Chapter 119: :)CH119
"Because," Dalton said. "Before they came, this country was ruled by a tyrannical king who brought much pain to us all. Our country's name was 'Drum Kingdom.' And our king was a cruel and spoiled man named 'Wapol.'
"Wapol?!" Vivi said as an image of Wapol flashed through their minds.
"Wait? You all know Wapol?" Dalton asked.
"Yeah." Usopp said. "He's just some jerk pirate that attacked us. Though, I drove him off." Usopp said which got him a fist to his foot, courtesy of Gin who was sitting down in the snow. "YEOW!"
"Don't take credit for things you didn't do." Gin said as Usopp hopped on one foot. "Especially since it was the Captain who did the deed."
"He did say something about wanting to get to Drum Kingdom." Alvida said.
"If it's Wapol, then it must be the man I met when I was little and went with my father to the Council of Kings." Vivi said. "Council of Kings? Who are you?" Dalton asked.
"Um...anyway, I didn't see him, but I heard everyone call him Wapol. We ran into him yesterday on our way here." Dalton looked shocked at that bit of news.
"Are you...serious?" he asked.
"It doesn't make any sense." Vivi said. "If your country is destroyed, why is your king alive and being a pirate?"
"That's only a ruse." Dalton said. "He's probably just sailing around these waters, waiting for the chance to return."
"So Wapol and his men were chased out and forced into piracy because they lost to the Blackbeard Pirates?" Vivi asked.
"Lost to them? Tch!" Dalton said in disgust. "When the pirates attacked, they didn't even try to fight!" "What do you mean?" Vivi asked.
"The moment Wapol realized how strong they were, he fled his country faster than anyone else, leaving the rest of us at the hands of those pirates!" Dalton said as his face twisted in anger at the memory. "All the citizens despised him for his cowardice.
"WHAT KIND OF KING WOULD ABANDON HIS COUNTRY?!" Vivi shouted in outrage. All of the Strawhats looked at her in shock. "To just abandon everyone like that is unimaginable!"
"I couldn't agree more." Dalton said. "But because of this, Wapol's reign has finally ended. Now this island belongs to the people who remained. The towns, and our hope for a better country, are slowly coming back to us. That's why we fear Wapol's return. We cannot let that happen, no matter what. We must make this a better country." Everyone stared at him as some smiled at his statement. -With Luffy's groupLuffy's group was steadily hiking up the mountains as the wind kept getting stronger. "Jeez. Stupid blizzard." Greg grumbled.
"You got that right." Sanji said. "How can you walk around in just sandals and shorts Luffy?" Sanji asked.
"It's my polymer." Luffy said.
"You mean policy?" Sanji corrected.
"Yeah." Luffy said as they kept going, even with a baby lapahn trying to attack them. They kept on walking and dodging while talking about why people in snow countries don't sleep and why women have white smooth skin. "You two are a bunch of weirdos." Greg said after listening to them.
"He's the one saying stupid stuff about snow women." Luffy said. "And your snow people never sleeping is any better?!" Sanji said before kicking the lapahn away. "GET OUT OF HERE ALREADY!"
"If that was supposed to be a lapahn, I'm not impressed." Greg said before they kept going while sniffling a lot.
-Back in Big Horn-
Vivi and the others were chatting before a big woman appeared and, to their horror, told them that Dr. Kureha had come down to a neighboring village. After hearing that, Dalton, Vivi, and Usopp went towards Cocoa Weed Village in an attempt to meet Dr. Kureha. While heading their, Dalton apologized for thinking she wouldn't come down so soon and for the lack of doctors.
"It's not your fault about the lack of doctors Dalton." Vivi said.
"She's right." Usopp said. "Now let's get going to Cocoa Weed!" -Near the Straw Hat Ship-
"MAHAHAHAHA!" laughed Wapol as his men took out the guard patrol. "Ah! Drum Kingdom! As beautiful as it was when I left! Chess, how does my castle look?"
"It looks to be okay." Chess said as he looked through some binoculars towards Drum Castle.
"Excellent!" Wapol said with a grin. "Time to return to my life as a King!" he said before ordering his men towards Drum Castle, then yelling at his pet White Walkie Robson for not moving.
"Wapol!" one of his men shouted as he ran towards him.
"What is it?" Wapol asked, still a bit agitated at Robson.
"Those pirates from yesterday are here!" he said as he pointed at the Straw Hat ship. "There ship is right there!" "WHAT?!" Wapol said. "Those little bastards are here?! Even though they claimed to not have heard of this island?! KILL THEM ALL!"
"It's empty!" the soldier said. "No one's on board or around it!"
"Judging by the footprints, they went to Big Horn your Majesty." Kuromarimo said as Chess had a his hand under his chin in thought as Wapol ordered them to go to Big Horn.