Dr. Hiriluk was once a great thief, but now, he is a doctor.
However, because of his past as a thief, even when he visits people's homes to treat them, he still sneaks in through the window like a burglar. The little blue-nosed reindeer stands guard by the window to keep watch for him. Watching this, Nami looked on with a face full of exasperation.
"Is this just an occupational habit he developed from before? Why does he have to act like a thief just to treat a patient...?" The navigator rubbed her hands together, breathing out a puff of white mist.
"There's no helping it," Chopper looked left and right, answering instinctively. "In this country, any doctor not under the King's control will be arrested by the Royal Guard."
A cold wind blew past, sweeping up scattered snowflakes.
Dr. Hiriluk was inside treating the patient, leaving only the one human and one reindeer outside in the snow.
The little reindeer froze for a moment. He shifted a few steps away from Nami without trying to be obvious, the expression on his furry face stiff. It seemed he was still very afraid of this stranger, Nami.
Looking at the little reindeer's timid appearance, a sense of déjà vu rose in Nami's heart.
(Sigh... It feels like I'm back to the first time I met Chopper...
...If only Sherlock were here. With his unparalleled diplomatic skills, everything would be so much simpler.)
The human and the reindeer stood there in the wind and snow, each pondering their own thoughts in silence.
After a while, the blue-nosed reindeer summoned his courage and was the first to break the silence.
"Um... T-that..."
"That's right, I am a pirate," Nami answered immediately, without a second thought. "And I have several crewmates. Our pirate ship flies a Jolly Roger."
"And it's a skull wearing a straw hat."
Chopper was stunned. He blinked his round deer eyes, looking completely dazed. "H-how did you know I was going to ask that?"
"Because when I met you for the first time, that is exactly what you asked me," the orange-haired navigator grinned, taking a few steps closer to Chopper.
"What are you talking about? I only met you, this woman, for the first time today! Ahhh! Don't come any closer!" Although the little reindeer shouted this, he didn't run away. Perhaps deep in his heart, he was also longing to communicate with others.
Nami was unmoved. She crouched down, her large, charming eyes carefully examining the blue-nosed reindeer, whose expression had become quite unnatural.
"Even though it was only six years ago, you really haven't changed much, Chopper," Nami narrowed her eyes, smiling brightly. "You're still small, fluffy, and very cute."
!!!
"Idiot! Bastard! You woman, you're such a jerk! Calling me cute won't make me happy at all!" Chopper danced around, waving his arms in excitement.
"Also, that look of saying one thing while feeling another hasn't changed a bit," Nami observed with a calm face, clearly accustomed to the little reindeer's behavior.
The blue-nosed reindeer stopped his movements and looked at the beautiful girl with short orange hair before him with a gaze full of confusion.
"You... why do you know me so well?"
"Why?" Nami stood up and said, emphasizing every word, "Because we are partners."
(Partners...)
Hearing this, the little reindeer's heart began to beat violently. He stared blankly for a moment, then shook his head vigorously, his voice raspy.
"Don't joke around. I am a monster. How could anyone be willing to be my partner?!"
"But hasn't that old gentleman already accepted you as his partner?"
(Doctor?) The little reindeer paused, then silently lowered his head.
"Yeah, only the Doctor doesn't despise me for being a monster," Chopper's voice was choked with emotion.
"That's not true," Nami raised her head, gazing at the sky filled with flying snow. "In the near future, an idiot will come to invite you to be his partner."
Thinking of a certain moronic captain, Nami chuckled softly. She looked down at Chopper and said gently, "When that time comes, all you need to do is agree to him."
"And do so without hesitation."
"..." Chopper remained silent. He didn't seem to fully believe Nami's words, but his round deer eyes were filled with hope and longing.
However, just then—
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of gunshots rang out from the house. Immediately after, Dr. Hiriluk fled outside with a panicked look on his face, followed closely by a man holding a musket, stomping his feet in rage.
"You quack! Look at what you've done! I'm going to kill you!!!"
"Dammit, did the newly developed specific medicine fail too?" Hiriluk pressed down on his hat and roared at the person and reindeer standing dazed nearby, "Don't just stand there like idiots, run!!! The King's Royal Guard will be here any minute!"
And so, the life of a fugitive began once again for the two humans and the reindeer.
(What kind of life was Chopper living before this?!) Nami, sprinting through the swirling heavy snow, wanted to cry but had no tears.
The Mt. Colubo range—a place infested with poisonous insects and wild beasts, where the environment was extremely harsh.
However, stationed near this mountain range was a group of mountain bandits: the Dadan Family. At the same time, this was also the temporary residence of the three ASL brothers.
Dragging a cart full of prey, the three lawless little brats returned with a full load.
"Ahhh~ I'm so hungry. I want meat! Lots and lots of meat," little Luffy said weakly, his tongue lolling out.
"Catching that talking reindeer took up a lot of time. We came back too late this time." Little Sabo looked at the curling smoke rising from the chimney. "They must have already started eating without us."
Hearing this, a certain rubber idiot who was already driven mad by hunger instantly lost his cool.
"Food! Food! Food!" Little Luffy dashed toward the mountain bandit hideout not far away like a starving ghost reincarnated, kicking up a cloud of dust. His astonishing speed left his two older brothers clicking their tongues in amazement.
"I suddenly feel that if Luffy had food as motivation, he might actually be able to beat the two of us," Ace smacked his lips.
"Yeah," Sabo nodded with a face full of black lines. "After all, human potential is infinite."
The two pushed the cart up to the wooden house.
"Hey! Old Hag, we're back with the prey!" the black-haired boy with freckles on his face shouted loudly.
The wooden house was silent; no one replied.
(Strange. Did they finish eating and start their afternoon nap? Why is it so quiet?) For no apparent reason, Ace felt slightly uneasy.
Just then, a tempting aroma wafted through the air. A certain little reindeer, who was tied up tightly, instinctively twitched his nose, his expression changing abruptly.
(This smell... I seem to have smelled it before...)
Ace and Sabo walked into the wooden house and were instantly stunned by the scene inside.
They saw a large group of mountain bandits lying on the ground in disorder, unconscious, with the floor in a complete mess. Luffy had also collapsed to the side, an overturned bowl of thick soup next to him. In the center of the room was a large pot, bubbling with heat and emitting waves of enticing fragrance.
"Luffy!!!" x2
Snapping back to reality, Ace and Sabo rushed to Luffy's side and helped their idiot brother up.
"Hey, Luffy! Pull yourself together! Wake up, you moron!" Ace shook little Luffy's shoulders vigorously, but the latter remained unconscious.
Sabo looked down at the soup spilled all over the floor and frowned. "Did they get food poisoning? Seriously, Luffy, that idiot who only knows how to eat!"
This was clearly food poisoning. The Dadan Family had started eating first and collectively collapsed. The starving Straw Hat glutton, ignoring the situation around him entirely, had started eating the moment he entered the house, and as a result, this idiot had fallen victim too.
"Food poisoning..." Ace quickly calmed down. He thought for a moment. "We need a doctor, but neither of us knows medicine. The only option is to go to Foosha Village and bring a doctor here."
"But Foosha Village isn't close to here," Sabo scratched his head in frustration, adding, "And those doctors might not be willing to come to a mountain bandit's hideout."
Just as the two little guys were at their wits' end, a loud shout suddenly came from outside the house.
"Hey!!! Hurry up and untie me! I am a doctor! The people in the house ate poisonous mushrooms; they need treatment!"
(It's that talking reindeer?!)
Ace and Sabo looked at each other and silently nodded.
In such an emergency, there was no time to suspect anything else.
Dr. Chopper carefully checked the condition of several patients, then stared at a piece of mushroom that had been chopped into fragments on a plate. He sniffed it gently, a look of understanding appearing on his face.
"Sure enough, this is the Warakadin Mushroom." After speaking, Chopper breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, the toxicity of this poisonous mushroom isn't strong, and the dosage wasn't high. None of them are in mortal danger."
Hearing this, the two little guys, who had been worried sick, immediately jumped up in excitement.
"Really? Reindeer Doctor, will Luffy and the Old Hag be okay?" Ace was so agitated he didn't know where to put his hands.
"Yeah, they'll be fine. I have done extensive research on poisonous mushrooms," the little reindeer said with certainty.
Because Dr. Hiriluk had once drunk soup made from a deadly poisonous mushroom he picked himself, Chopper had placed special emphasis on the study of poisonous mushrooms while learning medicine from Dr. Kureha. When it came to detoxifying mushrooms, the blue-nosed reindeer was more skilled than anyone.
"However, if we don't treat them immediately, it will still cause significant damage to their bodies," Chopper added.
The expressions of the two boys tightened.
"Reindeer Doctor, we are very sorry about what happened before," Sabo gritted his teeth. "But Luffy is our brother, and Dadan and the others have taken care of us, so..."
"...Please save them!" With that, Sabo bowed deeply.
Seeing this, Ace was stunned for a moment. Then, this usually arrogant little brat also bent his waist and said sincerely, "Please save them!"
Leaving aside Sabo, who had once received a noble education, this was the first time Ace had ever politely requested something from someone. It showed just how important Luffy and the others were in Ace's heart.
"You guys don't have to be like this," Chopper hurriedly helped the two of them up. "Don't worry, I will definitely cure them."
Dr. Chopper revealed a cute smile.
"Because I am a doctor!"
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