Drum Island

Bang!

Entering the first-floor cabin, Reiner casually tossed a small bag of treasure onto the table.

"What's this?"

"Today's haul."

Hearing that, Nami glanced over. Curiosity drove her to open it. Her intuition told her it had to be something good. She untied the string and lifted the flap, and sure enough, a captivating golden gleam met her eyes.

"Wahaha~" Nami immediately sprang to her feet, her eyes glowing brighter than the treasure itself.

Unconcerned, Reiner walked over to the side, picked up a cup from the table, and poured himself some water.

"It's yours."

"Really, Reiner? I love you!"

Heh. Smiling when there was money, cursing when there wasn't. Reiner set down his cup and rolled his eyes at her, but Nami suddenly turned around and gave him a huge hug.

???

Reiner had just finished exercising and come inside, still shirtless. Feeling Nami press against him, his heart inexplicably stirred.

He looked at the treasure on the table. It was only worth a few hundred thousand, not even ten million Beli.

A hug was all it took? Reiner couldn't help thinking of the hundreds of millions of Beli in his private stash.

I have a plan!

"Nami." A wicked grin suddenly appeared on Reiner's face. He wrapped an arm around Nami's waist and said with a sleazy smile:

"Just saying, my private stash still has a little money in it—"

"Hmm?" Nami looked up at him, feeling the arm around her waist.

A dark cloud appeared over Nami's head, and she answered with a fist.

Duang!!

And so, a tearful figure lay on the floor with his butt in the air. "I haven't even said anything yet."

"One look and I can tell nothing decent was about to come out of your mouth."

Nami rolled her eyes at him and said irritably, "That Drum Island you mentioned before—we should reach its surrounding waters tomorrow if we go by the map."

"Ah, got it."

Reiner turned serious again, got up, and sat beside Nami. Taking the chart, he looked it over. "Tomorrow, we'll enter the climate range of a Winter Island. Get your thick clothes ready so you don't catch a cold."

"Mm. By the way, what's a Winter Island?" Nami answered before asking another question.

Reiner: "..."

"Are you planning to make me take on the navigator's job too?"

Reiner shot her a sidelong look, his disdain completely undisguised. How had he gradually become capable of doing nearly everything while handling logistics?

He had even started helping with the cooking. The Wolverine Undead had been fused from Sanji and Kuro. Its cooking skills were actually pretty good, but unfortunately, it had no brain, so Sanji had taken it as an assistant.

Nami could only laugh awkwardly and wave it off. "Hahaha..."

"Lunch is ready, everyone!"

Sanji's voice came from the second-floor living room. Reiner picked up the blue shirt draped over the back of his chair, buttoned it up one button at a time, and went upstairs with Nami.

"Today's lunch is really lavish."

"Yeah, thanks to Reiner's undead. It caught a small Sea King this morning."

"Wahaha, there's so much meat!"

"To celebrate Reiner catching a Sea King, I'll bring out the last barrel of liquor."

With a grin, Zoro stood and headed toward the storage room downstairs. He always found all sorts of excuses to drink.

When they left Little Garden, they had left one barrel of liquor each for the two giants. Of the dozen or so barrels Zoro had bought in Loguetown, only this one remained.

Still, they would reach Drum Island tomorrow. They could buy more then. Since everyone was present, Reiner also mentioned that they would replenish their supplies on Drum Island.

"Huh? Drum Island?" Vivi froze and looked up at Reiner.

"What is it, Vivi? Is there something wrong with that island?"

Drum Island was only about four or five days' journey from Alabasta, so it could barely be considered a neighboring country.

Vivi had never been there, but she had heard about some of its history. A ridiculous incident that had once shocked the world had taken place there.

The Doctor 20 Incident!

Vivi slowly explained it to everyone.

"The Drum Kingdom was once a country famed for its medical expertise.

"Until one day, its king selected the twenty finest doctors who were willing to obey him, then killed or exiled all the other doctors."

"Why would he do that?" Nami put down her utensils and asked curiously.

Clenching her utensils tightly with her thumb, Vivi's face suddenly darkened. Gritting her teeth, she forced out a few words through them:

"Because of that bastard king Wapol's disgusting hobby. He enjoyed watching citizens kneel before him and beg for treatment. He found it entertaining."

The little room was packed with people, yet it fell into a strange silence.

Crack!

"Wapol? Wasn't that what that guy called himself just now?" Sanji lit a cigarette and spoke calmly, seemingly confirming it with Reiner and Zoro.

"Probably. I don't remember."

"It was him, all right. He's already at the bottom of the sea feeding fish."

"What!! So you three quietly sank a king into the sea without telling anyone, you bastards!"

Nami cursed loudly, then slowly sat back down and sighed helplessly. "Forget it. It's probably fine since you did it quietly. There shouldn't be any trouble."

"Huh? What happened?" Vivi looked utterly confused.

From the sound of that conversation, something serious seemed to have happened.

"That Wapol bastard! Let's go beat him up too!" Luffy stood on his chair, slammed one foot onto the table, and shouted angrily.

Everyone: "...So slow."

"Also, don't stand on the table, you bastard!"

Duang!

The next afternoon, the gray sky was somewhat oppressive, and fluffy snow fell heavily, making visibility at sea extremely poor.

Nami and Vivi both wore thick clothes and warm earmuffs. They had even specially tailored a warm coat for Karoo.

The wind at sea was fierce. Combined with the freezing weather, it blew bone-chillingly cold, making even Nami wear thick trousers, a rare sight.

It was terribly dull.

Only two people on the ship were having a wonderful time.

"Watch the ball, Luffy!"

"Ow! Damn it, take this, Usopp! Gomu Gomu Giant Snowball!"

"Hey, hey, hey, wait a second! Using your power is way too unfair!"

Bang!

"Urgh..."

On the lookout platform, an Undead Hawk broke away from the flock and flapped toward the rear of the ship.

"Looks like we're almost there." Setting down his barbell, Reiner followed the hawk back to the lookout platform.

Looking out, he saw nothing but a vast expanse of white. The thick snowfall obscured all vision, and he could only vaguely make out a small black dot.

Only after quite a while did the island gradually come into view. Nearly the whole island was covered in snow, with enormous white-capped, cylindrical peaks rising from it.

"We're approaching the island, everyone!"

"Here we go, Winter Island adventure!"

At that moment, on Drum Island's Big Horn Village, the thick snow on the streets had been swept aside and piled along both sides.

A panicked figure ran down the cleared road, producing crisp tapping footsteps.

"This is bad! Pirates are here again!"

"Go notify Dalton!"

"Everyone, get ready to fight!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Inside an ordinary residential home, violent knocking disturbed a burly man who was eating.

"What is it?" The man did not get angry. He merely stood and called out, his voice steady and deep.

The response was a panicked, urgent shout. "This is bad, Dalton! The pirates are here again!"

Dalton immediately frowned upon hearing that. He quickly grabbed the oval double-bladed sword leaning against the wall, opened the door, and rushed outside.

"Get some people to notify the nearby villages! Everyone else, grab your weapons and come with me!"

Dalton shouted with a grave expression, charging toward the shore at the head of the group.

"Yes!"