Chapter 310: Walking Through the Snow
The word "overlord" carried its own implications.
If every Marine truly embodied justice, perhaps they would be called guardians or protectors instead.
Not overlords.
That title belonged just as easily to tyrants.
Axel had never underestimated the Marines or the World Government. Even with his current strength, treating either of them lightly would be foolish.
But just as he had told Dalton, his treatment was not finished.
After three years of deterioration, he had finally seen genuine hope. One of his arms had recovered its sense of touch, proving that his condition was not necessarily irreversible.
And he still had not met Dr. Kureha, the doctor whose medical skill had earned her an almost mythical reputation.
Giving up now was unacceptable.
Besides, Axel did not believe the Marines could assemble enough combat power to deal with him immediately.
He looked at Dalton.
"From what you said, the Marines have already landed on the island?"
There was no point hiding that much. Axel would discover their presence sooner or later.
Dalton nodded.
"Yes."
"Who came?"
Dalton's expression did not change.
Although Axel had expected the Marines to find him eventually, he did not know exactly what force had arrived.
At the moment, the only person he could even loosely consider an ally was Vivi, and intelligence gathering was hardly her specialty.
"No."
Dalton refused without hesitation.
Axel raised an eyebrow.
"I've already gone against my better judgment by warning a wanted criminal that the Marines are here," Dalton said. "I'm not going to help you fight them by giving you their identities and numbers."
Axel shrugged.
"I thought you were a little less conventional than that."
Dalton remained unmoved.
Axel continued in the relaxed tone of a merchant trying to make a sale.
"Think about it."
"If you tell me who arrived and they turn out to be troublesome, I'll leave immediately."
Dalton frowned.
"I'm injured. I have no interest in fighting powerful Marines for no reason."
Axel spread his hands.
"So by giving me information, you might actually be protecting the people of Drum Island."
Dalton lowered his head.
For a moment, the argument sounded reasonable.
Then he caught the flaw.
"Or you could use that information to defeat them."
Axel smiled.
"Maybe even kill them," Dalton added.
Axel shook his head.
"You really do enjoy making me sound like some Demon King."
"I'm a peaceful person."
Dalton stared at him.
A peaceful person did not acquire a bounty of four hundred million Berries.
He had no intention of trusting that claim.
More importantly, the Marines possessed one advantage at the moment.
They knew who Axel was.
Axel did not know exactly who was coming for him.
Dalton would not willingly take that advantage away.
Seeing that he would get nothing more from him, Axel dropped the subject.
"Fine."
Then he raised one finger.
"I'll ask something else."
Dalton waited.
"If you answer honestly, I'll do my best not to involve the people of Drum Island in whatever happens next."
Dalton's expression darkened.
It was half a promise and half a threat.
Strangely enough, that made Axel's words easier to believe.
"What do you want to know?"
"Where is Dr. Kureha?"
Dalton went silent.
Only briefly.
But that moment was enough.
Axel smiled.
"So you do know something."
Dalton's normally steady expression stiffened.
Axel had suspected as much.
Drum Island was not particularly large, and Dalton was captain of the royal guard.
Wapol had supposedly searched for Kureha before.
Was it really believable that Dalton knew absolutely nothing about her after all this time?
Perhaps the problem had never been finding information.
Perhaps Dalton had simply chosen not to share it.
Dalton studied Axel carefully.
"If I tell you, can you keep her location secret?"
"Of course."
Axel's answer came immediately.
His voice was quiet but firm.
For reasons Dalton could not quite explain, it sounded trustworthy.
Almost too trustworthy.
Like a demon whispering exactly what someone wanted to hear.
...
Snow fell heavily across the mountains.
These were not the light flakes of an ordinary winter morning.
Thick snow whipped through the air under powerful winds, reducing visibility and coating everything in white.
The cold was severe enough that even animals adapted to the climate would have struggled against it.
Yet three figures continued forward through the storm.
Two people.
And one duck.
"Aren't... you... cold?"
Vivi could barely get the words out.
Despite wearing a thick sweater, the wind seemed to find every opening in her clothing.
Her entire body trembled.
Her teeth chattered so violently that even speaking became difficult.
Karoo was doing worse.
His beak rattled rapidly enough to sound like someone clapping wooden boards together.
Axel walked beside them.
He wore a black-and-white striped short-sleeved shirt and loose black pants.
Summer clothes.
Completely absurd in this weather.
Anyone who saw him would probably assume he cared more about appearances than surviving the cold.
Axel looked over.
"Sorry."
"My ability keeps temperature from bothering me much."
Vivi stared resentfully.
"Cold, heat, it doesn't really matter."
Axel continued walking.
"Even temperatures hundreds of degrees below zero or extreme heat feel roughly the same to me."
Monster.
Vivi kept that thought to herself.
What she actually said was,
"That's... a very... convenient... ability."
"Quack..."
Karoo suddenly made a relieved sound.
Vivi blinked.
Warmth spread through her body.
No.
It was stranger than simple warmth.
The cold itself seemed to be driven out.
In less than a moment, the biting chill vanished completely.
Her body returned to a comfortable temperature.
Vivi looked sharply toward Axel.
His hand rested lightly on her shoulder.
There was no visible effort behind the gesture.
Yet somehow, he had altered what she felt from the freezing environment around them.
Vivi stared at his hand for a second.
Part of her wanted to move away simply because of how casually he had touched her.
But the warmth was far too comfortable.
So she tolerated it.
Karoo was even more enthusiastic.
The duck who had spent most of the voyage viewing Axel as a potential predator was now staring at him with an almost embarrassingly grateful expression.
Vivi finally asked the question that had been bothering her.
"Why did you stop the treatment?"
Axel looked ahead.
"The doctors said you weren't finished."
"There's no time."
His answer was blunt.
"The Marines are already here."
"I can't keep sitting around waiting."
Vivi frowned.
"But those doctors found a way to treat you."
"Why abandon that to search for someone who may or may not be somewhere in these mountains?"
Axel shook his head.
"They found one method."
"That isn't the same thing as curing me."
He raised his restored arm.
"They successfully treated this."
"But most of the result came from my cooperation."
Vivi glanced at his hand.
"And now?"
"Now they've reached the limit of what they can offer me."
Vivi looked over.
"What do you mean?"
"I memorized everything."
Axel's tone was casual.
"The procedures."
"The techniques."
"The treatment sequence."
"The way they handled the nerves, blood vessels, tissue repair, all of it."
Vivi stared at him.
"You memorized all of that?"
"Yes."
"So even without them, I can reproduce the treatment myself."
Axel lowered his arm.
"If I already possess everything they know about treating my condition, there's little reason to stay with them."
"What I need now is someone with better medical knowledge."
"Someone capable of seeing things those twenty doctors couldn't."
Vivi understood.
"Dr. Kureha."
"Exactly."
Axel looked toward the snowy peaks ahead.
"And coming into the mountains has another advantage."
"The Marines will have a much harder time following us here."
Vivi glanced around at the raging storm.
Axel continued.
"The weather is dangerous."
"The wildlife is worse."
"At the very least, ordinary Marines won't make it very far."
Snow swept past them in another violent gust.
Axel kept walking without changing his pace.
For him, the storm was merely scenery.
For anyone trying to follow, it would be the first obstacle.
....
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