Who knew how much time had passed when Sherlock finally regained consciousness. He slowly opened his eyes, sat up, and looked around.
An unfamiliar room—the surroundings suggested he was on a ship.
"I remember... something slammed into me and sent me flying..." Sherlock rubbed his still-aching back, stood up with some effort, and walked to the window to peer outside.
Beyond lay an endless sea. Fluffy white clouds dotted the azure sky, as if washed clean by water—stunningly beautiful, yet unnaturally so, like a painting brushed onto the heavens.
Just then, without warning, the sea turned turbulent. The whole ship began rocking side to side, and muffled booms echoed from afar.
Meanwhile, outside the ship.
"It's started..." A burly old man with petal-shaped hair explained to the people on the Going Merry: "This whale has begun ramming its head against the Red Line." With that, Crocus dove headfirst into the whale's gastric juices, ignoring the acid's corrosion, and swam deeper in.
"What!" Zoro and Sanji were utterly shocked. Nami thought back for a moment, then said to the group: "It's true—this whale's forehead is covered in scars, and it let out that skyward howl..."
"That means it's in a lot of pain!" Nami declared, her expression grave.
Usopp's forehead broke out in a cold sweat, but then he nodded as if it all clicked: "I get it. So that old guy's trying to kill the whale from the inside."
Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke. "Tch, what a vicious way to slaughter it."
"No, that's not it." An unfamiliar male voice rang out from behind Nami and the others. The four turned to see the bespectacled man who had mysteriously appeared on their ship.
"That old gentleman isn't trying to kill it—quite the opposite. He's probably trying to save it." Sherlock leaned against the doorframe with one hand and pointed at the painted sky with the other, smiling at them. "After all, no hunter would bother painting inside their prey's stomach, right?"
The ever-vigilant Zoro instantly shifted into readiness, his right hand subtly moving to the sword at his waist—ready to strike at the slightest provocation from the green-haired swordsman.
Sanji patted Zoro's shoulder to ease him, then turned to Sherlock. "You're awake, huh, Sherlock? It's weird—how'd you end up on our ship? Were you in Loguetown too?"
Loguetown... "It's been a while, Sanji. Didn't I tell you? My home is—" Sherlock adjusted his glasses, about to continue, when a massive wave hit. The little ship lurched violently.
"This isn't the time for catching up! We have to get out of here now, or the whale's stomach acid will eat through the ship!" Nami steadied herself, then shouted at Sherlock: "Hey, if you're awake, get over here and help!"
"No need to panic, beautiful miss. This ship isn't that fragile. That old gentleman's already gone in—I'm sure this big fella will settle down soon enough." Sherlock gave Nami a slight smile. "Also, what all happened while I was out? Could you fill me in?"
A little while later.
The whale's gastric juices still churned relentlessly. The Going Merry bobbed beside a metal gate, rocking with the waves. It was hard to imagine how that flower-headed old man had installed such a massive door inside a whale's stomach.
At the same time, under Nami's explanation, Sherlock pieced together the full situation.
"Hmm, so by your account, your captain's human slingshot accidentally dragged me aboard."
"To save time, your captain decided to bring me along into the Grand Line."
"But right after entering the Grand Line, we ran into a giant whale." Sherlock turned to glance at the broken prow—the cute, goofy sheep head was adorable. "Your captain attacked the whale in a rage over his special seat getting destroyed, and the whole ship got swallowed."
"And now, your captain's missing. That about sum it up?"
Nami looked into Sherlock's calm black eyes, her face twitching unnaturally as she nodded, feeling genuine exasperation at her captain's antics.
"What an incredible guy, that Straw Hat Luffy." Sherlock calmly adjusted his glasses, inwardly laughing in disbelief. He never imagined he'd end up on the legendary Grand Line in such a muddled, utterly frustrating way—zero hype, zero thrill.
Just as Sherlock was about to say more, a few startled yells came from above the iron gate.
Everyone on the Going Merry looked up to see three figures plummeting from on high—straight toward the sea of gastric acid below!
"Yo, everybody okay? Hurry and save me~" A familiar voice called out.
"Luffy?" Usopp was baffled at his captain emerging from that spot. Then Luffy and two strangers splashed into the water together, sending up a huge spray...
After fishing the three out, the gastric juices finally calmed. The giant whale had settled down.
Luffy sat grinning on the ship's railing, his smile as bright as ever. At his feet were two oddly dressed people.
One was a girl dressed like a princess, the other a man dressed like a prince—though compared to the rather quirky-looking "prince," the girl with the long blue ponytail was a genuine beauty.
From the moment she was pulled aboard, a certain lovestruck cook went into full fangirl mode, completely shattering Sherlock's prior image of Sanji.
"Who are you people?" Zoro demanded of the two strangers.
They didn't answer, instead whispering to each other: "Mr. 9, these guys are pirates..."
"I know, Miss Wednesday, but they might not be bad people..."
At that moment, Crocus—having finished injecting the whale with a sedative—emerged from a small door and roared at the duo: "You bastards! I'll never let you harm Laboon before I die!"
"Awesome! That bald old geezer's got a flower on his head!" Luffy got inexplicably pumped up.
A drop of cold sweat slid down Sherlock's face. He couldn't tell if it was a flower or hair either, but what was so awesome about it?
"You've got no say now, old fart!" The two scrambled up on the deck, grabbed their bazookas, and stood back-to-back, aiming at the whale's back. "Blast a hole in this stomach, and we can kill it easy!"
They pulled the triggers, firing two cannonballs at the stomach wall. But Crocus displayed speed and reflexes beyond his years—he leaped into the air, intercepting both blasts with his own body to shield the whale. Then, like a bird shot by a hunter, he plummeted into the gastric juices below.
"He's protecting the whale!" Usopp exclaimed in shock. Nami glanced at Sherlock, then nodded: "Looks like that old man really is trying to save it. But why?"
Seeing the duo cackling and preparing to fire again, Sherlock narrowed his eyes, about to intervene—when that idiot Luffy beat him to it, knocking them out with two iron fists.
"I couldn't hold back—I just had to punch them!" Luffy declared righteously.
After tying the two up, the flower-headed old man began telling everyone the whale's story...
A little whale, separation, departure, tragic news...
"That was fifty years ago..." The old man's expression dimmed. "But Laboon still believes his companions are alive."
The Straw Hats listened to Laboon's tale and were deeply moved. The most sentimental among them—Usopp and Nami—had tears glistening in their eyes.
"What a total idiot~" Sherlock pushed up his glasses and said flatly. The buzzkill remark instantly drew everyone's attention; Nami and Usopp, the most touched, glared daggers at him.
Crocus chuckled helplessly. "Yeah, he's just that kind of idiot whale." Then he glanced at Sherlock's somewhat pale face. "You don't look so good. Internal injuries?"
"You saw right. Yeah, I took some earlier."
A doctor's heart is parental. Crocus stood. "Conveniently, I was a ship doctor for a few years and have some medicine for internal injuries. I'll grab it for you." He headed inside.
"That's incredibly kind—thank you!" Sherlock bowed elegantly to Crocus.
"A ship doctor? For real?" Luffy slid down from a tree like he'd discovered a new continent, rushing excitedly to Crocus: "Then be our ship doctor!"
The old man shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm too old to go gallivanting again."
"That's too bad."
Crocus went inside for the medicine, so Luffy shifted his focus to Sherlock. He stared at Sherlock's face, frowning in thought for a long while, then asked:
"Who are you? How'd you end up here? Oh, I get it—you got eaten by this whale by accident too, hahaha! You're a funny guy." Luffy laughed to himself.
"Funny your brother-in-law! You're the reason he's here in the first place!" ×4
Watching their captain's carefree grin, Nami and the others facepalmed in unison, thinking: This moron must've been so hyped after flipping Reverse Mountain that he forgot everything that happened.
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