Above the castle, Kureha and Nami stood watching the four people frolicking below.
" Chopper seems to be having a lot of fun~" Nami suddenly said.
"Yes, Chopper is so happy! I haven't seen him like this in years!"
After speaking, Kureha remained silent for a long time, seemingly deep in thought.
After some time, he said quietly, "Take Chopper away!"
Nami turned to look at Kureha, and after a long silence, said, "Okay!"
Evening~
In a room of the castle.
" Kureha, I want to be Xia Chen's partner and go to sea with them!"
"Oh, I see!" Kureha said casually.
This calm tone actually confused Chopper, who tilted his head in bewilderment.
"Dr. Kureha, you... you agree?"
"Of course! Why wouldn't I agree? It's just..." Kureha slowly stood up.
"Only?"
"But since you, as my assistant, dared to abandon me like this, I'll kill you and send them a dead reindeer!"
=͟͟͞͞=͟͟͞͞(●⁰ꈊ⁰● |||)!
Kureha pulled out various weapons from behind her and draped them over her body, exuding an aura of utter evil—at least that's how Chopper perceived it.
"Hehe, Chopper, be a good boy and let me... kill you!!!"
"No!"
Chopper quickly transformed into his Walk Point form and ran outside while shouting.
Ah~
A terrified scream came from inside the castle, causing everyone preparing outside to turn around.
As the sound grew closer, a few seconds later, a reindeer appeared before them with a spectacular drift, then ran towards them with a terrified expression.
As she ran, she kept saying, " Kureha is going to kill a deer!"
"Huh?" Just as everyone was wondering, Kureha, fully armed, appeared in front of them.
Σ(ŎдŎ|||)ﾉﾉ!
Luffy and Zoro, both traumatized, instantly looked like they'd eaten shit.
Seeing this, Xia Chen laughed loudly and said, "Everyone, get ready to run!"
"Run!" Luffy shouted first, running towards the sled. Immediately afterward, the rest of the group followed suit.
Everyone arrived at the same time as Chopper. Chopper picked up the rope, put it on his body, and started running down the suspension bridge.
The sled whizzed by in the moonlight, like something out of a strange, legendary tale!
Kureha stood quietly by the cliff, watching Chopper Luffy and the others as they drove further and further away.
Suddenly, Dalton appeared beside her.
"Does this have to be the way we part?"
"Idiot! Am I supposed to cry and whine? I'm over 130 years old, okay?"
Although Kureha said this, her eyes were already brimming with tears, which shone brightly in the moonlight.
Chopper, you must be happy!
Thanks to Chopper's presence, the group soon arrived at the shore where the Going Merry was docked.
"Um?"
" Vivi, that... is it Karoo?" Xia Chen asked Vivi, pointing to a frozen duck in the sea.
"Huh? What did you say?" Vivi turned around, her face flushed from the thrilling adventure she had just experienced.
Xia Chen repeated what he had just said.
" Karoo!!!"
"That silly duck, did it slip and fall?" Zoro said mockingly, looking at the Karoo's miserable state.
Hearing this, Xia Chen gave Zoro a strange look. If he remembered correctly...
"Yeah, yeah!" Chopper nodded beside the Karoo. Then he said, "It said it thought a guy named Zoro had fallen into the sea and drowned, so it went to save him!"
Before he could finish speaking, a dark figure teleported behind Zoro, Conqueror's Haki coating around his raised fist.
"So it was you who caused this, you bastard!"
After beating up Zoro Nami walked over to Chopper and asked him in surprise, "I didn't know you could understand animal language, Chopper!"
"I am an animal, so it's normal for me to understand animal language!"
"Sri Lanka No. 1!"
"Even if you say that, I won't be happy~"
"You're clearly happy!" Luffy and Usopp said in unison, standing to the side.
"Bang!"
Just then, the sound of a cannon firing rang out, followed by a continuous barrage of cannon fire. Everyone couldn't help but look in the direction from which the sound came.
Explosions were seen occurring continuously in mid-air atop the highest mountain on Drum Island.
What happened after the explosion was truly shocking!
The snow on the entire island slowly turned pink, shimmering under the moonlight.
"Awooooo~"
(✧∇✧)!
Chopper stared blankly at this scene from the past, murmuring softly, "Is this... a cherry blossom?"
"Thank you, Dr. Kureha!"
" Chopper, Chopper! Stop spacing out, come and play!" Xia Chen grabbed Chopper, who was lost in thought, and said, then pointed towards Luffy.
"Look, isn't Luffy's chopstick-stick-in-his-nose trick funny? Want to try it too?"
Xia Chen placed two chopsticks in his palm and handed them to Chopper.
"How could I possibly..."
"Oh ho, Chopper, the chopsticks you chose aren't as long as mine! You're not very good at this! Hahaha..." Luffy laughed loudly as he watched Chopper stick the chopsticks into his nostrils.
"Tch~ This is just my first time, I'm not used to it yet. Once I get used to it, I'll be able to use one that's longer than yours!" Chopper said defiantly.
"Idiot! How could that be? I'm Rubber Man! Even if you trained for ten thousand years, you still couldn't compare to me, hahaha!"
Xia Chen sat on the railing, quietly watching this scene and enjoying the atmosphere on the ship.
"How wonderful! Life like this is!"
"What, aren't you going to go and get your noses inserted with them?" Nami asked Xia Chen as she sat down next to him.
"Forget about that stuff, it's not right for me! How could someone as handsome as me do something like that?"
"You're quite narcissistic!"
"Of course! At least until now, I haven't met anyone more handsome than me!" Xia Chen said with pride.
"That's true!" Nami nodded, not refuting it, because she hadn't seen it either.
After a moment of silence Nami suddenly said, " Xia Chen, thank you!"
"Huh? Thank me for what?" Xia Chen turned his head and looked at her in confusion.
"Thank you for everything you've done for me while I was sick, I really..."
"Ah!"
Nami clutched her forehead, wincing in pain as she looked at Xia Chen.
Why did you flick my finger?
"Then look at what you're saying! Do we need to say thank you to each other? Aren't we partners?"
"Partners... are they just partners?" Nami murmured softly.
"Huh? What did you say?"
"It's nothing! Yes, we're partners!"
"I'm going to have a late-night snack with Vivi! Are you coming?"
"Eating late-night snacks is the easiest way to gain weight, and it's bad for your health!" Xia Chen said seriously. Then...
Count me in!