Chapter 38
The Going Merry drifted forward in an eerie silence that pressed down on them like a physical weight. The whale loomed above—massive, scarred, ancient—its hide a living wall of barnacles and battle wounds that spoke of centuries spent in the world's most dangerous waters.
But the creature's eyes, those cathedral-sized orbs, weren't looking at them. They gazed upward at the cloudy sky, distant and unfocused, as if the whale was lost in some deep reverie.
The crew stood frozen on deck, soaked and trembling—not from cold, but from the primal fear of being noticed by something so impossibly vast. No one dared move. No one even dared breathe too loudly.
"It's not even looking at us…" Usopp whispered.
"Don't move," Zoro hissed, hand hovering near his swords.
"Don't talk," Sanji added, cigarette dangling forgotten.
"Don't be stupid," Silas breathed, though he knew that was asking too much from this crew.
They devolved into whispering, panic replaced by hushed accusations.
"This is your fault," Usopp hissed at Silas.
"You panicked again," Silas whispered back.
"You broke the whipstaff," Zoro growled.
"You all broke the whipstaff," Sanji corrected.
Nami remained on her knees, fists clenched, tear tracks dried but eyes still red. Her voice was hoarse.
"If I die here… I swear I'll curse every last one of you."
The ship tilted slightly, rocked by the whale's breath. Still, those ancient eyes remained fixed on the sky.
Then Luffy's head appeared above deck.
He climbed up quietly, his usual energy subdued. His eyes scanned the scene—his crew huddled in terrified silence, the massive whale overhead, the atmosphere thick with doom.
Then his gaze fell on the bow.
"…My seat," he said quietly.
Everyone turned. The figurehead was gone. Snapped clean off. The place where he'd sit and laugh and shout into the wind—reduced to splinters.
"You wouldn't…" Usopp breathed.
"He wouldn't…" Sanji whispered, no conviction in his voice.
"He's thinking about it," Zoro muttered.
"Oh no," Silas said, recognizing the signs.
Luffy's fists clenched. The easygoing captain was gone. In his place stood something else.
"What the hell did you do to my special seat?!"
"Luffy, no—" Silas started, but it was too late.
"Gomu Gomu no… PISTOL!"
His fist rocketed into the whale's eye with righteous fury.
The impact echoed like a gunshot.
"THAT WAS MY SEAT, YOU BIG BARNACLE-FACED BALLOON! I SAT THERE! I LAUGHED THERE! YOU THINK YOU CAN JUST BREAK IT AND STARE AT THE SKY LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED?! LOOK AT ME WHEN I'M YELLING AT YOU!"
Silence.
Then—a twitch.
Just a blink. But the sea responded like a drum struck by a god. Waves rippled outward, rocking the Merry.
And then the whale turned.
Its gaze dropped from the clouds and settled on them.
"It saw us…" Usopp whispered.
"It saw him," Sanji corrected.
"We're doomed," Zoro said flatly.
"I'm gonna shoot the ocean," Silas muttered, hand on his flintlock.
Nami's voice cracked.
"You… you woke it up…"
Then she snapped.
She launched herself at Luffy, fists flying.
"YOU ABSOLUTE MORON!"
Her punch landed with a meaty thud.
"OW!" Luffy yelped.
Her kick lifted him off the deck.
"OW!" again.
She grabbed his collar, shaking him like a rag doll.
"WE WERE WHISPERING! WHISPERING! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?!"
Chaos erupted.
"We're gonna die!" Usopp wailed.
"I'm not dying next to a rubber-brained lunatic!" Sanji shouted, cigarette flying.
"I should've slept through this," Zoro grumbled, swords ready.
"I swear I'll shoot the next person who moves!" Silas barked, flintlock raised but aimless.
Then the whale made a sound.
A deep, resonant groan that rolled outward like thunder. It wasn't just loud—it was angry. A sound that vibrated through the bones of the world. The air trembled. The sea buckled. The Merry shuddered like a leaf in a storm.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT SOUND?!" Usopp screamed.
"IT'S ROARING! WHY IS IT ROARING?!" Sanji shouted.
"THAT'S NOT A ROAR, THAT'S A DAMN CURSE!" Zoro bellowed.
"I'M GONNA SHOOT THE SKY!" Silas yelled, firing into the air.
Nami shrieked like a banshee.
And then—Silas stopped.
He blinked. Holstered his flintlock. Turned calmly. Walked below deck.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!" Nami screamed.
Silas didn't answer. He found a hammock, threw himself into it, and pulled a blanket over his head.
"I'm done," he muttered. "If this is how I die, I'm dying peacefully."
And then—he slept.
Actually slept.
"HE'S SLEEPING?!" Nami shrieked, shaking the hatch.
"WE'RE GONNA DIE AND HE'S TAKING A NAP?!" Usopp wailed.
"Respect," Zoro muttered.
"Insanity," Sanji countered, lighting a new cigarette with trembling hands.
The whale's mouth began to open.
Slowly. Monumentally. Like a gate to another world. Rows of baleen parted, revealing a cavernous maw that could swallow islands.
The Merry tilted.
Then lurched.
The ship was being pulled—fast—toward the whale's mouth.
"WE'RE BEING EATEN!" Usopp screamed.
"DO SOMETHING!" Nami shouted, gripping the useless whipstaff.
Zoro just stood there, swords drawn, knowing they wouldn't help.
And then—Luffy moved.
His eyes locked onto the maw, the rushing current, the scale of it all. His body tensed.
"Gomu Gomu no… Rocket!"
He launched off the deck, arms stretching forward like twin cables. He grabbed onto the whale's head—high above the sea—and yanked himself free of the suction.
He flew through the air, rubber limbs flailing, and landed with a thud on the very top of the whale's head.
"LUFFY!" Nami screamed.
"HE'S ON THE WHALE!" Usopp shouted.
"Why is he climbing a giant sea monster like it's his side job?!" Sanji cursed, kicking a barrel this time.
"HE'S GONNA PUNCH IT AGAIN!" Zoro predicted grimly.
Inside the whale's mouth, the Merry was still being dragged forward, the crew clinging to anything they could.
Silas snored below deck.
The whale roared again—louder, angrier, shaking the sea like a tantrum thrown by the ocean itself.