They saw a huge whale, ten times larger than a Sea King, traversing the ocean current. Its mouth was open, a huge black hole swallowing the billowing waves. The nearby current had become extremely rapid, pulled in by the sheer force of its intake.
"This is an incredible sea! This is the Grand Line!" Luffy screamed, his voice a mixture of terror and pure excitement. "Just at the entrance, and there's already a whale this big!"
"It's incredible," Sanji said, lighting a cigarette, his own excitement palpable. "It's probably the biggest whale in the world. This is the Grand Line. Only in a place like this could I find the legendary All Blue."
"Let me cut it down!" Zoro declared, his hand on the hilt of his sword. He had two new blades, and he was eager to test their sharpness.
"Hey! We're about to be swallowed, and you're not worried at all?" Usopp shrieked, looking at the three of them as if they were madmen. "Now is not the time for sightseeing! We have to find a way out, or we'll be eaten by that whale!"
"Moonlight!" Nami cried, turning to the only person on the ship who seemed to have a handle on the situation.
Moonlight nodded and leaped into the sea. "Raptor's Air Rend!" Man and sword became one, a phantom of steel and wind moving swiftly across the waves. Carried by the violent downstream current, his speed was incredible. In an instant, he had reached the whale, leaped onto its head, and gently pressed his palm, now wrapped in the dark energy of his Armament Haki, onto its massive forehead.
"Hah!"
BOOM!
The Haki flowed directly into the whale's body. A sound like a train whistle, but a hundred times louder, ripped through the air, and the whale's huge body began to roll over. The ocean currents erupted into violent waves, and the entire sea churned. A massive, hundred-meter-wide whirlpool formed around the whale, and everything within its grasp—including the Going Merry—was swallowed up, pulled into the darkness of the whale's mouth. The small ship, like an ant in a storm, was helpless against the overwhelming force.
"No! It's over!"
"Moonlight, what did you do?!"
"Oh no!"
"Are we going to be swallowed?" Luffy and the others glared at him. A moment ago, they had been fine. But as soon as Moonlight had acted, the situation had gone from bad to worse. Moonlight, look what you've done!
"Unless I killed it with a single slash, a whale this big was bound to roll over," Moonlight said to himself with a low laugh. "I have no grudge against it, so why would I kill it? But since it was blocking my path, I couldn't just let it be. Besides..." he trailed off, a knowing smile on his face. "It's Laboon." With his current strength, killing Laboon would have been simple, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
With a final, massive gulp, the whirlpool, along with the Going Merry and Moonlight, was swallowed by the whale.
At the same time, on a small, man-made island inside the whale's body, an old man in slippers, shorts, and a short-sleeved shirt was relaxing in the sun, leaning back on a recliner and leisurely flipping through a newspaper. Suddenly, the water around the island began to shake violently, and the painted sky above him trembled.
"Is it starting again?" he mumbled, putting down his newspaper and frowning at the shaking water. He was no stranger to this kind of commotion; he was almost used to it. But at that moment, four or five black dots fell from the sky, heading straight for him. They were people, and they were shouting hysterically as they fell.
BOOM!
The small hut he had built was smashed to pieces. The newspaper in the old man's hand fell to the ground.
"Is this... an island?"
"Where are we?"
"Am I not dead yet?"
"Huh? There's a strange old man on this island."
Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Usopp, and Nami, having landed in a disheveled heap, slowly stood up, looking around in a daze.
BOOM!
At the same time, the Going Merry fell from the sky and slammed into the water, sending up a massive spray.
"The Merry!" the five of them cried out in joy. But as they were about to step forward, the old man, his body crouched and his face a mask of pure annoyance, blocked their path. Crocus was in a very bad mood. To have his peaceful afternoon interrupted was one thing, but to have his painstakingly built house destroyed was another. But then, his eyes fell on the straw hat on Luffy's head, and his pupils shrank. "That is..." A long-lost memory flooded his mind.
Meanwhile, in a long, fleshy passageway, Moonlight was looking around curiously. "So this is the inside of Laboon's body. It's already riddled with holes," he murmured. The average lifespan of a whale was fifty to sixty years. Laboon had been waiting for Brook and the Rumbar Pirates for fifty years. His body was old and failing.
"Crocus? Is he treating Laboon? And Luffy and the others..." Looking at the pipes and tubes nailed to the fleshy walls, Moonlight sighed. He activated his Observation Haki, and a map of the living beings inside the whale appeared in his mind. "So, they're okay. And they've met Crocus. With that straw hat, he won't give them too much trouble. Well, what's this..." Two strange new presences suddenly appeared in his perception.
"Miss Wednesday and Mr. 9," he realized.
At that moment, a man and a woman appeared at the other end of the passageway.
"Miss Wednesday, great! We're finally inside the whale," the man said with a joyful laugh. "Now, all we have to do is find its heart and kill it, and we'll have enough food to last for years."
"That's right, Mr. 9," Miss Wednesday replied, nodding. "If we can bring back a whale this big, our mission will be more than fulfilled." As long as she could complete the mission, she would be one step closer to that man.
"Alright, let's get started," the two of them said, smiling at each other as they prepared to act.
"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" a cold voice suddenly said.
The two of them froze and spun around to see a young man in black, a sword in his hand, standing before them.
"Who are you?" Miss Wednesday demanded.
"It doesn't matter who he is," Mr. 9 snarled, grabbing two wooden batons from his belt. "He heard our conversation. He can't be allowed to live." He launched himself at Moonlight, the batons a blur of motion. This was a secret mission; anyone who learned of it had to be silenced.
"Though it's a shame, you can only blame yourself for your bad luck," Miss Wednesday said, a hint of hesitation in her voice before she too charged forward. She pulled a string from her pinky finger, and a white, thread-like weapon shot out from her sleeve, spinning rapidly to form a deadly, saw-like disc. "Peacock Slasher!"
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Mr. 9 shouted coldly, the two batons in his hands a blur of motion as he rushed through the air towards Moonlight. This was their secret mission; since it had been discovered, the only option was to eliminate the witness.
"Though it's a shame, you can only blame yourself for your bad luck," Miss Wednesday said, a hint of hesitation in her eyes before she too charged forward. She pulled a string from her pinky finger, and a white, thread-like weapon shot out from her sleeve, spinning rapidly to form a deadly, saw-like disc. "Peacock Slasher!"
"So you want to fight?" Moonlight said with a faint smile, walking straight towards the approaching Mr. 9.
"Go to hell!" Mr. 9 yelled, his nunchaku-like batons descending with a crushing force.
BOOM!
But just as he got close, Moonlight lashed out with a single, powerful kick, and Mr. 9 was sent flying backwards like a cannonball.
"Not good!" Miss Wednesday cried, quickly retracting her Peacock Slasher to try and stop his momentum. But the moment she touched him, an indescribable force erupted from his body, and she too was sent flying.
BOOM!
They crashed through a fleshy wall, revealing a vast, open sea beyond, and the two of them fell straight into the water.
"What? You're saying we're in the belly of a whale?" Luffy and the others were staring at Crocus with looks of pure disbelief. They had been tossed about by the ocean currents, completely disoriented, and when they had finally landed, they had found themselves here.
The whale's name was Laboon, and the old man was Crocus, the former ship's doctor for the Roger Pirates. He lived inside Laboon's stomach, treating the massive creature's self-inflicted wounds. For fifty long years, Laboon had been waiting for his companions to return, ramming his head against the Red Line every day in a desperate attempt to break through so they could come back to him.
Hearing this, the crew fell silent. Fifty years... the Grand Line was a dangerous place. If they hadn't returned in fifty years, they were surely dead. But looking at Laboon's story, none of them could bring themselves to say it.
Splash!
At that moment, a man and a woman fell screaming from a pipe and landed in the water. Then, a boy in black descended from the sky, and just as he was about to hit the water, he let out a roar and, in a blur of motion, crossed the tens of meters to the island in an instant.
"What..." Crocus's pupils shrank. With his experience, he could see the incredible speed and power the boy in black had just displayed.
"Moonlight! Great!"
"Moonlight!"
Luffy and the others cheered. They had been worried they had been separated from him, but here he was, falling from the sky.
"Everyone's here," Moonlight said with a smile, greeting them all before turning to the old man in slippers. "I never expected to find someone living in a place like this."
"And I never expected to find a character like you in this crew," Crocus said, his gaze lingering on Moonlight before turning back to Luffy and the others. "The One Piece... perhaps it's not so far away after all."
"Hey, Moonlight, are you a little flattered?" Usopp said, nudging him with his elbow. "You know who just praised you, right? The former ship's doctor of the Pirate King!"
"Yeah, I never expected Mr. Crocus to be the Roger Pirates' doctor," Nami added, her eyes filled with a mixture of envy and admiration. "He's seen it all. For him to recognize you like that... that's really amazing."
Sanji and Zoro just curled their lips, not saying a word. They were surprised by the old man's high praise for Moonlight, but considering his terrifying power, the evaluation was more than fair.
"Of course," Luffy said, nodding. "How could a member of the Pirate King's crew be anything but amazing?"
Crocus was speechless.
"By the way, Moonlight, who are they?" Nami asked, looking at the man and woman who were now climbing onto the other side of the island, looking completely drenched and embarrassed.
"I don't know," Moonlight replied calmly. "But I heard them say they were going to kill this whale, so I brought them here. We've just arrived in the Grand Line and don't know anything. It wouldn't hurt to ask a few questions."
"What?! They were going to kill Laboon?"
"Unforgivable! Who are you people?" the others shouted, their anger flaring.
Crocus, however, didn't seem surprised. The two assassins remained silent, refusing to answer.
"No need to ask," Crocus said, looking at Luffy. "If they don't want to talk, you won't get an answer. And even if they did, rookies like you who have just arrived in the Grand Line wouldn't understand. If you want to find answers, you don't need to ask others. Just find them yourself. Your name is Luffy, and you want to be the King of the Pirates, right?"
"Yes! I'm going to find the One Piece and become the King of the Pirates!" Luffy declared, his voice filled with an unwavering conviction.
"Well then, get ready to go," Crocus said, pointing to a strange-looking compass on his arm. "But before you do, you'd better get a Log Pose so you don't get lost."
"A Log Pose?" Luffy and the others asked, confused.
"Hehe, what a bunch of rookies," Mr. 9 sneered from the other side of the island. "The Grand Line isn't as simple as you think. It's a special sea. The weather, ocean currents, and air currents are all chaotic. Without a Log Pose, you won't even be able to determine your position, let alone find the One Piece. You'll be lucky if you can even leave this place."
"What did you say?!" Luffy shouted.
"He's right," Crocus confirmed. "The Grand Line is a chaotic sea. Navigational skills and experience are useless here. That's why no one has found the One Piece yet. But if you have a Log Pose, that's a different story. It can record the magnetic fields between the islands of the Grand Line. As long as you follow its direction, you can find your way to the next island."
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