Chapter 98: The Miraculous Cherry Blossoms! The Fifth Companion Boards!
Inside the guest room of Drum Castle, the fireplace crackled, dispelling the mountain chill.
Inside the warm blankets, Nami slowly opened her eyes.
The heavy feeling in her body had vanished, and that high fever that felt like it would burn her organs dry had also receded, replaced by a long-lost sense of ease.
"Mmh..."
She propped herself up and looked around.
The room was very quiet, with only one person sitting on a chair by the window.
Tatsuya was guarding the bedside, holding a thick medical book (actually looking at the System Mall).
Hearing the movement, he closed the book and turned his head.
"Awake?"
Tatsuya didn't seem too excited, just asking in a flat tone.
"Where are the others?" Nami rubbed her temples.
"They're making a racket outside, probably having a banquet to celebrate your recovery."
Tatsuya stood up and walked to the bedside.
He looked at Nami's rosy face, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, and then he directly pulled out a long piece of parchment from his robe.
"Since you're awake, let's settle the bill, Miss Navigator."
"Dr. Kureha's visit fee, heating fee, medicine fee... plus my mental distress fee, and the carrying fee for bringing you up the mountain..."
"Totaling 50 million Berries, thank you for your business. Installments are supported, interest calculated separately."
"Huh?!!"
Nami instantly bristled, her previous weakness swept away.
She turned into a sharp-toothed, angry-eyed kitten, clutching the quilt and roaring:
"50 million?! Are you a devil?! Why don't you just go rob someone!!"
"And you're charging a labor fee for digging a companion out of the snow?! You bastard!"
Seeing Nami's energetic way of scolding him, Tatsuya couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"Ah, great, it seems you're completely recovered, since you have the strength to scold people."
Tatsuya put away the bill and sat back in his chair.
The atmosphere in the room suddenly quieted down.
Nami looked at Tatsuya's face, which still wore a smile but had unmistakable fatigue in his eyes, and the anger in her heart suddenly vanished.
She remembered that warm back before she fainted, and the embrace that held her tightly when the avalanche came.
Nami bit her lip, suddenly dropping her usual tough and money-grubbing facade.
She leaned forward, reached out her arms, and gently hugged Tatsuya.
"...Thank you."
Nami buried her face in Tatsuya's chest, her voice very soft and trembling slightly:
"If it weren't for you... I might have died."
Tatsuya froze for a moment, his body stiffening slightly.
Then, he smiled helplessly, raised his hand, and gently stroked her soft orange hair.
"Don't say such silly things."
"If you died, who would I go to for my hundreds of millions of Berries?"
"Can't you say something nice!" Nami complained muffledly in his arms, but the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.
"Then... another sentence?" Tatsuya's voice softened: "Welcome back, my navigator."
The air in the room seemed to become thick and sweet at this moment, the firelight reflecting their embracing figures, warm and quiet.
...
If not for the peeking reindeer outside the door.
"Creak—"
The door was pushed open a crack.
A small blue-nosed reindeer was about to come in to check on the patient, only to stumble upon this scene.
In Chopper's simple and animal-instinctive perspective, a man and a woman were hugging, their scents blending...
"Ah!!!!"
Chopper covered his eyes in horror, his face turning red as a tomato, and hurriedly backed away, ending up sitting on the floor:
"S-Sorry!! I didn't know you were mating!! Sorry for the interruption!!"
The next second, a pillow hit the door with precision.
"Who is mating!! You perverted deer!!" Nami's ashamed and indignant roar echoed through the entire castle.
...
Nami's illness was fully recovered; although she was still a bit weak, she could already walk on the ground.
Everyone was packed and ready to leave outside the castle.
"Hey! Reindeer! Come with us!"
Luffy chased Chopper all over the snow, issuing a sincere invitation: "Be our companion!!"
Chopper stopped in his tracks.
He turned his back to everyone, head lowered, his small body trembling slightly in the wind and snow.
"N-No..."
Chopper's voice carried a sob as he stated the reason that had always troubled him:
"I'm a reindeer! But I have a blue nose, I can talk, and I can walk on two legs..."
"I'm a monster!!"
Chopper turned around and shouted with tears streaming down his face:
"Although I really want to be with you... I don't have human companions! A monster like me... doesn't deserve companions!"
"You guys go! I'll see you off from here..."
Chopper cried, trying to push away these friends he had finally made.
However.
"Shut up!!!!!"
An earth-shattering roar interrupted Chopper's inferiority.
Luffy stood on the snow, his mouth wide open, shouting that unreasonable declaration with all his might:
"Let's go!!!!"
No need for reasons, and no need for explanations.
Since I've taken a liking to you, you're my companion!
Chopper was stunned by the shout, staring blankly at Luffy.
At that moment, Tatsuya slowly walked up to the stunned Chopper.
He reached out and pointed to the group of companions behind him who were smiling at him—
Rubber-man Luffy, Three Sword Style Zoro, curly-browed perverted cook Sanji, long-nosed Usopp, Miss Navigator Nami, and a talking Crow.
"Look at this ship, Chopper."
Tatsuya squatted down, his deep eyes looking directly into Chopper's tearful ones, and said with a smile:
"In such a 'Monster Paradise'..."
Tatsuya reached out:
"Wouldn't one more blue-nosed reindeer doctor be perfect?"
"We are all... monsters, you know."
Hearing these words and seeing those sincere smiles without any prejudice.
The last line of defense in Chopper's heart completely collapsed.
"Waaaaah!!!"
Chopper opened his mouth wide and let out a heart-wrenching cry; it wasn't sadness, but the joy of years of accumulated loneliness finally being released:
"So... so mean!!"
"I... I'm going with you!! Dr. Kureha!! I'm going to be a pirate!!"
...
Partings are always sad.
To prevent this sadness from spreading, Dr. Kureha intentionally pretended to be angry, waving various weapons to drive everyone out of the castle.
"Get lost! You annoying brats!"
When the Straw Hat crew and Chopper got on the sled and rushed down the mountain along the ropeway.
Standing at the top of the castle, Dr. Kureha looked at the departing figures, a gentle smile appearing at the corners of her mouth.
"Go, you stupid son."
"After all these years, someone is finally willing to take you out to sea..."
"Since you're leaving, I'll give you the grandest farewell gift."
She suddenly pulled the lever beside her.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!!"
All the cannons around the castle fired simultaneously.
But what they fired were not cannonballs, but the lifelong research of Dr. Hiriluk—special pink dust.
The dust exploded in the air, attaching to the snowflakes dancing in the sky.
A miracle occurred.
The originally cold and bleak Winter Island, in that instant, turned into a giant cherry blossom tree standing in the snow country!
Pink snowflakes fell, dyeing the entire Drum Mountain red.
Those were the cherry blossoms known as "Miracle."
"Wow!! So beautiful!!" Nami and Luffy exclaimed, looking at the sky.
Chopper sat at the back of the sled, looking at the pink sky, remembering Dr. Hiriluk's oath before he died—
[I will make cherry blossoms bloom in this white country!!].
Tears couldn't stop flowing.
"Wuwuwu... Doctor..."
Chopper cried his heart out, shouting at the sky:
"Did you see!! The cherry blossoms are in bloom!!"
"And... I have companions!!!"
...
Returning to the going merry with Chopper.
As soon as he boarded, Chopper found everything on the ship novel and was quickly pulled away by Luffy and Usopp to have a banquet.
Tatsuya stood on the deck, looking at the receding Drum Island, which was now a pink snowy mountain.
"Truly beautiful."
In his mind, a crisp system notification sounded.
[Ding!]
[Completed plot node: The Miracle of Drum Island.]
[Recruited important companion: Ship Doctor Tony Tony Chopper.]
[Obtained Ninja Points: 1000.]
"Adding what was left before, I have 2,500 points now..."
Tatsuya stretched, feeling great.
At that time, Nami changed into thick clothes, glanced at the Eternal Pose in her hand, and shouted to the still-rowdy group:
"Alright! Everyone! Playtime is over!"
"Next, full speed ahead!"
"Next stop... escorting Vivi back to Alabasta!"
"Oh!!"
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