Right now, the Going Merry was at the very peak of Reverse Mountain, about to start the insane slide down the other side into the Grand Line.
They caught the downward current, and the sheer thrill of the drop, mixed with the excitement of finally reaching their goal, had Luffy, Zoro, Sanji, Nami, and Usopp yelling and cheering like crazy.
But as they shot down towards the sea, the mist cleared, revealing something colossal blocking their path.
At first glance, the part sticking out of the water was easily 200 meters tall.
It was a giant whale.
"WHOA!!!!"
The five of them screamed, each one more shocked than the last, totally panicking.
At the speed they were going, they were going to crash right into it in less than a minute and be turned into splinters.
Seeing them all freaking out, Ray just shook his head slightly and gave Chouchou an order.
"Stop the ship."
Chouchou barked and instantly transformed.
His giant form was about the same size as the Going Merry itself.
He zipped ahead to where they were going to land and, just as the ship plunged down, caught the bow, bringing it to a surprisingly gentle stop.
Everyone let out a huge sigh of relief, showering Chouchou with praise, calling him the world's strongest dog and stuff.
But things weren't going to be that simple.
Chouchou's massive demon beast aura wasn't something the giant whale was going to ignore, even if he looked small compared to it.
In fact, that regal pressure Chouchou gave off was like a direct challenge to any wild animal.
The giant whale sensed the threat and immediately reacted.
It opened its massive mouth, ready to swallow both Chouchou and the Going Merry whole.
Luffy and the others panicked again.
The whale was just too big. None of them had any way to hurt something that enormous.
So, naturally, they all turned to Ray.
Usopp was trembling like a leaf.
(((;ﾟДﾟ;))): "Ray-samaaaaaa! Please do something quick, or we're gonna be whale food!"
Nami had lost all her courage too, giving Ray the biggest puppy-dog eyes (´• ω •`).
"Yeah, yeah! I'm still young! I have so much money left to earn! I bought all those clothes I haven't even tried on for you yet! I can't die inside a whale's stomach!"
Outwardly, Ray just looked calm, but inwardly, he was both amused and exasperated.
"It's fine," he said casually. "Let's just take a tour inside its stomach."
Everyone just stared at him, completely bewildered.
'What?! Is he serious?! We're just gonna let it eat us?! We won't even be a snack for this thing!'
But since it was Ray's idea, they trusted him.
If he was this chill about it, he must have a plan.
All their adventures so far had taught them one thing: trusting Ray was never wrong.
Besides, even though the whale was huge, they figured it probably couldn't even take one 'Azure Dragon Break' from Ray.
And so, the Straw Hat Pirates' one-day tour inside the giant whale began.
…
After getting swallowed, the Going Merry drifted along with the seawater inside the whale.
Just then, Ray heard a bunch of crashing and muffled yelling coming from the storage room.
He sighed.
'Right. Forgot about those two.' Judging by how the ship was tilting, the storage room must have flooded.
He told Sanji and Usopp to go check on Gion and Hina and patch up the storage room while they were at it.
A few minutes later, Sanji came back up, hearts in his eyes, carrying both women.
Hina had passed out from nearly drowning but Nami managed to revive her with some chest compressions.
Gion was coughing up seawater and glaring daggers at Ray.
Ray felt uncomfortable under her gaze, just snorted, told the crew to watch the prisoners, and went back to his room.
Nami insisted they absolutely couldn't change the way the women were tied up.
In fact, she added a few more ropes and gave them occasional electric shocks "just to be safe."
(Gion and Hina were mentally cataloging thousands of ways to torture Nami later.)
After Usopp fixed the storage room, Nami tossed the two women back inside.
…
A few minutes later, the Going Merry arrived in the whale's stomach.
It was like a massive, acidic lake, but the ship floated just fine.
There, they met Crocus, an old man who lived inside the whale and apparently hunted giant squids for fun.
Ray vaguely remembered this guy.
He'd been the doctor on Roger's ship, had been to Laugh Tale, and knew all the secrets.
But Ray wasn't about to spill the beans.
The Straw Hats were already the main characters, and with him around, their future dominance was basically guaranteed.
Plus, Ray just hated talking too much.
Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were initially weirded out by Crocus, but after getting acquainted, the old man heard they were just "sightseeing" and immediately started giving them a tour, explaining all about the giant whale, Laboon.
He told them the sad story of how Laboon had been waiting 50 years for a pirate crew that never came back, and how he rammed his head against the Red Line every day out of loneliness and frustration.
Hearing the tale, Luffy's expression turned serious.
The others, no longer scared, felt deep sympathy for the giant whale.
Zoro, especially, felt it – it was a story about a promise.
Luffy felt a tightness in his chest.
Then he remembered something – Chouchou could talk to animals!
He looked at Ray with an idea.
He wanted Chouchou to try and talk to Laboon first.
If that didn't work, then he'd fight Laboon.
Ray knew what Luffy was thinking.
He'd already considered the options.
Option one: Do what Luffy did in the original story – fight Laboon to a draw and make a new promise.
Option two: Have Chouchou tell Laboon the truth – that Ray knew his old friends, the Rumbar Pirates, and that one of them, Brook, was still alive.
After a moment's thought, Ray decided.
'Not my problem. Let Luffy handle it.' Ray wasn't some selfless do-gooder.
If Luffy wanted to help, he could figure it out himself.
Just as Ray was about to tell Luffy to go ahead, two figures—a man and a woman—suddenly appeared, both carrying rocket launchers.
One look and everyone knew: these newcomers meant trouble.