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"Something doesn't feel right..." Nami said, frowning as the Merry rapidly descended from Reverse Mountain.
"Huh? What is it, Nami?" Usopp asked from nearby.
"Well, after coming down Reverse Mountain, we should be seeing endless ocean ahead, right?"
She pointed through the fog at the exit of Twin Cape, clearly confused.
"So how come there's a huge cave right there?"
Once she said that, everyone else finally noticed something weird too.
"Wait wait wait, you've gotta be kidding!!"
As the Merry kept going, they finally saw the truth behind the "cave."
"THAT'S A WHALE'S MOUTH!!!" Usopp screamed, totally losing it. "WE'RE GONNA GET EATEN ALIVE!!!"
"Hahahaha, this is awesome!" Luffy laughed, pressing down his hat. "Let's go in and explore!"
"YOU IDIOT!!!" Zoro wanted to kick him right off the deck. Getting in was easy—getting out might be impossible!
"Hey Bai Ye, can you use your Qimen magic to steer us away?" Sanji pointed at a gap near the whale's mouth.
Bai Ye shrugged.
"With water currents this strong? My Qimen won't cut it."
This was the world's biggest island whale, after all. Its suction was on par with a Sea King.
Even Bai Ye's magic couldn't help here.
Still, he looked totally calm—after all, he knew how the original story went.
So he just told everyone, "We're already here, might as well take a look inside."
Might as well?! Nami and Usopp clutched their heads in despair.
Damn it... even their once-reliable vice-captain had been corrupted by Luffy's madness!
And so, with Luffy all hyped, Bai Ye staying chill, and everyone else freaking out, the Merry was swallowed whole by the whale.
Inside, they discovered a surprising little world—complete with a "ship" floating in stomach acid.
The ship had a small house on it. From that house stepped an old man—white-haired, glasses on, with a saffron flower stuck in his head.
He walked over to a deck chair, sat down with a newspaper, glanced at the Straw Hats, then looked back at the paper.
Finally, his gaze stopped on Luffy's huge grin.
He opened his mouth and said:
"Well, well... Didn't expect you guys to show up so soon."
"Arrogant Kings of East Blue—the Straw Hat Pirates."
Luffy tilted his head. "Huh? Arrogant kings of East Blue?"
"Who's that supposed to be?"
"Clearly he's talking about us, you idiot!"
Usopp chimed in from the side with a deadpan remark.
At that moment, the old man finally spoke up:
"My name's Crocus. I'm the lighthouse keeper here at Twin Cape. I'm 71 years old, a Gemini, blood type AB."
"No one asked you that! And why the hell are you giving us all those details? Who wants to know your blood type?!" x2
Nami and Usopp shouted in sync, clearly not amused.
"Hahaha, I like this old guy. He's funny!"
Luffy, on the other hand, was clearly amused and took a liking to him right away.
"Straw Hat Kid..."
Crocus stood up, eyes deep and sharp as he looked at Luffy and spoke slowly:
"You're aiming to become the Pirate King, huh?"
"You want to be someone like Roger?"
The moment he said that, Luffy—who had been grinning—suddenly turned serious.
He pressed down the straw hat on his head, shading his eyes.
Then he looked up and said, "I don't want to be like Roger!"
"I want to become Pirate King because I want to. That's all there is to it!"
That's just the kind of guy Luffy was. He could be goofy and carefree, but when it came to certain things, he was dead serious.
"Is that so…"
Crocus nodded thoughtfully at Luffy's answer, and was just about to speak again when—
Suddenly, the stomach acid beneath them started churning violently.
"Laboon's ramming the Red Line again."
After saying that, Crocus casually jumped straight into the acid.
"W-Wait, he just jumped in there?! That stuff's gonna melt him into nothing!"
Sanji stared in horror.
Of course, Crocus didn't get melted. He quickly entered a tunnel system he'd built inside Laboon's body.
He injected the whale with a sedative from the inside.
Soon enough, the medicine kicked in and Laboon calmed down again.
When Crocus came back, he not only led them out through an iron door inside Laboon, but also shared the story of the Rumbar Pirates and their promise with Laboon back at Twin Cape.
After that came the iconic moment. Since the Going Merry wasn't badly damaged, Luffy didn't repeat the original version of stabbing Laboon with the ship's mast.
But even so, Luffy still made a brand-new promise with Laboon.
That made Crocus genuinely relieved and happy, and he started chatting more openly with everyone.
"What? You're a ship doctor, old man?!"
Luffy's eyes lit up. "Then come sail with us!"
"Hey, Luffy! How many times do I have to tell you—stop inviting random people onboard!"
Nami smacked Luffy on the head and added, "Besides, we've got Bai Ye's healing pills, right? With those, we don't really have to worry about getting sick."
"Not exactly," Bai Ye spoke up.
"My pills are only for treating injuries. They can't fully replace a ship doctor."
"I mean, I have no way of knowing your physical conditions in real time. I can only give you pills after you get sick or hurt."
"That's pretty risky when you're sailing across the seas."
Bai Ye had never thought of his abilities as all-powerful—especially when it came to his pills.
Even though he had a whole stash of Grade 6 to Grade 9 pills, relying solely on them to conquer the Grand Line was wishful thinking at best.
Plus, Bai Ye didn't want his presence to cause a butterfly effect that would stop Chopper from ever joining the crew.
For one thing—who could say no to a talking, tsundere reindeer… I mean, tanuki?
And he'd eaten the only Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit in existence. Sure, he was still a bit of a landlubber, but still.
On top of that, Bai Ye had a few theories—and he needed Chopper's help to test them.
If he was right, they might even be able to uncover some secrets about Devil Fruits.
Back to the moment—
"Hahaha, I'm too old for that kind of thing. I gave up the thrill of adventure long ago,"
Crocus laughed as he grilled some fish at Twin Cape.
"Even back in the day, my travels were pretty dull."
"Come on," Bai Ye suddenly chimed in, squinting at him with a playful grin.
"If sailing all the way around the Grand Line counts as 'dull'... then there's probably nothing exciting left in this world."
"WHAT?!" x4
Zoro and the others all shouted in shock. If what Bai Ye said was true...
Then that old man in front of them was—
"He was on the Pirate King's crew?!"
Usopp nearly screamed.
"What?!" Luffy looked completely stunned. "Old man, you're that strong?!"
Usopp: Are you dumb or what?
"I'm curious—how do you even know that?"
Crocus looked up at Bai Ye and asked.
"....."