Chapter - 66
Grand Line – Paradise
On a collision course with a supposed 'mountain'
"Ahh, fu... this isn't a mountain, it's a—", Nami starts shouting exasperatedly, with her mouth open, only to be interrupted in the middle by a scream from Usopp, who managed to discern what this 'mountain' really is with his sniper gsses. "It's a colossal whale!!!!"
"Ahhhhh, what do we do?", Kaya screams with her mouth wide open in shock.
"Fight, of course", Zoro says, already unsheathing his three swords.
"Are you crazy? Look at the size of that thing, it's even bigger than the Sea King Luffy befriended", Nojiko says, dismissing Zoro's idea.
"Luffy, you said before that you could take down all those Sea Kings, right? Well, here’s your chance, hit that whale, or we’re going to crash and sink", Sanji yells at Luffy, who until then had been quietly in his spot.
"Yeah, I could do that, but I have a better idea", Luffy says calmly before taking a deep breath and then shouting at the top of his lungs, "HEY BIG WHALEEEE, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY, WE WANT TO PASS!!!"
"IDIOOOOTTTT!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, YOU CAN'T BEFRIEND EVERYONE, YOU ANIMAL!!!", everyone screams at Luffy, angry at their captain's foolishness.
"Of course I can, guys. Just watch while I befriend the big whale", Luffy says, not understanding why everyone is calling him an idiot.
"What got into me to think it was a good idea to join this crew? Well, I guess this at least counts as living my life to the fullest", Chouchou barks with a tired sigh.
At that moment, the whale, which had not noticed them until then, suddenly turns its gaze to the tiny ship who was approaching of him, opens its mouth, and then swallows the Merry.
And as the Straw Hats were swallowed by the whale, everyone screamed at Luffy, punching his head, "LUFFYYYYYYYYYY, YOU ANIMALLLL!!!"
"Ah, sorry guys, I didn’t think it would just swallow us out of nowhere", Luffy says embarrassed, massaging his scalp to ease the pain from the bump that had just formed on his head.
Sailing further into the whale, the Straw Hats suddenly find themselves in a strange pce; it seemed as if they had returned to the outside world. The blue sky with clouds, birds flying in the air, and ahead y a small isnd filled with palm trees with a little paradisiacal house.
"What do you guys think of this?", Nami asks, disbelieving of what she’s seeing.
"What do I think of this?", Zoro asks, a little stunned by what he was seeing, thinking, 'Did we already leave the whale?'
"Did we really get swallowed by a whale?", Sanji asks, still a bit dazed, picking up and lighting a cigarette, taking a drag.
"Is this a dream?", Kaya asks, dazed.
"A group dream?", Nojiko asks, uncertain.
"Well, guys, what about that isnd with the house?", Usopp comments, drawing the group's attention to the isnd with the house.
"A mirage?", Nami specutes, wondering.
While they were specuting about what was going on, a giant squid suddenly jumps out of the water in front of the Merry, seemingly about to attack them.
"Ahhhh, a giant squid!", Usopp screams in fright.
“Dude, you have better Observation Haki than me, how did you still manage to get scared by that?”, Zoro asks, raising an eyebrow, intrigued by Usopp’s fright.
"I don't use Observation Haki all the time, okay?", Usopp expins angrily.
"Well, you should start, at least when we're in situations like this", Zoro says seriously, giving advice.
"Leave this to me, guys", Luffy says with a confident smile.
"YOU'RE NOT GOING TO TRY TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THIS THING TOO, IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO HIT IT, THEN JUST BE QUIET", everyone screams, annoyed with Luffy.
"Tch, buzzkills", Luffy says, puffing his cheeks and grumbling.
Suddenly, right after they yelled at Luffy, the giant squid is impaled by three harpoons that were unched from the house on the isnd.
"What the hell was that?", Usopp asks, startled again.
"Dude, use Haki, you have Observation Haki to use, there’s a living being in the house", Zoro says, rolling his eyes.
Meanwhile, on the isnd, a person begins to come out of the house, noticing then the Merry "A ship?"
"A flower?", Sanji asks, noticing the silhouette of what looked like a flower coming out of the house.
Then, fully stepping into the light, they all realize it’s just an old man dressed in a strange manner.
"Ah, forget what I said, it’s not a flower, just a weird old man", Sanji says, somewhat disappointed it’s just an old man and not some strange creature.
"That old man killed the squid with a shot!", Kaya comments, impressed.
"Was he just fishing or did he decide to save us?", Nami asks rhetorically.
After pulling the giant squid back to the isnd, the old man narrows his eyes, staring fixedly at the Straw Hats without looking away, creating a tense situation.
"SAY SOMETHING, YOU DAMN OLD MAN!!!!", Sanji yells angrily at the old man who just stares at them without saying anything.
The old man then walks to a beach chair located under a coconut tree, without taking his eyes off the group. He then sits down, picks up a newspaper that was lying next to the chair, and opens it, all while still staring at the Straw Hats with narrowed eyes, not saying a single word.
"IF YOU WANT A FIGHT, THEN YOU'LL GET ONE, OUR CREW IS DAMN STRONG, YOU KNOW! THE GUY WITH THE SWORDS FOUGHT DRACULE MIHAWK, THE HOTTIE EYES GUY, AND OUR CAPTAIN, THE ONE WITH THE STRAW HAT, FOUGHT MONKEY D. GARP, THE OLD MAN!", Usopp screams, trying to intimidate the old man from inside the Merry's kitchen, where he ran to after getting scared.
"Don't even think about a fight... or someone will die", the old man says seriously, in a threatening tone, still gring at them without even blinking.
"Oh yeah? And who do you think is going to die, huh, old man?", Sanji asks with a mocking smile.
"Me", the old man says as if it were obvious.
"YOU DAMN OLD PIECE OF SHIT!!!", Sanji screams, irritated by the old man who thinks he is being funny
"Take it easy on the old man, alright? Hey, old man, I have some questions, who are you and where are we exactly? Are we still inside that whale’s belly?", Zoro asks, pushing Sanji aside as he grumbles in the background, "You think you're funny, huh, old man?"
"Didn't they teach you to introduce yourself before asking questions to others, kid?", the old man asks, still gring at them intently.
"Hmm, yeah, I guess so, sorry, my name is Roronoa—", Zoro apologizes and starts introducing himself, only to be interrupted midway by the old man introducing himself at the same time. "My name is Crocus, I take care of the Twin Capes lighthouse, I’m seventy-one years old, I’m a Gemini, and my blood type is AB."
"CAN I KILL THIS DAMN OLD MAN?", Zoro yells, completely irritated.
At that moment, Luffy, who had been doing his best to keep from ughing, can’t hold it in any longer and starts ughing at the whole comedic situation. "HAHAHAHAHA Shishishishi, calm down Zoro, the old man’s funny."
"Hmm, at least one of you has a sense of humor, you’re still in the whale's stomach if that’s what you wanted to know", Crocus says before finally starting to read the newspaper he had in his hands.
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(AN: 1,260 Words)
Chapter - 67
Grand Line – Paradise
Inside the whale's stomach
"Wait, if we're still inside the whale's stomach, then why is there a sky, clouds, and this isnd? There are even birds", Nojiko asks, still uncertain.
“The stomach of a rat that isn’t”, Crocus says sarcastically.
"Rude", Kaya says, a bit offended.
“Oh, what did you expect? For me to be nice? You invade my private resort and still keep bothering me with a bunch of questions", Crocus comments, not caring whether he's being rude or not.
"Wait, so this isn't seawater, it's gastric juice? Shit, how are we going to get out of here? I don't want to be digested", Nami asks, worried, realizing they’re sailing in stomach acid.
"The exit is over there", Crocus says, pointing to the side where there’s a rge gate, seemingly in the middle of nowhere.
"Why the hell is there an exit inside a whale's stomach?", Usopp asks, surprised.
"Alright, guys, let's get out of here before the gastric juice starts corroding the Merry", Nami says, ordering everyone to grab an oar so they can leave.
"Ehh, is no one going to mention the fact that this old man painted the whale's stomach to look like the sky or that he somehow installed a gate in the whale? That's just wrong, doesn't anyone find that a bit cruel?", Kaya asks, bothered by it.
"What? I like good weather, I'm not going to stay in a pce that looks like it came out of a strange dream", Crocus says, shrugging.
"AND WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU WANT TO STAY HERE?", Usopp screams, frustrated with the old man’s logic.
At that moment, an earthquake happens, shaking everything and making everyone almost lose their bance.
"What the hell?", Usopp screams, not understanding what was going on.
"...Sigh... and here we go again", Crocus says with a tired sigh.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN WITH 'HERE WE GO AGAIN', OLD MAN? WHAT’S GOING ON HERE?", Usopp asks desperately.
"This whale is hitting its head against the Red Line again!", Crocus says, closing the newspaper and tossing it aside.
"See, see, I told you, the whale is suffering because of what this old man did to her, he's trying to kill her, I knew it!", Kaya says, pointing at the old man.
"Alright, mystery solved, let’s get out of here, we'll deal with this ter", Zoro says, grabbing an oar so they can leave quickly.
"Urgh, I can't believe I'm going to say this, but the snot head is right, let's get out of here", Sanji says, also grabbing an oar.
And while everyone was helping by rowing, Usopp notices out of the corner of his eye Crocus getting up and then diving into the gastric juice.
"HEY, this crazy old man dove into the gastric juice!!", Usopp shouts, grabbing everyone's attention.
"What is he doing? He’s going to die!", Nami comments, surprised, before turning back to steer the ship.
"I don’t know, let’s get out of here before Merry ends up sinking", Zoro says, not caring at all about what the old man is doing.
At that moment, the whale crashes into the Red Line with great force, making everything tremble violently, and due to this, from a normal-sized steel door located at the top corner of the giant gate, which suddenly opens violently, a man and a woman holding a bazooka each are thrown into the stomach.
Luffy then stretches his arms, grabs both of them in mid-air, and pulls them onto the Merry's deck, preventing them from falling into the gastric juice.
"Who are these guys?", Nojiko asks rhetorically.
"Forget that, more importantly, the old man is escaping", Usopp says, pointing to Crocus, who swam to the giant gate and was now climbing the stairs next to it leading to the normal-sized steel door above.
"Forget about the old man, Usopp, he doesn't seem like a bad guy, and if he is, we'll just beat him up. For now, let's focus on getting out of here", Luffy says, setting the two strangers, who both he and the rest of us already know, aside.
After rowing for a few seconds, everything suddenly becomes calm, with the whale seemingly stopping its head-butting against the Red Line.
"I think the whale calmed down, the old man must have sedated it", Kaya says, specuting.
"So, who are you two?", Nami asks, looking at the two strangers.
"M... Mr. 9, they're pirates!", the woman whispers to her partner upon noticing the bck fg with the Straw Hat Pirates' Jolly Roger on one of the masts.
"I... I know, Miss Wednesday! And I think they know that we know that they know. As soon as they get distracted, we'll make our move, attack the whale, and kill it", Mr. 9 whispers, trying to analyze the facial expressions of the Straw Hat crew.
"Ehh, you guys know we can still hear you, right? Even if you're whispering. And what's this about you wanting to kill the big whale?", Luffy asks, crouching down beside the two without them noticing, startling them with his question.
"AS LONG AS I BREATHE, YOU WILL NEVER LAY A SINGLE FINGER ON LABOON!!!", Crocus shouts, appearing back on the small ptform in front of the normal-sized steel door.
"Oh, the old man is back", Usopp comments, turning his attention back to the old man, as do all his crewmates.
As soon as the Straw Hats' attention turns to the old man, Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday quickly stand up, grabbing, aiming, and firing with their bazookas while shouting, "Hehehehe, now Mr. 9!" "Now that we're inside the whale, it'll be much easier to make a hole in its stomach!!"
"Ohohoho, resisting is useless", Miss Wednesday says arrogantly, ughing like a stereotypical noblewoman.
"Easy, easy, this whale will feed our entire vilge!!", Mr. 9 says, just like his partner, thinking they had hit the target perfectly.
"Ehhh, I think you dropped these by accident", Luffy says, holding the two bazooka projectiles they had just fired, offering them back.
"“WHAT??!!!”", they both scream in shock, incredulous at what they just saw.
"Now, would you do me the favor of tying yourselves up with this rope?", Luffy says, handing them a rope.
"“Of course... of course, sir, we’ll do it!”", Terrified, the two comply with what Luffy asked and tie themselves up with the rope.
=Scene Break=
After leaving the whale's stomach and returning to the Grand Line's sea, everyone finds themselves rexing in an area next to the lighthouse located on the left side of the Reverse Mountain canal, talking about the whale Laboon. Tied up and tossed in a corner were Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, just listening.
"This species is called an isnd whale, it can only be found in the West Blue, they are the rgest whales in the world. The one we're on is named Laboon, and these two idiots are bandits from a nearby isnd. They want to kill Laboon for its meat, which would be enough to easily feed their vilge for about two or three years, but I won't let that happen. Earlier, you thought I was trying to kill Laboon, didn't you, girl?", Crocus asks, addressing Kaya, who was looking with a furrowed brow at the numerous scars on Laboon’s head, which at the moment was staring at the Reverse Mountain.
"From what you said, you don’t want this whale to die, so why did you do all this to its body?", Kaya asks, turning her gaze back to Crocus.
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(AN: 1,254 Words)
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