Laboon had once been a little whale from the West Blue. Because he loved Brook's music, he left his whale pod behind and followed the Rumbar Pirates.
After a long journey through the West Blue, the Rumbar Pirates eventually decided to enter the Grand Line. But the Grand Line was too dangerous, and they could not bring Laboon with them. So they left him behind at Reverse Mountain and told him to wait there a little while.
"When we've gone all the way around the world and come back, we'll meet again."
Because of that single promise, the young whale stayed behind in tears and waited on this side of the Red Line for the Rumbar Pirates to return.
That wait had already stretched on for forty years.
If it were the time when Luffy set sail, it would have been fifty, but Amon had entered the sea ten years earlier. Still, there was little difference. Forty years was already long enough to grind hope into obsession.
The endless waiting had made Laboon increasingly violent. He kept trying to smash down Reverse Mountain with his own body, but in front of the Red Line, he was still far too small.
"Lily, hold on tight."
Seeing Laboon slam toward the exit current again, Amon grabbed Lily and pulled her close so she would not be thrown off the ship.
"Go!"
The moment the impact ended, Amon drove his ship forward and rushed out through the waterway.
"So huge..."
Lily stared with her mouth slightly open.
This was the first time she had ever seen a creature this enormous.
Amon was not much better. Even back when he watched the anime, Laboon had seemed massive. But seeing him in person was entirely different. The whale looked like a moving mountain. Compared to him, his ship was no more than a toy boat.
"Laboon, Laboon, stop ramming it. Keep this up and you'll kill yourself!"
Just as the ship passed the whale's body, a voice came from the passage built into Laboon's side.
Amon spread his Observation Haki and found a tunnel along Laboon's outer body. Standing there was a bald old man trying to calm the whale. If he remembered correctly, this should be Crocus, former doctor of the Roger Pirates and keeper of the Twin Cape lighthouse.
Boom!
Before Amon could think further, Laboon smashed into the Red Line again. This time, the point of impact was exactly where the ship had emerged.
"Damn it."
Amon's face darkened. The timing was absurd.
Beside him, Lily had already gone pale. She clung to him tightly, clearly frightened by the giant mass crashing toward them.
Amon let out a breath.
He had originally planned to take one look and leave the rest for Luffy ten years later. But the thought of Laboon spending another decade battering himself against the cliff was too much.
Since he had run into it, he could not just ignore it.
"Perfect time to test the shungedo art."
The moment the words left his mouth, Amon kicked off the deck and shot toward Laboon even faster than the ship itself.
"Young man, don't! Jump into the sea!"
Inside the passage, Crocus was stunned. In his eyes, charging straight at Laboon's head was no different from suicide.
"Relax."
Even with Laboon bearing down on him, Amon still had the spare calm to smile at Crocus.
Then, as the whale's scarred head crashed toward him, the pressure around Amon changed.
All the strength in his body gathered into both arms.
"Get back!"
The instant he shouted, Amon thrust both hands forward against Laboon's head. At the same time, he spread the force outward so it would not concentrate on a single point and worsen Laboon's injuries.
"It's over."
Inside the passage, Crocus shook his head.
To him, Amon was simply overestimating himself. No human being should have been able to stop something like this.
But the collision he expected never came.
Crocus looked out again, and his jaw nearly fell open.
As the former doctor of the Pirate King's crew, he had seen more unbelievable things than most people could imagine. Even so, he was certain this was the most shocking sight of his life.
Beneath Laboon's enormous body was a single human figure so small he could have been overlooked entirely, and yet that figure was forcing the whale backward inch by inch with nothing but his arms.
The posture looked almost ridiculous.
The effect was anything but.
What kind of strength did it take to stop a giant whale head-on like this?
"How is this possible...?!"
Inside Laboon's body, Crocus felt his whole understanding of the world cracking apart.
On the ship, Lily was just as shaken. She had not expected Amon to block Laboon's charge through sheer force alone. The sight left her stunned and lingeringly afraid.
"Hah!"
Amon, meanwhile, felt only exhilaration.
This was the first time he had truly used the power of the shungedo Art, and it did not disappoint. As expected of a supreme body-refining esoteric art, its power was astonishing.
His whole body felt packed with force, and using it at full output was almost intoxicating.
Ignoring the shock around him, Amon continued forcing Laboon backward while directing the ship to move Lily away from the mouth of Reverse Mountain.
"You, hurry up and inject the sedative. I can't hold him forever!"
He sent the warning directly toward Crocus while still bracing against Laboon's head.
"Right!"
Only then did Crocus snap out of it. He immediately grabbed the oversized injector and rushed toward Laboon's cranial nerves. Before long, he had emptied the entire dose of sedative into the whale.
As the drug took effect, Laboon gradually began to settle down.
Amon let out a quiet breath of relief.
He slowly eased the shungedo Art and drew back his strength bit by bit. Once he was sure Laboon had calmed completely, he released the rest of his power and leapt back onto the ship.
The moment he landed, Crocus also jumped out from Laboon's passage and onto the deck after him.