The sound of a door slamming echoed from beside Laboon's massive body, followed by a gruff male voice shouting across the water.
"Brook! You bastard! You finally remembered to come back?!"
The voice reached them before its owner appeared. The pirates looked curiously toward the source and spotted a bald old man wearing casual shorts, oversized slippers, and sporting a distinctive flower-petal hairstyle. He stood on what appeared to be a ship designed to look like a small island.
The elderly man stared at the afro-wearing skeleton who was wailing dramatically while sprawled across Laboon's back, making sounds that were both strange and oddly familiar. His expression grew puzzled.
"Huh? How the hell did you end up looking like this?"
"Eh?! Mr. Crocus?!" Brook's head snapped up as he immediately recognized the lighthouse keeper.
He quickly stood up on Laboon's back and bowed deeply with characteristic formality. "I'm terribly sorry, Mr. Crocus, for making you and Laboon wait for us all these years..."
Following Crocus's beckoning and Brook's enthusiastic gestures, the pirate crew quickly maneuvered their ship to shore. After proper introductions were made, everyone gathered on the coastline with Laboon positioning himself half out of the water nearby, listening quietly as Brook and Crocus reminisced about decades of separation.
After hearing Brook's complete account of the Rumbar Pirates' tragic final voyage into the Grand Line, Crocus remained silent for a long moment before releasing a heavy sigh.
"I see. For all these years, I assumed the surviving members of your crew had either escaped the Grand Line entirely or perished somewhere at sea."
"You were right to think so," Brook replied, scratching his skull sheepishly. "We all died once, but I was too stubborn to give up. Even if it meant crawling back from hell itself, I wanted to return here and give Laboon a proper explanation."
Brook had been carrying the weight of his broken promise for nearly fifty years, though he understood that no amount of apologies or self-recrimination could truly make up for what Laboon had endured—knowing nothing except his unwavering faith that his friends would eventually return.
Suddenly, Crocus raised his fist and bonked Brook on the head with a loud clang. "Lucky for everyone you ate that seemingly useless Devil Fruit! Otherwise, how could you ever face Laboon again?!"
Brook stood up and gently stroked the countless scars covering Laboon's massive head, completely agreeing with Crocus's assessment.
"Has Laboon been ramming the Red Line like this for all these years?" Although Jerry had mentioned this behavior before, Brook wanted to hear the full truth directly.
"Every single day he has the energy," Crocus confirmed grimly. "Especially after I returned from circumnavigating the Grand Line and told him you probably weren't coming back..."
"For decades, I believed you were all dead. It wasn't until recently, when I saw news about the pirate crew you've joined and your updated bounty poster, that I suspected the skeleton might actually be you."
Crocus proceeded to give Brook a comprehensive account of the intervening years, including how Laboon's self-destructive behavior had left him covered in scars and required extensive medical devices to be installed inside his body for ongoing treatment.
"I'm truly sorry for causing you so much trouble..." Brook listened to the story in stunned silence, offering his habitual apologies.
Suddenly, Brook noticed his crewmates whispering among themselves and realized something significant had been mentioned. His voice filled with amazement as he asked, "Wait, Mr. Crocus, did you just say you circumnavigated the Grand Line?"
Crocus nodded matter-of-factly. "That's right. I served as ship's doctor and took a complete journey aboard Roger's ship. I never saw any sign of you or even heard news about your crew's fate."
"Eh?! When you were talking about treating Laboon earlier, I thought you'd become a veterinarian!" Brook looked genuinely surprised. Of course he had heard of the legendary Pirate King Roger, but his primary concern remained focused on Laboon's well-being.
"Thank you for taking care of Laboon all these years." Though he had expressed this sentiment multiple times already, Brook bowed solemnly once again.
"Don't mention it," Crocus replied dismissively. "Laboon and I have been friends for decades now—we look after each other."
As the longtime lighthouse keeper of Twin Capes, Crocus was accustomed to his isolated lifestyle. Caring for and treating Laboon had simply become a natural part of his daily routine.
As they spoke, both men turned their attention to Laboon, who had been quietly listening to their conversation from the water. The whale's intelligent eyes sparkled with happiness and contentment.
Laboon's emotions had been complex throughout this reunion. The joy of seeing Brook again filled him with excitement, but learning about the deaths of his other friends brought deep sadness. However, he understood that as the sole surviving witness to those tragic events, Brook's inner pain must have been far more profound. To find a way back to fulfill his promise, Brook had drifted alone across the seas for nearly fifty years.
In comparison, Laboon had at least enjoyed Crocus's companionship, while Brook had faced nothing but endless loneliness and despair.
"Laboon..." Brook stood up and walked closer to the island whale, gently stroking his battle-scarred skin once more.
"Did you hear that? The old man said he was the ship's doctor for Roger's pirate crew," Skull whispered to Deuce, patting his arm to get his attention.
Deuce nodded and glanced toward Ace, who was following Jerry around as they examined the giant whale. Whether Ace hadn't heard Crocus's revelation or simply didn't care, he seemed completely absorbed in their impromptu investigation.
"Hey! What are you two doing over there?" Deuce called out with obvious alarm.
Hearing the urgent shout, Jerry quickly gestured for Ace to extinguish his flames. He pointed at a particular section of Laboon's skin and explained innocently, "Oh, it's nothing serious! I just noticed this bulge here and thought it might be some kind of growth on Laboon's skin, so Ace was going to help 'ripen' it so we could squeeze it out."
"That's exactly right," Ace confirmed with complete seriousness.
"You were planning to ripen it with fire?!" Deuce's eye twitched in disbelief.
Their commotion attracted everyone else's attention. Crocus took one look at what they were examining and quickly spoke up to prevent disaster.
"Don't burn that! That's one of the control panels for my medical equipment."
"Ahaha, we're really sorry about that!" Jerry apologized to both Crocus and Laboon, while Deuce approached the lighthouse keeper with obvious curiosity. "Mr. Crocus, I couldn't help overhearing your conversation earlier. You mentioned being a ship's doctor?"
"That's correct, young man. Is there something you'd like to ask?" Crocus responded with a welcoming nod.
"Actually, yes. Cavendish, could you come over here?" Deuce waved toward their crewmate, who was lounging against his resting horse Farul.
Deuce proceeded to explain Cavendish's dual personality condition to Crocus in detail, humbly requesting his professional medical opinion on potential treatment options.
The diagnosis Crocus provided aligned perfectly with the strategy Jerry and his team had previously discussed. The recommended approach involved having Cavendish focus on strengthening his willpower through dedicated training, while gradually learning to communicate with and accept his alternate personality. The ultimate goal was achieving peaceful coexistence within one body, eventually leading to complete integration.
Cavendish's other personality was, after all, still fundamentally based on his own psyche. If he could fully master and integrate this aspect of himself, it would not only eliminate the dangerous unpredictability but also potentially elevate his combat abilities to an entirely new level.
"Yeah, Cavendish, you'd better work hard at this," Jerry added with a mixture of encouragement and threat, flexing his fist menacingly. "Otherwise, next time Hakuba emerges, I'll have to dip my knuckles in antiseptic before beating him back down."
Jerry twisted his casserole-sized fist and opened his mouth in an exaggerated grin, speaking in a deliberately slow, intimidating tone.
Faced with this display, Cavendish maintained his trademark beautiful smile on the surface, but internally he was seething with frustration. He gritted his teeth and silently vowed to deal with his troublesome alternate personality as quickly as possible, if only to avoid Jerry's "medical interventions."
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