Two hours later, Luffy, Vivi, Sanji, and Usopp finally reached the summit and saw Ray just chilling under a tree.
Luffy immediately shot towards him like a rocket, arms wide open for a hug.
Naturally, the result was two fresh bumps on his head.
"I'm really sorry!"
Vivi and the others giggled, trying to hide their laughter as they walked over.
Sanji spoke first.
"Ray, how's Nami-san doing?"
"Quite well," Ray replied calmly.
Hearing that, Sanji happily lit a cigarette.
Luffy, however, was bouncing with curiosity. "Where's the doctor? The one treating Nami? I want him to be my crewmate!"
Ray didn't answer.
He just grabbed Luffy's head and turned it towards the castle entrance.
Under everyone's astonished gaze, a small, tanuki-looking creature came running out, frantically chased by Chouchou (who was back in his small white dog form).
…
"A deer meat!" Chouchou barked, drooling slightly.
"How dare you refuse a ride from me, the great Dog Demon! You have some nerve!"
"I'm male, you rude dog!" the tanuki squeaked back.
"I don't care! Today, Chouchou-sama must ride you!"
"Doctorine! Save me!"
A fluffy little tanuki running for its life from a lecherous-looking little white dog... it was a bizarre sight.
Ray just shook his head.
He'd told Chouchou to persuade Chopper to join, not... this.
'Ride you = obey me.' Ray sighed. 'A purely animal perspective. Very straightforward.'
Suddenly, everyone else put it together.
Ray had pointed Luffy towards the tanuki when he asked about the doctor.
"Wait... the Tanuki is the doctor who saved Nami?!" x4
"And it can talk?! A monster doctor! Hahaha, so interesting!" Luffy was beyond excited.
Ignoring the throbbing bumps on his head, he dashed off after them.
"Hey, Tanuki! Become my crewmate! Let's go be pirates together!"
Chopper panicked even more.
First a dog, now a monkey?!
"Stay away from me! And I'm not a Tanuki! I'm a reindeer, you idiots!"
Everyone else just stifled their laughter, watching the chaos unfold.
Just then, Dr. Kureha came out.
Seeing the pirates chasing Chopper, she immediately recognized them from the news.
'Monkey D. Luffy... the Will of D. Maybe... this crew would actually be good for Chopper.'
"Hey, you lot!" she called out. "It's too cold out here. Come inside and let's talk."
Following her suggestion, everyone went into the castle, eager to check on Nami.
…
Outside, the chase continued.
"Tanuki!" Luffy yelled, "I'm definitely making you my crewmate today!"
"No!" Chopper cried back. "I still have important things to do! Even though... even though I want to become a pirate..."
Luffy looked puzzled.
'If you want to be a pirate, why hesitate? Just come!'
At that moment, Chouchou spoke up.
"Captain, leave this to me. Master said we must bring this little yokai aboard."
"Haha! So Ray and I are on the same page! How are you gonna do it?" Chouchou looked smug.
"Solve it the animal way. Lower-ranked must obey higher-ranked. So... I'm going to ride and conquer him!"
"Ride and conquer? What does that mean?" Luffy was confused, but he decided to let Chouchou try first.
If it didn't work, he'd step in.
They were taking this Tanuki with them, one way or another.
Luffy then went inside to see Nami.
…
Inside, after seeing Nami was awake and feeling better, the crew gathered around as Dr. Kureha told them Chopper's story, starting with the quack doctor, Hiriluk.
She told them how Chopper was an outcast because of his blue nose.
Luffy: "Wow, he's actually a deer?"
"Shut up, Luffy!"
How the lonely Chopper accidentally ate the Human-Human Fruit and became something neither human nor deer.
Luffy: "But he looks a lot like a Tanuki."
(Bam! Crash! Thud! Luffy ended up flat on the ground again.)
How humans attacked him, and how he was saved by Hiriluk, who showed him love for the first time.
As the story neared its end, Kureha told them how Hiriluk, knowing he was dying, ate the poisonous mushroom Chopper brought him, pretending it was a miracle cure.
And how, in his final moments, he asked Dalton to look after Chopper, calling him his son.
By the time she finished, Vivi and Nami were in tears.
Sanji took a long drag from his cigarette and blew out a smoke ring shaped like Chopper.
"This little reindeer," he said quietly, "our crew has decided to take him. You don't object, do you... Granny?"
Dr. Kureha just laughed.
"As long as you can take him away! But... who are you calling granny, you bastard?!"
WHAM!
Sanji, who had been looking cool a second ago, was now plastered against the wall.
Ray watched the kick.
'Her technique, her strength control... and she's over 130? Definitely not just a doctor.'
But it didn't matter to him.
His goal was Alabasta, Crocodile, and increasing his fusion rate.
Grabbing Chopper along the way was just a bonus.
'He is pretty cute, in a tsundere sort of way. Wonder if Chouchou managed to subdue him yet.'
…
Outside in the snow...
Chopper, panting, finally collapsed, unable to run anymore.
Chouchou, just as breathless, pinned him down.
"Little reindeer," Chouchou panted, "do you yield?"
"I won't yield!"
"Still won't yield? Then I'll ride you until you do! If I start moving... even steel bars probably couldn't take it, jehahaha!"
Sensing Chouchou's hips starting to... move... all the fur on Chopper's body stood on end.
Pure adrenaline surged through him.
For the sake of his innocence, he decided to go all out.
"Rumble Ball: Leg Point!"
His body suddenly bulked up, throwing the small white dog form of Chouchou off him.
Chopper leaped up, ready to deliver a powerful reindeer kick.
But Chouchou wasn't giving up.
"Awoo!"
His Dog Demon form erupted, though he kept it relatively small – about 2 meters tall at the shoulder.
Even so, Chopper, despite using Arm Point, Horn Point, and Brain Point, couldn't match him.
When he used Guard Point to turn into a giant ball of fur, Chouchou just got more excited.
At the final moment, just as Chouchou was about to mount him, Chopper, unable to bear the humiliation, quickly swallowed a second and third Rumble Ball.
ROOOOAR!
The giant monster Chopper appeared, his terrifying roar drawing everyone out of the castle.
Dr. Kureha looked at Ray.
"Can your little dog handle Chopper in that state?"
Ray just replied coldly, "Yes."
"Haha! Fine then. Let the kid vent. He's been holding it in for too long."
In the square, the 10-meter-tall monster reindeer charged at Chouchou.
To deal with him (and finally ride him), Chouchou went all out, transforming into his maximum size after his recent level-up – now about 6 meters tall at the shoulder and nearly 12 meters long.
The two giant beasts collided.
Snow flew everywhere.
Animalistic roars shook the castle.
....
Five minutes later...
A dirt-covered, small white dog (Chouchou) had the exhausted, tanuki-like Chopper pinned beneath him again.
"Do you yield?" Chouchou panted.
"I... yield."
"You must join the crew, or I start moving now."
"I'll join! I'll definitely join!" Chopper squeaked, terrified.
---------
Note : WTF chouchou???