The air was thick with a tense, explosive hostility.
"We're here to find a doctor!" Luffy pressed down on his straw hat and shouted toward the shore first, his voice unusually clear in the moment.
The crowd on the shore stirred, and a rough voice roared back with undisguised rejection: "Pirates! Get out! We won't fall for your tricks! Leave now, or we'll blow up your ship!"
Sanji lit a cigarette, furrowing his brow as he said, "What's going on... Is this how you treat guests the first time you meet them?"
The moment his words fell—
Bang!
A sharp gunshot suddenly pierced the snowy silence! A bullet whistled through the air, shooting toward Sanji's feet!
But at the same time as the gunshot, Giyu's figure had already vanished from his spot.
In the next instant, he appeared at the very front, his left thumb pushing open the sword guard. The Nichirin Blade wasn't fully drawn—only a small section of the blade was exposed as he precisely blocked forward with it!
Clink!
A faint, crisp sound rang out as the incoming bullet was deflected by the side of the blade, sparking a tiny flash before falling into the sea.
Giyu coldly stared in the direction the shot had come from, his voice steady but carrying a chill: "We haven't done anything yet. You shouldn't be shooting like this."
"You bastard!!" Sanji's anger instantly ignited at the sight, and he nearly charged off the ship.
Usopp opened his mouth wide, shouting, "They're shooting! They're attacking us!"
On the shore, another nervous villager, seeing his companion's attack fail, instinctively raised his gun and aimed at Giyu, who stood at the front.
Giyu's gaze instantly locked onto him.
A cold aura, mixed with some of the irritability from his still-unresolved high fever, pressed down on that villager.
"I don't like," Giyu's voice barely fluctuated, only expressing his displeasure, "being pointed at with weapons like this. We're just here to find a doctor."
The villager's hands began to tremble under his gaze, the gun barrel shaking unsteadily.
"Giyu! Don't start a conflict with them!" Vivi urgently rushed forward, spreading her arms to block the line of sight between Giyu and the villager. She looked back at Giyu, her eyes full of pleading, "We're here to seek medical help—we can't fight!"
Giyu naturally understood this. He reined in his aura and gave a slight nod: "I know. I just don't like being pointed at like this."
His tone carried more resignation than anything else.
However, fear can sometimes overwhelm reason.
Bang!
Another gunshot! This time, the bullet wasn't aimed at Giyu, but at Vivi, who had her back to the shore as she tried to mediate!
Luffy reacted the fastest—his body instantly stretched, abruptly shielding Vivi from behind!
Thump!
The bullet struck Luffy's rubberized chest and was directly bounced away!
The usually simple expression on Luffy's face was replaced by one of genuine, extreme fury. He whipped his head around, glaring at the crowd on the shore, and roared: "YOU!! WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO!!!"
This finally ignited the powder keg!
The villagers on the shore, frightened by this series of sudden events and Luffy's terrifying appearance, grew even more tense and raised their guns one after another. In an instant, all the dark gun barrels were aimed at the Straw Hat Pirates!
"No! Luffy! You can't do this!" Vivi suddenly turned and grabbed the impulsive Luffy, using all her strength to stop him.
What she did next surprised everyone - she faced the hostile gun barrels aimed from the shore and without hesitation knelt on the thinly snow-covered deck!
"Please!"
Vivi's sincere voice carried through the wind and snow, "We won't come ashore! Okay? We only ask you to call a doctor for us! Our friend is sick... she's really suffering right now! We have Belly on our ship, we can pay any cost!"
She lifted her head, then quickly turned back to shout at Luffy: "Luffy! If a conflict really breaks out, what will happen to Nami's illness?!"
Luffy looked at Vivi's anxious face, then turned his gaze toward the direction of Nami's room in the cabin. The anger on his face quickly faded as if doused with water.
Then he turned back to Vivi and said:
"Yeah! I was wrong! Sorry!"
Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, he took off his straw hat, gently placed it on the deck, and just like Vivi, without hesitation knelt toward the villagers on shore who had just been shooting at them.
"Sorry! I was wrong!"
Luffy shouted loudly, his voice filled with nothing but pure sincerity for his crewmate, "Please call a doctor for us! Please save my crewmate!!!"
The straw hat lay quietly on the deck beside him.
At this moment, time seemed to stand still.
On shore, all the villagers holding guns were stunned. The anger, fear, and wariness on their faces gradually gave way to astonishment and wavering.
These pirates before them... seemed somewhat unusual.
The tense atmosphere quietly melted away like ice and snow. Gun barrels began to slowly lower one after another.
In the silence, an exceptionally tall and burly man wearing heavy snow gear stepped out from the crowd.
He had been silently observing all along.
His gaze swept over Luffy and Vivi kneeling on the deck, over the nervously vigilant Usopp, and over the seriously prepared Zoro, Sanji, and Giyu.
Then he turned to the still somewhat bewildered villagers behind him and said in a deep voice: "I believe them. Leave this to me." The nearby villagers trusted this man completely and breathed sighs of relief upon hearing this, responding: "We'll follow your lead, Dalton."
Only then did the man named Dalton turn to the Straw Hat Pirates, his tone much gentler: "I'll take you to the village. Follow me."
He paused, then added, "But don't get your hopes up too high. I don't know where you heard this from... but this country now has only one doctor left."
"What?! Only one doctor?!" Usopp exclaimed, "We weren't tricked, were we?!"
But Vivi and Luffy had already exchanged smiles and stood up. Luffy picked up his straw hat and put it back on his head, his face restored to its bright smile as he said to Vivi:
"Shishishi! Vivi, you're really amazing!"
Vivi wiped the snow from her face and smiled too.
Led by Dalton, the Straw Hat Pirates set foot on the land of Winter Island. Following Dalton, they trekked along a snow-covered path toward a village nestled at the foot of the mountain.
A sign read "Great Horn Village." The settlement was blanketed in thick white snow, with wisps of smoke curling from the chimneys of wooden houses. Some villagers watched curiously from a distance, while the armed individuals from earlier had dispersed and returned to their homes.
Along the way, many villagers greeted Dalton warmly, addressing him as "Mr. Dalton," their eyes reflecting trust.
Vivi asked curiously, "Mr. Dalton, those people earlier... weren't part of the country's guard, were they?"
Dalton, walking ahead without turning back, replied, "No, they're just ordinary citizens who took up arms to protect their homes."
His voice carried a hint of gravity as he added, "Let's head to my place first and let the patient rest."
The group followed Dalton to a wooden cabin. He pushed open the door and gestured for the Straw Hat Pirates to enter, then removed the peculiar, shovel-like weapon from his back and leaned it against the wall.
Turning to face the crew, he spoke solemnly, "I apologize for the way we treated you at the shore earlier."
Dalton took a deep breath, his gaze shifting to Nami, whom Sanji had carefully laid on the bed, and continued, "This island... has seen many troubles lately. My name is Dalton, and currently, I am the one responsible for protecting this island and its people."