More and more powerful people were gathering in this sea, but Luffy and the others had almost no idea what was about to happen.
By now, Luffy, Sanji, and Usopp had reached the mountain.
After getting past the snow rabbits, they encountered no more obstacles on the way up, so they soon reached the summit.
It was much colder at the top than below. In this fairly small world stood a castle-like building, with nowhere else nearby where anyone could live. This must be where the doctor was.
"Is anyone there?"
Luffy walked up to the castle and knocked hard on the door.
The sound echoed through the area, but even after a long time, no one answered.
"Weren't we told the doctor was up on the mountain?" Luffy muttered.
"Maybe she didn't hear us," Sanji said casually. "The villagers said this doctor is greedy, didn't they? Maybe she didn't hear the sound of money."
"You're exaggerating," Usopp said sarcastically. "Besides, is money really useful in a place like this?"
In this frozen world, people had a hard enough time simply staying alive. They hardly had the energy to think about the value of money.
At least in the village, people still relied on the most basic form of barter.
Then a woman's voice came from the other side of the door.
"Of course it is."
Her voice sounded somewhat old. The door opened, and a woman stepped out. She wore purple clothes and had long, pale-gold hair. Her face looked somewhat aged, but her figure was still that of a woman in her prime.
"You're not from the Drum Kingdom, are you?" the woman said after looking at the three of them.
"Yeah." Luffy nodded honestly. "Are you the doctor here?"
"Something like that. Where's the patient?" the woman asked casually.
"He's on our ship. Someone fell ill while we were sailing here, so we had no choice but to come to this island to find a doctor," Luffy explained.
"On your ship?" The woman's eyes briefly lit up, but she quickly hid it. She shook her head. "Don't you know that the people of the Drum Kingdom never leave this island? If you want treatment, bring your patient here."
"Igaram would die if he came to a frozen place like this!" Usopp said hurriedly. "He's very weak. There's no way he could survive in this temperature!"
"Then there's nothing I can do." The woman shook her head. "You're on your own."
With that, she started to close the door.
"Wait!" Usopp quickly stuck his hand in the way. "We can give you plenty of money or food! And this is a human life we're talking about! Aren't you a doctor? How can you just stand by and let someone die?"
"That's your problem," the woman said without a hint of concern. "In this world, morality means nothing. Whether I save someone or not depends entirely on my mood."
"Now that you mention it, why don't any of you leave this island?" Sanji asked. "The outside world is clearly much easier to live in."
"Yeah!" Luffy quickly nodded. "It's so cold here. Why not go out to sea and find somewhere better to live?"
The woman gave the three of them a cold laugh. She offered no explanation and continued trying to shut the door.
Seeing how determined she was, the three of them had no idea what to do. Were they supposed to forcefully tie her up and take her to the Going Merry?
Even if they did, she was still the doctor. Whether she treated Igaram would still be up to her.
The three of them were helpless, but just as the woman was about to close the door, something changed.
A young voice came from behind her.
"Dr. Kureha, wait!"
A faint smile appeared at the corner of the woman's mouth, but the next moment she put on an angry expression.
"Chopper! How many times have I told you not to leave the house?"
"There's a patient calling for a doctor!" said Chopper as he came outside.
He was not human, but a small reindeer that walked upright. At the same time, he looked a lot like a raccoon dog. Chopper had a blue nose and wore a pink hat, along with a pair of dark pants.
"Another strange creature!" Usopp exclaimed.
The snow rabbits had already been strange enough, and now there was a magical reindeer too?
The three of them stared at Chopper in amazement. This place really was incredible. There were so many talking animals.
Chopper seemed nervous under their gaze. He turned to Kureha and said, "Doctor Kureha, you taught me that a doctor can't stand by and let a patient die!"
"You still remember that idiot's words perfectly," Kureha said scornfully. "Have you forgotten how he died? Clinging to that pathetic belief of his, you'll never survive in this cruel world."
"But I would have died too if it weren't for a doctor who held on to that belief!" Chopper said. "So I'm sure that, when people are dying, they're thinking, 'I don't care who it is. Please, someone come save me!'"
"Hmph. You weren't born in this country, so I won't stop you from leaving this miserable world," Kureha said. "But let me warn you: they're pirates. Pirates are part of the evil in this world too."
With that, Kureha looked at Luffy.
"You're their leader?"
"Huh? I'm Luffy! I'm not the leader. I'm the captain!" Luffy said with a toothy grin.
Kureha looked at Luffy's foolish expression as if she were thinking about something. Then she turned back to Chopper.
"If you really want to save people, go get your medical supplies. I need to discuss payment with them."
Stars seemed to appear in Chopper's eyes. He clearly hadn't expected Doctor Kureha to agree so easily this time. Whenever he had asked to go out and treat patients before, Doctor Kureha had always refused outright.
Chopper hurried toward the castle's inner halls, leaving the other four standing there.
"All our money is on the ship, so we may not be able to pay you right now." Luffy felt around his clothes and pulled out some food. "Will this do?"
"I don't need those things." Kureha glanced at the chocolate and other food in his hands. "Chopper will help treat the patient on your ship. I only have one condition."
"What is it?" Usopp asked.
Kureha looked down the mountain and let out a quiet sigh.
"Take Chopper away from this country. Once he boards your ship, leave. Take him as far away from this country as possible, and never let him come back."
"?!"
The three of them were startled. They didn't know what kind of relationship Chopper had with Doctor Kureha, but it was obvious how much he trusted and depended on her. Yet now Kureha was asking them to take him away.
"To be fair, this world really isn't suitable for living things," Sanji said. "You people from the Drum Kingdom can't leave for some reason, but Chopper shouldn't have that restriction, right?"
"He stays here only because you can't leave."
Kureha's expression did not change. She spoke calmly.
"Chopper is a good child. He shouldn't die with me in this world cursed by the Ice Witch. Take him to another civilized country. He'll definitely be able to survive there."
"I see…" Usopp finally understood. In a place like this, the closer you were to someone, the more you would want them to leave.
The people living on this island were unable to leave for some reason. So even with the Cross Church's great rescue effort, they could only continue living here. But Chopper was not human, so the restriction did not apply to him. He could leave.
"But you're trusting us an awful lot," Usopp said. "What if we're bad people?"
"I've lived for more than a hundred years. Especially since the Ice Witch placed her curse, I've met all kinds of people. I know a thing or two about judging character," Kureha said directly. "So far, my impression of you isn't bad."
Bzzzzzzzz…
Suddenly, another sound came from above. They looked up and saw something black flying through the sky.
"A helicopter…" Sanji's expression changed.
"A helicopter? What's that?" Luffy and Usopp asked in confusion.
There were originally no airplanes in the pirate world. Perhaps the World Nobles had forbidden anything from flying above them, so research into aircraft had been banned.
That meant airplanes were still a novelty even in this world.
Although the Marines and many national armies had airplanes made in Wano Country, and were also researching and building their own flying weapons, production remained limited.
The World Government also had strict rules limiting the number of aircraft in the air forces of its member nations. After all, planes were different from ships. They were faster and more difficult to detect, making them the trump cards of most powers.
Not many people knew about aircraft. Sanji had seen planes when he was young in Germa 66, so he recognized the flying metal machine as a helicopter. Luffy and Usopp, on the other hand, had never seen anything like it.
They certainly never would have imagined that Iron Body could fly through the sky!
"What a bunch of pests," Kureha snorted. She clearly wasn't happy about the helicopter's arrival.
"Kureha, you've had enough time to think over our king's offer, haven't you?" The helicopter descended, and a group of soldiers stepped out. The soldier leading them held a gun and asked cautiously.
"Tell Wapol that I'm not going to his royal palace to work as a doctor," Kureha said. "Don't think I don't know what Wapol has done."
"Why make things difficult for yourself? If you move into the royal palace, you and that reindeer can live just as you did before the curse. You'll have warm fires and plenty of food. With your medical skills, you could enjoy a life many times more comfortable than the one you have now," the soldier urged.
But Kureha had no interest in listening anymore. She simply began closing the castle's main door.
The soldiers immediately raised their guns.
"Don't move! You clearly want to die. Wapol's patience has run out. This is your last chance. Are you coming to the royal palace or not?"
"You people are seriously annoying," Kureha said coldly.
The soldier grew angry at her attitude.
"Open fire!"
Five soldiers had come out of the helicopter with him, and all of them carried fairly advanced assault rifles. They were about to fire a burst at Kureha.
But Luffy was faster. Before they could pull the triggers, he stretched out both arms and wrapped them up like long ropes.
Most bullets fired in this world had pointed tips instead of rounded ones, so Luffy had never developed the habit of taking bullets with his body. Most of the time, he simply made sure his opponent never got the chance to shoot.
Pointed bullets were still quite effective against his rubber body.
The six soldiers were terrified. Staring at Luffy in shock, they cried out, "A Blessed One?! You… You're rebelling against the kingdom? This is King Wapol's order!"
"I don't know any Wapol," Luffy said. "Don't get in the way while we're looking for a doctor!"
He swung all six men away and hurled them onto a large, snow-covered boulder nearby.
They slammed into it and immediately passed out.
"They're pretty pathetic," Usopp said, unable to stop himself from making a comment.
"Doctor Kureha, it doesn't look very safe around here anymore."
Kureha lit a cigarette in the freezing weather and said without concern, "I've seen Wapol's methods plenty of times. They're nothing worth worrying about."
"Is Wapol the king of this country?" Sanji asked.
"Something like that." Kureha spoke calmly. "After the Ice Witch's curse descended, he and his ministers fled down the mountain and built a new royal palace. It's kept warm enough inside to feel just like the world before the curse."
"Then why don't you go there?" Usopp asked, confused.
It was one thing for the people of this country to remain in such a cold world instead of leaving. But there was a warm city right here, and she still refused to go?
Kureha glanced at Usopp.
"Hmph. What would I want with a place like that?"
"Uh…" Usopp was speechless, but he said nothing more. Whether Kureha went there was her own business. Why should an outsider like him worry about it?
Chopper returned with a medical kit. He raised one hand while dragging the box behind him and shouted, "Doctor Kureha! I'm here!"
Kureha said, "Remember what you promised me."
"Of course!" Luffy said, nodding firmly.
He would take Chopper away from this island. Right now, the most important thing was to treat Igaram and deal with Karlet.
Once he had taken care of Karlet, he would definitely return to this island.
He would find the Ice Witch and knock her away!
Then the people of this country wouldn't have to struggle so hard just to survive, and Agni wouldn't have to cut off his own arm to keep everyone alive!
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