The Sky Screen's narration of Chopper's past unfolded with accompanying visual evidence that sent shockwaves through audiences worldwide. But it was one particular detail that left viewers speechless, their minds struggling to process the implications.
The World Government—the omnipresent authority that had ruled for over eight hundred years—would one day fall and become nothing more than a historical footnote? The revelation hit ordinary citizens like a physical blow, their comfortable understanding of the world suddenly crumbling beneath them.
Most inhabitants of the pirate world were simple folk who had grown accustomed to the World Government's rule. Whatever its flaws, any system of order seemed preferable to complete chaos. Before Gol D. Roger ignited the Great Pirate Era with his final words, the seas had been relatively peaceful. Since his execution, however, the exponential increase in piracy had transformed the world into a battlefield where innocent civilians bore the heaviest burden.
Some viewers recalled the Sky Screen's previous mention of a "dark age" and wondered if Buggy the Clown's 3 billion berry bounty represented the beginning of the end. The weight of such a future pressed down on peace-loving people like a mountain, crushing their hopes for stability.
The ethereal sound of turning pages emanated from the Sky Screen as the familiar narrator's voice resumed Chopper's tragic tale.
[The years Tony Tony Chopper spent with Dr. Hiriluk represented the happiest period of his life. In later years, he would recount these memories so frequently to his disciples that they could recite the stories word for word, complete with all the amusing mishaps and heartwarming moments]
[Dr. Hiriluk was, by any medical standard, a complete quack. He possessed no genuine healing skills whatsoever, and his enthusiastic treatment of patients often amounted to torture for the sick. Ironically, the only patient he ever truly cured was Tony Tony Chopper—though not in the way one might expect]
[Once Hiriluk's reputation as a failed doctor spread throughout Drum Island, patients avoided him entirely. Even after King Wapol exiled most of the island's skilled physicians, the desperate sick preferred to suffer rather than risk Hiriluk's 'care,' fearing that the old man's treatment might prove fatal]
[Undeterred by his lack of patients, Hiriluk would drag Chopper along on uninvited house calls, offering free medical treatment to anyone who would tolerate their presence. Invariably, his interventions worsened the patients' conditions, resulting in angry families chasing them away with sticks and stones. Despite going hungry and being beaten regularly, Chopper remained happy simply because he wasn't alone]
[The pink hat that became Chopper's signature accessory was a gift from Hiriluk himself. Throughout his later adventures with the Straw Hat Pirates, Chopper wore it as a constant reminder of the man who had first shown him unconditional love]
[The talking reindeer had been accepted as a son by a human being. Hiriluk's love and open-minded acceptance would shape Tony Tony Chopper's character for the rest of his life, instilling in him the belief that family was defined by choice rather than blood]
[But happiness, like all things in life, proved temporary. One day, Hiriluk suddenly drove Chopper away from their home, refusing to let him return. The usually gentle doctor even struck the reindeer, shouting for him to leave and never come back]
[Having lived with Hiriluk for years, Chopper immediately sensed that something was wrong. The kind-hearted man who had never raised his voice in anger was a terrible actor—he couldn't even fool a naive reindeer with his forced cruelty]
[Chopper secretly followed his adoptive father to discover the truth. He watched as Hiriluk sought out Dr. Kureha, the legendary witch doctor, for a medical consultation. The diagnosis was a death sentence: an incurable disease that would claim his life within ten days. Even Kureha, acknowledged as Drum Island's most skilled physician, could do nothing to help]
[Chopper, who had learned to read during his time with Hiriluk, remembered a passage from one of his adoptive father's medical texts. The book claimed that Amiudake mushrooms were the primary ingredient in a universal panacea. Without hesitation, the young reindeer packed his belongings and set out for Drum Peak to gather the miraculous cure]
[The journey proved harrowing beyond imagination. Wild reindeer from his birth herd blocked his path, forcing him into desperate combat for survival. Other predators stalked him through the treacherous mountain passes. By the time Chopper finally located the Amiudake mushrooms, he had paid a terrible price—broken bones, torn flesh, and wounds that would scar him permanently]
[When he finally returned to Hiriluk, the little reindeer was barely recognizable. Blood matted his fur, one leg dragged uselessly behind him, and part of his antler had broken off completely. But clutched in his hooves was the prize he had nearly died to obtain: the mushrooms that would save his beloved father]
[All he wanted was for Hiriluk to live. He dreamed of becoming the old man's apprentice, of fighting alongside him like a pirate and experiencing a life of adventure beyond Drum Island's frozen shores. He refused to accept that their time together might end]
[Hiriluk gathered the broken reindeer into his arms, and in that moment, he realized something profound: this creature—not fully animal, not fully human—possessed the heart of a true doctor. He knew then that Chopper would one day become the greatest healer the world had ever known]
[The Amiudake mushrooms, gathered at such tremendous cost, were carefully prepared into a soup by Hiriluk's own hands. As Chopper watched with hope shining in his eyes, the old doctor consumed every drop of the bitter concoction. The little reindeer believed he had saved his father's life, but instead, he had become the only patient in Hiriluk's career to die under his care]
[Amiudake mushrooms are lethally poisonous. Death follows consumption within hours, not days. Hiriluk knew this fact well—but he also understood that refusing Chopper's sacrifice would destroy the reindeer's spirit entirely. Whether he died in ten days from disease or in one day from poison made little difference to a man already condemned. What mattered was preserving the love and hope in his son's heart]
[Before his inevitable end, Hiriluk had two final wishes to fulfill. The first was securing a proper teacher for Chopper. He approached Dr. Kureha and prostrated himself before the ancient woman, begging her to accept the reindeer as her apprentice. Such extraordinary medical talent deserved proper guidance]
[His second wish concerned the cherry blossom research that had consumed decades of his life. He pleaded with Kureha to continue his experiments, to find a way to make Drum Island bloom with pink flowers that could heal not just bodies, but hearts and souls as well]
[With these arrangements made, Hiriluk set out for his final act. King Wapol had spread false rumors that his twenty personal physicians had contracted a mysterious plague and desperately needed medical assistance. The cruel monarch was setting a trap, using Hiriluk's compassionate nature as bait]
[When Hiriluk arrived at the castle, he found all twenty doctors standing healthy in the snow—no illness, no emergency, no patients requiring care. He realized immediately that he had been deceived, but rather than flee, the old quack doctor smiled with peaceful acceptance]
[He understood that the kingdom itself was sick, and that healing people's hearts required different medicine than treating physical ailments. Knowing that death awaited him, Hiriluk sat calmly in the snow, opened his medical bag one final time, and raised a glass toward the sky. Today, he would attempt to cure an entire nation]
[Meanwhile, Kureha had found Chopper and learned about the Amiudake mushrooms. The witch doctor's fury was terrible to behold—she beat the small reindeer mercilessly, screaming at him for his ignorance and refusing to treat his injuries]
[When Chopper learned that his 'miracle cure' was actually deadly poison, his emotional collapse was instantaneous and complete. From disbelief to anguish to despair, all in the span of seconds. Despite his broken body, he dragged himself toward the castle, climbing the treacherous cable lines that led to Drum Peak's summit]
[What he witnessed there would haunt him for the rest of his life]
The Sky Screen shifted to display the final scene, showing an old man in a battered top hat raising his glass before an army of weapons pointed at his chest.
[The old man in the top hat raised his glass and spoke to the crowd brandishing their weapons: "When do you think a person dies? When they are shot through the heart by a pistol? No! When they are ravaged by an incurable disease? No! When they drink soup made from a poisonous mushroom? No!"]
[His voice carried across the snow as he smiled with absolute serenity: "A person dies when they are forgotten by the world! But I... I lived a really good life!"]
[The explosion erupted in front of Drum Castle, and Chopper witnessed with his own eyes the first human being who was kind to him being engulfed in gunfire and bomb fire.]
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