A user of the Ope-Ope no Mi needs to physically manipulate objects to swap their positions within a spatial field. But Sandy doesn't!
His Space Fruit allows him to completely manipulate the space within his field, swapping objects freely.
(Note: If there were no field limitations, that would basically be the awakened state! These powers have huge loopholes by nature, so the definition stands.)
At this moment, Sandy opened a Space Field with a radius of six hundred meters.
In the blink of an eye, he and Nami appeared at the top of the field, standing on a temporarily created Space Barrier.
However, the fierce mountain wind nearly blew Sandy right off the edge!
After stabilizing himself, Sandy began to unleash his ability again.
Fortunately, he had previously learned how to maintain a Space Barrier without keeping the entire field active.
If he hadn't developed that skill earlier, once the Space Field closed, they both would have fallen to their deaths.
Now, standing on the invisible Space Barrier, Sandy braced himself as the wind howled from left to right.
He quickly formed another barrier to his right, anchoring himself in place.
He couldn't help but secretly praise himself—what a genius! Truly an irreplaceable talent in the world of pirates!
Meanwhile, the violent wind startled Nami awake. She opened her eyes and screamed, "Ahhh!"
Thankfully, neither of them fell.
Sandy groaned, "Nami! Close your eyes and don't distract me! Do you want us both to die here?"
Terrified, Nami whimpered, "I-I can't help it!"
To be fair, Sandy was scared too.
Before him stood a massive icy pillar that seemed endless, the blizzard roaring around them, and below lay a sheer white abyss. If they fell…
He quickly shook off that thought. Saving Nami came first.
After steadying her on the barrier, he needed to go back—Luffy was still below!
High atop the pillar, a small reindeer—Tony Tony Chopper—was gazing off into the distance, lost in thought.
Suddenly, a man carrying a woman appeared before his eyes!
For a brief moment, Sandy and Chopper stared at each other.
Then Sandy spoke urgently, "Are you a doctor? Please—help her! She's dying!"
Chopper blinked, stunned by the sudden appearance.
Yet, hearing the desperation in Sandy's voice, he felt something stir inside him.
He nodded almost automatically. "Oh—okay!"
As Chopper turned to lead the way, he noticed Sandy didn't follow. Instead, Sandy gently set Nami down on the snow.
Chopper froze when he saw Sandy preparing to jump back down.
"Wait!" Chopper cried. "I promised to save her—why are you trying to give up?"
The tiny reindeer grabbed onto Sandy's leg, stopping him from leaping.
Sandy patted Chopper's head. "There's still someone below. I'm going to pull him up."
"???" Chopper blinked in confusion.
Sandy continued, "Her condition can't wait. She's infected with a rare virus. Go save her first—I'll be right back!"
Before Chopper could respond, Sandy vanished into thin air.
If Nami hadn't still been lying there in the snow, Chopper might have thought he was dreaming.
Meanwhile, down below, Sandy found Luffy still climbing—bare-handed, in thin clothes, against a raging blizzard.
Sandy was struck speechless by his captain's sheer willpower.
Then he suddenly remembered: he had spare clothes stored in his Space Backpack. But… if he gave them to Luffy now, would Luffy hit him later for holding out on him?
Just as Sandy appeared before him, Luffy's eyes lit up.
"Whoa! Sandy, that's awesome! Take me up there! Come on, it looks fun!"
"Idiot!" Sandy snapped. "Is this the time to play? Hold still—I'll pull you up."
"Really? Sweet! Hurry, hurry!" Luffy said with a grin.
A few seconds later—
"AAAAHHHHH! Damn it, Sandy! I shouldn't have trusted you!!"
After an exhausting and chaotic effort, Sandy finally managed to haul Luffy up to the top of the cliff, just outside the castle.
Luffy looked at the panting Sandy and complained, "Man, you're so weak. Why are you tired already? Shouldn't we check on Nami?"
Sandy glared. "You little punk! I swear, your Grandpa Garp must've started punching people out of pure frustration with your Dad!"
Luffy tilted his head. "My Dad? I have a Dad?"
Sandy stared at him. "…If you didn't, how the hell did you get here? Hatch from a rock?"
Seeing Luffy's blank look, Sandy realized the guy was actually considering the rock theory.
He sighed, clamped Luffy's mouth shut, and extended his Observation Haki to locate Nami.
Inside the castle, Doctor Kureha—the only remaining doctor on Drum Island—had just finished diagnosing Nami.
The two newcomers' sudden arrival startled her.
Sandy stepped forward. "Hello, Doctor. My name is Sandy, and this is Luffy. How is she?"
Kureha frowned. "Where did you people even go? How did she catch this virus? This strain was thought extinct! If I didn't still have the antibodies, she'd be unsalvageable!"
Luffy immediately straightened and bowed deeply. "Thank You!"
At that moment, a small reindeer peeked out from behind Kureha—Chopper.
He and Luffy locked eyes.
Luffy's face lit up. "Whoa! A talking raccoon dog!"
"I'm not a raccoon dog!" Chopper protested angrily. "I'm a reindeer!"
He proudly pointed to his antlers.
Big mistake. That only made Luffy's eyes sparkle even more.
"A reindeer? Awesome! Hey, Sandy, he talks! Is he a monster? Wait—I'm gonna invite him to join our crew! Monster, don't run away! Be my crewmate!"
The word "monster" instantly struck a nerve. Chopper's heart sank.
He turned and bolted. "Waaah! Don't come near me!"
"Monster! Wait!" Luffy shouted, chasing after him.
Sandy sighed awkwardly. "It's kind of lonely up here anyway. A little noise makes the place livelier, don't you think?"
Kureha rubbed her temples. "That reindeer's heart has been deeply hurt. If you can heal it, then by all means, I don't mind the noise."
Sandy grinned. "That's easy."
Then he cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted toward the snowy corridor, "Monster! Don't run—you're surrounded!"
Kureha groaned. "Good grief… they really are two noisy brats."