"I see it, the Grand Line!"
Amidst the screams, Luffy's joyful cheer suddenly rang out.
Everyone immediately stopped screaming upon hearing him, gazing at the new sea area on the other side of the mountain, their small faces filled with excitement and anticipation.
Then, the next second...
"Woo-wah-wah-wah..."
"Ah-ah-ah-ah..."
"Yah-yah-yah-yah..."
The screams resumed as the merry go, after reaching the peak, began to ride the downward current, rushing downwards.
The wind howled, and cold seawater splashed onto everyone's faces, yet it could not extinguish their enthusiasm and excitement.
Everyone's faces were filled with expressions of anticipation and excitement.
But at that moment, amidst the howling wind, there seemed to be a strange sound, like a train whistle, like a mournful cry.
"Bo-oh-oh-oh-oh..."
Hearing this unusual sound, Zoro couldn't help but ask curiously,
"Hey! What's that sound? Did you hear it?"
Nami, unconcerned, guessed,
"It must be the wind! There are many strange terrains here!"
Luffy, however, shook his head upon hearing their conversation and said,
"No! That's the sound of a whale."
At the starting point of the Grand Line, the whale that kept hitting the Red Line with its head, Laboon, Luffy naturally remembered him vividly.
"A whale?"
Nami mumbled in confusion.
"Bo-oh-oh-oh-oh..."
The strange sound rang out again.
As the merry go descended further, this sound was particularly clear.
"Hey! Wh-wh-what's that? Look, everyone!"
At this moment, Usopp suddenly screamed in panic, as if startled.
Everyone looked where he pointed, and saw a shadow as huge as a mountain at the end of this downward current.
"Is that... a mountain?"
Sanji pointed at the shadow, saying with some astonishment.
"A mountain? That's impossible! After Twin Capes ahead, it should be an endless ocean!"
Nami was also perplexed at this point, her face full of confusion.
"That's the whale that was making the strange noise just now. Take a closer look."
Luffy said, looking at the incredibly massive Laboon before him.
Everyone listened to Luffy and looked closely.
They saw that the "great mountain" had two huge, bright, moon-like eyes on its sides, with pupils as black as beans, yet several times the size of a battleship.
And on top of the "great mountain" were dense, chaotic, crisscrossing scars like deep ravines, a truly shocking sight.
"Bo-oh-oh-oh-oh..."
Laboon let out another mournful cry.
As they got closer, this sound exploded near Luffy and the others' ears, seemingly piercing everyone's eardrums.
"Ah! My ears hurt!"
Just as everyone covered their ears in painful endurance, they saw Laboon open his mouth like a black hole.
Immediately, all the surrounding seawater rushed towards them, as if forming a giant whirlpool.
The merry go was also uncontrollably drifting rapidly towards the super whirlpool.
"Uwaaahhh... We're going to be eaten!"
"What should we do? Think of something quickly!"
"No, the rudder won't turn at all."
Screams continued on the ship.
Just as they were about to fall into the bottomless black hole, Luffy shouted a reminder,
"Hold on tight, everyone, don't fall out."
Everyone immediately grabbed onto something sturdy nearby and crouched down.
The next second, they felt the world go dark, followed by a dizzying sensation.
"What… what's going on? Here!"
"Am I dreaming?"
"I remember we were eaten by a whale, weren't we? Why are we in a place like this?"
On the Merry, everyone on board looked at the scene before them with extreme disbelief.
Above them was a blue sky with white clouds, and a few seagulls could be seen in the distance.
Below was a calm sea, and not far away, a small island could be seen, with a house and a coconut tree on it.
"This is inside the whale's stomach," Luffy said calmly.
He knew before that nothing would happen if they were swallowed, which was why he didn't take any action.
And now, they had arrived inside Laboon's stomach.
Hearing Luffy's words, Usopp exclaimed, "So it's not a dream after all?!"
Nami pointed to the small island ahead, asking in confusion, "What's with that small island? Why is there a house here?"
At this moment, Uta suddenly said, "That's Crocus's home."
Upon hearing Uta's words, everyone immediately turned their heads to look, asking in confusion,
"Crocus? Who is that?"
"Do you know him, Uta?"
"Uta, why do you know?"
A series of questions were thrown at Uta simultaneously.
Luffy also suddenly realized that Uta must have been brought here by Shanks before.
After all, this was the starting point of the Grand Line; no matter where one set off from the four seas, upon entering the Grand Line, they would arrive at this place.
Of course, this excludes crossing the Calm Belt.
Uta was about to answer when suddenly, a giant squid, dozens of times the size of the Merry, shot out from Laboon's stomach fluid.
The giant squid appeared right at the bow of the Merry, about to attack.
Before Luffy and the others could react, with a splattering sound, the giant squid's head was pierced by three huge harpoons.
"S… incredible! To be able to take down a giant squid in one go…" Usopp couldn't help but exclaim.
To be able to instantly kill such a giant creature, his strength must be extraordinary.
As the squid died and fell into the stomach fluid, Luffy and the others saw an old man standing on that small island.
The old man had flower-like decorations on his head and was holding the ropes of the three harpoons.
"Crocus!" Seeing the old man, Uta immediately cried out in surprise, waving her hand excitedly to greet him.
Crocus was also stunned for a moment.
He felt that this voice sounded somewhat familiar.
And when he saw the girl with half-red, half-white hair standing at the bow of the ship, a figure from his memory instantly appeared in his mind.
Crocus asked in surprise, "What? Is that Uta?"
Uta nodded happily and replied, "It's me! Crocus! Long time no see!"
Upon confirmation, joy and excitement immediately appeared on Crocus's face, and he sighed with emotion, "Yes! It's been over ten years!"
...
On Crocus's island, Luffy and the others all landed.
Uta and Crocus, reunited after a long separation, simply caught up for a while.
Suddenly remembering that she hadn't introduced him to the others, Uta quickly introduced him to everyone.
"Crocus, these are all my companions."
"This is Luffy, my Captain."
"This is Nami, Nojiko, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp."
Crocus greeted everyone, but his gaze specifically fell on Luffy, observing him.
He recalled the story Shanks told him about meeting a certain young man the last time he visited him.
Uta continued the introduction, "Everyone, this is Crocus."
"He is the lighthouse keeper of this Twin Capes…"
The Straw Hat crew calmly and politely greeted Crocus.
"And also the ship doctor of the previous Pirate King Roger's ship!" Uta added.
Immediately, the originally calm Straw Hat crew were struck as if by lightning, exclaiming in unison, "What?!"
After the sudden, thunderstruck exclamations, the few people besides Luffy continued to be shocked and amazed.
"The… Pirate King?!"
"The ship doctor on that ship?!"
"No wonder he could easily kill that squid just now! He's actually from that Pirate King's ship…"
"I never thought we'd meet such a legendary figure right after entering the Grand Line."
Seeing their shocked expressions, Crocus remained calm; at his age, he was already used to such things.
Luffy also showed the same expression; after all, even if Uta hadn't said it, he already knew.
However, this attracted Crocus's attention even more.
It was normal for someone his age not to be surprised, but was Luffy, at his age, also so calm?
This kid is interesting!
Crocus observed Luffy, muttering to himself.
At this moment, Nami couldn't help but ask Uta in confusion, "But it's very strange! Why do you know Crocus, Uta? And you two seem to have a very good relationship!"
Uta replied, "That's because I was brought here by Shanks before; Shanks introduced us."
Hearing another character appear, the others fell into confusion again.
"Shanks? Who is that?"
"Is this Shanks very familiar with Crocus?"
"Speaking of which, Luffy and Uta once said that my father seemed to be in this Shanks's pirate crew!"
Nami rubbed her chin, muttering thoughtfully, "I keep feeling like I've heard that name somewhere! Where could it be?"
Uta smiled, her eyes curving into crescent moons, and said, "Shanks was also a crew member on the Pirate King's ship, and he got along very well with Crocus!"
"When we passed by here before, he brought me here to visit Crocus."
After Uta finished speaking, everyone else besides Luffy was shocked again.
"Another crew member from the Pirate King's ship?!"
"Why does Uta know a crew member from the Pirate King's ship?"
Hearing that this Shanks was also once a member of the Pirate King's ship, Nami, who had been deep in thought, suddenly trembled and looked at Uta, exclaiming in shock, "Wait! The Shanks you're talking about, could it be the legendary Four Emperors, Red Hair Shanks?"
Uta smiled and nodded, "Yes! He is my father."
"What did you say?!!!"
As soon as Uta's words fell, an incredible gasp erupted again, echoing throughout Laboon's stomach.
A moment later…
"U… Uta, you're actually the daughter of that… that Four Emperors Red Hair Shanks!!"
"That's a Four Emperors! The strongest pirate in this world."
"It's truly unbelievable!"
Looking at her shocked and stunned companions, Uta said apologetically, "I'm sorry, I didn't tell you sooner."
Everyone waved their hands, gradually recovering their composure from the continuous shocks.
"No, it's not your fault! Everyone has things others don't know!"
"Although it's very surprising, it's also because we never brought it up before!"
"That's right! Just like if we didn't ask about Luffy's background, we naturally wouldn't know his background; it's a simple truth!"
Everyone comforted Uta, their emotions almost returning to calm.
Uta, hearing their words, blinked her beautiful big eyes in a dazed manner, and a sentence floated from her lips.
"Luffy is Grandpa Garp's grandson! That Marine Hero, 'Iron Fist' Garp."
"…"
The air fell into a moment of silence.
The next second…
"What did you say?!!!!"
The sound of shock seemed to penetrate Laboon, echoing through the sky.
...
Inside Laboon's stomach, on Crocus's island.
Luffy and Uta were stared at by the others like monkeys in a zoo, their eyes fixed on them, unblinking.
Originally, after knowing Uta's identity, the others had been shocked for a while and were starting to calm down.
But when they heard that Luffy was actually the grandson of that Marine Hero Garp, these people could no longer control their emotions.
At this moment, looking at the two of them was like looking at monsters, their emotions unable to settle for a long time.
Luffy was too lazy to bother with them anymore.
He had been looked at like this by Nami and Nojiko once before, so he was used to it.
Instead, he turned to Crocus and asked, "How do we get out of here?"
As soon as Luffy finished speaking, everyone suddenly felt a violent tremor.
At the same time, the mournful sounds they had heard outside earlier began to ring out continuously.
"Boo-hoo-hoo-hoo..."
Noticing this sudden change, Crocus's brows furrowed tightly.
"Oh no, Laboon is hitting the Red Line again!"
With that, before anyone else could react, Crocus plunged into Laboon's stomach acid and swam into the distance.
Meanwhile, everyone in the Straw Hat Crew, except for Luffy and Uta, was still deeply confused.
"Hey, hey! What's going on?"
"Why did that old man suddenly leave?"
"That's stomach acid! Isn't he afraid of being corroded?"
"He just said Laboon, what is that?"
At this moment, Uta explained to everyone.
"Laboon is the whale that ate us!"
Speaking, Uta's mood became a little downcast as she explained.
"I heard from Crocus that Laboon once had a promise with a pirate crew."
"That pirate crew said they would return here to reunite with Laboon after sailing around the Grand Line once."
"But 50 years have passed, and that pirate crew still hasn't returned."
"Crocus once inquired about that pirate crew, but he found nothing; those pirates' whereabouts are unknown."
"So Crocus speculated that those pirates either died or fled the Grand Line, crossing the Calm Belt back to their hometown."
"In any case, no matter which it is, those pirates will not return to reunite with Laboon."
"He told Laboon his speculation, but Laboon refused to believe it and started repeatedly hitting the Red Line with its head, trying to break through this high mountain to find those pirates."
"That's why Crocus created this world inside the whale's stomach, in order to inject Laboon with a tranquilizer to calm it down every time it hits the Red Line."
After Uta finished speaking, the atmosphere instantly became heavy.
Everyone's faces showed sadness and emotion.
"This whale is so pitiful!"
"Is it really possible that those pirates abandoned Laboon and fled the Grand Line? That would be too unfair to Laboon."
"Laboon has been keeping its promise, waiting for them to return!"
"This whale's fate is truly lamentable! It's very likely been let down, yet it's still waiting here. Clearly, waiting forever is meaningless!"
As everyone lamented, Crocus suddenly climbed up from the stomach acid. Knowing that these people were talking about Laboon, he added to the last sentence.
"It's precisely because it lost its meaning that Laboon refuses to accept what I say!"
"Losing the meaning of waiting is more terrifying than anything else."
Hearing this, everyone fell silent.
Just then, Luffy suddenly said, "They didn't flee, they're still alive!"
Everyone was startled at his words, then cast puzzled glances at Luffy.
"What are you talking about, Luffy? If they didn't flee, why haven't they returned to see Laboon in 50 years?"
"That's right! Even if they are still alive, they must have fled the Grand Line."
Facing the doubts, Luffy merely looked resolute, his eyes filled with hope, and said, "That's what I believe!"
"I believe they definitely wouldn't abandon Laboon. Perhaps they encountered some accident and couldn't return!"
Luffy was making a "guess."
He couldn't directly tell these people that there was still a skeleton at sea missing Laboon, so he just used a guess to explain.