Moonlight's sorrowful cry reached the hearts of everyone present.
"Captain..." the villagers murmured, their own hearts moved. This man, who could walk on the sea, was now kneeling before them, begging for his partner's life, not even caring about the bullets piercing his body. Even if he were a vicious pirate, his actions had earned their respect. Besides, what kind of pirate would kneel and beg for help?
"Follow me," Dalton said, taking a deep look at Moonlight before turning and walking away. Moonlight, not daring to hesitate, quickly followed.
In a small, snow-covered room in the village, Moonlight gently laid Nami down. "There's only one doctor in this country," Dalton explained, handing him a bottle of wine. "If you want to find her, you'll have to climb this snow mountain to the castle at the top. The doctor lives there."
Moonlight, without a word of thanks, took the bottle and chugged it down, his eyes fixed on the snow-capped mountain behind the village. At its peak, he could just make out the faint outline of a castle.
"Thank you," Moonlight said, putting down the bottle. He was ready to take Nami and seek medical treatment. He wasn't interested in why there was only one doctor in such a large country; he just wanted to get Nami cured as quickly as possible.
"You have thirty-six bullets in your body right now," Dalton said, a look of concern on his face. He hadn't expected Moonlight to be so unconcerned with his own injuries. "If you don't get them out soon, your life will be in danger. And you're already exhausted, your physical strength is at its limit. It won't be easy to get to the top. And on the way, you're very likely to run into the Lapahn."
"Don't worry, I'm fine," Moonlight replied. "Thank you for your help. If you ever need anything, just ask. I will never refuse." He then wrapped Nami in a thick blanket and headed straight for the snow mountain.
"You..." Dalton was speechless. For the sake of a companion, would he really risk his own life?
Moonlight was already running straight up the snow-capped mountain. He had to be careful not to move too much, for fear of causing an avalanche. He had to conserve what little energy he had left. The Lapahn were said to be very cruel, carnivorous snow monsters, but he couldn't be bothered with them now. Besides, he might not even run into them. He couldn't be that unlucky, right?
But a short time later, looking at the two massive, man-sized snow rabbits that were now blocking his path, Moonlight couldn't help but curse his luck. "This is really not what I needed right now," he muttered to himself. "But I don't have time to waste on you." His pupils flashed, and a wave of blue, suffocating energy radiated from his body. "Conqueror's Haki."
The two Lapahn, their faces twisted in a ferocious snarl, their eyes red with a cruel intent, suddenly collapsed to the ground, unconscious. The power of his level 3 Conqueror's Haki was greater, and its range was wider.
"Let's go," Moonlight said, not stopping for a moment. He continued his ascent up the snow-capped mountain and finally arrived at the base of the castle. Before him was a ten-thousand-foot-high cliff of pure ice, and the doctor's castle was at the top. The weather was getting colder and colder.
"Armament Haki," Moonlight gritted his teeth, and a dark, shimmering energy enveloped his hands. He lifted Nami onto his back and began to climb. His physical strength was now completely exhausted, and he couldn't perform any more sword techniques. He had to rely on his last ounce of strength to get Nami to the top.
The air was frigid, and even with the protection of his Armament Haki, his arms began to suffer from frostbite. His blood froze, and cracks began to appear in his skin. His old wounds reopened, and in a flash, he was a bloody mess. But the blood quickly froze, and he didn't care. He gritted his teeth and continued to climb.
Finally, he was a hundred feet from the top. Then fifty. Then ten. He had made it. He was panting violently, and the world in front of him was spinning. He quickly stabbed his sword into the ground to support himself, Nami still on his back, and stumbled towards the castle. Suddenly, a blue-nosed reindeer appeared in his sight. He quickly grabbed it, like a drowning man grasping at a straw, and with all his remaining strength, he gasped, "Help... help... my companion... please..."
Then, the world in front of him went completely dark.
When he woke up, he was in a warm room. At the same time, a blue-nosed, red-hatted reindeer, walking on two legs, appeared in his sight.
"Did you save me?" Moonlight sat up abruptly. He found that the injuries on his body had completely healed, and his physical strength had returned to its peak.
"Ah!" the blue-nosed reindeer yelped, startled. Seeing that Moonlight was awake, he quickly hid behind the door, his panicked voice echoing from the other side. "Your body is terrifying. I've never seen a human body like yours. I just took out the bullets, and you recovered on your own."
"Is that so?" Moonlight said with a smile. It was probably because of the system. As his sword skills continued to improve, his body had become incredibly powerful, especially after reaching level 5. "Thank you. My companion... how is she? And what's your name?"
"Your companion is alright. Doctor Kureha is treating her. My name is Chopper," the reindeer replied.
"Chopper, thank you so much," Moonlight said, his voice filled with a deep gratitude. This was the one who had saved them.
"I don't need your human thanks," Chopper said, jumping out from behind the door, his voice full of a false indignation. But his body was dancing with excitement. He touched his head and smiled. "Even if you say that, I'm not happy at all, you bastard."
"By the way, Chopper, your medical skills are very good," Moonlight said. "You were actually able to take the bullets out of my body."
"That's nothing, you bastard," Chopper said, floating with a new wave of excitement. "Even if you praise me like that, I won't be happy, you bastard."
"Hehe, in that case, be my companion," Moonlight said with a smile. "Go out to sea with me. Be a pirate."
"A companion? A pirate?" Chopper was stunned, as if he had heard something terrible. He backed away, knocking over a shelf behind him, and then suddenly shouted, "You bastard! Are you kidding me? Have you ever seen a reindeer that can talk and stand on two feet? And I'm a blue-nose!" But in his mind, he saw a scene of Moonlight, clutching his hand, begging him to save his companion. The image touched him deeply.
"What's so strange about that?" Moonlight said with a gentle smile. "On this sea, I think everything is normal. Besides, what does any of that matter? I recognize you as my companion, so I don't care about any of that."
"You bastard! I won't promise you!" Chopper cried, running out of the room, tears streaming down his face. "Humans can't be trusted, you bastard!"
"The child was hurt," a voice said, and Moonlight, who was about to chase after him, stopped. A woman with blonde hair, a perfect body, but a wrinkled face walked into the room, a golden sword in her hand. She sat down on a chair, holding a pair of sunglasses on her forehead with one hand and pouring a glass of wine with the other.
"Thank you for saving us," Moonlight said, a look of recognition in his eyes. This woman had to be the only doctor in the entire country, the one Dalton had called a witch: Dr. Kureha. He bowed his head, his voice filled with gratitude.
"You? You're mistaken," Dr. Kureha said with a glance at him. "That little girl... I did save her. But you... no one saved you. Nothing would have happened to you. Your body is too strong. The bullets couldn't even pierce your muscles; they were automatically rejected. It's the most powerful body I've ever seen." She had lived for 150 years and had seen many things, but she had never seen a body as powerful as Moonlight's.
"Thank you, anyway," Moonlight said, still grateful. "Has Chopper been hurt?"
"That child was abandoned by his own kind and by humans when he was born," Dr. Kureha said, taking a sip of wine as she told him Chopper's story.
Hearing this, Moonlight's eyes flickered, and he sighed again and again.
"It's clear that you cherish your companions very much," Dr. Kureha said, a look of hope in her eyes. "Only a person like you can help him escape the shadow of his soul."
"Alright, I will," Moonlight said, nodding heavily.
BOOM!
At that moment, the sound of a violent cannon blast, mixed with Chopper's angry shouts, came from outside the castle. Moonlight and Dr. Kureha both looked up, a sense of alarm on their faces. The next moment, Moonlight disappeared from the room.
Outside the castle, Chopper had used the power of the Human-Human Fruit to transform into a strong, muscular form and was fighting with three strange men who had suddenly appeared. Though he was powerful, the fat, ugly man with the tin plate for a chin was even more so. He could swallow everything around him, and he had almost swallowed Chopper. After swallowing two of his own men, he had transformed into a war fortress, a barrage of cannonballs firing from his body. It was Wapol and his crew.
They had finally returned to Drum Island, and Wapol, after defeating Dalton and suppressing the rioting villagers, had come to the castle, his former palace, to restore his status as king. Seeing Chopper, he had attacked without a moment's hesitation. Chopper was at a disadvantage.
"A mere reindeer dares to block the king's way? I'll send you on your way!"
"There's no need for the king to act. We can take care of you," Wapol's two men, Chess and Kuromarimo, sneered.
"That ugly flag is actually flying on my castle! I'll smash it to bits!" Wapol's gaze fell on the pirate flag flying over the castle, and he fired a cannonball at it.
"No! That's..." Chopper's eyes widened in horror. That was Dr. Hiluluk's pirate flag.
WHOOSH!
At that moment, a crescent-shaped wave of sword energy shot down from the sky, slicing the cannonball in two and leaving a deep gash in the snow.
Chopper's eyes moved, and he saw Moonlight standing beside the pirate flag, having just deflected the cannonball.
"Who's there?" Wapol roared, his anger growing.
"My lord, it's the man we saw running on the sea!"
"It's him!" Chess and Kuromarimo cried out, their bodies trembling with fear.
"What man running on the sea? You dare to stop me? I'll swallow you whole!" Wapol roared, not believing a word of it. He launched his war fortress, his firepower at its maximum.
"Chopper, get out of the way!" Moonlight shouted, his sword held in a reverse grip.
"Alright," Chopper nodded, and in an instant, he was gone.
WHOOSH!
A massive, thirty-meter-long-and-wide crescent of sword energy shot down from the castle, hitting Wapol and his two men before they could even react. The three of them were sent flying, and seeing the massive cliff that had been sheared off behind them, they turned and fled without looking back. That kind of power... it was on a whole other level.
Chopper stared in shock, his eyes wide with a mixture of fear and awe. The strength of this swordsman was terrifying.
"Amazing," Dr. Kureha said, walking out, the action of pouring her wine forgotten as she looked at Moonlight in surprise. In all her years, she had never seen such a powerful swordsman.
"Of course," a voice said, and Nami walked out, giving a thumbs-up to Moonlight. Her complexion was much better. "He's our vice-captain."
"Nami!" Moonlight cried out in joy, a wave of relief washing over him.
"Thank you, Moonlight," she said with a smile. "If it weren't for you..." But before she could finish, a rumbling, shaking sound came from the bottom of the mountain.
"Not good!"
"That is..."
"This is bad!"
"An avalanche!"
The four of them looked towards the foot of the mountain, their expressions changing in an instant. The thirty-meter cliff that had been sheared off by Moonlight's attack, combined with the vibrations from his sword energy, had dislodged the snow covering the entire mountain. A massive, thundering wave of snow was now surging crazily towards them. It was an avalanche.