"Ah ho~"
Luffy shouted with excitement, his crew sharing his eager smiles.
They were almost there! Just climb over this massive mountain, and they'd enter the Grand Line!
The Going Merry surged upward, driven by the current, reaching the peak of the mountain in no time. After a brief plunge, the ship fell into the canal below.
Descending was faster and splashier than the climb, adding to the thrill!
"Woo~~~"
Suddenly, a strange sound echoed. Kai looked up and ahead, murmuring, "Laboon?"
Besides Kai , Zoro was the only one who noticed the sound. He curiously asked, "Did anyone else hear that?"
"It must be the wind!" Nami answered confidently.
As an experienced navigator, she couldn't afford to overreact. That would be too embarrassing.
Despite the oddity of the sound, this was the Grand Line—the most unpredictable sea in the world. A strange noise was nothing out of the ordinary!
"Could it be the sound of a whale?" Kai suggested with a smirk.
"Nonsense, Kai! A whale couldn't make a sound this loud. If it were really a whale, how... loud would it have to be?"
Before Sanji could finish, a massive black shape appeared ahead. As they drew closer, they realized it wasn't a mountain but an enormous whale.
!!!
"Ah!!"
Panic spread among the crew.
"How... how can there be such a giant whale?"
"This is a type of island whale from West Blue. They can grow to the size of an entire island, so this is normal!"
"Prepare to meet your end!" Everyone braced themselves.
But in the blink of an eye...
"No, Kai , the real problem isn't identifying the whale; we're about to crash into it!!!"
"Alright, alright! I've got a plan!" Kai Vane said nonchalantly.
✧. ٩(ˊωˋ)و✧*!
"What's the plan?" everyone asked in unison.
"The solution is..."
Kai leapt onto the whale's head and slashed forward with his foot.
"Rankyaku!"
A powerful slash flew out, hitting the whale's body.
"Moo~"
The whale, Laboon, groaned in pain, then opened its mouth, sucking in all the seawater around it. Naturally, Kai and the ship were pulled in too.
The entire ship was now inside Laboon's belly.
???
!!(•'╻'• )꒳o꒳ᵎᵎᵎ
(σ;Д)σDeath penalty!
"So, your grand plan to avoid crashing is to let us be swallowed?!"
"Just tell me if you crashed into it," Kai said, spreading his hands.
"It's true that we didn't~"
"But we're going to be eaten!"
"Isn't this worse than a collision?"
Luffy and the others grabbed Kai by the neck, shaking him and shouting.
"You guys... are looking for a fight, aren't you?"
"Bang bang bang bang!"
"Hey, nowadays, you can't even speak up if you mess up!" Luffy said, his face bruised and red.
"Exactly, only the wrongdoers dare to strike first. What's the reason behind that?"
"The world is going downhill, and people's hearts are not what they used to be!"
Zoro and Sanji chimed in, one after another.
After hearing this, Kai felt a twitch in his fist. But after a moment of reflection, he decided to let it go. There was no fun in bullying these weaklings all the time.
Kai said calmly, "If I'm brave enough to be swallowed by a whale, it means we're absolutely fine!"
"Stop jabbering and just wait. Everything will be fine!"
A few minutes later, after spinning around inside the whale, the Merry settled gently on a verdant ocean.
The blue sky, the white clouds, the flying birds—everyone was momentarily stunned.
"Weren't we swallowed by a whale? What... is this?" Nami asked, bewildered.
"We are indeed inside the whale now!" A cup of coffee appeared in Kai 's hand as he took a sip and explained casually.
"Eh?"
"Yes, look—these white clouds and birds aren't real. They're painted!" Usopp pointed to the sky.
"So... the ocean below is stomach acid?" Sanji's face paled.
"Exactly!"
"Who are you...?"
Just then, an old voice echoed in their ears.
Everyone turned towards the source of the voice.
"Wow! A flower is coming towards us!!!" Luffy shouted in alarm.
"Hmph! How rude to call me a flower !"
"Flowers can talk now?!" Luffy was even more terrified.
"Idiot, that's obviously a person!" Zoro said with exasperation, though he too was confused.
"Why is there an island inside a whale's belly?"
Zoro couldn't help but ask, "Old man, who are you? Why are you in the whale's belly?"
"Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking someone else?"
"Uh... right!"
"I'm Roronoa..."
"I'm Crocus, the lighthouse keeper of TwinCapes. I'm 71 years old, my zodiac sign is Gemini, and my blood type is AB!"
"Clang!" The sword came out of its sheath.
"Don't stop me, I'm going to chop him!"
"Calm down, calm down!" Sanji tried to restrain the situation.
"Think of taking action? I'd advise against it, as it would be fatal!" Crocus said coldly, his eyes glinting.
"Huh?" The crew's expressions froze as they stared at the old man.
Sanji puffed on his cigarette, blowing out smoke rings as he said, "Let's see who dies first!"
He didn't believe an old man in his 70s could be much of a threat.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Isn't it obvious who will die? Of course, it's me!" Crocus said confidently.
((ƪ(•̩̩̩̩_•̩̩̩̩)ʃ))omgᵎᵎ
"So it's you!!!"
...
"By the way, what are you doing here? You're not planning to harm this whale, are you?" Crocus eyed the crew suspiciously.
"Of course not, we were just accidentally swallowed by Laboon!" Kai explained from the bow of the ship.
"Oh~ I see!" Crocus nodded.
But suddenly, he seemed to realize something. His eyes widened in horror as he asked word by word, "How do you know the name of this whale?"
A mysterious smile appeared on Kai's face.
"This..."
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Power Stones would be appreciated if you like the story