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The sound froze the waitress in place. In the blink of an eye, the entire restaurant had gone quiet.
"You… what did you just say?" She stammered.
"Dropped change," Liam said smoothly, catching a few coins that had slipped and placing them back into her trembling hands. He patted her shoulder, making her flinch. "What's the matter? Don't tell me you're Wapol yourself?"
The poor waitress nearly collapsed, her knees buckling beneath her.
Liam threw back his head and laughed, standing tall as he swept his gaze across the room full of stunned, pale-faced villagers. "What's with all the long faces? Has everyone lost their appetite?"
"Of course we have! Because of what you just shouted!" the entire room roared in unison.
Liam clapped his hands over his ears, wincing. "Sheesh, so what if I did?"
"What do you mean, 'what's wrong'?! Wapol is the King of this country!!!"
"This guy, he can't be serious, right?"
"Threatening the King's life, we can't just sit back and watch!"
The restaurant erupted into chaos. Villagers abandoned their meals, crowding around Liam's table.
"What does it matter to me whether you're sitting or standing?" With a casual sweep of his arm, Liam brushed them aside. The press of bodies collapsed in disarray, men and women tumbling to the floor with startled cries.
"But I don't see Wapol among you. Guess I'll just have to look elsewhere."
No one dared stop him. Just like that, Liam strode out of the restaurant without a backward glance. Robin adjusted the strap of her shoulder bag and followed him.
Inside, the villagers stood in stunned silence, as though trapped in a dream. A man had just declared, out of nowhere, that he intended to kill their King, and then walked off like it was nothing.
We're… we're not dreaming, are we?
"Quick, alert the Guard!" someone scrambled up from the floor. "To the palace, hurry! We can't let someone like that harm the King!"
A handful of men pulled each other to their feet.
"But wait," one muttered nervously, "didn't the royal guards leave this morning to raid the towns for illegal doctors…?"
Outside, snow blanketed Cocoa Weed Village. Liam walked down the frozen street with Robin at his side, cupping his hands to shout:
"Hey! Anyone know where Wapol is?"
"I'm gonna kill him, so if you could kindly point me in the right direction, I'd appreciate it!"
His voice rang through the street, startling the villagers who crossed his path.
"What… what did he just say?"
"I must've misheard. Sounded like he said he was going to… kill King Wapol…?"
"Ha! Yeah, I thought I heard the same thing. Must've been a mistake, right?"
"..."
"He really said he's going to kill the King?!"
Realization dawned on the crowd. At that moment, the people from the restaurant spilled out, shouting after Liam and Robin:
"Stop those two!!"
Threatening their King openly, right to their faces, how could they possibly ignore that? The villagers surged forward, brimming with indignation.
And then, one after another, they were sent sprawling across the snow.
Ordinary arms and legs were no match for Liam's strength. He, on the other hand, had to worry that even brushing against them might shatter their bones, forcing him to carefully restrain his own power.
"Really, not a single one of you knows where I can find Wapol? I'm trying to kill him here!"
At the edge of the village, Liam's shout carried down the snow-swept street. Dozens of villagers lay groaning on the ground, scattered like ragdolls. From the roadside, a few trembling old men peeked out, too frightened to move.
Soon, the tall young man and the beautiful woman disappeared into the storm, their figures fading at the far end of the snowy path.
"They're headed toward Great Horn Village…" someone gasped. "We… we have to… stop them…"
The fallen men struggled upright, while one middle-aged villager glanced at the hunting rifles lying abandoned in the snow. His face twisted with dread. Guns were useless against that monster of a man… Could he even be human?
"It's them, it's really them!!"
A ragged villager's voice cracked the silence. Hands shaking, he held up a crumpled newspaper, eyes wide with horror.
"It's the JoJo Pirates…! Those two, they're the ones from the rumors! Kujo Jolyne… and her crewmate, Giorno the Reindeer Chopper!!"
"They're wanted pirates with bounties over three hundred million Beli!!!"
His terrified shout echoed through Cocoa Weed Village, carried on the howling storm.
The blizzard raged on, sweeping past the village, devouring all traces of the scuffle. Two sets of footprints stretched out across the white expanse, until even they were swallowed by the wind and snow. Ahead, side by side, a tall man and a slender woman strolled leisurely, as if they were simply out for a walk.
Robin said quietly, "Someone in that last village recognized us."
"That just means we're becoming famous!" Liam replied with a carefree grin.
"I'm afraid the army will come after us soon…"
"So what? The weather's freezing anyway. A good fight might warm us up!"
In the howling snowstorms of the deep mountains, a small reindeer trudged alone, hooves pressing faint tracks into the frozen earth.
Just moments ago, it had followed a familiar scent back to its old herd, only to be rejected once more.
The little reindeer walked on in solitude, its body shivering in the endless white. Yet in its innocent, animal-like eyes, there was no clear sign of sorrow, only confusion.
Sniff, sniff…
Its blue nose brushed against snow, bark, and dead leaves as it searched desperately for something to eat.
High above, a black silhouette stood motionless in the storm, narrow eyes glowing faintly white as it gazed down in silence.
Not long after, Liam and Robin trudged through the snow-laden forest, arriving at another village.
The Village of Drum Tower.
Before Liam could even ask the villagers where Wapol was hiding, the sound of shouting erupted from a nearby street corner.
A small figure was hurled out, tumbling across the snow.
"Catch her! She's a doctor!" shouted a squad of soldiers chasing after her.
The small figure scrambled to her feet and bolted, shouting frantically, "I'm not a doctor! I'm only a medical student, I haven't even graduated yet!"
"That's the same thing!" the soldiers yelled back.
"How is that the same thing!?" the little girl spun around mid-run, baring sharp teeth in protest.
Bam! In her panic, she collided with someone standing by the roadside.
She looked up, and froze.
It was an old woman with wild silver hair streaked with white, wearing punkish clothes and dark sunglasses, lazily sipping from a bottle.
"You're a rude little brat," the old woman chuckled, taking another swig. "But I'll have you know, I'm still a beauty at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven."
The girl stared blankly for a moment, then glanced at the soldiers closing in. Without a second thought, she darted away again.
The soldiers caught sight of the old woman, and immediately froze.
"It's you! Dr. Kureha!"
"She's appeared again…"
Dr. Kureha grinned, dangling the bottle in her hand. "Want to hear the secret to my eternal youth?"
"Nobody asked you that!!" the soldiers roared.
But before they could advance, the so-called 'one-hundred-and-twenty-seven-year-old beauty' laid them out one by one, each with nothing more than a swing of her bottle.
Kureha hadn't survived this island-wide doctor hunt for decades on medical skill alone, her fists and footwork were every bit as sharp.
In fact, the Chopper who later grew under her care became infamous for his martial arts, his fighting style carrying echoes of Bruce Lee's ferocity. During his two-year training in the Bird Kingdom of the South Blue, there was no one who could've taught him such combat. The giant birds knew nothing of martial arts, and the plump, round natives had advanced technology but no hand-to-hand skill. Which meant… most likely, Chopper's early combat training had come from none other than this violent, boozy doctor.
The villagers of Drum Tower Village shrank back, watching Kureha merrily smashing soldiers into the snow. Shaking off their fear, one finally turned toward Liam.
"Sorry, young man… what did you say just now?"
"I said," Liam answered matter-of-factly, "I'm going to kill your king, Wapol. Could you point me in the right direction?"
Robin, meanwhile, had turned toward the direction the little girl had fled, only to find she had vanished.
When Robin looked back, she realized the villagers were already surrounding them warily, their expressions tight with hostility, just like in the last town.
"What? I only asked for directions," Liam muttered in annoyance.
"You call that asking for directions!?" the villagers shouted furiously.
At that moment, Kureha finished flattening the last soldier and pushed her sunglasses up with a sly grin. She glanced at Liam and Robin through the flurry of snow.
"Well, well… aren't those the two troublemakers? Chopper Giorno and Jolyne Kujo… Heh. That fool Wapol is about to have a very bad day."
(End Of This Chapter)