33: Chapter 33 Whale Laboon"Say something!" Sanji finally snapped after a long silence.
Hearing this, the old man finally looked up from his newspaper and stared intently at Luffy and his crew.The already timid duo hid behind Luffy and Zoro respectively, while Usopp peeked out from behind Zoro, uttering the bravest words in the most cowardly manner: "Come on, you bastard!We have cannons!"
Upon hearing this, the old man's eyes widened abruptly, and he exuded an imposing aura, coldly stating, "It's best not to do that; people will die."
Hearing this, the entire Straw Hat crew tensed up.Zoro drew his sword slightly; anyone who could live inside a whale's belly was no ordinary creature.Sanji gathered his strength and cautiously asked, "Who will die?Us?"
"It's me!" the old man said defiantly.In an instant, the Straw Hat crew collapsed to the ground.Sanji got up and sneered, "It's you!"
Sanji stared speechlessly at the somewhat eccentric old man before him, just as he was about to say something, Zoro pulled him behind him and politely asked with a smile, "Hey, sir, may I ask where this is, and who are you?"
The old man's eyes widened again, and after a brief silence, he slowly spoke: "Shouldn't it be polite to introduce yourself before asking someone a question?"
"That's true, wow, wow, my name is Roro…" Zoro wiped his nose sheepishly, preparing to introduce himself, but before he could finish, the old man interrupted him, "My name is Crocus, the guardian of Twin Peaks, 71 years old, Gemini, blood type AB, and still single."
Zoro, unable to contain his anger any longer, drew his sword to strike down the unreliable old man, but Sanji calmly pulled him back.Crocus, ignoring Zoro's fury, continued, "You ask me where this is?You've trespassed into my private sanctuary, and you're acting so arrogant!Anyone with a brain knows this is inside a whale's stomach.If you want to get out, simple.Here, the door is.Hurry up and leave, or your ship will be completely corroded by this stomach acid.Goodbye, and best of luck."
Following Crocus's pointing finger, the Straw Hat crew saw a massive iron gate in the distance.Luffy scoffed; the creatures in One Piece were truly amazing—they could survive with so much stuff inside them!Seeing the smoking hull of the ship, the crew dared not linger.They grabbed oars and paddled towards the gate.As a precaution, Luffy had encased the entire hull in ice, creating a makeshift shield."Ice power?I remember only Admiral Aokiji possessed that ability.How can this kid use ice power too?" Crocus wondered, watching Luffy's retreating figure.Just then, the whale's body began to tremble violently.Crocus knew something was wrong and immediately jumped into its stomach acid, quickly moving towards the iron gate.Swimming towards the door, he climbed the stairs and followed a small iron door to a room.After administering a sedative to the whale, the violent shaking finally stopped.As Crocus breathed a sigh of relief, he saw two familiar figures tied to Luffy's ship."What?It's you two scoundrels again?By the way, how did you get tied up here?" Crocus looked at the two obediently tied to the deck with some confusion.After everyone explained, Crocus understood that the two had sneaked in while he was administering the injection to the whale.They were about to kill the whale from the inside with a rocket launcher when Luffy used vines summoned by his wood element to tie them up."You're quite an amazing person, Straw Hat Boy!"
Crocus looked at Luffy's straw hat with a nostalgic expression and exclaimed in admiration.Luffy politely returned the compliment.Crocus truly lived up to his reputation as the former Pirate King's ship's doctor; he could move freely in stomach acid that could corrode everything.However, Luffy's lips twitched as he looked at the blue-haired girl on the ground, and he secretly snapped a picture with his camera (don't ask, it's from the system shop).Princess Vivi was rarely seen like this; he had to quickly take a commemorative photo.Crocus followed Luffy and the others back to the outside world.Looking at the bright sunshine outside, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.Upon reaching the shore.Afterwards, Crocus told everyone the story of the whale.All they knew was that the giant whale was named Laboon.After hearing Crocus's story, everyone felt sorry for Laboon."Speaking of which, what's with these two bastards who wanted to kill Laboon?" Usopp asked, pointing suspiciously at the two people bound tightly to the side.Crocus glanced at them."These two have always wanted to kill Laboon to make food for their townspeople.I've stopped them many times.Luckily, I met you guys today, otherwise Laboon might be in serious trouble."
Upon hearing this, the Straw Hat crew glared fiercely at the two, who trembled with fear.Just then, Laboon woke up.As Laboon prepared to continue ramming the Red Line, Luffy leaped high and struck Laboon hard on the head with his Gum-Gum Giant Spear.Laboon, in pain and anger, lashed out with his tail, sending Luffy flying.He then prepared to use his massive body to teach the tiny creature a lesson."Evenly matched, you think I'm strong?"
Luffy, disheveled, pulled himself off the wall and said to Laboon, who was charging towards him, "You really want to beat me, right?Then let's make a promise.When I circumnavigate the world and return here, we'll fight again and see who's stronger.Even though you're all alone now, I'll always be your rival and your friend.We promise, after I finish my journey, we'll definitely come back to see you.But until then, you must take good care of yourself and stop hurting yourself like this."
Labu looked at the boy who had made a promise to him.This reminded it of the promise Brook made to it fifty years ago.Tears welled in its large eyes, and it let out a sorrowful roar towards the sky.Luffy also took paint from Crocus and drew a skull representing the Straw Hat Pirates on its head.Crocus smiled as he looked at the disheveled boy.He had a premonition that this boy wearing the captain's straw hat would fulfill his promise to Laboon.Later, with Crocus's help, Nami gradually learned about the Grand Line.After solemnly accepting the Log Pose from Crocus, she.He ran to the side to study it, but just as the curious Luffy was about to pick it up and take a look at this magical little thing, he accidentally dropped it on the ground.Luffy looked at the Discipline Pointer shattered on the ground, and then at Nami's calm but murderous expression.Luffy immediately turned and ran away.Unfortunately, Nami, in her angry state, pinned Luffy to the ground and gave him a good beating.Crocus sighed and handed him a spare pointer, which allowed Luffy to escape Nami's punishment.Looking at the pitiful Luffy, Uta felt both amused and sorry for him