One Piece, Volume 17

Chapter 146
Surprised that Luffy dares to attack the King of Drum, Chess and Kuromarimo help their chief recover from the punch he just took. Sanji helps Luffy to realize to identify their opponents asks him how he is not cold in his shorts and vest. After a pause, Luffy suddenly realizes both of his mistakes and the crew is shocked at Luffy's slow response time. Luffy runs back into the castle and searches for a jacket in Nami's room.

Wapol is infuriated by the disrespectful behavior of his former subjects. Dr. Kureha and Chopper refuse to let him enter, claiming it has become Dr. Hiriluk grave and that no one will be allowed to take out the quack doctor's flag. To protect his master's place, Chopper transforms into his human form. The trio then realize that he is the monster who attacked them in the past.

Kuromarimo starts to attack Dr. Kureha with an electrostatic ball made of his own hair. Sanji is able to stop the Eleki-Marimo balls by kicking them but finds them stuck to his body suddenly and is unable to kick them off. Sanji asks Chopper for help but suddenly becomes the target for Chess' fire arrows. Chopper takes opportunity of them targeting Sanji by trying to punch Chess. Unfortunately, he is stopped by Wapol who starts to eat the reindeer.

Luckily, Luffy has come back, wearing Nami's jacket. Thanks to Sanji's powerful kick, Luffy grabs a hold of his leg and is launched at Wapol, landing a punch to Wapol's stomach and causes him to spit out Chopper.

Chapter 147
In Bighorn, the Isshi-20 decide to betray Wapol, whom they have followed by fear and rescue Dalton. Usopp tells Vivi that they should not worry about Luffy and Sanji as they can take care of themselves. When Dalton decides to fight against his former king, whereas he is barely able to stand up, Usopp, who was afraid of climbing the mountain a few seconds before, proposes to carry Dalton on his back as he is invigorated by their warrior's spirit.

Meanwhile in front of the castle, Wapol demonstrates the extent of his Baku Baku no Mi powers by transforming into a living canon house. Indeed, he has the ability to transform into everything he has eaten and admit to eating canons and explosives to create his current structure. He even eats Chess and Kuromarimo and fuses them into a new adversary, Chessmarimo.

To demonstrate his desire to take back his castle, Wapol shoots at the symbol of his adversaries: Dr. Hiriluk's flag. Chopper is furious and run towards Wapol, however, by respect to his friend's wishes, he does not attack him. However, Wapol does not hesitate and shoots the naive reindeer. Meanwhile, Luffy has reached the castle roof in order to restore the pirate flag on top of the castle spire.

Chapter 148
In his determination, Usopp tries to carry Dalton up to the castle, even though Dalton says that he will not be able to. Usopp states that he can do it, and that since Dalton wants to fight for his country, he will not let him down. Zoro, however, merely picks up Dalton and easily starts to carry him, much to Usopp's chagrin. Usopp is frustrated that Zoro is stealing the glory, but the villagers state that it will take them 30 minutes to fix up a rope for a lift up the mountain, which would be faster. One of the villagers states that there are no ropes left to use, but another one states that they found a white rope tied to a tree near Gyasta, which was near where Dr. Kureha last visited.

On top of the mountain, Wapol wonders about the true meaning of the pirate flag and states that it is a stupid decoration for pirates. Luffy insults him, saying that the flag is not something that you can underestimate. Wapol becomes infuriated and states that since he is the king, he does not have to bow down to a flag, and moves to destroy the flag along with Luffy. Wapol fires a cannonball at the flag, but Luffy takes the hit, stating that the flag is a symbol of faith and that it will never be broken. Chessmarimo is amazed, and Luffy states that although he does not know who the flag belongs to, it is a symbol of life that no one should play around with its usage.

Luffy yells that people like Wapol have no right to destroy the flag and laughs about it, making Chopper remember Dr. Hiriluk's description of pirates being great. Luffy tells Chopper that he is going to beat up Wapol and his troops, and asks Chopper what he is going to do. Wapol yells that if they want to protect the flag, they will both die together with it, prompting Sanji to rush towards Wapol. However, Dr. Kureha states that Sanji's spine is dislocated and knocks him to the ground, preventing him from fighting. Wapol laughs, saying he will destroy them all, but has to have Chessmarimo block a blow from an infuriated Chopper. Luffy tells Chopper to beat them up, and plants the flag in the top of the tower as Sanji lays injured in the snow.

Back on the ground, Chessmarimo states that Chopper will not be allowed to lay a finger on Wapol, stating that Chopper is a strange creature who was rumored to be a snow monster. He continues, saying that Chopper has no friends and is still defending the kingdom, but Chopper states that as long as Hiriluk's flag is there, then he will still fight. Luffy then shoots down from the mountain, saying that he is Chopper's friend, and tells Chopper to take care of Chessmarimo while Luffy fights Wapol. Chopper states that he is not confused anymore, while Dr. Kureha prevents Sanji from getting up, saying that even she cannot stop Chopper when he is serious. Chopper, meanwhile states that his name was given to him by the greatest doctor in the world, and that while Hiriluk forgave them, he will not let them pass for laughing at Hiriluk's death. Chessmarimo states that they will not forgive Chopper, who unveils a small, black Rumble Ball.

Chapter 149
Chopper is determined to defend the honor of the pirate flag. To defeat Chessmarimo, he uses a Rumble Ball, a drug which will increase his power for 3 minutes. Chessmarimo mocks Chopper as he watches the reindeer's 3 Zoan's transformations. He laughs that none of the modes are enough to defeat him. However, he is surprised when Chopper is able to avoid is attacks, thanks to two additional transformations. Chopper informs him that the Rumble Ball allows him to have four supplementary combinations beside the standard three, making a total of seven transformations.

Also, when in Brain Point, Chopper is able to scan his opponent to detect weaknesses. He quickly discovers that Chessmarimo's chin is his weak point and delivers a powerful kick in the chin and knocks him out.

However, during the fight, distracted by the reindeer's demonstration, Luffy did not notice that Wapol had escaped.

Chapter 150
While Chopper beats Chessmarimo, Wapol disappears into the castle without Luffy noticing. There he encounters Nami, who tries to escape Doctorine's orders. Realizing she is part of Luffy's crew, Wapol attacks her but she is saved by Luffy.

Wapol enters the castle in order to eat all the weapons from the weapon storage room and to transform himself into a living weapon, however, his plan fails deplorably when he realizes he has lost the key. Nami reveals she had stolen the key from him when they had bumped into each other earlier. She had thought it was the key to the treasure room. Not giving up, Wapol climbs to a room where he can find his last trump card: the Royal Drum Crown 7-Shot Bliking Cannon. However, he is deceived once again, since the cannon has been invaded by Chopper's bird friends. With no other tricks in his pocket, he has no other choice but to face Luffy.

Chapter 151
The villagers have revealed a way to get to the castle from Dr. Kureha's old house. They are aboard the tram with injured Dalton. He remembers how he stands up against the king saying how useless he is since he does not care about the people. He calls the king a fool, making him mad. The king severely beats Dalton to the brink of death.

Meanwhile, the fight between Luffy and Wapol rages on with Wapol threatening the wrath of the world government if anything happens to him. Luffy responds that he does not care and grabs Wapols face ready to attack. Wapol tries to eat his hand but Luffy just stretches. Wapol then spits up a cannon and fires at Luffy, while Dalton wonders about government. Luffy then appears unscathed from the cannon and still holds onto Wapol.

It switches back to Dalton. He tells the villagers to stand clear of the castle. He has dynamite and he plans on blowing it up. Luffy grabs Wapol and spins him around with his arms. He then kicks him while Wapol is still spinning sending him flying through the roof. He lands back onto the roof and sees Choppers pirate flag. He reaches to take it down but Luffy tells him he has no right touching a sacred pirate flag. Luffy then punches him and sends him flying out of sight.

All the villagers see that Wapol has been beaten and they start rejoicing. Chopper's faith in pirates surges as he sees that the straw hat pirates are good people.

Chapter 152
Thanks to the lift, everybody is able to join the castle. Understanding the situation, Dalton thanks Luffy for helping his country. Dr. Kureha asks that the wounded people are put into the castle, including Nami and Sanji who are desperately trying to hide from her.

Usopp, when he sees Chopper. He calls out loud that he is a monster and Chopper flees from the persecution he is used to from being different. Luffy becomes angry since he wanted to present him as the new crew member. Luffy tries to run after him and the poor reindeer becomes even more afraid.

In the castle, Kureha has taken care of Dalton, Sanji and Nami. She asks the guard chief if he knows where the key is to the weapon room. Nami, who stole the key from Wapol previously, understands that she can make profit of this key and gives it to the doctor. As a reward, she will not have to pay for the treatment and Kureha will not oppose to their departure.

When the night comes, Luffy is still looking for Chopper, as to ask him to join the crew. When Chopper says that he would like to but he cannot because he is a monster, Luffy yells at him they do not care.

Chapter 153
The Straw Hat Pirates are ready to depart, they are only waiting for Chopper and Dr. Kureha to say good-bye. But when Chopper reveals to Kureha that he has decided to become a pirate, she does not accept it. Enraged by what she considers a selfish behavior after everything she has done for the young reindeer, she starts to chase him in order to force him to stay, praying him to not believe in Hiriluk's hopeless dreams. Chopper with no other choice but to run away, mounts Dr. Kureha's sled and rushes toward the Straw Hats who have no other choice than jump in it for a hasty departure.

Going down by the Drum Ropeway, Chopper has sad feelings, he does not know if he should trust Dr. Kureha or believe in Hiriluk who gave him hope with his researches and pushed him to discover the world.

At the castle, Dr. Kureha reveals her true feelings to Dalton, she hates sad goodbyes and grants to Chopper a nice farewell. The preparations she asked to the villagers are now completed, and she asks them to fire the cannon which are pointing toward the sky. The noise of the canons wakes up the entire island who first worried for a possible return of Wapol. They discover a marvelous sight. The cannons, filled with Dr. Hiriluk's pink powder, color the snow and cover the island with the miracle Sakura aura. Chopper, in tears, watches the snow fall with his new friends. His doubts have vanished and he is thankful for the two doctors that have helped him.

Chapter 154
Kureha and Dalton are sitting under the sakura snow, now full of hope about the future of their country when a villager appears carrying Luffy's bounty poster. Understanding their friend has encountered some dangerous people, Kureha makes mysterious remarks about Gol D. Roger and the Will of D. When asked about where the poster came from, the villager replies that a few days ago, a stranger appeared, looking for the Blackbeard Pirates who destroyed the island. When the stranger called Ace learned that they have already left, he gave Luffy's poster to the villagers so that, in case he reaches Drum, they can tell Luffy he would wait for him in Arabasta for 10 days.

Onboard the Going Merry, Chopper is full of nostalgia and does not rejoice with the others, who are having a sakura party. However, once Nami gives him his medicine bag, which he had no time to prepare during his hasty departure, he understands that Kureha did it for him, secretly agreeing with his departure. This revelation changes his mood and he quickly learns the crew's customs who happily celebrate the new Straw Hats' doctor.

Meanwhile in Little Garden, an okama named Mr. 2 is searching for Mr. 3 in order to accomplish Crocodile's orders to kill him, but Mr. 3 is nowhere to be found.

Chapter 155
In Arabasta, the Warlord Crocodile is seen as a hero. Indeed we see him helping in the fight against pirates and be the subject of adoration by the people of Arabasta. Even Vivi's father king Cobra thanks him for his help.

Back on the Going Merry, Vivi explains these facts to the others. Arabasta people cannot imagine that the person who they see as a hero, is the one that is currently ruining their country. As a consequence, they have to stop the rebellion and then get rid of Baroque Works. When asked by Usopp about how the organization works, Vivi tells them of the pyramidal hierarchy and the main officer agents. But for Crocodile to take over Arabasta means that all the top agents are together somewhere in Vivi's country.