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Inside a cozy room on Drum Island~
The Straw Hats and Vivi were sitting around a fireplace, sipping hot tea, listening to Dalton talk about the island's history.
Drum Island was a winter island in the Grand Line—and a member nation of the World Government.
It got its name from the many drum-shaped mountains scattered across the land.
The country was known for one thing: medicine.
Eight years ago, Wapol passed a decree. He handpicked exactly 20 doctors.
Since then, only those 20 doctors were allowed to practice medicine—exclusively for King Wapol.
If anyone else needed medical care from them, they had to get on their knees and beg Wapol personally.
Of course, there was another option.
Somewhere on this island lived a "witch doctor."
She was a 140-year-old lady who loved eating pickled plums.
"140 years old!?" Sanji looked shocked. "Is it even possible for someone to live that long?!"
Luffy, meanwhile, looked thrilled.
"That sounds so cool!"
Then he turned to Dalton and asked, "Hey, old man—what about the snow monster? Where's the snow monster?!"
Dalton was stunned at first, but then he replied:
"There really is such a legend."
He pointed out the window.
"They say the witch lives on the highest peak of the island. Every now and then, she comes down the mountain to treat people."
"But after she's done... she usually takes anything from their house that catches her eye."
Hearing that, Usopp couldn't help but blurt out, "She takes everything? That's messed up!"
Nami focused on something else. "Wait—how does a 140-year-old lady even get down such a high mountain?"
Dalton didn't respond to Usopp, but he turned to Nami and said:
"Some say, during the full moon, she rides a sleigh down from the sky."
"And pulling that sleigh is... a creature no one's ever really seen before."
At that, Luffy jumped up, bursting with excitement.
"That settles it! I'm gonna get the witch to be our ship's doctor!"
"And I'm gonna make the snow monster my crewmate too!"
Hearing this, Usopp freaked out again:
"You're kidding, right, Luffy?!"
"She's a 140-year-old witch—she's gonna turn us all into monsters!"
"And why the heck do we need a snow monster on the ship?!"
Even Nami agreed with Usopp this time.
But Luffy wasn't listening—he was way too hyped.
"The witch has lived here all this time, and the old man didn't turn into a monster, did he?"
Dalton: ????
"As for the snow monster..."
Luffy tilted his head and grinned.
"Wouldn't it be fun? Plus, it could be our emergency food supply."
Usopp: That's NOT funny at all!!!
"Hahahaha."
Bai Ye finally burst out laughing. This guy, Luffy... he hasn't even met Chopper yet and already wants to eat him!
"Cut it out, Bai Ye," Usopp groaned.
"You've gotta stop him!"
He even clutched his chest and said dramatically:
"I think I've caught a fatal illness called 'If I travel with a witch and snow monster, I'll die' syndrome."
But Bai Ye just shrugged and said:
"Well, Luffy's the captain. Choosing new crewmates is his call."
"Heheh," Luffy grinned wide and slapped Bai Ye on the shoulder.
"Knew I could count on you, Vice-Captain! Come with me, Bai Ye—we're going to invite our new crew!"
Bai Ye, aka the Straw Hats' HR Director, was like: Damn it!
In the end, after some discussion...
The Straw Hats picked Bai Ye to go with Luffy to climb the mountain where the witch lived.
As Nami put it:
"If Bai Ye doesn't keep an eye on him, who knows what kind of mess Luffy will cause."
Bai Ye had to admit—she had a point.
So, after a bit of prep, Luffy and Bai Ye set off.
Along the way, they ran into a local creature—a mutated bunny called Lapahn.
Similar to the Kung-Fu Dugongs they'd meet later, the Lapahns were animals that respected strength.
In the original story, one of the Lapahns even helped block Wapol's path out of gratitude to Luffy.
So yeah, these bunnies were pretty smart.
And unlike in the original, this time Luffy wasn't rushing to get Nami to the mountain, so he had time to "play" with the Lapahns properly.
After showing off his overwhelming strength, more and more Lapahns came to pay their respects.
Pretty soon, the two of them were surrounded and couldn't move on.
Seeing this, Bai Ye sighed and turned to Luffy.
"Hey Luffy—you've always wanted to fly, right?"
"Well... today's your lucky day."
Bai Ye pressed his hands together, forming a spell...
[Xun Hexagram — Wind Control!!!]
A fierce gust of wind swirled beneath their feet, gently lifting the two of them into the air — even carrying a bunch of snow with it.
From below, it looked like they were standing on clouds.
The group of Lapahn down below stared up in complete shock, their wide eyes screaming:
"MOM! IT'S A COUPLE OF GODS!!!"
"Whaaaa!!"
Luffy's eyes lit up the moment his feet left the ground.
"HAHAHAHA! This is awesome!!!"
"No wonder you're you, Bai Ye!"
As the two of them flew higher and higher, the snow below them piled up even more.
Suddenly, Luffy got a mischievous idea and bent down, clearly up to something.
A moment later, Bai Ye's irritated voice rang out:
"Quit having a snowball fight in the sky, you idiot!!"
"HAHAHAHA!!"
"I'm warning you! Don't push your luck!!"
"HAHAHAHA!! You didn't know? I was Snowball Fight Champion back in the monastery! Were you always this bold?!"
Up in the skies above Drum Island, the two of them had launched into a full-on snowball fight — with zero logic involved.
Anyone who saw them would probably have said:
"Am I seeing things?"
On the tallest peak of Drum Island, in front of the castle gates…
A small reindeer wearing a hat and shorts, walking upright, stared in a daze at the scene above.
"They're...flying on the snow?!"
By the end of his sentence, he was yelling — like only by shouting could he convince himself that this was actually happening.
That shout also caught the attention of the two people in the sky.
They locked eyes with the tiny figure below.
Two voices shouted out at the same time:
"We've been spotted!!"
"THE SNOW MONSTER!!!"
Chopper's eyes went wide in panic and he bolted for the castle doors.
Luffy, on the other hand, was beaming with excitement. His right arm stretched out, the metal gauntlet on his fist punching straight into the ground of the mountain.
Then — using the leverage — he launched himself straight toward Chopper.
As expected, ground friction > air resistance.
Luffy shot forward like a rocket and landed right in front of Chopper, holding onto his hat and grinning like crazy.
Chopper, who had always been seen as a monster and struggled with deep insecurity, had never encountered anything like this.
He spun around, trying to make a run for it — but Bai Ye had already landed and was now blocking his escape.
"Sorry if my captain startled you — he's just...a little overenthusiastic," Bai Ye said with a smile.
"....."