Chapter 114 Drum Island

Three days later, the Long Teng Wan Li finally arrived at Drum Island.

Because they were followed by a dozen warships, no blind pirates harassed them along the way.

Drum Island was covered in snow year-round, and the towering chimney-like snow-capped mountains glistened with silver light under the sun.

After the girls put on warm clothing, they stood at the bow of the ship, gazing out at this kingdom of ice and snow.

Nami wrapped her plush cloak tightly, her exhaled breath condensing into frost flowers in the air.

“It’s much colder here than the deserts of Alabasta…”

“They’re all asleep, right?”

Kaguya turned to look at the girls.

To prevent Gumir and the others from escaping, Kaguya had Kaya put some medicine in their food.

“Don’t worry, they’re all out cold. I guarantee they won’t wake up today.”

Nami chuckled.

“Alright, Kaya and I will go visit the Miracle Doctor. Robin and Honey Queen will stay to watch the ship, and everyone else can go to the island to buy supplies.”

After assigning the tasks, everyone began to disembark.

The cold wind of Drum Island whistled across the coast, whipping up fine grains of snow to dance in the air.

Kaguya and Kaya stepped through the thick snow, walking along the winding mountain path toward the castle at the summit.

The pine trees along the way were draped with crystal icicles, reflecting rainbow colors in the sunlight.

“Rabon~”

“Rabon~”

Cries suddenly rose from the surrounding snow as a group of giant rabbits poked their heads out from the snowdrifts, their red eyes staring warily at the two.

“What huge rabbits~”

The innocent Kaya saw these fluffy snow rabbits and couldn’t help but want to step forward and pet them.

Kaguya, however, grabbed her arm and said in a low voice,

“Be careful, these are Rabons unique to Drum Island, and they have very violent temperaments.”

Just as he spoke, the lead Rabon suddenly stood upright, over two meters tall, its sharp claws glinting with a cold light.

It let out a threatening low growl, and its companions also gathered around, surrounding the two.

“…Not cute at all.”

Kaya shrunk her neck and hid behind Kaguya.

Looking at the increasing number of Rabons, Kaguya gave a contemptuous smile, and a terrifying pressure was released from his body, instantly enveloping the entire hillside.

Those originally ferocious Rabons suddenly froze in place, looks of terror appearing in their red eyes as their fur stood on end.

“Whimper…”

The lead Rabon let out a whimper, its front paws unconsciously starting to dig at the snow, its body trembling.

The other Rabons simply prostrated themselves on the snow, burying their heads deep into the snowdrifts as if they had encountered a natural predator.

“Let’s go.”

Kaguya withdrew his aura, took Kaya’s hand, and continued forward.

The Rabons immediately cleared a path, not even daring to lift their heads.

The two arrived at the foot of the tallest chimney-like snow mountain.

Kaya looked up at the towering chimney snow mountain and murmured,

“Does someone really live up there?”

“Of course. Let’s go up.”

Kaguya transformed into his Torch Dragon form, and Kaya flipped onto his back.

“Hold on tight.”

Kaguya soared into the sky with Kaya.

The piercing cold wind whistled past, and Kaya hugged the dragon’s neck tightly, feeling the warmth emanating from the scales.

As they climbed higher, the surrounding temperature dropped lower and lower, and their exhaled breath instantly condensed into tiny ice crystals.

Soon, the two reached the summit.

“There’s actually a castle!”

Kaya looked in surprise at the towering building standing in the wind and snow; the pointed Gothic castle was covered in thick snow, like an ice palace from a fairy tale.

Wisps of smoke drifted from the castle’s chimney, twisting into strange shapes in the cold wind.

“Let’s go, we’re going to visit the Miracle Doctor.”

Kaguya led Kaya by the hand toward the castle.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

The heavy oak door gave a dull echo, exceptionally clear on the silent snow mountain.

“Knock, knock, knock!”

After knocking a few more times, there was still no answer.

Kaya rubbed her small, cold-reddened hands and looked at Kaguya with some concern.

“Could they be out?”

Just then, the castle door was opened from the inside.

To Kaguya’s surprise, the person opening the door was neither Chopper nor Dr. Kureha.

Instead, it was a group of armed Kingdom Soldiers.

“Who are you!”

The squad leader at the head coldly sized them up, his flintlock already cocked.

The soldiers behind him also held their weapons alertly, muzzles pointed at Kaguya and Kaya.

“Hmm? Has Blackbeard not arrived yet?”

Kaguya narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sweeping over the soldiers.

“Is this Wapol’s castle?”

“How dare you! To call His Majesty the King by his name!”

The squad leader shouted sternly, his finger already on the trigger.

“Arrest them!”

The soldiers immediately swarmed forward, cold gun barrels pressing against the backs of the two.

“It seems we’ve arrived early,” Kaguya whispered, a golden light flashing in his eyes.

Kaguya once again mobilized the Dragon’s Might within him, and an invisible pressure spread out like a tide.

The originally fierce soldiers suddenly felt their legs go weak, and their flintlocks fell to the ground one after another, making crisp metallic clanking sounds.

They discovered in horror that their bodies were completely unresponsive, like prey being stared down by some ancient behemoth.

“What… what’s going on?”

The squad leader’s face was pale, and large beads of sweat rolled down from his forehead.

Kaguya increased the intensity of the pressure, and the soldiers fainted one by one, their eyes rolling back.

The squad leader held onto his last shred of consciousness and asked tremblingly,

“Who… who on earth… are you…”

The temperature inside the castle seemed to drop a few more degrees, and even the falling snowflakes froze in mid-air.

“Let’s go, let’s go inside and take a look.”

Kaguya took Kaya’s hand, stepped over the soldiers lying scattered on the ground, and entered the castle interior.

The heavy oak door slowly closed behind them with a dull thud.

The interior of the castle was much warmer than expected, with flames crackling in the fireplace, illuminating the long corridor carpeted in red.

Kaya looked around curiously; portraits of past kings hung on the walls, but every single one had been defaced with graffiti beyond recognition.

“To even ruin the portraits of past kings like this, it’s just like Wapol.”

Kaguya gave a cold laugh.

The sound of rhythmic footsteps came from the end of the corridor, and a squad of fully armed soldiers was rushing this way.

When this squad of soldiers saw the two strangers, Kaguya and Kaya, they were all stunned, and then seeing the “corpses” scattered on the ground behind them, they immediately raised their flintlocks and aimed at the two.

“Halt! Intruders!”

Kaguya ignored the warning and continued forward with Kaya.

“Damn it! Fire!”

The leader had just opened his mouth to give the order when Kaguya’s pressure swept through the corridor once again.

The soldiers felt as if an invisible force had seized their throats; their weapons fell, and everyone collapsed unconscious under the pressure.

….

“Rajivbk”