"Ooooooooh————"
A prolonged, resonant hum pierced through the roaring noise as the Merry descended Reverse Mountain, reaching the ears of every member of the Straw Hat Pirates.
"Hey," Zoro was the first to furrow his brow, "What's that sound? Did you all hear something?"
Nami smiled as she looked ahead, "It's probably just the wind, right? It must be because we're near the Red Line, where strange terrain creates turbulent air currents."
"Who cares!" Luffy stood at the bow, excitedly waving his arms, "Charge! Grand Line!!"
The Merry continued riding the downward current of Reverse Mountain, surging forward.
Usopp, adjusting his head-mounted telescope, made a puzzled sound, "What is this... There's a huge... shadow on the sea ahead?" He fiddled with the focus, peering into the distance.
Sanji blew out a smoke ring and, relying on his excellent eyesight, looked ahead, his tone becoming uncertain, "Miss Nami, straight ahead... it looks like there's a mountain?"
"That's impossible!" Nami turned to Sanji to explain, "The sea chart shows it clearly! After Twin Capes, it should be open, endless ocean! How could there be a mountain?"
However, as the ship rapidly approached, the outline of the "mountain" became increasingly clear to everyone.
It stood towering, almost completely blocking the exit of Reverse Mountain.
What they were seeing was the giant's... chin...
In front of that massive chin, the sea churned, accompanied once again by the deep, heart-trembling hum that resounded across the waters: "Ooooooooh—"
A whale!
An Island Whale so enormous it could overturn all their previous understanding!
Its head was slightly raised, with just its chin and part of its body above the water, yet it already stood like an insurmountable dam, completely blocking their only path forward.
The Merry was as insignificant as a booger in comparison.
"Wh... Whale!!!" Usopp's scream instantly shifted pitch, "It's a whale!!! So huge!!! We're going to crash! We'll die! We'll definitely die!"
"What do we do?! We're going to crash!" Nami's earlier smile was shattered by the reality before her, her voice tinged with desperate sobs.
"What else can we do! Fight it?!" Usopp frantically picked up his slingshot.
Zoro immediately said, "It's so big, how could we possibly hurt it! We wouldn't even be enough to tickle it!" Faced with this colossal Island Whale, even he was at a loss.
Sanji took a deep drag of his cigarette, forcing himself to calmly analyze the situation, "We need to find its eyes first! To judge its movements! It might... not even have noticed us?"
Zoro's sharp gaze swept over the whale's massive body, "Judging by its posture, it doesn't care about us at all. But with its size, even if it just rolls over, we're finished."
"There's still some gap on the left!"
"Our only option now is to go around it from the left, immediately! Giyu! Did you hear me? Hard to port! Quickly!"
Giyu's single arm was already gripping the cold ship's wheel.
"Hn."
In an instant, he sank his stance, channeling all the strength in his body into his left arm as he began to pull the wheel to the left!
Creak!
The ship's wheel groaned as if it were about to break. The inertia from the Reverse Mountain current was not something a simple turn of the wheel could easily overcome.
The Merry's course remained almost unchanged, still heading straight toward that wall of flesh with despairing momentum.
"No good..." Giyu said grimly, "The current is too strong."
"Damn it!" Zoro cursed under his breath, darting forward in an instant. His powerful hands gripped the ship's wheel tightly. "I'll help you!" "Me too!" Sanji joined the struggle.
"A-and me!" Usopp cried out as he threw himself forward, though his strength was negligible.
The four of them, comprising almost all the crew members on board, pushed their strength to the limit. The ship's wheel finally began to turn—extremely slowly and with great difficulty—causing the bow to shift just slightly.
Yet the distance continued to close rapidly, the texture of the whale's skin becoming so clear it was suffocating.
Crack—
The Merry's slight turn, achieved through their combined effort, came at a cost—the ship's wheel snapped. Everyone staggered from the sudden release of force.
"Aaaaaah, why did the wheel break?!" Usopp screamed, clutching the broken wheel.
Zoro stared at the scene before him and swore, "Damn it."
Giyu's gaze locked onto the ever-expanding giant whale in his vision. His left hand slowly moved to grip the hilt of his Nichirin Blade. To confront such a massive creature would require channeling his entire breathing, demanding ultimate strength and speed...
To save everyone on board, it seemed there was no other choice.
A cold killing intent silently gathered in his deep-sea eyes. Just as his fingertips were about to touch the sword guard, and his breathing rhythm was on the verge of changing—
"I've got another great idea!!!" Luffy's signature shout shattered the tense atmosphere.
"Luffy! What are you doing?!" Nami stared at him in terror.
Without answering, Luffy ran into the ship's cabin. He roughly shoved a cannonball into the cannon and lit the fuse with his other hand!
Boom!
The cannonball shot out from beneath the Merry's sheep figurehead, striking the giant whale precisely on the chin. The whale seemed completely unfazed, maintaining its sorrowful stillness.
But the massive recoil from the cannon traveled back through the ship's frame! The Merry shuddered, and its forward momentum visibly slowed—the ship didn't smash to pieces.
Luffy stood proudly in front of the cannon and laughed, "Alright! Did the ship stop?"
Compared to Luffy's cheerful grin after firing the cannon, the others were left with stunned expressions. Nami, moved to tears by Luffy's cannon shot, sobbed, "Luffy... with that idea of yours... we could have died..."
Crack—Clang!
The Merry was then carried by the following current at a relatively gentle speed, its bow lifting upward before lightly bumping against the whale.
Accompanied by the heart-wrenching sound of splintering wood, the Merry's iconic sheep figurehead snapped off at the base, half of it crashing onto the deck.
The ship had finally stopped, thanks to the buffering effect of Luffy's cannon shot and the whale's own body.
Silence.
A deathly silence, broken only by the sound of the current washing against the whale and the ship.
It moved—the giant whale's eye moved. It had finally felt the impact of the cannon shot.
Zoro immediately shouted to everyone, "Quick... quick, escape! Now's our chance!!!"
"What's going on? Didn't it feel our cannon fire? Or is it just too dull?" Sanji also hurriedly picked up an oar while staring at the giant whale.
"Who knows!! Just row faster!!"
Luffy stared blankly at the broken sheep's head on the deck, then looked at the bare bow with its exposed wooden splinters. The expression on his face shifted from confusion to rage.
"You..." his voice dropped low, suppressing a storm as his rubber fists clenched tightly, producing creaking sounds, "You broke... my special seat!!!"
"Gomu Gomu! Pistol!"
His arm retracted directly backward, containing Luffy's fury over Merry's broken figurehead, then launched a punch toward the giant whale's eye!
Just as the powerful fist was about to strike, Giyu appeared in the air like a Demon!