MATING?! YOU PERVERTED REINDEER!!" Nami's face-reddening roar echoed through the entire castle.
With Nami fully recovered—save for a slight lingering weakness—the crew prepared to depart.
"Hey! Reindeer! Come with us!" Luffy chased Chopper across the snowfield, shouting his sincere invitation. "Be our comrade!!"
Chopper stopped in his tracks. He stood with his back to them, head bowed, his small body trembling in the wind.
"No... I can't..." Chopper's voice carried a sob as he spoke the reason that had haunted him for years. "I'm a reindeer! But I have a blue nose, I can talk, and I walk on two legs..."
"I'm a monster!!" Chopper turned around, tears streaming down his face. "I want to be with you guys so much... but I don't have human friends! A monster like me... doesn't deserve comrades!"
"Just go! I'll see you off from here..." Chopper cried, trying to push away the first real friends he had ever made.
However—
"SHUT UP!!!!!" A world-shaking roar cut through Chopper's self-pity. Luffy stood on the snow, mouth wide, shouting his unreasonable declaration with every ounce of his lungs: "LET'S GO!!!!"
No reasons needed. No explanations required. Since I've chosen you, you're my comrade! Chopper was stunned into silence, staring blankly at Luffy.
Then, Viktor walked up to the dazed reindeer. He reached out and pointed to the group of friends smiling behind him—the rubber man Luffy, the three-sword style Zoro, the curly-browed cook Sanji, the long-nosed Usopp, the navigator Nami, and even a talking crow.
"Look at this ship, Chopper." Viktor knelt down, his deep eyes meeting Chopper's tearful ones as he smiled. "In a 'Monster Circus' like this..." Viktor extended his hand. "Wouldn't one blue-nosed reindeer doctor make it perfect?"
"Everyone here... is a monster, after all."
Hearing those words and seeing those sincere, non-judgmental smiles, the final wall in Chopper's heart crumbled.
"WAAAAAAAAAH!!!" Chopper opened his mouth and let out a heartbreaking wail—not of sadness, but the joy of years of accumulated loneliness finally being released. "You... you guys are so unfair!!"
"I... I'll go with you!! Dr. Kureha!! I'm going to be a pirate!!"
Partings are always tinged with sadness. To prevent that gloom from settling, Dr. Kureha intentionally acted enraged, brandishing various weapons to chase the crew out of the castle. "Get lost, you annoying brats!"
As the Straw Hats and Chopper sat on the sled, rushing down the mountain on the ropeway, Dr. Kureha stood atop the castle tower. Watching the retreating figures, a gentle smile touched her lips.
"Go on, my idiot son. After all these years, someone finally came to take you to sea..."
"Since you're leaving, let me give you the grandest send-off possible."
She slammed down a lever beside her. Boom! Boom! Boom!! All the cannons around the castle fired simultaneously.
But they didn't fire shells; they fired the special pink dust that Dr. Hiriluk had spent his life researching. The dust exploded in the air, clinging to the falling snowflakes.
A miracle occurred. The cold, desolate Winter Island was transformed in an instant into a giant, blooming cherry blossom tree standing amidst the snow. Pink snow fell, dyeing the entirety of Drum Rockies. It was the "Miracle Sakura."
"Wow!! It's beautiful!!" Nami and Luffy gasped at the sky.
Chopper sat at the back of the sled, looking at the pink horizon, remembering Dr. Hiriluk's dying vow—I will make cherry blossoms bloom in this white country!! Tears wouldn't stop falling.
"Uuuugh... Doctor..." Chopper wailed, crying his eyes out as he shouted to the sky. "Did you see!! The cherry blossoms bloomed!!"
"And... I have comrades now!!!"
Returning to the Merry with Chopper, the little reindeer found everything on the ship fascinating and was quickly dragged into a banquet by Luffy and Usopp. Viktor stood on the deck, looking back at the receding Drum Island—a pink mountain in the distance.
"Truly beautiful."
In his mind, a crisp system notification chimed:
[Ding!] [Completed Plot Node: The Miracle of Drum Island.]
[Recruited Key Comrade: Ship Doctor Tony Tony Chopper.]
[Obtained Nin-Path Points: 1000.]
"With what was left before, I'm back up to 2500 points..." Viktor stretched, feeling excellent.
Just then, Nami, now dressed in warm clothes, looked at the Eternal Pose in her hand and shouted to the rowdy crew: "Alright, everyone! Playtime is over!"
"Next, full speed ahead! Our destination... escorting Vivi back to Alabasta!"
"OH!!"
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