"A whale? Where?" Ginny's eyes lit up, and she leaned over the railing, her small head scanning the vast expanse of the sea outside the ship.
But after looking for a long time, she saw nothing.
"Liar! There's no whale!" Seeing the smile on Carlo's face, Ivankov thought Carlo was teasing them.
He couldn't help but cross his arms, turning to lean against the railing with a pout.
The moment he turned around, the surface of the sea behind him suddenly erupted with a thunderous boom.
A blue giant whale as massive as a small mountain, its spindle-shaped body stretching out, burst through the deep sea, kicking up spray everywhere. It opened its mouth and let out a clear, resounding whale cry as it leaped over everyone's heads.
"Yoho!!"
*Boom!!*
Amidst the deafening roar, the suddenly appearing whale leaped over the pirate ship they were on and crashed into the sea on the other side, instantly sending up a towering splash.
Massive clusters of spray fell from mid-air with a splash, washing over the ship.
Ivankov took the brunt of it, sent flying by a large wave of seawater, rolling across the deck with a scream.
Kuma and Ginny were also soaked to the bone.
As soon as Kuma came into contact with the seawater, he lost all his strength. His body went limp, and he slumped onto the deck at Carlo's feet. Ginny hurried to pull him up.
Carlo was also soaked like a drowned rat.
But he didn't care at all. With a smile in his eyes, he waved at the still-stunned John.
"Alright, we can go now."
John gaped in total confusion:
"Huh? No? What are you doing, Carlo! You went through all that trouble to make me stop, surely it wasn't just for this? Watching a whale? You're interested in something so boring? You don't seem like that kind of person. What? Are you going to hunt that whale for its meat?"
"Don't be such a buzzkill, John."
Carlo pulled a cigar from his wet pocket and looked at Laboon, the whale who had surfaced again and was curiously watching them with its two giant eyes. Carlo grinned.
"Don't you understand a pirate's romance? As a pirate, as a Great Pirate, you can't just know about fighting and killing."
John twitched his lips and rolled his eyes. "A maniac like you is talking to me about romance? You didn't say that when you almost beat me to death back then."
He shook his head, turned the helm, adjusted the ship's course, and set sail again.
The other ships followed one after another.
"Hey! Don't sail away! We want to see the whale!"
"It really is a whale! Such a big whale!"
Ginny pulled the limp Kuma and rushed excitedly to the stern, waving and shouting at Laboon on the sea.
"Yoho!!"
As if in response, the massive blue whale actually raised its large head and let out an ethereal cry.
"It seems like it understands what we're saying about it?" Ginny's eyes sparkled as she stared unblinkingly at the cheerfully singing whale.
She suddenly turned around and said to Ivankov and Kuma nearby, "Big Brother, Kuma, let's sing a Pirate Song!"
Kuma was puzzled: "A Pirate Song?"
Ginny nodded: "Yeah! Like... binks brew. Don't you know how to sing it?"
Seeing Kuma shake his head, she smiled sweetly. "It's okay! I'll teach you. Follow me..."
"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho-ho..."
"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho-ho~"
The girl's clear humming echoed on the sailing pirate ship.
The honest youth followed along, humming somewhat awkwardly.
The moment the song started, the whale in the sea behind the pirate ship suddenly widened its large, dark eyes.
Then, it opened its mouth again and let out an even louder cry filled with joy. It dove into the sea and chased after the pirate ship, making Ginny and the others at the stern even more excited.
"Look! Big Brother, Kuma! The whale is chasing us! It seems to really like us singing the Pirate Song!"
Kuma chuckled honestly, "It seems very happy."
Ivankov rolled his eyes. "Hey! It's just a fish. Can a fish even be happy?"
Despite his words, he cleared his throat and, following the rhythm Ginny started, began to sing this world-famous Pirate Song.
The commotion here also drew a response from the pirates on the other ships.
Soon, on the six pirate ships, over a thousand pirates all raised their voices and sang binks brew.
"Yo-ho-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho-ho..."
"Deliver binks brew to your side... Like the sea breeze, riding the waves at will"
"Across the sea, the setting sun is boisterous too"
"The birds' songs draw circles in the sky"
"Farewell to the harbor, the land of silk"
"Let's sing a song! The song of departure!"
"Golden waves and silver ripples turn into splashing spray"
"We depart, all for the sake of the ocean"
"Deliver binks brew to your side"
"We pirates cleave through the waves"
"Pillowed by the billows, the ship is our home"
"The skull sail and skull flag flutter in the wind—"
"Yoho!!"
On the vast expanse of the blue sea, the pirate ships sailed away. A rainbow hung high in the sky, and a cheerful whale followed along.
This sudden turn of events left Crocus stunned. He had been standing in front of the lighthouse, mistakenly thinking Carlo and the others were going to hunt Laboon and preparing to rescue it.
Seeing Laboon following the pirate ships further away, his expression changed drastically, and he cried out, "Hey! Laboon! Don't go with them! They aren't the Rumbar Pirates!"
At the bow, Carlo smiled and sat back down in his rattan chair.
He didn't mind the chair being wet from the seawater.
John glanced at him. "I've noticed that since God Valley, you seem to have changed a bit."
"Oh? How so?" Carlo looked at him with interest.
"I can't quite put it into words, but you feel more mature than before."
"Before, you spent all day training and looking for people to challenge. Every day, you were either beating Kaido until he was covered in wounds, or you were torturing yourself until you were covered in wounds, or finding others to beat you until you were covered in wounds."
"But now, you have the leisure to enjoy this kind of pirate's romance."
John's gaze held searching curiosity: "I'm very curious about what you experienced at the end of God Valley to cause such a change."
"Experiences?" Carlo was taken aback, then chuckled.
"It has nothing to do with that. Maybe I've just... grown up. After all, I'm twenty-four now, time to be a bit more mature.
Besides, I used to train desperately because I was too weak.
But now, I'm already very strong. Ordinary hard training doesn't mean much to me anymore.
I've been fighting all my life; it's time I properly enjoyed myself."
*Cough, cough, cough!* John nearly choked on his own saliva. He looked at Carlo as if he'd seen a ghost. "You... what did you say? You're only twenty-four years old???"
"Yeah. Don't tell me you're just finding out now?" Carlo was a bit surprised.
"I...!" John opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, nothing came out; his mouth just kept moving, his teeth gnashing.