" Sanji, stop messing around! Chopper isn't food!"
"No, that's right! I'm not food!" Chopper said angrily, and at the same time, his body changed from a reindeer to a human.
"!!!"
Chopper's series of actions left everyone around him completely dumbfounded.
"A reindeer... can talk?" Luffy open.
"It can transform?" Usopp's eyes widened in surprise.
The air was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly erupted into a huge shout.
"Monster!"
( ๑ŏ ŏ๑ )!
Hearing this, Chopper felt a pang of disappointment. It seemed he still couldn't integrate into human society; there were too few people who weren't prejudiced against him.
ε=(´ο`*))) Sigh!
It seems he ultimately can't be a companion to the others; he'd better stay obediently on Drum Island. At this moment, Chopper's desire to go to sea plummeted to rock bottom.
But the next second, Luffy and Usopp's words made his eyes shine brightly again.
"How interesting, reindeer! Will you be our partner?" Luffy said happily.
Usopp said, "It's really fun, and it's all fluffy and cute!"
At this moment, looking at the smiles on the faces of those around him, Chopper felt a more complex mix of emotions than ever before.
He noticed that these people didn't have the same expressions of disgust and fear as those who had called him a monster before; instead, they were excited and curious, and they weren't afraid of him!
Before he knew it, a strange feeling welled up inside him. It was an indescribable feeling that he couldn't understand yet, but he knew he was happy, very happy!
Half an hour later~
A group of people sat around the stove, eating the meat of the Goldfish King that Xia Chen had taken out from his System Space.
Chopper, on the other hand, was licking his marshmallow with a reserved air, not going to eat the meat. After all, he was a herbivore; eating meat... well, that might not be a good idea, right?
Watching Chopper obediently licking the cotton candy, Xia Chen couldn't help but think of how Luffy learned a bunch of Luffy's "good qualities" after joining the Chopper in the original work.
He's an expert in eating meat, drinking alcohol, and being a womanizer; his main strength is his exceptional learning ability, though it seems he's learned all the bad things but none of the good ones.
" Xia Chen, the meat of this Goldfish King tastes amazing! It's so delicious! Luckily you saved some!" Luffy exclaimed as he ate.
Everyone around nodded in agreement. Even the house's owner Dalton, was captivated by the aroma of the Goldfish King.
Dalton looked at Xia Chen curiously and said, "What kind of Goldfish King? I've never heard of it before."
"Oh, a Giant Sea Kings, this is the first time I've ever seen one!" Xia Chen said casually, but his words left Dalton dumbfounded.
"A super... large Sea Kings?"
"How... did you get that meat?" he asked cautiously, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"How else can we get it? Just kill it and cut off the meat!" Xia Chen didn't answer. Instead, Luffy looked at him like he was an idiot and said.
Dalton was sweating even more now. Even though it was an extremely cold winter island, where even with a fireplace one would normally feel a slight chill, why did his sweat glands seem unusually active today?
"Oh, by the way, to thank you for trusting my partner and helping them get to the island, I'll leave you some of the Goldfish King's meat!" Xia Chen said to Dalton.
"Okay, thank you!" Dalton replied instinctively. Then he suddenly turned to look at Xia Chen with a puzzled expression.
How did you know I helped them get to the island?
"I guessed it!"
"Because I know that the residents of your island hate pirates, after all, this country was just destroyed by pirates!"
Upon hearing this, Dalton instantly sprang to his feet and stared intently at Xia Chen.
"How did you find out about this? Are you in cahoots with that pirate from before?"
"No, no, no, I just happen to know!"
"After all, the pirate who destroyed your country is somewhat famous these days."
" Blackbeard —Marshall D. Teach!"
"One of the future Four Emperors!" Xia Chen thought to himself.
"Yes, that's right, that's his name!"
Dalton sat down again and slowly said, "Although I hate him, from another perspective, the destruction of the country might not be a bad thing!"
"Why? Isn't it a bad thing if your own country is destroyed?" Vivi had been mostly silent the whole time, stood up abruptly and shouted excitedly after hearing Dalton's words.
In an instant, everyone stared at her, exchanging bewildered glances.
"Uh... sorry, I got a little excited, please continue!" Vivi sat down a little embarrassed.
Dalton was a little stunned at this point; he was genuinely startled by Vivi. After calming himself down, he continued, "Because the country was destroyed, we were freed from the tyranny of our king!"
"Our place used to be called the Drum Kingdom, and its king was a man named Wapol. He was tyrannical and cruel, and even when pirates came, he was the first to flee, abandoning his people..."
"How can a king do this? Shouldn't a king protect his people? He doesn't deserve to be called a king at all!"
Vivi stood up again and shouted excitedly.
Dalton:...
Why do I feel like you're even more excited than I am?
Dalton was a little confused, but Luffy and the others knew very well why Vivi was acting this way.
Just then, a hand patted Vivi's shoulder and said to her:
"Don't get agitated, Vivi. Not every king is like you describe. A large number of kings are like Wapol, completely disregarding their country and their people!"
"So, as you said, those kings who love their people will definitely be fine, because no one is more suitable to be a ruler than that kind of person!"
" Xia Chen..." Vivi stared blankly at Xia Chen, murmuring softly.
Xia Chen gave Vivi a reassuring look, and just as he was about to say something, a commotion broke out outside.
Dalton immediately stood up and said to everyone, "You all stay here for a while, I'll go see what's going on outside!"
After saying that, he pushed open the door and walked out.
"Let's go see what happened. Maybe we can catch something interesting," Xia Chen said to the others.
The group slowly came outside, where they saw Dalton staring blankly ahead, a flicker of fear in his eyes, before he said with a grim expression:
" Wapol!!!"