Chapter 269: Snow Wolf Sake
The ice-blue alcoholic beverage entered his mouth, and Hana-zō’s pupils suddenly contracted, followed by his body shuddering with cold.
A unique icy chill from the snowfield erupted from the tip of his tongue, then exploded like countless tiny ice shards in his mouth, instantly seizing all his senses.
The alcoholic beverage in his hand was at room temperature, with no ice chilling treatment at all—this chill was not ordinary low-temperature stimulation but something deeper, a suggestion targeting the soul.
An icy storm rampaged in his mouth, and Hana-zō instinctively tensed the muscles in his neck, his Adam’s apple rolling with difficulty as he tried to swallow that intangible frozen sensation.
However, wherever that ice-blue liquid passed, it seemed to condense a faint layer of frost on the inner wall of his esophagus, his throat frozen solid and unable to actively complete the swallowing motion.
“Hiss—”
Hana-zō was now completely unable to move, the bone-piercing chill from his throat making him vaguely see a pure white monster in his daze… a giant wolf with frost-covered fangs biting down hard on his neck.
“Help, hel—”
The faint cry for help was frozen in time as soon as it left his mouth; Hana-zō could never have imagined that one day he would be so pathetic as to want to shout for help because of a single drink.
You must know that people born in the Vodka (also translated as: Vodka) Kingdom, even children, drink alcohol like water after weaning.
Even poisoned alcohol, as long as it’s strong enough, plenty of people are willing to taste it.
But now he couldn’t care less; to avoid being frozen, his soul instinctively struggled frantically on instinct, trying to escape the relentless icy storm.
『So cold so cold so cold so cold so cold so cold so cold so cold so cold so cold so cold so cold so cold so cold…!』
『I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die I’m going to die…!』
“Captain?”
Noticing that their own captain had been frozen in the drinking motion without moving since earlier, a member of the Hana-zō Pirate Crew puzzledly stepped forward and patted their captain’s shoulder.
“Ah!”
The moment he touched the other, that pirate’s arm jerked back sharply, a needle-like pain making him instinctively clutch his wrist.
“This is… frostbite?!”
Looking at the other’s palm, a layer of frost emitting cold air was visibly creeping over it.
“Impossible!? It’s over thirty degrees today!”
“And he only touched the captain—how could he get frostbite in an instant?”
“Never mind that—quick, check on the captain himself!”
The Hana-zō Pirate Crew instantly erupted in commotion; if they didn’t know that Kaido and Hana-zō were fellow countrymen, and this was the other’s territory, some of them might have even drawn their swords.
“Hm?”
The commotion below finally caught the attention of Kaido, who was still chugging drinks wildly.
After instinctively using Observation Haki to sense the other’s condition, Kaido abruptly stood up, even accidentally knocking over the table in front of him due to the forceful motion.
The reason was simple… because Hana-zō’s aura had suddenly become extremely weak, even reaching the brink of death.
How could that be?
Why did it suddenly become like this?
Could it be some sudden onset of a chronic illness?
“What’s going on?!”
With a trace of incredulity, Kaido strode quickly to Hana-zō’s side and reached out to touch him… then, unsurprisingly, got frostbite as well.
Clearly, Hana-zō’s own body temperature was normal, but anyone who touched him would feel a chill piercing to the bone, then suffer physical frostbite.
Eerie!
Too eerie!
Could it be some ability user lurking nearby, trying to assassinate Hana-zō and sabotage this cooperation?
But that’s impossible… who could make a move right under Kaido’s nose?
Unable to figure out the key to it, Kaido simply stood there pondering what to do.
Meanwhile, Hana-zō had completely lost perception of the outside world.
He was now like he had been deeply buried under a thousand meters of frozen soil, all light, heat, and everything else stripped away, leaving only cold and darkness grinding away at the last bit of heat in his body.
『Am I going to die…』
『To be killed by a single drink… how ridiculous.』
『So cold.』
『Really so cold.』
『So this is how cold it gets when you die…』
Finally, Hana-zō closed his eyes, merging as one with the frozen soil.
Ruthless blizzards descended upon this place, the cold winds and freezing snow seeming endless, sealing everything on the earth in ice…
…
After an unknown amount of time, the snow stopped, followed by the wind sounds gradually fading, and the world returning to silence.
After another unknown amount of time, dazzling white light with an ice-blue halo shone once more on the ice-sealed earth—huh~
The wind blew again, but no longer bitterly cold; instead, it carried the gentle warmth of heavenly light.
This was a wind of life.
Crack~
Warm wind brushed over; before the ice and snow could melt, a small patch of green pushed open the hard glacier, freeing itself from the cold and deathly silence.
Then came the second spot, the third… countless tiny yet resilient vitalities burst outward from deep within the frozen soil.
A massive, primal warmth carrying the scent of dirt rose unstoppable from the depths of that freezing core.
Death turned to rebirth!
In the moment infinitely approaching death, the vitality latent in the human body finally erupted; Hana-zō’s nearly extinguished flame of life reignited fiercely at this moment.
The season slashed from harsh winter through warm spring, pausing not a moment before turning to fervent summer.
Frozen, revived, thriving…
“Hana-zō?”
A blurry voice came to his ears, sounding quite familiar.
『Hana-zō… my name~』
『Is someone calling me?』
He slowly opened his eyes; it felt like he had experienced a long journey in an extremely short time, the disorientation in his thinking leaving Hana-zō’s mind somewhat confused.
Moments later, he finally recalled everything that had happened.
“Hah~”
Exhaling a breath of turbid air, Hana-zō felt like he had been reborn; even the constant pain from old injuries large and small in his body had miraculously vanished, his body and spirit returning to their peak state.
Staring intently at the remaining alcoholic beverage in the cup, rippling with faint blue sheen, Hana-zō’s gaze was complex.
There was the lingering fear of being entirely frozen and infinitely close to death, yet also the exhilaration of a sudden turn, vitality surging within.
『This is wine? This is actually wine?』
『If this is wine, then what was I drinking before?』
After a long while, amid the crowd’s gazes of worry, relief, or confusion, he looked at Kaido before him and spoke faintly:
“Kaido, is this what you usually drink?”
“Ah~ yeah.”
Though the color of the alcoholic beverage differed somewhat from his memory, seeing the exquisite wine barrel engraved with a golden wolf head beside the other, Kaido naturally assumed it was the island’s ordinary Snow Wolf Wine and boasted:
“What? Too strong, can’t handle it?”
“Haha! Yeah, it’s so overpowering I don’t dare take a second sip.”
“Uro-ro-ro-ro! Didn’t expect after wandering the New World, your drinking capacity has become worse than a woman’s!”
Reaching for the wine barrel at the other’s side, Kaido immediately prepared to show him what real men’s drinking looked like.
“Gulp gulp~”
The pale blue fine wine poured down, flooding into Kaido’s throat…
And at the same time, Wright’s panicked voice exploded in his ears:
“Governor Kaido, wait! I remember now, that’s…”
