Chapter 76: Drum Island: Triumph and Friendship

"So, it looks like you've met Wapol before, young man," said Dr. Kureha to Luffy while staring at the two headless bodies. Luffy stopped walking towards the castle, turned around, and looked at her before he spoke.

"Yeah, that fat bastard ate parts of my boat and tried to take our treasure," Luffy replied before he turned around and walked towards the group.

"I already beat him up once, but it seems like he hasn't learned his lesson, and the fact that he's here means he somehow got past my crew on the Bighorn."

he said before he stopped and narrowed his eyes. Then he continued, his tone turning cold. "...and that pissed me off," Luffy said, causing Dr. Kureha to chuckle. "Well, you won't hear any complaints from me," Kureha said as she pulled a sake bottle out of nowhere and drank from it.

"However, I thought my friend over there might have some complaints," she said, pointing at Chopper, who was staring at the two headless bodies in shock. Luffy looked at Chopper and chuckled. Chopper, who had heard them talking about him, flinched under his gaze and looked back at Luffy.

"Chopper, I apologize for taking your revenge," said Luffy as he walked forward and gently patted the top of Chopper's hat.

"But a pure soul like you shouldn't dirty your hands with trash like that," Luffy said, causing a faint smile to appear on Dr. Kureha's face.

"Besides, focusing too much on revenge will only bring more harm than good," he added, causing Chopper to nod slowly. Luffy then looked up and to the right.

"I sense a group of people heading this way," he said, capturing the attention of everyone as they turned to look in the same direction as Luffy.

"From what I sense, many of them appear to be flying or possibly floating towards us, and it seems like my crew is among them," Luffy added with a perplexed expression.

Sanji walked over and stood next to Luffy."Flying? How is that possible?" he asked. Luffy shrugged, unable to provide an explanation.

"They were quite high up in the air and slowly moving towards us," he said. Dr. Kureha chimed in, providing some insight. "They must have used the rope that I had previously tied to my old house," she explained.

Luffy and Sanji looked at her in anticipation, eager for further clarification. "That's how Chopper and I made our way down the mountain."

"There's a human-powered pulley cart attached to the ropes, so they must be using that," she said, causing Luffy to nod and comprehend her explanation.

After waiting for five minutes, Luffy and the others finally caught sight of something emerging from the snow in front of them. It was a metal boxcar.

Following that, a group of individuals stepped out and began examining their surroundings. The first person Luffy spotted was a man dressed in a uniform resembling one of Wapol's soldiers, causing Luffy to raise his guard and prepare for an attack.

However, upon closer observation, Luffy noticed that the man had green hair and immediately recognized him as his vice-captain.

"Well, it turns out they were Zoro and the others," said Luffy as he observed each member of his crew stepping up behind Zoro.

The group spotted their captain and their smiles grew as they approached them. "Hey, captain," Zoro greeted Luffy as he made his way towards their group.

"Zoro," Luffy acknowledged his first mate. "What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be keeping an eye on the ship," Luffy questioned, looking at Zoro.

"Well, you know, I thought I'd take a swim and do some training, but then I ended up getting lost," Zoro explained, causing Luffy to release a sigh.

"Of course," Luffy replied, shaking his head. "Then I ended up in a village when some soldiers attacked. I saw the others fighting, so I joined in.

After that, this man named Dalton asked to come with us because someone named Wapol was heading this way," Zoro explained, pointing to the injured Dalton who had just exited the train entrance.

"By the way, one of you needs to explain how Wapol managed to slip past all of you and get here," Luffy said, folding his arms and directing his gaze at his crew. "It's not our fault, captain," Yosaku spoke, while the others nodded in agreement.

"Wapol and his two bodyguards vanished in the snow; it's impossible for us to track them," he explained, causing Luffy to raise an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Dalton mentioned that it's their kingdom's special fighting style. They use snow as a hiding place and blend in with it to ambush their enemies," Johnny added, prompting a nod of understanding from Luffy.

Vivi's voice interrupted their conversation, and Luffy turned to look at her. "Is Nami alright?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

Luffy smiled reassuringly as he replied, "She's fine." His words brought smiles to everyone's faces. "We have a great doctor here," Luffy said, pointing to Dr. Kureha.

"Well Nami is currently resting in the castle" Vivi nodded in relief.

Vivi and Sanji headed towards the castle with Marianne following behind. "By the way, captain," Zoro said, getting Luffy's attention. "On the way here, we saw something flying from this mountain; what was it?" he asked.

"Oh, that's just the king of this island," Luffy replied in a casual tone. "Oh, okay," Zoro replied. Dalton, who was nearby, overheard what Luffy said, and his eyes widened in shock.

"You beat Wapol?" he asked as he limped towards Luffy's group. "Yep, that's right, and I doubt if he's still alive," said Luffy, causing Dalton and a group of villagers who came out of the train entrance to widen their eyes in shock.

"And I know for a fact that both of his men are dead," said Luffy, pointing at the two headless bodies behind him. "It's Chess and Kuromarimo!" one of the villagers shouted in surprise.

"Hey, Usopp, I found a new friend," said Luffy, piquing Usopp's curiosity. "He's a deer," added Luffy as he turned around and pointed at Chopper, causing everyone to look in that direction, but they saw nothing there.

"Um, Luffy," said Usopp. "There's nothing there," he said, causing Luffy to look again where Chopper was, but he wasn't there. "Where is he?" Luffy shouted. "He was just here!" he said as he started looking around.

"You should know by now that Chopper doesn't really like crowds," said Dr. Kureha before she drank her sake. Suddenly, someone shouted from the crowd of villagers.

"Hey! Look over there! There's something hiding behind that tree!" shouted a man with a shotgun. "What's that? Is that a reindeer?" another man asked.

"No, it's a monster!" another man shouted, causing Luffy's eyes to widen. "It's a yeti! Shoot him!" Usopp shouted as they pointed their guns at Chopper.