Chapter 36
The sea had gone quiet.
Not peaceful—wrong. After the madness of Reverse Mountain, the silence felt like a trap. The Going Merry drifted through waters so smooth they looked carved from glass. The sky hung heavy. The crew lay scattered across the deck like survivors of a storm that had stolen more than just their breath.
"I think I aged ten years," Usopp groaned, slumped against a barrel.
"My spine's still screaming. Even my hair hurts. I didn't even know hair could hurt."
Sanji wrung out his coat, water falling in steady streams.
"One more mountain wave and I swear I'm feeding someone to it. Doesn't matter who."
Zoro had found the driest patch near the mast—of course he had—and was already halfway to sleep.
"Wake me when something tries to kill us. Or when the cook starts throwing people."
Nami spread her soaked charts across a crate, trying to make sense of their position.
"We're in the Grand Line," she said, voice tight.
"From here on, nothing makes sense. Not the wind. Not the sky. Not the sea. Just chaos."
At the bow, Silas stood with arms folded, staring out at the still water. His red hair hung limp. His shoulders ached. His eyes were hollow.
"I feel like a corpse dressed for a festival," he muttered.
Then he saw it.
A shadow. Vast. Rising from the depths like a mountain waking from sleep.
The water didn't ripple. It simply lifted.
"Whale!" Silas shouted, voice cracking.
Heads snapped up. Usopp took one look and wheezed.
"That's not a whale—that's a cliff with a heartbeat!"
"Island whale," Silas said.
"The biggest whales in the world."
The creature breached—slow, silent, terrible. Its head rose like a living wall, scarred and barnacled. Its eye remained closed, like it hadn't yet decided to acknowledge the world.
"We need to steer!" Nami shouted.
Sanji pointed.
"Port side! There's a gap! We can slip through!"
"Move!" Zoro barked, already on his feet.
"Before that thing decides to wake up!"
All four—Silas, Usopp, Zoro, and Sanji—rushed the whipstaff. Hands tangled. Shoulders bumped. Tempers flared.
"Hard port!" Silas shouted, throwing his weight into it.
"Push like your lives depend on it!"
"I'm pushing!" Usopp cried.
"You're pulling wrong!"
"You're all pulling wrong!" Zoro growled, gripping the whipstaff with one hand.
"Shut up and steer!" Sanji snapped, kicking Zoro's shin.
Zoro snarled and punched him in the ribs.
"Why'd you hit me?!"
"You kicked me!"
"You were leaning like a sack of moss!"
"You were steering like a drunk goat!"
The whipstaff groaned. The ship tilted. The whale let out a low, echoing cry — not angry, not alert. Just a sound. A breath. A presence.
Silas's arms trembled.
"I haven't slept, and now I'm steering into a sea beast with a damn stick and a bunch of lunatics!"
Then—CRACK.
The whipstaff snapped.
Silence.
They stared at the broken pieces in their hands.
Then the shouting began.
"Who broke it?!" Silas roared.
"Zoro's fault!" Usopp pointed.
"I barely touched it!" Zoro barked.
"You all touched it!" Sanji snapped.
Then Nami snapped.
She turned, fists clenched, tears streaking down her cheeks.
"You broke it! All of you! And now I'm going to die too!"
She punched Usopp—he spun into the mast.
"Why me?! I was trying to help!"
She punched Sanji—he took it with a dazed smile.
"Nami-san… divine..."
She swung at Zoro—he blocked it, barely.
"Tch. You hit harder than the whale."
She turned on Silas—he blocked with his forearm.
"I didn't break it! I'm just tired!"
Finally, she turned to Luffy.
"And you! Stop laughing!"
Luffy stood at the bow, arms wide, grinning like a child on a festival ride.
"This is fun!"
"This isn't fun! This is madness!"
The ship drifted closer to the whale's massive head. The broken whipstaff spun uselessly. The figurehead groaned.
But instead of bracing for impact, the shouting resumed.
"You kicked the base loose!" Zoro snapped.
"You leaned on it like moss!" Sanji shot back.
"Long-nose, I told you to pull port!" Silas growled.
"You pulled panic!"
"I pulled survival!" Usopp shouted.
"You were steering like a blind crab!"
"You're all steering like blind crabs!" Nami screamed.
"Blind crabs with swords and cigarettes and no sense of direction!"
All four erupted. The whale loomed. Nami cried. Luffy laughed.
And the Going Merry drifted forward—broken helm, broken nerves, and six fools sailing straight into their first Grand Line disaster.