Both time-traveled characters ended up as villainous henchmen.

After confirming Chopper's location, He Nian was no longer in a hurry.

Instead of immediately approaching and exposing himself, he concealed himself, using his powerful Observation Haki to silently sense Chopper and the desires and dreams emanating from his Devil Fruit.

Chopper's Devil Fruit: Zoan type, Human-Human Fruit, Human form.

Unlike the various fancy Human-Human Fruits that appeared later in One Piece, Chopper's Human-Human Fruit doesn't have any other Haki-sounding names; it only has the purest Human-Human Fruit ability: turning into a human.

Fortunately, Chopper is a reindeer; otherwise, if a human had eaten the Human-Human Fruit, he would probably have only received a debuff that prevented him from swimming.

Of course, the Human-Human Fruit has more than just the ability to turn oneself into a human. He Nian remembers that in the latest One Piece information, it seems that it can also turn other living beings back into "humans".

In the manga, Chopper easily broke Im's black-turn control, allowing those who had been controlled and turned into demons to return to normal.

Knowing this, He Nian used Observation Haki to observe the "desire" emanating from Chopper's Devil Fruit and instantly had a different feeling.

At this moment, the intense "desire" of Chopper's Human-Human Fruit to become human had materialized in He Nian's "vision," transforming into a human phantom whose form was constantly changing.

The forms of men and women, young and old, strong and weak, are varied, but all these "human" phantoms have one thing in common: they are normal.

Even though He Nian couldn't make out the specific features of these phantoms, a strong message emanated from them: they were all normal people, healthy in body and mind.

Body and mind.

Once again, He Nian encountered these two familiar terms while exploring and researching in different directions.

At the same time, these two directions are also the two main directions from which Chopper's immense desire to become human, stemming from his Human-Human Fruit, converges.

One is becoming a person through the body, and the other is becoming a person through the mind.

The former is very concrete, since human appearance is easy to distinguish. Therefore, after Chopper ate the Devil Fruit, he quickly developed a practical application of the former, transforming from an animal into a human.

The latter cannot be simply summarized. It is only those with noble qualities such as truth, goodness, and beauty who deserve to be called human beings, or even those with human flaws such as the seven emotions and six desires who can still be considered human beings.

He Nian guessed that the specific balance in this matter was probably determined by Chopper himself.

What kind of heart truly constitutes a human heart? The answer to this question probably already subtly appeared in Chopper's heart when Hiluluk died.

However, Chopper probably hasn't realized this yet.

It still needs to continue to grow.

The direction of growth has been determined by the "dream" that shines brightly amidst the intense desires of the Devil Fruit.

To become an excellent doctor, to become a "panacea" that can cure everything.

After observing silently for a while, He Nian did not discover exactly how the Human-Human Fruit's power to influence people's hearts manifested, but he made a small discovery from the direction of another major desire emanating from the Human-Human Fruit—becoming humanoid.

He seems to have grasped the subtle connection between desire and ability.

When consciousness touches the "rules" of the world, it triggers a special resonance and change, eventually reaching the point of rewriting reality.

Although He Nian is still unclear on how to trigger this "resonance" with the rules of the world, he can now clearly perceive desires and thoughts.

In addition, his constant movement in and out of the black mist space allowed him to experience the fusion of various otherworldly powers within his body and their collision with the rules of the pirate world.

This gave him a rudimentary understanding of the "rules" of the pirate world.

Since the two main entities in the event can already be observed, the specific changes that subsequently lead to a connection between them will eventually be summarized and deduced by him.

He has even come up with a similar method.

That is, world "certification".

Thinking of this, He Nian stopped hiding, released his aura, and strode towards Chopper.

Chopper was carefully gathering medicinal herbs when he suddenly sensed a powerful, unfamiliar aura locking onto him and rapidly approaching.

"W-what should we do? Could it be those search guards from Drum Kingdom?"

After a brief moment of panic, Chopper quickly transformed back into a normal reindeer, changing from his original small, plush toy-like form.

At the same time, its behavior pattern has become like that of an ordinary reindeer, like a wild reindeer foraging in the snowy mountains and forests.

Chopper attempted to deceive the searching guards through this transformation, as it had succeeded many times before. Even if something unusual was discovered, it could use this form to escape quickly.

But He Nian was not one of those search guards from the Drum Kingdom.

Holding a custom-made whisk, He Nian moved with measured steps, his figure quickly sweeping through the mountains and forests, leaving no trace on the snow, heading straight for the blue-nosed reindeer wearing a hat.

Chopper cautiously pretended not to run away immediately. When He Nian continued to move towards it, it knew it had been discovered.

Just as Chopper was preparing to run away with all its might, He Nian called out the instant the thought of escape had formed in its mind:

"Don't be afraid, I am not a bad person. I have come here only to seek your help!"

He Nian spoke quickly, simultaneously activating the power of the "Sea Reflecting the Sky" visualization method, transmitting its calming power to Chopper through his voice.

Instantly, Chopper's initial fear subsided and he calmed down.

It seemed to stand on a vast, calm sea, its entire body bathed in the cool moonlight, giving its soul a special baptism.

Chopper didn't run away. Instead, he boldly stopped and silently observed the strangely dressed human who had also stopped not far away.

Those clothes are so strange. Is this guy from out of town? Or is he a pirate?

Chopper's mind was in turmoil, but he still kept a wary eye on He Nian.

He Nian breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Chopper didn't run away immediately after seeing him.

Fortunately, he sensed it in advance and used the mental secrets of "The Sea Reflects the Sky" to dispel most of Chopper's hostility and fear.

"Thank you for staying to listen to my ramblings."

He Nian bowed respectfully to Chopper, earnestly playing the role of a Taoist priest, and then spoke in a gentle tone,

"My name is He Nian, and my Taoist name is Zhanmo. I come from a small island in the distance that was destroyed by evil spirits."

It was only because I consulted a divination before setting off that I heard the will of Heaven, which led me to this Magnetic Drum Winter Island to find a spirit deer with the power to heal people's hearts.

This deer may help this poor monk avert the calamities of this world.

After speaking, He Nian looked directly at Chopper, his eyes full of sincerity.

It took Chopper a lot of effort to understand He Nian's words, which had a strange accent.

A healing deer? Me? To save the world?

Chopper was dumbfounded, and at the same time, a feeling of pride and shyness rose in his heart.

"Haha, it's not as exaggerated as you say."