"Oooooooh—!!!"
At the exit of Reverse Mountain, the whale that had previously swallowed Son Goku and the others dove into the sea with a flick of its tail. Its head, covered in a dense network of gruesome scars, slammed ruthlessly against the Red Line!
BOOM!!!
Its massive size granted it immense momentum. Any other mountain, or even some small islands, would likely have been shaken by such a collision.
But it was facing the Red Line, the continent that encircled the planet, a solid landmass that stood unmoved.
The disparity between the two was like a blade of grass against a towering tree, or an ant before a great beast.
Thus, even though the impact was incredibly powerful, the Red Line did not budge in the slightest; it didn't even vibrate.
...
Inside the whale, Crocus was running quickly through a corridor. Despite his age, his athletic ability was no worse than a teenager's.
"Laboon! Stop hitting it! Your wounds haven't healed yet!"
He roared with all his might as he ran, his voice seemingly reaching the whale's ears.
Yet the ground beneath his feet continued to shake violently, and the cries of pain persisted. Clearly, the whale named Laboon was ignoring his pleas.
"Dammit! It looks like I'll have to use the sedative again this time!"
Crocus grit his teeth, his mind made up.
Overusing sedatives would harm Laboon, but if he didn't, Laboon would continue to strike the Red Line and sustain even more severe injuries.
Given the situation, he had to choose the lesser of two evils to make Laboon stop.
"Hey! Old man, where are you going?"
A voice came from behind. Crocus was startled and about to look back when Son Goku's figure suddenly appeared beside him, running in stride.
"Old man, you look like you're in a hurry. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Son Goku tilted his head, his face full of sincerity.
A look of astonishment flashed in Crocus's eyes behind his reading glasses.
Then, as if acknowledging Son Goku's gesture, he looked ahead and said flatly, "Want to help? Then follow me."
Son Goku nodded without asking further and continued to run alongside him.
Before long, Crocus came to an abrupt halt in front of a room along the corridor.
Taken by surprise, Son Goku skidded for about two meters before coming to a stop, looking at Crocus curiously.
He watched as Crocus quickly pushed the door open and walked inside.
Son Goku followed suit and went in as well.
The room was filled with many sealed wooden vats, but the most prominent thing wasn't them—it was a giant syringe, two to three meters high and four to five meters long.
The syringe was filled with a deep blue liquid, which was clearly the sedative Crocus had prepared.
"What's this?"
Seeing a syringe for the first time—and not yet having developed the bone-deep fear of needles he would have in the future—Son Goku stood before it and examined it with curiosity.
"This is something to calm Laboon down and protect it from getting hurt," Crocus explained while checking the condition of the syringe.
"Laboon?"
Son Goku's confusion resurfaced.
"Laboon is that whale you saw. We are currently inside its body."
Upon hearing the explanation, Son Goku's eyes widened.
"Wow! So whales have names too?"
"Of course. Laboon is my friend, so of course he has a name."
After checking the syringe and confirming it was ready for use, Crocus looked at Son Goku and said, "Didn't you want to help? Then help me push this."
At that moment, Son Goku swallowed hard, feeling very embarrassed by his previous actions.
'Did I actually want to eat the old man's friend?'
Luckily he hadn't been able to take a bite, or he wouldn't have known how to face the old man now.
Hearing Crocus's request, he felt he had found a way to make amends. He quickly moved to the old man's side and asked, "Push this?"
He pointed at the syringe barrel.
"That's right. Once we inject this sedative into Laboon, he will quiet down."
Crocus nodded and placed his hands on the barrel.
"Come on, this injection won't be easy to give."
Beads of sweat had already formed on his forehead; after all, he was old, and the rapid sprint earlier had taken its toll.
Laboon was enormous, so the required dosage was massive. This syringe had been specially built for him, and it took considerable strength to push such a large volume of sedative through.
"I'm ready, old man!"
Son Goku nodded seriously and also placed his hands on the barrel.
'To make up for my mistake, I have to help him calm Laboon down!'
"Three, two..."
"One!"
Crocus finished the countdown and was about to exert his strength.
Suddenly, the weight beneath his hands vanished, and he stumbled forward.
"What?"
He pressed back against the barrel to steady himself, only to realize the plunger had already been pushed to the bottom. The sedative had already been injected into Laboon through the needle at the front.
Beside him, Son Goku looked up and asked, "Old man, is that it?"
Crocus was stunned.
A few seconds later, he finally showed a smile in front of Son Goku for the first time. "Ah, yes. That's enough."
...
On the small island, to pass the time, Nami picked up the newspaper Crocus had left on the chair and began to read listlessly.
Suddenly, her eyes narrowed as she saw a piece of news that surprised her.
"The former Overlord of the East Blue, the Krieg Pirates, was completely wiped out by another pirate crew?"
Looking at the content, she felt no pity for the deaths of over five thousand people; instead, she thought they got what they deserved.
This former Overlord was just like the Blood Demon Pirates they had defeated—a bunch of evil villains. For them to be killed by another group of villains was simply poetic justice.
'I wonder when this other group of villains will face the justice they deserve.' She looked with disgust at the image of Eustass Kid holding Krieg aloft.
Although she didn't know him, it was clear from his expression that he was another cruel wretch who loved slaughter.
"Yo! Nami! Sanji! We're back!"
Just then, Son Goku's voice called out from the iron gate.
Nami put the newspaper down and looked over to see Son Goku grabbing Crocus's legs and jumping down from the corridor onto the island while holding the panicked old man!
THUD!!!
After the heavy sound of them landing, Crocus clutched his chest, still shaken.
"Young man, are you trying to scare me to death?"
Living here in almost complete isolation, he hadn't experienced anything this thrilling in a long time.
"Heehee, sorry, sorry."
Son Goku just rubbed his head with a silly grin.
"So, did you two just go to calm that guy down?"
Nami pointed upward. Intelligent as she was, even though she hadn't seen them inject the sedative, she inferred the truth from Laboon's sudden silence.
"Yes, that's right. Now, I'll tell you the story of Laboon."
Crocus sighed and sat back in his comfortable beach chair, slowly beginning to tell the trio the story of Laboon the whale.
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]