"That's… not a mountain…" Nojiko said, lowering her binoculars with a frightened expression.
That's a massive whale."
"Bwahhhhhh….!"
"Damn it… we need to stop or the Going Merry is going to ram straight into it," Sanji shouted.
"We don't need to stop. There's a gap to the left of the exit. If we steer the ship carefully, we can get out of the way without attracting its attention," Nami shouted while looking through her binoculars.
"Yes… we all need to stay quiet… as long as we don't attract its attention," Nami added, and everyone agreed, maintaining pin-drop silence while Luffy walked ahead and sat in his favorite spot on the ship, the goat figurehead cheerfully observing the massive creature.
With Leo's ability, they carefully guided the ship through the narrow passage, moving slowly and steadily as far away from the blue whale as possible until they passed by its eye, which alone was ten times bigger than the Going Merry.
"Hey, whale… you need to get out of the way or someone coming from behind us might get injured, did you hear me?"
At the loud shout, the crew turned toward the figurehead of the Going Merry, where Luffy stood yelling at the whale.
'BAKA…!!!!!' everyone screamed inwardly, too afraid to attract the whale's attention if Luffy somehow hadn't already done so.
Contrary to their fears, the whale's massive eyeball shifted toward the ship before it let out an ear-piercing roar.
"Bwahhhhhh…."
It wasn't that the crew feared a Sea King of that size, otherwise they never would have ventured into the Grand Line, but after battling Garp, most of their capable fighters could barely move properly, including Leo and Luffy.
Using physical enhancement on himself for the first time… a technique he had only theorized about before had worked wonders in real battle, but its drawbacks were even more severe than Leo had expected.
His body sent jolts of pain through him even for breathing, while using his Devil Fruit ability simultaneously made it far worse. It would take his healing ability at least half a day to recover completely.
Leo watched as the massive whale began sinking into the water face pointed up, its enormous body creating a deep whirlpool beneath.
A powerful suction dragged the ship inward, no matter how much Leo tried pushing the Going Merry away with his Devil Fruit ability, but the suction kept getting stronger.
Finally pushed far beyond its limits, Going Merry creaked one last time before being sucked into the whirlpool alongside the terrified screams of everyone aboard.
"Hold onto something, damn it… as soon as I can touch the inside of this whale, I'll make a hole through this fish so we can get out and then beat the shit out of that idiot captain of yours," Leo shouted as they passed through the long dark tunnel, his voice barely drowning out everyone's screams except Luffy's.
Not long after, they emerged from the tunnel into a vast open sea once again, where a small island floated peacefully at the center. A single chair rested beneath a palm tree beside a simple wooden house.
"What is this place?" Zoro asked, having expected to end up inside the whale's digestive system only to find himself in a calm, serene sea instead.
"Did we somehow get out… and where's Luffy?" Nami whispered. Just then, the door of the wooden house creaked open.
A huge old man stepped outside, with a bulky body and a tiny flower sprouted from his bald head. Holding a newspaper in one hand, he stared at them with an unusually sharp gaze.
The atmosphere instantly turned tense. None of them could tell whether he was a friend or foe, but one thing was clear to them, the strange old man was their only source of information in this unknown place.
A sudden disturbance rippled through the water, subtle enough that only Leo and the old man noticed it.
The next second, the old man grabbed a massive harpoon and fired toward them. Zoro instantly drew his swords to intercept it, but before the clash could happen, the harpoon pierced through a giant squid that had been about to attack the ship.
"EH… the old man saved us?" Nami exclaimed.
"I'm gonna kill this old man," Zoro growled irritably while Nami and Sanji hurriedly held him back.
"Hey, old man… are we still inside the giant whale?" Leo asked, noticing the unmoving clouds and the complete absence of wind.
"Yes."
The old man had already returned to his seat reading the newspaper, only sparing them a brief glance with his piercing eyes. His curt reply irritated even Leo, though he forced himself to take a calming breath.
"Then is there a way to get out…? What am I asking… if there was, you would—"
"The exit is right there. If you want to leave, I can open it. I live here, as you can see."
Following the old man's gesture, Leo noticed a massive door embedded in the middle of the ocean itself, and understanding dawned on him immediately.
"So this whale's entire stomach is painted," Nojiko deduced from the old man's explanation, earning a small nod in response.
The old man was about to continue speaking when the whale's stomach suddenly shook violently.
Without warning, the old man jumped into the water and reappeared moments later from the opposite side, climbing a staircase while the crew stared at him in confusion.
Before anyone could react, the massive door high above them suddenly opened and three figures came flying out of it. One of them was a familiar loudmouth wearing a straw hat, while the other two looked like cosplayers.
Sanji dived into water below to save Luffy, and along with the idiot captain, the two strangers who had apparently been trying to harm Laboon and all of them landed aboard the ship.
The crew already had enough problems with the old man and the giant whale, so after enduring more than enough nonsense for one day, a single punch to each of the strangers heads was enough to knock them unconscious.
"Oyi, Leo, you can move now?" Nojiko asked.
"No. I've only managed to heal my hands for now," Leo replied.
Soon after, the old man finally finished whatever he had been doing.
The whale gradually calmed down and resurfaced peacefully above the water while the crew escaped through the exit the old man had mentioned.
Soon, the giant whale came into view again, its massive head bleeding heavily and covered in countless deep scars.
After exiting the whale's stomach alongside the two infiltrators, the old man, who introduced himself as Crocus—explained why those idiots had been targeting Laboon.
"For its meat?" Nami exclaimed in shock.
"Are they idiots or what?" Leo added flatly.
"Yes, they are," Zoro answered.
At his words, both unconscious individuals jolted awake and immediately began begging for their lives but remained tied up their fate unknown until...
"Miss Wednesday… doesn't that eagle and sea otter flying over here look familiar?" the man who introduced himself as Mr. 9 suddenly asked.
At his words, everyone looked up toward the sky.
***
Author Note: This chapter may feel like a direct adaptation from canon, but a major plot twist is coming in the next chapter, so stay tuned….