It had been a day since they decided to look for an island with a doctor, ignoring the Eternal Pose.
Nami was in bed being taken care of by Vivi and Sanji, with Karoo keeping them company. Zoro was searching for an island using the binoculars, Luffy and Usopp were playing in the snow, and Oliver was training in the kitchen.
'So there are illnesses that can affect me...'
[Indeed]
[The same applies to Poison Resistance, Pain Tolerance, and the previous Heat and Cold Resistance]
[These give you a certain margin of tolerance, but if a threshold is surpassed, your body will still feel it]
'Like the illness I have right now'
He looked at his arm and slowly saw his veins beginning to turn black.
[But don't worry. Disease Resistance is working, so the illness affecting you has been significantly slowed down]
[It is recommended to visit a doctor as soon as possible to avoid further complications]
'I know... but not yet. We still have to reach Drum.'
He kept working out, ignoring what was happening outside.
"Hey..."
Zoro called out to Luffy and Usopp, who stopped playing.
"Have you seen a doctor?" Luffy asked him.
"You can't just see a doctor like that," Usopp told Luffy.
"Hey, do you guys think a person can stand on water?" Zoro asked.
"What, do you mean people standing on water? Zoro, what are you talking about?" Usopp asked, confused.
"Then... what's that?" Zoro said, looking through the binoculars.
"What?" Luffy asked, puzzled.
"Where?" asked Usopp.
The three of them looked ahead and saw someone standing on the water, dressed like a jester.
They rubbed their eyes to see if it would disappear, but it didn't — so they kept staring.
"It's cold today," said the jester.
"Yeah, it's cold today," said Luffy.
"Yeah, really cold," added Usopp.
They all stared at each other, and an awkward silence filled the air.
Oliver stepped out of the kitchen and saw a giant metallic sphere emerging from the water, making the whole ship shake.
"WHAT IS THAT?! A WATERMELON?!" Luffy shouted upon seeing the strange object.
'Damn it, Wapol. I forgot about that trash,' Oliver thought.
The metal sphere started to open, transforming into a massive ship.
"MAHAHAHA!! SURPRISED BY MY MASSIVE UNDERWATER ATTACK SHIP, THE BLIKING?!" a voice came from the ship.
"Damn it! A pirate ship?!" Usopp screamed.
"Wow," said Luffy.
"Damn, we don't have time for this," said Zoro.
"Guess I shouldn't have come out," Oliver muttered.
They were soon surrounded by weapons from the enemy ship, leaving them unable to fight back as numerous soldiers boarded the Going Merry.
Sanji, noticing the chaos onboard, left Nami under Vivi's care and went out to check.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw everyone surrounded by soldiers aiming weapons at them.
"Hmm... Alright. What's going on?" Sanji asked, smoking a cigarette.
"That ship is attacking us," Luffy replied.
"That's what I thought," Sanji said, with several guns pointed at him.
"Hmmm, four people? It's impossible there are only four."
A large man with a metal jaw was holding a chunk of meat skewered on a dagger, eating it until he swallowed both the meat and the dagger.
"Alright, let me ask you something," the man with the jaw said.
'Wapol… If I punch him now, would it make them leave sooner?' Oliver thought.
"What the hell?! He ate a knife!" Luffy exclaimed.
"Blah! My tongue hurts just watching that!" Usopp shouted.
"I want to go to the Drum Kingdom. Don't you have an Eternal Pose or a Log Pose?" Wapol said, finishing the knife.
"No, we've never even heard of that place," Sanji replied.
"Hey, if that's all, you can get out of here now," Luffy told him.
"Whoa now, no need to rush. If you don't have one, then I'll just take your treasures and your ship," Wapol said.
"WHAT?!" Luffy yelled.
Wapol was about to take a bite out of the Going Merry, but not wanting the ship to be damaged, Oliver gave himself a boost and appeared at Wapol's side, flexing his arm and landing a punch on the steel jaw, sending Wapol flying off the ship.
'The punch was weaker than I thought,' Oliver noted, looking at his right hand.
"Wapol-sama?" the soldiers muttered.
They watched as Wapol sank into the sea like a rock.
"WAPOL-SAMA!!" the soldiers screamed.
Seeing an opportunity, Sanji and Zoro attacked the soldiers.
"Run! Save Wapol-sama!"
The soldiers quickly fled the ship, boarding their own to go rescue Wapol.
"I hope we didn't waste too much time," Oliver said, sitting down and looking up at the sky.
--
--
The next day, the Straw Hats were doing different things. Sanji was using binoculars to see if he could spot an island, Usopp was checking if the Going Merry was okay, Vivi was also outside checking for any sign of land, Luffy and Zoro were in the girls' room taking care of Nami, and Oliver was bandaging his hands due to the heavy damage they had taken from his training.
"Hey, Usopp. Don't you think it's been getting way too cold lately?" Sanji asked.
"Yeah, it's probably another weird weather change. You know how things are in this ocean," Usopp replied as he finished checking the Merry.
"That's proof we're getting close to an island. Sanji-san, please keep a close eye on the horizon," Vivi said. "There must be a Winter Island nearby."
"Winter Island?" Sanji asked.
"Meteorologically speaking, islands in the Grand Line are divided into four types: Torrid Islands, Spring Islands, Autumn Islands, and Winter Islands."
Vivi began explaining that each island has its own set of four seasons, so when islands are close together, the weather becomes very unstable. That's why, if the weather is stable, it likely means there's an island nearby.
Sanji looked through the binoculars until he spotted an island in the distance, and he shouted to alert the others.
"Land ho!!" Sanji shouted.
Oliver came out to the kitchen and saw the island they were talking about.
"We finally made it," Oliver said.
Just then, like a flash, Luffy darted out to claim his favorite seat and gaze at the island.
"WOAAAH!! AN ISLAND!! It's white! It must be snow! A snow island!" Luffy exclaimed excitedly.
"Hey Luccy! This time we don't have time for any kind of adventure. We came to find a doctor. Once Nami-san is cured, we're leaving," Sanji told him, but Luffy was too excited to listen.
"I love snow," Luffy kept saying.
"Wait, is the island safe? If there's snow, there might also be snow monsters!" Usopp asked, worried. "Are there even people on that island? Damn it! I've caught the disease We-shouldn't-go-to-that-island!"
"I love snow, it's so white," Luffy said again.
"Everyone, get ready to dock," Sanji told the rest.
As they approached the island, they could see large mountains with strange shapes, something Luffy found even more fascinating.
Luffy was extremely happy, as he kept saying how much he loved snow.
"Hey, Luffy, aren't you cold wearing that?" Usopp asked him.
Only then did Luffy realize he was cold.
"You're so slow!!" Sanji and Usopp yelled at him.
He quickly ran inside to grab a coat.
"He's so weird," Usopp said.
"That's true. How can he not notice he's cold?" Oliver wondered aloud.
"You're weird too!" Usopp shot back.
"But I'm not cold, so I'm fine," Oliver replied.
"THAT'S EVEN WEIRDER!"
Eventually, they reached the island's shore, but there was nowhere to dock, so they had to land right then and there. Some of the crew would need to stay and guard the ship, but suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by a group of people pointing weapons at them.
"Don't move, pirates," said a person who seemed to be the leader of the group.
"Wow, people," Luffy said.
"I have a bad feeling about this," Usopp said.
"Turn around. You're not welcome here," the leader told them.
'What was this guy's name again?' Oliver wondered.
"We came to find a doctor!" Luffy tried to explain.
"We have a sick person with us!" Vivi added.
Both Vivi and Luffy tried to explain the situation, but the people refused to listen. It was their country, and they wouldn't let any pirates step foot on it. If they didn't leave, their ship would be destroyed.
"Wow, they already hate us and we just met," Sanji said.
"SHUT UP!" One of the men fired at the cook, who barely dodged.
"They shot at us!" Usopp shouted.
"That was too much..." Sanji muttered, ready to fight, while Zoro prepared his katana.
The man panicked and aimed again.
"That bastard...!"
"Sanji-san, wait!"
Vivi tried to stop Sanji from attacking the people, but the man fired again—this time, the bullet headed straight for Vivi.
It might have been a hallucination due to his condition, but from Oliver's perspective, he saw the bullet moving slowly toward Vivi, so he quickly stepped between her and the shot.
"You people are so reckless," Oliver said as he blocked the bullet. 'If I didn't have Hardened Skin, it would've gone deeper.'
Since the bullet was stuck in his body, he placed it into his inventory and then pulled it back out.
"It worked," he said, holding the bullet in his hand.
"HOW DARE YOU HURT MY NAKAMA?!" Luffy shouted in rage.
"TAKE AIM!!"
"Luffy! Calm down!" Oliver shouted. "It's just a bullet. Besides, we have something more important to worry about."
Luffy remembered that Nami was still sick, so he held back his urge to fight.
"Nami comes first, and if we fight here, we won't be able to get a doctor," Oliver said, trying to sound more composed.
"You're right," Luffy said after thinking it over. "Please, call a doctor. Save our Nakama."
The people watched as the young man bowed, and they hesitated.
"Very well. We'll take you to our village. Follow me," the leader said.
[It is recommended that you see a doctor as soon as possible]
[Repeating]
[It is recommended that you see a doctor as soon as possible]
'Just a little longer'