Watching the securely bound Mr.9 and Ms. Wednesday, the old man who called himself Crocus completely shed his previously frail demeanor. He nimbly climbed out of the shallow water, patted his wet trousers, and revealed a satisfied smile on his face.
"Thank you very much, young lads," he said cheerfully as he approached the Straw Hat crew, sounding nothing like an old man who'd just been complaining about aching bones.
"It was nothing. They're really strong," Nami waved her hand happily.
Zoro, arms crossed, glanced at the two on the ground and sneered, "Hmph, no need for thanks. We mainly just didn't like the look of these two."
Crocus laughed heartily and pointed at the unconscious pair on the ground. "These two are ruffians from nearby Whisky Peak town, always scheming against my old friend here."
He sighed, his gaze turning toward the massive Island Whale beside him. "They want Laboon's meat because if they succeed, it would feed their entire town for two or three years."
Everyone's eyes once again focused on the giant whale named Laboon.
Crocus's voice grew low and emotional as he gently stroked Laboon's rough skin, as if introducing an old friend: "His name is Laboon, an Island Whale. Originally only living in the distant West Blue, he belongs to the world's largest whale species."
He fell into reminiscence and began telling a story spanning half a century: "This was about fifty years ago. I was still young then, working here as a lighthouse keeper. A pirate crew came sailing over Reverse Mountain from the West Blue in a fine ship - they were a very friendly and cheerful bunch..."
A nostalgic light flickered in the old man's eyes.
"Following behind their ship was this little one," he patted Laboon. "Back then he wasn't this big, just a child. That pirate crew became good friends with him, and he followed them all the way here."
His tone gradually grew heavier: "But the adventures ahead on the Grand Line were too dangerous. Taking him along would mean certain death. They had no choice but to leave him here, promising they would return for him after sailing around the world."
Just then, as if responding to this story, the dull, thunderous impact sounded again from behind.
BOOM!!!
Laboon once again slammed his scar-covered head hard against the Red Line.
"He waited right here...Crocus's voice carried endless vicissitudes. "Waited for fifty years. To him, that pirate crew are his most important companions. He crashes against the Red Line because he still believes his friends are just on the other side of this mountain wall, that if he breaks through this barrier, he can see them again."
Everyone listened in silence, with only the sound of waves and the rhythmic impacts as background noise.
"Fif... fifty years?!" Usopp's mouth hung open, his face filled with disbelief. "He's been waiting here for fifty years?!"
"That's because he believes his companions are still alive," Crocus repeated, his tone complex.
Sanji took a deep drag of his cigarette, slowly exhaling as the gray smoke rings blended into the sea breeze. His voice carried a harsh realism: "Fifty years is too long. No matter how you look at it, not returning for fifty years makes the meaning clear enough. They're not coming back. Without a doubt, they've died in some sea."
"Hey! Sanji!! How can you say such discouraging things!" Usopp immediately retorted. "Maybe they were just delayed by something! They'll definitely come back!"
Crocus shook his head, the wrinkles on his face seeming to deepen. "The truth is often more cruel. It's not just a matter of time - there haven't been any news about their pirate crew on these seas for ages. It's as if they were completely swallowed by this Demon Sea, their fate unknown."
He gazed at the sea ahead. "Moreover, the seasons, weather, ocean currents, and wind directions in the Grand Line are all chaotic and unpredictable. Even if they were miraculously still alive, it would be impossible for them to sail back to this starting point along their original route."
"When I finally told Laboon this conclusion..." Crocus's voice choked slightly, "it began crying out to the sky like this, day after day, as if believing that if its voice were loud enough to reach across the whole world, its companions would surely hear it and return from the other side of the cliff..."
Nami's eyes grew moist as she whispered, "This whale... is truly pitiful..."
"Its hometown is in the West Sea across the Red Line, a place it can never return to."
Crocus pointed at the overlapping old and new terrible scars on Laboon's head. "Look, its scars keep accumulating. If this continues, it will eventually die here. I stay here partly to take care of it - I can't leave it anymore."
Giyu Tomioka, who had been silently listening all this while, looked at the words he recalled from the instruction manual, then at the colossal creature before him, and suddenly spoke: "Is there any way to ease its sorrow?"
Recalling that suggestion, he added what seemed to him the most straightforward solution: "Would petting help?"
Crocus was taken aback by the black-haired young man's serious yet simple question, then smiled bitterly. "Petting? That won't help. Its current sorrow and anger can no longer be resolved by simple comfort."
Then he pointed at the small island that had just emerged from Laboon's mouth on the sea surface.
"Normally, only when I inject sedatives inside its body can it calm down slightly. That small island and house you saw sprayed from its mouth earlier - that's where I live and work inside it."
Just then, Luffy, who had been listening to Crocus's story while looking at the scars on Laboon's head, suddenly moved.
Without saying a word, he ran back to the Merry. He stared at the main mast for a few seconds, as if considering something, but quickly gave up.
Then, bending down, he picked up the broken sheep figurehead from the deck and, holding it, began climbing toward Laboon's towering head.
"Luffy?" Nami looked at him in surprise. "What's that guy doing now?"
Zoro also frowned: "Who knows? Maybe he's learning how to climb mountains?"
Even Giyu was taken aback, a flicker of disturbance passing through his calm gaze. Luffy always managed to do things that completely defied his expectations and understanding.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Luffy agilely climbed to a fresh, still-bleeding gash on Laboon's head—one of the most recent injuries from his collisions.
He raised the heavy ram-headed figurehead high, his rubber arm brimming with power, and drove it forcefully into the fresh wound!
"Gomu Gomu—"
"Merry Flower Arrangement!"
Thud! A muffled sound echoed.
The wooden ram-headed figurehead pierced Laboon's bleeding wound as if a gardener were arranging flowers!
"Oooooooohhhhhh————!!!!"
Laboon's body jolted violently, his pupils contracting abruptly as he let out a sky-shattering cry of extreme agony! The sound was far more piercing than any before.
"Luffy!!!" Usopp screamed, his voice tearing with anguish, "That's the Merry! What are you doing?!!!"
Crocus and the rest of the Straw Hat crew were equally stunned, shouting in unison, "You bastard!!! What the hell are you doing?!!!!"
Giyu was completely dumbfounded, his hand instinctively tightening around his sword hilt. He, too, couldn't comprehend what was happening before his eyes.
Even the tied-up Ms. Wednesday was jolted awake by the sudden, agonized roar. She stared blankly at Luffy standing atop Laboon's head and murmured, "What's going on... Could it be that this straw-hat-wearing guy... is actually one of us?"
The intense pain drove Laboon into a frenzy, shaking his head wildly. Luffy was instantly flung off, tumbling through the air before crashing heavily back onto the shore.
Laboon was thoroughly enraged.
His massive single eye instantly filled with bloodshot veins, locking fiercely onto the tiny human in the straw hat. He let out a roar of absolute fury, his enormous head descending toward Luffy with overwhelming force!
"Oooooohhhh!!!"
This time, Giyu didn't move. His gaze remained fixed on Luffy. Though filled with confusion and shock, he didn't intervene to stop the attack again.
An inexplicable intuition told Giyu that Luffy must have a reason for doing this.
Despite every instinct urging him to prevent this unnecessary harm, this time, he chose to trust.