The Banana Gator turned around in the stomach acid sea. Immediately, over a dozen long, mucus-covered tentacles flew out of the water, curling toward Tom, who was still descending.
"Save me! I don't want to die yet!"
Mr. 9, though still above Tom, was so frightened he lost his wits seeing the enraged creature below attack them.
"Shut up! Be quiet, or I won't mind using you to plug its mouth!"
Tom found the screaming Mr. 9 very noisy and had to warn him.
Seeing the pitch-black pupils in Tom's eyes gradually turn blood-red, Mr. 9 swallowed hard in terror and didn't dare make another sound.
Over a dozen long tentacles attacked from all directions below. As he fell, Tom gripped his fishing rod and spun rapidly in mid-air. Dozens of whirling staff shadows instantly appeared, knocking away the incoming tentacles one by one.
Then, just as Tom was about to fall into the stomach acid sea, he used his fishing rod to push off against the Banana Gator's long, sharp shell, sending himself "flying" upward.
While flying up, Tom used the line launcher on his left wrist to pull Mr. 9—who was about to be grabbed by the Banana Gator's tentacles—upward. He then electrified the fishing rod in his hand, bending the originally straight rod almost into a circle.
"You're in the way. Go wait over there."
As Tom said this, he released the electrified rod. It whooshed, shooting toward Mr. 9 with tremendous force.
Though not shot directly back to the Going Merry, Mr. 9 fell into the stomach acid sea and was quickly grabbed by Luffy's stretching arm.
With Mr. 9 out of the way, Tom carefully observed the Banana Gator. He noticed its mucus-covered tentacles also had some fine, long hairs.
This puzzled Tom. He initially thought the Banana Gator was a mollusk, similar to an octopus. But seeing hair on its tentacles made him think his earlier judgment might be wrong.
Screech!
The Banana Gator roared. Its dozen or so tentacles attacking Tom suddenly elongated, wrapping around him in the blink of an eye. Luffy and the others on the ship could only watch.
"What happened to him? He wasn't eaten, was he?"
Usopp clutched his head, his face full of panic. He saw the Banana Gator extend its body from the spiked shell on its back, its size increasing by a full third. Its fully extended tentacles were nearly twenty meters long. Tom was completely surrounded by the tentacles standing in the stomach acid sea, waving incessantly—the situation looked dire.
"You two stay right here. Don't move."
Zoro said to Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday standing nearby, not even glancing toward Tom.
"Such a big snail... Part of its meat can be used for soup stock, the rest we can try stir-frying. As for the tentacles, grilling them wouldn't be bad either."
Sanji lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and started planning how to handle the Banana Gator. His words made Luffy beside him drool.
"Is no one going to...?"
"I really want it in my belly now."
Nami, seeing no one on the ship intended to help Tom, was about to say something when Luffy rushed to the stern and shouted toward the Banana Gator: "Tom! Hurry up and deal with it!"
"Is now the time to be thinking about eating?!"
Nami went berserk and shouted at Luffy.
"Mr. 9, see the Jolly Roger? They're pirates."
"Miss Wednesday, I think we shouldn't act rashly now. Wait for an opportunity. That straw hat guy can stretch his arms freely—must be a Devil Fruit user. And didn't you see that man's eyes who went to hunt the Banana Gator? His pupils aren't something an ordinary person would have. We should be careful."
Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9 whispered sneakily, occasionally glancing toward the distant Banana Gator. They saw its long tentacles emerging from the stomach acid sea tightening and gathering together. Yet Tom, trapped within, seemed to show no reaction. They both thought Tom was done for.
Currently trapped inside the Banana Gator's tentacles, Tom's surroundings grew darker. His blood-red pupils emitted an eerie red glow. Reflected in his crimson eyes was the Banana Gator's gaping maw, lined with sharp teeth, opening wide and emitting a low, threatening growl toward him.
It even has mammalian teeth!
"So that's it. Like cetaceans, you're a mammal."
Tom finally understood the fundamental difference between this Banana Gator and creatures like octopuses. He guessed the Banana Gator's spine was hidden within the spiked shell on its back.
Since it's a mammal, finding your weakness might be much easier than I imagined.
As Tom fell toward the Banana Gator's large mouth, he saw two swollen, round balls on either side of its mouth. Just as he was about to be struck by the surrounding long tentacles, the corner of his mouth actually curled into a mischievous grin.
On the Merry, Nami saw the ship getting closer to the whale's stomach exit, but Tom still hadn't emerged from the Banana Gator's tentacle encirclement. She grew increasingly anxious. Then she heard an extremely loud, mournful cry.
The Banana Gator let out a wail like a baby's heartbroken cry. Its tentacles began to twitch irregularly, as if convulsing. Soon, the tentacles tightly surrounding Tom went limp, weakly slackening, floating on the stomach acid sea and spasming incessantly, completely losing the ability to resist, as if it had suffered some massive blow.
Especially the Banana Gator's narrow, fierce-looking eyes—now they were squinted into slits. At a glance, it was clearly in great pain, almost on the verge of tears.
Everyone on the Merry was stunned to see Tom defeat the Banana Gator in an instant. They hadn't reacted yet and didn't know what Tom had done to subdue the enraged creature so easily.
"You actually wanted to eat me? Now you know how formidable I am, hahahaha."
Tom stood on the hard shell of the Banana Gator's back, laughing happily.
"Idiot! What are you still doing there? Hurry up and find a way back!"
Nami, seeing the collapsed Banana Gator slowly sinking into the stomach acid sea, urgently shouted at Tom.
"Make sure you bring that snail back!"
Luffy, drooling all over the deck, didn't forget to remind Tom.
"Whether he can even get back here is a question! How do you expect him to bring that thing over?!"
The moment Nami finished saying this to Luffy, she saw Tom in the distance use the bent fishing rod to launch himself. With one hand gripping the rod and the other using the line launcher, he pulled the large Banana Gator up, then struck it with the rod, sending it flying.
"Hey! The snail's coming!"
Luffy said excitedly, seeing the Banana Gator fly over.
"He really took down such a huge Banana Gator."
"Aren't Banana Gators supposed to regularly prey on large sharks in the sea? He's much more terrifying than a shark."
Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, seeing the flying Banana Gator, were so shocked their jaws dropped.
"Without a foothold, what will you do now, you idiot?!"
Nami saw Tom strike the still-wailing Banana Gator toward the Merry. The creature was now far from him. If this continued, he would eventually fall into the stomach acid sea below.
"What's the rush? I'll be back on the ship soon."
As Tom shouted this toward Nami at the stern, he quickly separated the merged fishing rods, inserting one into the middle of the other to form a T-shaped handle. He took three ring-shaped attachments from his belt, attaching them to the sides of the rod's ends and the top of the vertical handle.
Then, as Tom held the T-shaped handle horizontally across his chest, a tightly woven seamless net shot upward from it, secured by several fishing lines, forming a simple hang glider.
To provide the hang glider with sufficient lift, Tom gripped the T-handle with one hand and threw several consecutive Vacuum Fists downward. Using the recoil force generated by the punches, he finally made the glider ascend.
"Woo-hoo!"
Tom, holding the hang glider, flew above the Going Merry and even waved at Nami, who was staring at him dumbfounded. He did a few loops in the air, making Luffy and Usopp shout excitedly for Tom to take them flying too.
"That thing of yours can even fly? That's so much fun!"
Luffy's eyes shone as he looked at the fishing rod Tom had put away.
"If I jumped from a higher place, I could fly even farther."
Tom said this to Luffy after landing back on the Merry, while he and Zoro pulled the Banana Gator floating on the stomach acid sea closer.
"You stinky fisherman only know how to use weird gadgets."
Sanji, standing by the ship's side, prepared to start processing the Banana Gator's meat.
"I'm more curious about what you actually did to it."
Zoro, seeing the Banana Gator had no visible external injuries, couldn't figure out how Tom had defeated it.
Seeing Zoro genuinely wanted to know, Tom quietly said a few words to him. Zoro's expression then became very strange, as if he wanted to laugh but couldn't.
Nami, seeing Tom and Zoro whispering together, pulled Tom over and asked, "What are you two talking about?"
"You really want to know?"
Tom asked with wide eyes. Seeing Nami nod firmly, he leaned close to her ear and whispered a few words. Nami's breath caught, her fair side profile instantly flushed red. She delivered a punch to Tom's head: "How can you say those things to me, you big idiot!"
Tom was knocked to the deck, holding his head. He had just whispered to Nami that he discovered the Banana Gator's weak point: the two swollen balls on either side of its face were actually the Banana Gator's... family jewels.
Damn it, you said you wanted to know, so I told you.
He had simply poked that conspicuous area a few times with his fishing rod...
Tom happily told Nami it was fortunate the Banana Gator was male and had them. He even kindly explained that the Banana Gator's assets weren't actually on its face; its body just had strong contractility, making it appear that way. Otherwise, he would have had to put in more effort.
In fact, most male mammals have external assets that are quite fragile. A heavy blow there would, in nine cases out of ten, cause them to lose the ability to resist.
The poor Banana Gator, in the midst of its attack, had its assets stabbed by Tom. It would be strange if it could still be ferocious after that.
Nami couldn't stand Tom constantly talking about that thing in front of her, so she unceremoniously gifted him an iron fist.
Usopp came before Tom, who now had a large lump on his head, gave him a sympathetic look, and asked about the hang glider. Last time Tom asked him to help modify the fishing rod, he didn't know what Tom wanted to do. Now he finally understood.
Taking advantage of everyone on the ship being busy, Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday raised the barrel cannons on their backs, aiming to blast a large hole in the whale's stomach.
Two Boom! sounds. By the time the others reacted, the fired cannonballs were almost upon the whale's stomach wall.
But at that moment, Crocus—who had been watching Tom's hunt near the exit—leaped out, using his body to block the two cannonballs flying toward the whale's stomach. This action undoubtedly proved he truly had no intention of harming the whale.
Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday's mission here was to hunt this whale, aiming to bring its meat back to their town for a hefty reward.
"Such a low-level hunting method."
Tom said this upon seeing Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday prepare to continue using the cannons to attack.
"You don't seem qualified to criticize others, do you?"
Nami, remembering how Tom told her he dealt with the Banana Gator, lightly pressed her fist against Tom's face.
After pulling Crocus—who had been knocked into the stomach acid sea by the two cannonballs—back up, Luffy and the others heard from him about this whale.
Though not understanding why Crocus protected the whale, Luffy still rushed forward and punched Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday each once, knocking them out.
This whale was an Island Whale from the West Blue, the world's largest whale, named Laboon.
According to Crocus, the now-tied-up Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday were scoundrels from a nearby town wanting Laboon's meat. Capturing Laboon would solve their town's food worries for the next two to three years.
As for Laboon, there were reasons for its continuous ramming of the Red Line and its cries toward Reverse Mountain.
Laboon had come here from the West Blue with the Rumbar Pirates. Island Whales naturally swim with their companions. But for Laboon, they were everything. However, because the Grand Line was too dangerous, the Rumbar Pirates decided to leave Laboon at Reverse Mountain, entrusting their friend Crocus with its care.
They made a promise with Laboon: they would sail around the world and return here to meet it again.
So Laboon, tears in its eyes as it watched the Rumbar Pirates depart, waited here with Crocus for their return.
This wait lasted fifty years.
For fifty years, Laboon cried out toward Reverse Mountain and rammed the Red Line because it firmly believed those people would return alive to find it.
But Sanji thought fifty years had passed; it was time to face reality.
Usopp found Laboon's unwavering belief in its companions' promise deeply moving. He openly said Sanji was being too realistic; perhaps the Rumbar Pirates would really return.
Then Crocus revealed a more cruel truth: he had received credible information that the Rumbar Pirates had long since fled the Grand Line. In other words, those people abandoned Laboon and ran away.
As Nami pointed out, to flee the Grand Line, one must pass through the Calm Belt, teeming with countless giant Sea Kings—an extremely dangerous undertaking.
Even if the Rumbar Pirates had a one-in-ten-thousand chance of escaping the Grand Line via the Calm Belt, Crocus didn't believe they would return here.
Because in the Grand Line, seasons, weather, currents, and winds all follow no rules. It's a sea where all common sense is useless. Once fear of the Grand Line takes root in a person's heart...
Sanji openly stated the Rumbar Pirates, precisely because their hearts were too fragile and they cherished their own lives, failed to fulfill their promise to Laboon and fled the Grand Line.
Usopp thought the Rumbar Pirates were excessive, not only abandoning Laboon but also making it wait in vain for fifty years.
Laboon could understand human speech. Nami asked Crocus why he didn't tell Laboon the truth. Crocus said he already had, but Laboon completely refused to listen.
Every time he mentioned the Rumbar Pirates, Laboon would raise its head and roar angrily and continuously ram the Red Line with its head.
It was from the day Crocus told Laboon the Rumbar Pirates wouldn't return that Laboon began constantly harming itself. Facing the Red Line dividing the world's oceans, even the world's largest whale couldn't smash through it, only injure itself further.
Laboon always believed the Rumbar Pirates would return from the other side of the Red Line. But waiting like this was utterly meaningless.
So Laboon refused to hear about the Rumbar Pirates because it feared losing the meaning of waiting.
Laboon's homeland was the West Blue on the other side of the Red Line. It could no longer return there. Therefore, the Rumbar Pirates who came here with it were its only companions and hope.
As they chatted with Crocus, their ship followed the passage inside the whale's body and emerged from the whale, seeing the real sky.
Crocus, as a doctor, had performed major surgery inside the whale's belly, installing valves and such to keep it alive—a testament to his superb medical skill.
After exiting the whale's body, regarding how to deal with Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday, Luffy and the others unanimously decided to dump them somewhere. The two were thrown into the sea.
While swimming away, Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday shouted threats, saying that since Luffy's crew were pirates, they were very much related to their "company." They called Luffy's crew country-bumpkin pirates and told them to be prepared, etc.
Tom and the others disembarked onto the shore. Sanji took the chopped Banana Gator meat to cook. Luffy grabbed the ship's mast and snapped it off.
Then Luffy, snatching the broken mast, climbed up the crisscrossing scars on Laboon's head as it surfaced and looked up at the sky.
At first, Sanji and the others thought Luffy was just enjoying the climb. Who would have thought, after reaching Laboon's head, Luffy saw a fresh, bleeding wound. He grabbed his weapon and forcefully stabbed it in!
Laboon's pupils contracted instantly. Its massive head shook back and forth, and it roared in pain: "HOOOOOOOOH!"
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Zoro and the others, having just left the whale's body, saw Luffy provoke it again. They were so shocked their jaws nearly hit the ground—even the elderly Crocus was the same.
"Don't break the ship!"
Usopp, seeing the Merry near the furious Laboon, worried it would be damaged.
The enraged Laboon's eyes turned fierce. It rammed headfirst into the rocky cliff ahead. Luffy, who had been holding onto the mast stuck in Laboon's head to avoid being flung away, was flattened.
Laboon's impact force was immense. Even Tom and the others on shore could clearly feel the ground shake.
Crocus on shore, seeing Luffy seemingly crushed to death by Laboon, grew very worried and wanted to rush forward to check. Nami quickly pulled him back, explaining Luffy was rubber and wouldn't die even if flattened, which calmed him slightly.
"Good thing you didn't join Luffy in that nonsense."
Nami said to Tom, surprised to find him just quietly watching.
"Are you stupid? Luffy's goal is the Pirate King. He won't lose to a whale. And that whale waited fifty years for a promise—that kind of perseverance is rare in the world. Two monsters fighting... Why would I interfere?"
Tom looked at Nami with a look as if she were an idiot, making her fine eyebrows twitch violently, almost hitting him.
Later, Luffy fought Laboon. Though Luffy was sent flying numerous times and even crashed into the lighthouse, he stubbornly got up to fight, ending in a stalemate.
It was a draw.
Finally, Luffy made a new promise with Laboon. This fight had no clear winner. After they sailed around the Grand Line, they would return to fight it again.
To make Laboon recognize his strength, Luffy deliberately provoked it with his words.
Laboon, being extremely intelligent, naturally understood Luffy's meaning.
For Laboon, waiting one year or fifty years might have no difference at all. After learning the Rumbar Pirates might never return, its heart had already died. All that remained was using time and physical pain to numb itself. Knowing the wait was futile yet having to continue waiting—this was the root of its pain.
After fifty years of wind and rain, changing seasons, sunrise and moonset—a weathered passage of half a century—it was no longer the young whale that once swam behind the pirate ship, listening to the crew's happy songs, adventuring with them on the sea. Yet a full fifty years passed without showing Laboon any hope, only deep despair—what a profound tragedy.
Now, Luffy's new promise gave it a new hope, making its wait have real meaning. Its remaining life would no longer be filled with empty despair. This moved it greatly. Large teardrops streamed from its eyes. It couldn't help but raise its head and cry out. Though the sound was thunderous and deafening, this time its cry held no sorrow, but was filled with joy.
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T/N :
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