They had finally reached the top of Reverse Mountain and everyone stood there looking out at the view with wide grins on their faces. Jack mouth hung open because no matter how many times he had seen something breathtaking in his life, this was something else entirely and new for him.
Luffy stood at the front of the ship with the wind hitting him full in the face, laughing at the top of his lungs. "Shishishishishi! We did it! We're at the top!"
Nami loosened her grip on the wheel and let out a long breath. "I actually can't believe we made it."
Sanji whistled low. "What a view… I'd cook a full course meal just to eat it up here."
"This is a proof that I am a bravest Warrior of the sea," shouted Usopp.
Even Zoro cracked a small grin as he looked out at what lay ahead. "So this is the top of Reverse Mountain"
"Woaahhhh! I'm really here!" shouted Bartolomeo, grabbing the railing with both hands.
Dragon stood quietly taking in everything around him. It had been a very long time since he last came through Reverse Mountain and the last time was before Vegapunk finished building a ship capable of crossing the Calm Belt, after that he had no reason to use this route anymore. Coming back through it now, with his son of all people, brought back something he had not felt in a long time.
But the moment did not last.
As the Merry began her descent toward the entrance of the Grand Line, Usopp suddenly jabbed his finger forward with his voice going tight. "Oi! What is that thing in front of us?!"
Everyone turned to look.
Blocking the narrow exit that led into the Grand Line was something enormous. A gigantic eye, bigger than the Merry herself, rose slowly out of the water directly in their path.
It was a whale. A whale the size of a small island.
"EEEEHHHHHHHHHHH?!" screamed Luffy, Usopp, Nami and Bartolomeo all at the same time.
Dragon, who rarely showed surprise, went completely stiff. "...You have got to be kidding me."
"THAT'S A WALL!" Nami screamed. "No wait, IT'S ALIVE! JACK, STOP THE SHIP!"
Jack was standing near the control console with his eyes gleaming and he did not move a single muscle. "Perfect opportunity for a stress test," he muttered to himself.
Zoro squinted at him. "What do you mean stress test?"
Sanji eyes went wide. "Oi, don't tell me you're actually going to—"
BOOOOOOM.
The Going Merry hit the whale head on at full speed.
The sea exploded outward from the impact and shockwaves tore across the current in every direction as the entire crew screamed.
"JAAAAAACK!" Nami roared, white knuckling the railing.
"Please, Jack!" Nojiko added.
Luffy was hanging off the mast with his jaw somewhere near the floor. "Shishishishi… wait, we're still moving?!"
When the water finally settled and everyone opened their eyes, the ship had not taken a single scratch. Not one plank was cracked and not even one screw had come loose.
The whale on the other hand had a clean dent pressed into its enormous forehead.
Usopp looked like his soul had left his body. "We… we just hit a whale the size of an island and the ship WON?!"
Bartolomeo dropped to his knees with his hands shaking. "That wasn't sailing. That was assault."
Dragon turned to Jack with seawater dripping off his hair and a twitching eye. "You're completely insane."
Jack calmly pressed a few symbol on the console control. "Impact absorbed, kinetic energy converted to backup power."
Sanji looked like he wanted to throw him overboard. "YOU COULD HAVE WARNED US!"
"Relax," said Jack. "Now we know the ship can handle an island class impact."
Nami face had gone a shade of red that did not look healthy. "That is NOT something we needed to find out by using a whale as a test dummy!"
Meanwhile Luffy had already climbed back to the front of the ship and was leaning over the railing staring at the massive creature below with sparkling eyes. "Whoa! He's huge! Hey whale! You doing okay down there?"
The whale let out a groan so deep the sea itself shook from it.
Zoro sighed. "We just picked a fight with a whale. Fantastic."
Dragon pressed two fingers against his temple. "This crew is going to give me gray hair."
But the tension broke on its own the way it always did with this crew and laughter started rising up again before anyone even noticed it happening.
They had climbed Reverse Mountain, crossed into the Grand Line and somehow survived driving their ship directly into a creature the size of a small island.
Jack looked at the ship and let out a quiet breath. "Welcome to the Grand Line."
Luffy grin stretched from ear to ear as his straw hat caught the light. "Shishishishishi! Adventure starts now!"
***
The whale was still there, looming over the water like a dark mountain and its single large eye had rolled toward the tiny ship sitting beside it.
"W-We hit it and it's still alive!" Usopp grabbed the railing so hard his fingers went white. "What kind of whale even is that?!"
The whale let out a low rumble that sent ripples spreading across the water in every direction and then its enormous mouth began to open.
Sanji stared at it. "Uh… guys. It's opening its mouth."
Bartolomeo went pale. "That's… not a yawn, right?"
Luffy leaned over the railing looking completely delighted. "Shishishishi! He's huge! Maybe he's just hungry!"
"Luffy don't say that!" Nami grabbed him by the collar. "He IS hungry and we are the food!"
Dragon watched the massive jaw drop open, dark and cavernous with seawater churning inside it like a whirlpool, and his eyes went wide.
Jack grabbed the helm but made no move to steer them away because he already knew where this was going and there was someone inside he wanted to meet.
The Merry went in whole.
The world spun, water crashed over all of them, the light disappeared and then there was a dull thunk followed by silence.
"Are… are we dead?" Usopp whispered, shaking from head to toe.
A soft light came from somewhere around them. The Merry was not sinking, she was floating inside something and when the crew looked around they found themselves sitting inside a massive open space lit up by something none of them could explain, with stairs built right into the walls around them.
"What is this place?" Nami asked quietly, looking around with wide eyes.
"We're inside the whale," Dragon said, already scanning everything with sharp eyes. "But someone built a facility in here."
Zoro looked around slowly. "Inside a whale, we're seriously doing this."
Jack crouched down and pressed his hand against the floor, feeling the surface. "The air in here is completely clean. This whale is not ordinary at all."
Then a calm voice came from somewhere above them.
"Oh? Visitors? It has been quite a while since anyone ended up inside Laboon."
They all looked up. An old man with lilac hair was standing on a platform above them, looking down at the crew with an easy expression.
"Welcome. You are inside Laboon, the whale that guards Reverse Mountain. My name is Crocus and I look after him."
Luffy eyes went wide. "Whoa! Old man! Did you build this whole whale house by yourself?!"
Crocus laughed. "In a way, yes."
Jack and Dragon looked at each other at the same time, both recognizing that name the moment they heard it.
Dragon eyes narrowed slightly. "Crocus… you were the ship doctor on the Oro Jackson."
The old man smile changed, something quieter moving behind it. "Ah. So you know that name." He adjusted his glasses. "It has been decades since I sailed under Roger flag. I did not think anyone still remembered."
The whole crew went still.
Zoro blinked slowly. "Wait. That Roger? You mean…"
"The Pirate King," Dragon said. "Gold Roger doctor."
Luffy jaw dropped completely. "EH?! You actually knew the Pirate King?! That's incredible!"
Crocus laughed, warm and genuine. "You've got spirit, kid. What's your name?"
"Monkey D. Luffy! And I'm going to be the next Pirate King!"
Dragon said nothing but the way he looked at his son in that moment said everything.
Jack stepped forward and looked around at the pipes and the structure built into the walls. "Your work here is something else, Doctor Crocus. I don't know much about biology but keeping someone alive inside a whale is a different kind of impressive."
Nojiko looked up at the old man with a more serious expression. "Old man, why did you stay here to look after Laboon?"
Crocus was quiet for a moment before he answered. "Laboon has been waiting for someone. He keeps throwing himself against the Red Line because of a promise made to him by a crew that never came back."
Nobody said anything. Nojiko folded her arms slowly. "So he's been hurting himself all this time just because he's waiting and doesn't know what else to do."
Luffy eyes softened. "Where did that crew go? We'll look for them."
The chamber shook suddenly and Laboon let out a deep groan from somewhere far below them.
"Whoa! What's happening?!" Usopp grabbed onto the nearest wall.
Crocus sighed, picked up a large syringe from beside him and pressed it into Laboon without hesitation.
Luffy stared at him. "Old man! What did you just do?"
"Calming him down so he doesn't go and smash his head into the Red Line again," said Crocus.
Luffy scratched the back of his head. "Huh. Our ship kind of hit his head first though."
Crocus looked at him. "That was not great. You may want to apologize when you leave, he remembers."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "That could be a problem considering we hit him at full speed."
Crocus just laughed and then moved to help them find the valve door that would let them back out.