Chapters · Alabasta › Drum Island

Chapter 145: Carrying On His Will

Arc: Drum Island · Saga: Alabasta · Volume: 16

Summary

A flashback chapter set during Wapol’s reign over the Drum Kingdom. Dr. Hiriluk — a top-hatted, cross-emblazoned quack doctor and Chopper’s adoptive father — arrives at Drum Castle in response to Wapol’s summons that twenty doctors are sick. It is a trap: the patients are Wapol’s robed guards, the castle courtyard ringed with them. Wapol orders Hiriluk’s execution for disobeying the king; Hiriluk reveals he has already drunk poisoned mushroom soup (a mushroom Chopper had brought back, believing it would cure him). Refusing to die at Wapol’s hand and refusing to let Chopper see him die by the poison, Hiriluk delivers his philosophy — a man dies when he is forgotten — and self-detonates atop the castle tower the instant Chopper arrives, dying by his own hand and shielding his son with his last words: THANK YOU, CHOPPER. …You old quack… goodbye. Wapol’s men laugh; one spots Chopper and shouts to shoot the monster. Dalton — still nominally captain of Wapol’s regime — intervenes, ordering Chopper to flee and live. The chapter then cuts to Hiriluk’s backstory in fragments: Chopper begging please train me… to be a doctor!; Hiriluk in his castle-prison vowing to carry out the wishes of the old king until peace returns to Drum, refusing to die; Hiriluk’s vow to become the doctor who can cure everything by making himself the miracle cure; and Hiriluk’s white skull-and-X Jolly Roger — the same X-cross Chopper wears on his hat. Dalton confronts Wapol: as long as we treat the people like animals, this country can’t be saved — medicine can’t cure stupidity!!! Dalton charges Wapol; chapter ends mid-strike. The chapter is Chopper’s origin canonized and the moral of the Drum arc — legitimacy comes from who heals the people, not who wears the crown.

New reveals

• Dr. Hiriluk first appears on-page — a tall, gaunt, top-hatted doctor with chest-cross emblem, white pirate flag, and the iconography Chopper inherits (p. 2 et seq.). Wapol calls him Dr. Hiriluk (p. 3) — the first time the name is uttered.
• Hiriluk is Chopper’s adoptive father. Hiriluk to Wapol’s men, shielding Chopper: DON’T HURT HIM. HE’S MY SON. (p. 8).
• Wapol’s twenty sick doctors summons was a trap to draw Hiriluk out (pp. 2-3). Wapol: It was a trap!!! As you can see, the twenty doctors are all quite healthy!
• Hiriluk has already been poisoned — Your mushroom didn’t kill me (p. 8) — Chopper unwittingly brought back an Amiudake / death-cap mushroom thinking it medicinal; Hiriluk drank the soup regardless, sparing Chopper the truth and choosing the manner of his own death.
• Hiriluk’s death-doctrine (pp. 6-7): When does a man die? … It’s when he is forgotten!!! And the ailing hearts of the people will be healed. I may disappear, but my dream will live on.
• Hiriluk self-detonates atop the castle tower (pp. 9-10) — a chest-bomb under his coat. WHAT A LIFE IT WAS!!!! HA!!! BLAMM!!! Last words to Chopper before the blast: THANK YOU, CHOPPER.
• Hiriluk’s Jolly Roger: a white pirate flag bearing a stylized skull with a single bold X-cross-and-cross motif — the same emblem stitched onto Chopper’s pink top hat. Direct wardrobe-foreshadow payoff for the X-on-Chopper’s-hat seed planted in Ch. 134.
• Wapol’s pre-deposition tyranny depicted directly: This is my kingdom!! My word is law!!! Bwah ha ha ha… I’m surrounded by halfwits!! (p. 17). The Ch. 133 worst king ever characterization is now shown rather than told.
• Dalton’s defection arc seeded in flashback — he intervenes to save Chopper from Wapol’s men (HOLD IT!!! Get out of here!!!, p. 12), then publicly indicts the regime: Long after the rest of us gave up hope… this kindly doctor tried to save us!! And now he’s dead!!! … It’s the road to destruction. (p. 14); ends by physically attacking Wapol — …LET ME GO!!!? (pp. 18-19, mid-strike cliffhanger).
• Hiriluk’s prior incarceration revealed — a flashback panel (p. 17) shows him in a barred cell vowing: I’ll carry out the wishes of the old king!!! Until peace is restored to this kingdom!!! I won’t die… I refuse to die!!! This canonizes a prior, legitimate “old king” of Drum whose wishes Hiriluk inherited — a king before Wapol.
• Hiriluk’s medical thesis (p. 16): I will become the doctor who can cure everything!!! I will make myself the miracle cure!!! Because there’s no disease in this world… that’s incurable!!! The arc’s title — Carrying On His Will — is Hiriluk’s doctrine that Chopper inherits.
• Chopper’s apprenticeship origin — flashback (p. 15): a swaddled-up Chopper begs …Please train me… to be a doctor!!! Hiriluk earlier teases Don’t you, Dalton? about being the only quack — the chapter triangulates Hiriluk + Chopper + Dalton as a pre-Wapol-resistance triad.

Foreshadowing seeds planted

Payoffs (seeds from earlier chapters that resolve here)

Notable panels

• Page 1 — Cover story. Django’s Dance Paradise, Vol. 15: “Totally White Fever Dance Contest” — Django’s Mirrorball Dance Contest / Funky Style. Vol. 15 of the Django cover-serial (the disco-arc continuation of the Black Cat Pirates’ Django).
• Page 2 — Hiriluk’s first appearance. Top-hatted gaunt figure, big mustache, fur-collared cape with cross-emblem at the chest, holding a doctor’s bag. Title font DA-DOOM as castle drops back into the snow with the ring of robed guards encircling him. BWAH HA HA.
• Page 5 — Hiriluk’s bag-and-flag. Hiriluk’s doctor’s bag shown explicitly with a white skull-and-X flag stuck into it as a banner (foreground), Hiriluk’s hands lifted in the air — FORGET IT. …You can’t kill me.
• Page 6 — Chopper running. Silhouette-panel of small Chopper in his X-cross top hat racing through the snow forest — TMP TMP TMP… Doctor!! The X-on-hat is centered in the frame; the same X is on Hiriluk’s flag in the parallel panel.
• Page 7 — He is forgotten. Hiriluk seated cross-legged drinking the cup, monologue: When does a man die? … It’s when… HE IS FORGOTTEN!!! Dalton sweating in the bottom-right panel — !!!
• Page 8 — He’s my son. Hiriluk steps out to block Wapol’s archers: DON’T HURT HIM. HE’S MY SON. Don’t worry, Chopper… Your mushroom didn’t kill me. Wapol mid-panel: Soon, a monster will appear. Someone will continue my work.
• Page 9 — Self-detonation panel. Full-figure splash of Hiriluk, arms raised, mid-explosion — BLAMMM — coat unwrapping to show the bomb on his torso. WHAT A LIFE IT WAS!!!! HA!!! Inset: …You old quack… goodbye… / THANK YOU, CHOPPER.
• Page 10 — Castle-tower BOOM. Wide shot of the explosion atop the castle spire, debris falling, smoke pillar — the moment of Hiriluk’s death.
• Page 11 — Top hat in the snow. …OOO… — Hiriluk’s top hat drifts down through smoke, TUP, and lands. Wapol’s men: He blew himself up!!! Then Kuromarimo (afro-hair): King Wapol, look!!! There’s something over there! And it’s not human!!! — Chopper revealed in the snow.
• Page 12 — Dalton intervenes. Dalton’s huge fist halts Wapol’s archers — KRAKK!!! HOLD IT!!! Dalton in shadow protecting Chopper.
• Page 13 — Live… please. Close-up of Dalton’s tear-streaked face in the snow: …For the sake of this country!!! LIVE… PLEASE!!! — to Chopper.
• Page 14 — Dalton’s indictment. Dalton standing in falling snow facing Wapol’s regime: Long after the rest of us gave up hope… this kindly doctor tried to save us!! And now he’s dead!!! … It’s the road to destruction.
• Page 15 — Medicine can’t cure stupidity. Wapol mid-Baku Baku snarl, mouth distended: MEDICINE CAN’T CURE STUPIDITY!!!! Flashback inset: Chopper as a small swaddled reindeer begging Please train me… to be a doctor!!! — and Hiriluk’s gentle reply Call me… Doctor.
• Page 16 — Hiriluk’s flag and miracle-cure vow. Hiriluk’s Jolly Roger fluttering on a pole — FWAP FWAP!! — across from Chopper, while Hiriluk’s voiceover: I will become the doctor who can cure everything!!! I will make myself the miracle cure!!! Because there’s no disease in this world… that’s incurable!!!
• Page 17 — Hiriluk in prison-cell flashback. KLANG!! Bars; Hiriluk in chains: I’ll carry out the wishes of the old king!!! Until peace is restored to this kingdom!!! I won’t die… I refuse to die!!! Cut to Wapol on his throne: Beg my forgiveness and you may live, Dalton. …This is my kingdom!!! My word is law!!! …I’m surrounded by halfwits!!
• Pages 18-19 — Dalton attacks Wapol. Dalton mid-charge, fist raised — AM… LET… ME GO!!!? WHUP…!!!? Cliffhanger; Wapol’s men recoil — !!!? — to be continued.

Open questions raised

• Who was the old king whose wishes Hiriluk vowed to carry out? (A pre-Wapol legitimate monarch of Drum — not yet named on-page.)
• How did Hiriluk and Chopper meet? The chapter shows their bond mid-stream but not the first encounter.
• What was Hiriluk’s pirate history? The Jolly Roger implies a pirate identity beyond quack doctor — was he a true pirate, or did he raise the flag symbolically?
• Does Dalton survive his attack on Wapol? (Cliffhanger.)
• Is the miracle cure literal? Hiriluk dies before achieving it — is the cherry-blossom finale of the Drum arc the posthumous payoff?
• What was the mushroom Chopper brought — and how did Chopper get it? The reindeer’s role in Hiriluk’s death is a key piece of his backstory still off-page in this chapter.

Mentions / first appearances

• First appearance: Dr. Hiriluk — Chopper’s adoptive father, the quack doctor of Drum; dies this chapter. See proposed Characters/Hiriluk.
• First appearance: Hiriluk’s Jolly Roger — white skull-with-X flag (pp. 2, 5, 7, 9, 16). See proposed Foreshadowing/Hiriluk Jolly Roger X-Cross Chopper Inheritance Emblem.
• First on-page (flashback): Tony Tony Chopper in his pre-Straw-Hat backstory — speaking on-page for the first time (begging Hiriluk to train me to be a doctor).
• First on-page (flashback): Wapol on his throne in pre-deposition reign — the only on-page panel of him as the seated monarch of Drum (p. 17).
• First on-page: Hiriluk in a Drum castle-prison cell (p. 17) — Wapol had previously imprisoned him for disobeying the king.
• Mentioned (off-page): the old king — the pre-Wapol legitimate monarch of Drum (p. 17).
• Re-appearances: Wapol, Dalton, Kuromarimo (in flashback as Wapol’s regime-officer), Chess (implicit among the archers).
• Visual/prop: Hiriluk’s doctor’s bag (pp. 2, 5); the mushroom-soup cup (pp. 6-9); Hiriluk’s chest-bomb (p. 9); Chopper’s X-cross top hat (pp. 6, 11, 15).

Cover story

Page 1 — Django’s Dance Paradise, Vol. 15: “Totally White Fever Dance Contest.” Django (the former Black Cat Pirates first-mate) hosts a Mirrorball Dance Contest in his ongoing post-arc cover-serial. The marquee reads MIRRORBALL DANCE CONTEST; below, a giant disco ball labeled Funky Style. Disco-styled dancers fill the foreground. The Django cover-serial continues from Vol. 14. Tonally and thematically unrelated to the main chapter — pure cover-comic B-plot. See cover-tracker follow-up.

Specialist follow-ups

• etymology — Hiriluk (the doctor’s name; first reveal — needs name-origin research). Amiudake / death-cap mushroom (the poison Chopper brought — needs species/etymology check). Carrying On His Will (chapter title) — direct echo of the series-wide will / dream / inherited will grammar (Roger → Whitebeard → Luffy axis); flag for cross-arc thematic indexing. 9-10) is a candidate mirror for later sacrifice-on-a-spire compositions (Ace’s death pose, Whitebeard’s last stand). The arms-raised mid-blast pose specifically. The white-skull-with-X flag on the doctor’s bag (p. 5) is also a candidate cross-chapter visual match against Chopper’s hat across all arcs.
• cover-tracker — Django cover-serial Vol. 15 (Totally White Fever Dance Contest). Continues the Buggy-then-Django post-arc cover chains; track for any payoff-tells in the disco imagery.
• score-predictions — Chopper-doctor-recruitment slot (Luffy Needs Doctor Crew) advances toward final payoff but is not yet closed (Chopper does not join the crew in this chapter). The Ch. 134 X-on-hat wardrobe-foreshadow (Tony Tony Chopper Reindeer First Appearance) is now paid off; promote its status to confirmed-partial and flag for the predictions-scorer.
• sbs-import — Hiriluk name-origin (commonly asked SBS topic). The amiudake poison-mushroom (Oda has commented on Drum-arc botany in SBS volumes 16-17). Worth a targeted SBS pass for Vol. 16-17.