"Whoa~ whoa~ whoa~" After much effort, the Going Merry finally carried the Straw Hat crew into Reverse Mountain.
Luffy was thrilled, continuously shouting in excitement as they climbed the mountain.
However, as they reached the summit, the current began to descend. While it wasn't dangerous for them, it was still quite thrilling.
"Nami-san, there's a mountain ahead!" Sanji called out from high up on the mast, pointing at a large shadow in the distance.
"That's impossible! After Reverse Mountain, it should just be a vast ocean!" Nami replied, surprised.
"It's a whale!" Usopp, peering through his glasses, trembled as he spoke.
"What? A whale that big?" Luffy exclaimed, looking forward in awe.
"BOOOOOWWWWW~~~"
Just then, the whale let out a roar, sending the crew into a panic.
"Now's not the time for this! We need to think of a way to avoid it, or we're going to crash!"
"The rudder is broken; we can't steer!"
"What do we do? We're gonna die!"
The ship was thrown into chaos as Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro rushed to the broken rudder, desperately trying to make the ship turn.
But their efforts seemed futile. Luffy clapped his hands as an idea struck him, hurrying over to the cannon.
"Boom~"
"A cannon?" The rest of the crew was taken aback. They hadn't expected Luffy to use the cannon's recoil to stop the ship. But attacking such a gigantic creature didn't seem much different from crashing into it.
"Clunk~"
Although the ship halted, the ram on the bow was smashed, infuriating Luffy upon seeing the damage.
"Quick, escape!" Zoro shouted, staring into the whale's eye, which seemed oblivious to them.
"It's probably too big to notice such a small attack. It's like a mosquito to it! Let's get out of here before it realizes we're here!" Nami urged, finding new hope as they quickly paddled away.
"BOOOOOWWWWW~~~"
Just as they passed under the whale's eye, it let out another roar that felt like it would burst their eardrums. Even Ryu, still inside the cabin, twitched his fingers, seemingly hearing the whale's roar.
"What have you done to my special seat?" Luffy stood at the bow, extending his arm to punch the whale in the eye.
"That idiot!" "Fool!" "We're done for!"
The rest of the crew watched with tears in their eyes as Luffy attacked the whale, their hearts sinking.
Sure enough, while it didn't injure the whale, the soft spot was enough to make it look directly down at them.
"Run! It spotted us!"
But instead, Luffy angrily yelled at the whale, "Come at me, you jerk!"
"Shut up already!" The others kicked Luffy, finally silencing him.
However, they soon realized that the whale had opened its mouth wide and swallowed the Going Merry whole. Luffy, using his arms for leverage, managed to escape, climbing through the blowhole.
"Guys, what do you think? I feel like we've been swallowed by the whale!" Sanji said, taking a drag from his cigarette.
After being sucked inside, they had tumbled down to a peaceful stretch of ocean.
"What do you mean, what do I think? I think I'm dreaming!" Zoro replied quietly, staring at a small wooden house, the sky, and seagulls in front of them.
It looked just like any other ocean surface; if they hadn't known they were swallowed, they'd think they were in a normal sea.
After their adventure, Sanji and the others finally met the owner of this place—a flower-adorned old man who emerged from the wooden house and helped them fend off the giant squid that had jumped out of the water.
"Is that a flower? No, wait, that's a person!" Sanji said, squinting at the old man as he emerged from the house.
However, the old man paid them no mind. After taking care of the squid, he sat down in a recliner outside the house with a newspaper, showing no interest in greeting Sanji and the others.
"Hey, you jerk! At least say something!" Sanji snapped, angered by the man's rudeness.
"If you want to fight, we've got a cannon!" Usopp trembled as he spoke.
"Better not; you'll end up dead!" The old man shot a sideways glance at them, coolly responding.
"Oh? Who do you think will die?" Sanji asked, raising an eyebrow, intrigued.
"Me!" the old man answered without hesitation.
"Are you talking about yourself?" Sanji yelled in anger, feeling as if he had exhausted all his strength, only to find it futile, like hitting cotton.
"Calm down, old man. Please tell us who you are and where we are!" Zoro interjected, maintaining his composure and smiling at the old man.
"When asking others, it's only polite to introduce yourself first, don't you think?" The old man shot a fierce look at Zoro.
"Right, sorry. I'm—"
"My name is Crocus, the lighthouse keeper of Twin Cape. I'm 71 years old, type AB blood, and a Gemini."
Before Zoro could finish, the old man suddenly began his self-introduction, nearly prompting Zoro to draw his sword in frustration.
Eventually, Sanji and the others figured out that they were indeed still inside the whale, Laboon. Usopp even discovered that the sky above was painted and not the real thing.
However, the calm ocean soon began to shake. According to Crocus, the whale, Laboon, was starting to ram into the Red Line again. With that, he jumped into what resembled the acidic stomach of the whale, swimming towards a large exit.
At the same time, Luffy, along with Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, had also fallen into the acidic sea.
In the end, Sanji rescued Luffy and the others. Crocus even administered a sedative to Laboon, but Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday had ulterior motives to attack the whale. After some chaos, Crocus shared the reason why the whale kept ramming into the Red Line and led them through a passage he had opened, allowing them to exit Laboon's belly and reemerge in the ocean.
Once out, they tossed the captured Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday overboard, letting them swim away.
Arriving at the lighthouse, Crocus explained the dangers of the Grand Line to Luffy and his crew. Upon learning that they didn't even have a log pose and hadn't prepared at all before entering the Grand Line, he was both impressed and amused by their reckless behavior!
After hearing Laboon's story, Luffy impulsively made a promise for a battle with Laboon. The rest of the crew was filled with apprehension. However, when Luffy drew the Straw Hat Pirates' flag on Laboon's head, it signified that their promise was fulfilled, and Laboon would no longer ram his head into the Red Line.
Afterward, everyone finally relaxed. Sanji even started preparing a meal using the premium ingredients they had brought back from Loguetown, while they all ate and listened to Crocus explain the basics of the Grand Line, completely forgetting that there was a patient still lying in the cabin.
Eventually, Luffy and the crew received a log pose from Crocus and returned, inviting Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday to Whisky Peak, marking the beginning of their adventure on the Grand Line.
However, the unpredictable weather of the Grand Line almost drove Nami crazy. One moment it was sunny, the next it was snowing, followed by a storm. After all the chaos, everyone was exhausted except for Ryu, who remained in the cabin, and Zoro, who was asleep on the deck.
"Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday? Those names sound familiar," Zoro said, just waking up and sitting in front of the two unexpected guests, stroking his chin.
But after Nami violently subdued Zoro, the pirate ship finally reached Whisky Peak, an island adorned with massive cacti.
"Thank you for bringing us back. We'll take our leave here!" Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday exclaimed, jumping straight into the sea and swimming back.
Luffy and the others paid them no mind, instead filled with curiosity about the island they were about to dock at. However, as the ship sailed into the harbor, they were greeted with a warm welcome from the town's residents.
Yet behind this welcome lay a sinister plot: these people were members of Baroque Works, working under Crocodile, and were all bounty hunters, specializing in hunting pirates.
The daytime facade of welcoming Luffy and his crew was merely to ensure they could easily take their lives at night, but Zoro saw through the ruse.
"My friends are already exhausted. If you want to play, why don't you let me entertain you?" Zoro said, sitting on the rooftop with a smirk, ready to ambush the bounty hunters.
"You bastard! How did you find out?" a burly man with curly hair growled at Zoro.
"I remember a long time ago, an organization called Baroque Works or something like that tried to recruit me, but I turned them down. Their members seem to use weird names like yours as codenames, so I found it odd when I saw those two!" Zoro pointed at Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday.
"Knowing about our organization means we can't let you live! Kill him!" the curly-haired Igaram shouted at Zoro.
"Hey, about 100 of you, huh? Sounds like fun!" Zoro's excitement began to rise.
However, while they were battling, several goons from Baroque Works made their way onto the Going Merry. They were there to see if these pirates had any treasure, especially since their captain had a bounty of 30 million, implying they couldn't be poor.
Upon reaching the cabin, they were startled to find someone still lying inside.
"What the heck? It's just an injured person. You scared me!" one of the goons exclaimed as he stepped closer and cursed under his breath.
"Get rid of him quickly, then look for the treasure!" another goon urged impatiently.
...
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