"Am I dreaming?"
Nami murmured, her eyes brimming with tears as she tightly gripped Xiano's arm. "Brother, I'm still alive, right? This isn't some scene you'd only see after ascending to heaven, is it?"
But how could there be another world inside a whale's stomach? It didn't make sense!
"Look closely."
Xiano pointed to the dome above, offering the crew an explanation. "That's a semicircular arch. The blue sky and white clouds are fake—they're painted."
Everyone followed his gaze.
Indeed, although the blue sky and white clouds looked incredibly realistic, the clouds didn't move at all. Upon closer inspection, some areas even showed traces of ink wrinkles.
"What about this ocean?"
Kuina spread her arms in confusion. "Such a vast sea—it can't possibly be painted, can it?"
"It's stomach acid."
A calm voice came from the side.
Everyone turned their heads.
Just in time to see a small sampan drifting leisurely from the left. The old man on board glanced at them expressionlessly.
The old man's hair resembled flower petals, and he wore a flashy tropical shirt. On his shoulder, he carried a massive syringe taller and thicker than a person…
"Be careful not to fall in," the old man said. "Ordinary people wouldn't last long inside. They'd be corroded and turned into skeletons."
"Hey, old man!"
Nami quickly called out. "Don't leave in such a hurry! We're still inside the whale's stomach, right? But how did it end up like this, and where do we get out?!"
"How rude."
The old man stopped the sampan and frowned at Nami. "Who brought this kid here? Shouldn't you introduce yourself before asking for someone's name?"
"You're right, my apologies." Nami scratched her head sheepishly. "My name is Na—"
"I am Crocus, the lighthouse keeper of Twin Capes. I'm sixty-seven years old, blood type AB, and a Gemini," the old man said calmly.
"You're the rude one!!"
Nami's veins bulged on her forehead as she bared her teeth and roared, "At least let me finish speaking, you old geezer! Don't think I won't burn that bird's nest you call hair!"
Whoosh! As soon as she got angry, her orange hair burst into a ball of orange flames, blazing fiercely.
"Hmm? A Devil Fruit user?"
Crocus glanced at her in surprise. "You shouldn't use that power recklessly. You could accidentally kill someone."
"Kill someone?"
Nami was stunned and instinctively retracted the flames. "Are there side effects?"
"I meant you could kill me," Crocus pointed at himself.
"Oh, it's you!!" Everyone facepalmed.
"No, old man."
Nami couldn't hold back her frustration. "As the lighthouse keeper here, do you talk to everyone like this? There must be plenty of hot-tempered pirates around. It's a miracle you've survived this long!"
"Ordinary pirates aren't a problem."
Crocus glanced at Xiano. "But I'm a bit afraid of you guys. After all, you're the only ones in decades to have a bounty of 180 million Berries before even entering the Grand Line."
"Pirates? We're not pirates—we're an adventure crew!"
Nami corrected herself first, then also turned to look at Xiano, immediately feeling a sense of pride and giggling, "Bro, did you hear that! Your reputation is really huge now, even an old man from the Grand Line is intimidated by you!"
"Don't listen to his nonsense."
Xiano leaned on the railing, looking at Crocus with great interest:
"A legend who has experienced countless major events back in the day, how could he be scared by me... Speaking of which, don't you think his self-introduction sounds familiar? The ship's doctor on Roger's crew back then was called by that name."
Roger?
This old man, dressed in beachwear and flip-flops, looking unassuming, was actually the ship's doctor on the Pirate King's crew?
Everyone was stunned, and then exclamations erupted:
"Eh—?!"
"An inconspicuous old man like me, does anyone still remember?"
Crocus looked at Xiano with surprise, "After so many years, none of those pirates who passed by here, shouting about inheriting Roger's will, recognized me. Oh, there were two kids, but they were old acquaintances, so they don't count..."
He glanced up at the white flag fluttering on the mast, "You said earlier that you're adventurers, not pirates, right? Now I believe you."
Boom!
The dull sound of the mountain colliding suddenly came from outside again.
Accompanied by a mournful cry, the entire dome interior was immediately filled with howling winds and surging waves.
"Almost forgot about the main task."
Crocus shook his head, pointing to the huge syringe he was carrying on his shoulder, "Follow me, and I'll explain your doubts while I work."
...
Click—
As the huge syringe pierced the pink flesh wall and the sedative inside was completely used up, Laboon, who had been ramming into the Red Line, gradually calmed down.
The once turbulent stomach of the sea also became calm.
"...In short, since then, it has been shouting at Reverse Mountain, persistently ramming into the Red Line, even though I've advised it many times, Laboon still refuses to accept reality."
Crocus put down the empty syringe in his hand, calmly finishing the last part.
"...Sniff, no wonder there are so many scars on its head, and it keeps ramming so desperately, it's because it wants to see its companions..."
The three girls with low tear thresholds were already on the verge of crying, even Zeff hid aside, lit a cigarette, and gazed melancholically at the fake sky of the dome.
"Agin." Nami hugged the silver wolf's leg, sadly saying, "If we are forced to separate in the future, would you also stay here at Reverse Mountain, ramming your head into the Red Line? If that day ever comes, promise me, don't be so foolish, okay?"
"Awoo!" Agin rolled his eyes.
Isn't it you who's being foolish?
How big am I? Can't I just take a boat over?
"..." Xiano, on the other hand, was quietly thinking about things. He had already cried many years ago, so this time he was only slightly saddened for a while, and quickly regained his composure.
He stroked his chin, pondering the details in Crocus's words.
When he read the manga years ago, he hadn't paid attention, but now he suddenly realized something.
"Uncle."
Xiano couldn't help but ask, "Are you saying that Laboon was just quietly staying at the foot of Reverse Mountain until you told him that the Rumbar Pirates had abandoned him and left the Grand Line, and that's when he started ramming into the Red Line?"
"That's right."
Crocus sighed, "Although the Grand Line is indeed a terrifying place, scaring off many pirates every year, humans are just that kind of creature—cowardly, treacherous, and forgetful of promises. Often, they're not even as good as a whale..."
"But what if I told you that the Rumbar Pirates didn't abandon him?"
Xiano shrugged, "Then wouldn't Laboon's ramming be all because of your misleading?"
"...?"
Crocus was stunned for a moment, then firmly said, "Impossible! I personally went to investigate the news back then and confirmed it through multiple sources. Several people saw the Rumbar Pirates' ship fleeing through the Calm Belt."
"But you didn't see it with your own eyes, did you?"
Xiano frowned, "And didn't you ever think about it? If the Rumbar Pirates really chose to break their promise and flee because they were too cowardly to continue venturing into the Grand Line, why would they dare to go through the Calm Belt?"
"That pirate crew, made up of musicians, dreamed of holding concerts all over the world, making all crying children smile. They didn't have any particularly outstanding strong fighters, did they? Taking a whole ship of people into the Calm Belt—isn't that just seeking death?"
"..."
Crocus froze in place, his pupils suddenly contracting.
He suddenly realized that he had never really considered this question.
Before being invited onto Roger's ship, he was already a strong and skilled doctor.
Later, traveling the world with Roger, he witnessed many peak-strength figures who left their names in history and countless events that shook the seas.
With his horizons broadened, he had become numb to many things.
Naturally, he no longer considered crossing the Calm Belt a big deal.
But...
As Xiano said.
If the Rumbar Pirates, who had never even set foot in the New World, really fled Paradise out of cowardice, where would they get the strength and confidence to venture into the even more dangerous Calm Belt?
"What... what exactly is going on? Among those who saw the Rumbar Pirates' whereabouts, the others aside, one was an old comrade I trusted..."
"The Rumbar Pirates' ship did enter the Calm Belt."
Xiano shook his head and said softly, "But that was because Captain Yoki and a small group of people were infected with the plague. Yoki didn't want to burden his crew, so he handed over command to Vice Captain Brook, letting them sail on with their new ship, carrying their dreams forward, while he took the old ship and let it drift into the Calm Belt, left to its fate."
"And what about the people on the new ship?"
"They all died too. They were attacked in the Florian Triangle and wiped out. But Brook ate the Revive-Revive Fruit, as you know, so he's still alive in the form of a skeleton. However, due to some special circumstances, he's trapped in that sea."
Everyone around was listening intently.
Kuina finally couldn't hold back and quietly poked Xiano's side: "Captain, how do you know so much about all these things?"
"Remember, I mentioned to you before that Red-Haired Shanks, who just became one of the Four Emperors, has some old ties with me," Xiano said casually, thinking that this could be his go-to excuse for anything he couldn't explain in the future. "He told me about it when we were drinking together in the Goa Kingdom."
Ah, so that's why the Captain seemed to already know about Laboon's story, Kuina realized.
Meanwhile.
Clatter.
After hearing Xiano's words, the empty syringe in Crocus's hand fell to the ground.
He himself staggered back a few steps, his face instantly turning pale.
"It all makes sense now, everything makes sense..."
"So that's how it is, that's how it is!"
Remembering the scene under the sunset that day when the group of musicians solemnly entrusted Laboon to him.
Crocus's eyes reddened, and tears suddenly rolled down his cheeks as he fiercely slapped his own face—
"I wronged Yoki and Brook! It's all my fault! I'm such an idiot! A fool! I didn't think it through, I didn't personally check the situation of that ship, and that's why... Wait, no, Laboon, Laboon..."
"Hey—Laboon!!!!"
The old man suddenly changed his expression, looking up in horror, shouting with all his might:
"Did you hear what we said! Please, stop this! I beg you, stop!"
Woo—
Outside, a long mournful cry echoed, causing the entire stomach space to shake violently, and the fake blue sky on the dome began to crack layer by layer.
"What on earth—" Nami had just shouted when she was thrown off balance by the turbulent waves, crashing into the mast and hurriedly holding on to avoid falling into the sea of stomach acid.
"It's committing suicide!" Crocus cried out, tears streaming down his face, "Laboon has finally accepted the reality that his companions are dead! He's giving up on his obsession to cross the Red Line and is trying to crash himself to death on the Reverse Mountain!"
"But didn't my brother also say that Brook is still alive?"
Nami was exasperated, quickly crossing her hands and placing them by her mouth like a megaphone, shouting,
"Laboon! Can you hear me! Didn't you hear the last part? Brook, the one you care about the most, is still in the Grand Line! We can take you to find him, don't do this, you big fool, can you hear me!!!"
She had shouted with all her might, but her words seemed to vanish into thin air, with no response.
Laboon continued to crash into the Reverse Mountain in a suicidal frenzy.
Inside the stomach space, the shaking and turbulence grew even more intense.
The dome above had completely cracked and deformed, revealing the true pink flesh walls, with large chunks of rock crashing down, as if the apocalypse had arrived.
"Go!"
Crocus suddenly stumbled to his feet, frantically rushing towards the valve controlling the exit, using all his strength to twist it open as quickly as possible—
"Hurry! The sedative's effect was still there earlier, so Laboon could hear us, but now the noise inside is too loud, and our voices can't reach his ears. We have to get outside immediately to stop him!"
"Is there still time?"
Nami immediately began steering the Sunset towards the massive iron gate that was slowly opening. But at this speed... She bit her lip tightly, truly afraid. Afraid that after finally returning to the open sea, all she would see was blood drifting everywhere and the colossal corpse of an island whale.
But just at that moment...
"Yohohoho... Yohohoho~"
"Yohohoho... Yohohoho~"
A familiar, melodious, and cheerful tune suddenly rang out, causing everyone to freeze in surprise.
"This is...?!" Crocus also turned his head abruptly, his cloudy tears still hanging on his face.
The music seemed to come from nowhere, continuing to play.
At first, it was at a normal volume, but soon it grew louder and louder, soaring high into the sky and echoing under the vast dome. Even the churning sea of stomach acid rippled with fine waves from the vibrations—
"Yohohoho... Yohohoho~"
"Yohohoho... Yohohoho~"
(End of Chapter)