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Bang, Bang, Bang…
A series of muffled sounds echoed from beneath the Red Line at Twin Cape.
Robin said, “There’s been strange noises in the sea for a while now…is it really okay?”
Liam walked to the edge and looked down. Through the surface of the water, he could vaguely see a huge black shadow under the sea, repeatedly banging against the Red Line below them.
Robin, leaning forward with her hands on her knees, exclaimed, “Is it a Sea King? That shadow we saw before was it, wasn’t it?”
“It’s called a Laboon, a black island whale,” Crocus explained as he approached. “He came from the West Blue, just like you.”
Having read the newspaper accounts of the young hunter Giorno, Crocus naturally knew that Liam and his companions had come from that sea.
“A West Blue Island whale?” Robin was surprised. “Those whales usually live in groups… Besides West Blue, they should only appear…” Her mind quickly scanned the world’s oceans. “They should only appear in the second half of the Grand Line. Why is it here in the first half?”
The Grand Line and the Red Line divided the world into four seas.
East Blue and South Blue flanked the first half of the Grand Line, known as “Paradise” to the strong.
West Blue and North Blue flanked the second half of the Grand Line, known as the New World.
Island whale groups mainly inhabit West Blue, and might touch the “New World” sea, or even occasionally swim deep into North Blue, but there’s no reason for them to break through the Red Line barrier and end up at the entrance to the Grand Line.
“That’s another long story!” Crocus said in a low voice.
Bang, Bang, Bang…
The pounding beneath them continued unabated.
Crocus rubbed his forehead in frustration as he spoke. “Laboon… it figured out my pattern for injecting sedatives while I was studying its ramming habits. Now it suddenly started ramming again… We’ll just have to wait until it’s done for this round…” he murmured, watching the massive shadow repeatedly crash into the Red Line from below.
“Sedatives?” Robin looked up and asked, “Are you a doctor?”
“Yes!” Crocus replied. “My day job is as a lighthouse keeper. Because it’s so boring, I read medical books in my spare time. Over time, I’ve learned a bit about medicine.”
Hearing this, Liam couldn’t help but look sideways.
If I remember correctly, you’re the Pirate King’s personal ship’s doctor, and you kept the terminally ill Roger alive for several years… Without Crocus, Roger wouldn’t have made it to Laugh Tale.
And you call that ‘learning about medicine’?
“Would calming him down help?” Liam pointed his iron rod at the shadow below.
Robin warned, “Liam, that kind of rod won’t work on an adult island whale…”
“Ha, ha. Very funny!” Liam rolled his eyes. “Am I that clueless?”
Crocus asked, “So what are you going to do?”
“Just this!” Liam grinned and swung the iron bar over his shoulder. He cleared his throat and shouted at the headstrong island whale as he bumped into the red line, “Laboon, I’m only going to say this once! Listen carefully!
“BROOK-
IS-
STILL-
ALIVE!!!”
His voice was so loud that the green Den Den Mushi in his pocket shrank back into its shell.
The slightly distorted, buzzing scream rippled through the water, sending waves crashing down below…
—
On the shore, Robin was a bit surprised and confused by Liam, who stopped shouting after just one shout.
Crocus, on the other hand, was genuinely shocked. “Brook… do you know Laboon’s companion?”
“He’s the pirate with the afro, right?” Liam asked, turning his head. “He’s a musician…”
“Yes! He was Laboon’s pirate companion… Laboon followed this group of pirates from West Blue over the Reverse Mountain into the Grand Line.”
“Then that’s it.” Liam smiled. “There’s someone on Musexin Island in West Blue who knows Brook. An old man who plays ‘Binks’ Sake’ on the shore!”
“I see… that could be Brook’s hometown.” Crocus looked down at the water. “Laboon has indeed stopped… But deceiving it like this will only make it angrier!”
Splash!
The surface of the sea cracked in front of the three of them, and a massive black island whale with scars all over its head leaped out of the water.
Laboon didn’t roar or thrash about. Instead, it looked toward the shore, its large eyes quickly focusing on the young human boy with the iron rod.
Crocus swallowed, “We need to give it a sedative injection before it gets angry…”
He stretched his muscles and prepared to swim to Laboon’s “entrance”.
To treat Laboon’s injuries and make it easier to inject sedatives, the old ship’s doctor Crocus had made extensive internal modifications to Laboon, even creating a sewage system.
He had installed entrances and exits in his stomach and even placed a boat inside. He would occasionally sit inside and fish for the large fish and shrimp in Laboon’s stomach while timing the sedative injections…
“You think I’m fooling it?” Liam said curiously. “Do I look that bad? Seriously…”
Crocus stopped, a question mark slowly forming over his flowery hairstyle.
“Stop joking around. I have this information from reliable sources…” Crocus looked up at Laboon’s scarred head. “Laboon’s former companions, the Rumbar Pirates, broke their promise and escaped from the Grand Line a long time ago… Laboon, why won’t you believe it? Sigh…”
Unfortunately, Laboon completely ignored him, still staring intently at Liam.
Liam, staring into the whale’s big eyes, said, “The Rumbar Pirates aren’t around anymore, but Brook is still alive! He’s the only one left.”
Crocus watched Liam’s side profile with a surprised and confused expression on his face.
“Wooo-!! Wooo-!!”
The giant black island whale raised its head and yelled loudly, either in disbelief or sadness at Liam’s words.
“The Great Line is dangerous! The complete annihilation of a pirate crew is expected.” Liam spoke to the wailing Laboon, “But Brook survived because he ate the Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit). When he died, his soul didn’t disappear. It found his body and revived him…”
Laboon’s cries faded, and tears welled up in his big eyes.
“Half alive, he was trapped on the sea, drifting on a ghost ship with no companions…” Liam continued, staring into the teary eyes of the island whale. “He’s probably been alone for twenty to thirty years now!”
“Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit)…” Crocus was extremely shocked, but tried to remember. In fact, he had heard the pirates mention it more than thirty years ago.
—
**Thirty-One Years Ago, Twin Cape**
“Ha ha, you know, Crocus!” Captain Yorki of the Rumbar Pirates, his arm around the afro-headed Brook, laughed as he drank. “The only use of this guy’s Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive-Revive Fruit) is to turn him into a landlubber, isn’t that funny? Ha ha ha…” The other pirates roared with laughter. Brook was indifferent, “As long as I can still play music, I don’t care! Yo ho ho ho…”
—
Liam said, “Brook is now…”
But before he could finish.
Laboon cried out sorrowfully, tears flowing even more, and the wails grew louder, drowning out Liam’s voice.
Crocus, Robin and Liam had to cover their ears.
Amid the mournful cries, the scarlet-headed island whale plunged into the sea with a loud splash.
Its massive shadow swam rapidly toward the front of the Grand Line.
……
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