Luffy got up with his plate still in hand and walked out into the corridor, the others following close behind. The moment they stepped onto the deck, the cold slapped them awake far better than coffee ever could.
Johnny was leaning halfway out of the watchtower, one arm stretched forward, finger trembling.
"I'm not joking!" he shouted. "It's right there—too close for comfort!"
Luffy lifted his gaze.
The fog ahead was thinning, peeling back like a curtain being reluctantly drawn. Through it emerged the silhouette of an island—jagged, white, and cruel-looking, as if the sea itself had frozen mid-snarl. Snow whipped sideways in violent sheets, and the wind howled like it had found something to be angry about.
A winter island.
Not a gentle one.
Nami stepped forward despite Nojiko's attempt to stop her. Her face was pale, lips slightly blue, but her eyes sharpened the moment she saw the island.
"…That's it," she whispered. "Drum Kingdom."
The ship creaked as a sudden gust slammed into its side, forcing Johnny to grip the rail and Yosaku to drop into a bracing stance. The temperature dropped again—unnaturally fast.
"So this is where the miracle doctors live," Zoro muttered, squinting into the storm. "Looks more like a place people go to die."
Vivi hugged herself, staring at the towering snow-covered peaks. "Drum Kingdom used to be beautiful," she said softly. "Before Wapol."
At that name, Luffy's expression changed—not anger, not rage, but something colder. Focused.
"Johnny," Luffy said calmly, not raising his voice despite the wind. "Distance."
"Less than five hundred meters!" Johnny replied. "And we're drifting faster than expected!"
Nami swayed slightly. Nojiko caught her immediately.
"That's enough," Luffy said.
The temperature dropped again, and this time it wasn't just the weather. The clouds above twisted unnaturally, dark veins of thunder crawling through white snowbanks.
Luffy stepped forward, boots crunching against frost forming on the deck.
"Everyone listen carefully," he said, voice cutting clean through the storm. "This island doesn't care if you're strong, brave, or lucky. One mistake here kills you."
Sanji had appeared on deck by now, coat half-buttoned, cigarette unlit for once. "You saying this is worse than Little Garden?"
"I'm saying this place kills slowly," Luffy replied. "And Nami doesn't have time for slow."
Nami tried to protest. "Luffy, I can still—"
"No," he said, sharply but not unkindly. He didn't even look at her. "You've done your job. Now you survive."
That shut everyone up.
Luffy turned to Mikita, Gem, and Marianne. "You three—stay on the ship. If anything moves that isn't snow, ice, or us, you report it."
"Yes," Gem said immediately, the seriousness in Luffy's tone erasing any trace of humor.
Luffy then looked at Zoro and Sanji. "You two are with me. We go straight to a doctor. No fighting unless necessary."
Sanji cracked his knuckles. "Necessary tends to find us."
"Then end it fast," Luffy replied.
He turned back to Vivi. "You stay with Nami."
Vivi nodded, jaw clenched. "I won't leave her."
Satisfied, Luffy stepped to the front of the ship. The wind screamed louder, snow biting into his face like needles.
He raised one hand.
The storm answered.
Lightning didn't strike downward—it coiled, wrapping around the mast, the sails, the very air itself. The sea ahead churned violently as the Going Merry lurched forward, pushed by a force that was not wind, not current, but will.
The ship surged through the fog.
"Hold on!" Yosaku yelled.
The island rushed toward them.
As the bow cut into icy waters and the anchor chains rattled violently, Luffy stood unmoving at the front, coat snapping behind him like a war banner.
"See?" he said quietly, more to himself than anyone else.
"This is why we don't stop."