Today was the day the Straw Hats would be arriving in the Grand Line if their course was to be believed. They had eventually found the Red Line, the great stretch of land that stretched high above the clouds and was impassable, yet it was serving them as a guide to reach Reverse Mountain. They all trusted Nami's navigation that it would deliver them to Reverse Mountain on this day.
The excitement was brimming around the Going Merry. In time, the others had forgotten about Luffy's affiliation with a Navy vice admiral; truthfully, they had just set it on the back burner. Even Zoro couldn't deny what a liability that could prove to be. But Luffy had already defeated other seemingly nebulous foes. Even Zoro was astounded to learn the four of them had fought fishmen, particularly that they had won against them, and specifically impressed that Usopp and Nami had. They had taken it as offensive, though.
"Search for the Unmanned Lighthouse!" Luffy said, standing on the Merry's figurehead as he scanned for any sign of a mountain or the lighthouse. "That, and the mountain itself, are gonna tell us we've reached Reverse Mountain!"
"Oh . . . yeah, that makes sense," Sanji said dryly. "I'll look for the mountain, you look for the lighthouse."
Usopp waited on top of the crow's nest, leaning back lackadaisical. He was not worried about being able to spot Reverse Mountain, though he was excited for it. With the arrival of Zoro, though there was little familiarity brokered between them as of yet, it made him feel far more secure. He had the strength of ten men; indeed, even though he knew their strength from before, Usopp had come to appreciate Luffy and Sanji of having equal strength. Their crew of five felt not so small, though others might not think so.
What haunted him currently was not even the supposedly physics defying adventure up Reverse Mountain, as his natural instincts might have suggested. It was the words of those shipwrights from Loguetown; nice enough as they'd been, their words of scorn of the Merry had stung, and even worse, it had sown doubt in Usopp's mind. Every time he'd tried to bring it up to Luffy, he found he could not, though. I know I'm not scared of Luffy's reaction. So what am I scared of?
He leapt to his feet, astonished at what his lost eyes had drifted to focus on in the sea. There was a crow's nest poking out of the water with a man standing in just ahead of them, sailing along ahead with the Red Line on their right, as well. His back was to Usopp, who rubbed his eyes to make sure this wasn't some mirage or a hallucination. "Guys! Tell me you're seeing that too!"
In searching so hard for the Unmanned Lighthouse, Luffy had overlooked the man standing in the crow's nest that bobbed along. "Woah! What a tiny ship!" Luffy cried out, screaming and waving his hands. "Hey! Friend! Who are you?"
The man in the crow's nest looked over his shoulder, clearly annoyed from his facial expression as the Going Merry gained on him rather quickly. Sanji, Nami, and Zoro walked to the prow of the ship to see what the commotion was about to in time to see him glare at the Straw Hats. He had a strange, slopish face, and wore clothes too warm for this climate. "What's his problem?" Zoro wondered aloud, fingering the hilt of the Wado Ichimonji.
The man in the crow's nest grabbed a microphone hanging from the crow's nest, bringing it to his mouth. "We've got a stranger on our tail. Dive team, surface the Bliking so we can get away or sink them."
"Or what us?" Sanji said, glowering at the man in the crow's nest.
But suddenly, the water began rippling, and the crow's nest rose in the air, revealed to be attached to a large mast after all. The Going Merry was pushed back by the wake of this massive undersea ship rising. Only the top of the mast was poking out of a large metal dome that covered the rest of the ship. The underbelly was made of classic wood, but it was gray and hard, ironwood from the cold region of the world.
"Woah!" Luffy, Usopp, and Nami cried as the Merry was jostled, sent bobbing violently back and forth a few paces back. They all held on to something to steady themselves, watching as the ocean water streamed off of the massive ship before the great metal dome retracted and a rear and fore mast rose from hydraulic lifts within the ship's deep belly.
The deck began to swarm with a crew that were mostly identically dressed in the same deep green. A great, big fat man with a metal jaw walked out, too, blithely looking over the deck of his Bliking to observe the Going Merry a moment before turning to survey where they were. "Full sails, men! Let's waste no more time in these lesser seas!"
The sails from all three masts fell down with three identical wet slaps that echoed across the water, catching the wind and bearing the great ship ahead, uncaring of the wake they'd left the Straw Hats in completely.
"Freakin' jerks!" Luffy screamed at them, looking around for something to throw. He considered the anchor, even picking it up, before Sanji and Zoro both stopped him.
"You're the jerk if you do that," they said in unison.
"What was that all about?" Usopp called down, still in the crow's nest. He stared at the strange ship as it sailed away. As it grew smaller, borne on wider and faster sails, Usopp saw a slope begin on the Red Line, different from the rather sheer face of the wall they had been following. "Wait, guys. I think we're getting close!"
Luffy slung his arms up to the crow's nest as the wake eased out on the sea surface and the Merry plodded forward yet again. "What, what is it, what?" Luffy's mouth formed in a cyclone of questions as he grabbed the spyglass to stare through. Indeed, there was a mountain ahead that was only getting closer and closer, somewhat blocked out by a strange mist that formed at its base. "What's with the fog?" It was clear everywhere else, he confirmed as he looked around.
"That's not mist! That's the spray from the meeting of the reversed currents," Usopp said as the ship only continued forward more and they inspected the base of the mountain. Indeed, the currents were roiling; they wondered how the strange ship that was growing closer and closer to it would fare against the tumultuous current. Yet the Straw Hats watched as the Bliking blasted against the converging currents and was pulled up the mountain's river faster than its sails could ever hope to carry it. The cries of their crew were heard by the Straw Hats until the ship sailed past the clouds blocking out the top of the mountain.
"Luffy! I have to tell you something," Usopp finally hissed frantically, grabbing hold of Luffy's arm. He didn't even give Luffy a chance to wonder what was up as he stammered out, "So in Loguetown, I met a bunch of shipwrights who gave the Merry better patchwork. But, Luffy, Merry's just a caravel! They said she can't stand up to those currents! Luffy! We can't go to the Grand Line!"
Although he couldn't hide the frantic feeling from his voice, he wanted to express that, because his worst fears were of the Going Merry being dashed against the waves, casting the five of them into the sea. Luffy would sink like a stone eventually, and what could the other four do even if they did rescue him? These things had to be talked about! And I can't lose Merry! She's my ship! he thought, though he actively recognized that she was Luffy's ship.
"Usopp," Luffy said calmly, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "I know you're scared, but why did you just whisper that to me so no one else could hear?"
Usopp's reply froze before he could spurt out the next excuse he could to keep his train of thought on aborting this mission. Luffy just grinned at Usopp. "I know you have faith in the Merry! Me, too! She's our ship now, and I know she'll bear us safely to the Grand Line."
Usopp could have cried; as Luffy dropped back down to the Merry's deck, he felt as if Luffy talked more to Usopp than about the ship. Yes, he felt better about her chances moving ahead, as this current grew closer and they finally spotted the Unmanned Lighthouse through the mist sprayed up from the converging currents. Though he cried, so he smiled as he faced ahead, taking a moment before heading to the deck himself.
"Look! There's the Unmanned Lighthouse," Luffy declared to the other three who were now at the helm, pointing at the lighthouse. "It's supposedly never been manned, but stays lit somehow."
As they got closer, the Straw Hats peered at it for a moment, inspecting it over. "Yeah, it doesn't even have a door," Zoro remarked, scoffing in amusement.
"I'm way more worried about that water. There's no way to get through the crash to the up-current," Sanji said, leaning over the side as the meeting of the two waters began to grow deafening.
Nami looked more at the lighthouse's beam, tracing through the air in wide arcs across the sea, then close swivels against the Red Line. Maybe there's a secret entrance? she thought, looking past the Unmanned Lighthouse - but no, that was the Calm Belt. Sea Kings would flock to them in an instant, so they said. Her eyes wandered back to the beam of light tracing through the air. It was on an odd elliptical, arcing back up as it rounded back toward the Red Line.
It's a guide! Of course, they all were. It was at a slant to show the spot where the current was safest, it had to be. "We'll have to make a hard about face," Nami said. "I'll have to stay here to watch the water. Sanji, man the helm, will you?"
Sanji rushed to his station as Luffy, Nami, and Zoro stayed at the prow. "Round to port, and then hard to starboard. There's going to be a part in the violent water that'll let us up the mountain!"
"Okay!" Sanji called back, swiveling the helm gently as the Merry changed course to swing wide around the white water. Nami kept her eye on the beam of light, but also traced an imaginary line of where she thought the Merry would need to move to properly swing into the part she imagined was there. She hoped was there.
They spun back around and the point of the Merry aimed toward the upward current from just the other angle where her prediction had been true. The water began carving differently and there was a part there in the crashing waves where their vessel could pass through, with some deft navigation. "I see," Zoro said, beginning to get the picture.
"It'll need to be all hands on deck, I think," Nami said as she noted the little branch currents that could threaten to suck the ship in should their hull even graze it the wrong way. Before she could continue doling out orders, the whole crew felt the ship tug under their feet, harder and stronger and faster by the split second - and suddenly, Usopp, Sanji, and Nami were screaming as everyone held on to the Merry for dear life as she was catapulted forward by the strong current.
The ship missed the auxiliary currents that could threaten to smash them against the crashing water on either side of them, more deafening than ever, but it was like a miracle; their ship scurried past the currents and was let out safely into the main current. Their angle changed as they began looking up at the wave of clouds that masked the top of the mountain. None of them knew or had a guess as to how tall it was.
"Thanks for guiding us!" Luffy called out as loud as he could as he waved to the Unmanned Lighthouse as if it were a fully formed friend.
The others had no time to react to such a thing, as the mast began to creak something violent as the sail, completely unfurled, was shoving back against it with as much force as their new, rapid upward climb was allowing it to. "We need to get this rigging up!" Usopp cried as he defied himself without realizing as he grabbed a rope from the mast and came sliding down to the Merry's deck instead of wasting time climbing the ladder. He blew his hands off as Luffy, Nami, and Zoro came to help. Even with the four of them, counting Luffy and Zoro as ten each as he had earlier, the job was tough against the force of Reverse Mountain.
"I think we're starting to go faster!" Sanji called from the helm to them as they wrestled to get the sail up. The other four set the sail safely in its hooks but Usopp saw them waving about violently from the winds and he automatically climbed back up the crow's nest to more securely tie them in place. "Nami, what should we do? I'm not controlling this thing!" he said, frantic as he stopped trying to wrestle with the helm and finally let it spin about randomly until finally settling into place. At that point, the Merry pushed even harder up the mountain.
"There's nothing we can do!" Nami announced over the roar of the wind in their ears. "Get inside if you can, but just hold on!" At that, Sanji didn't wrestle with it anymore, but he slapped his hands back on the helm.
"I'm not getting inside! I want to see everything until we're safely back in the Grand Line!" Luffy declared, placing his hand on his hat to secure it as he walked toward the figurehead against the wind, fighting the gale until he was sat firmly on the Merry's head with his legs stretched and twined around each other under the Merry. He felt like their ship's very own straw hat right now as she plunged her crew through the cloud coverage.
Usopp was still on the ladder, and he braced himself, expecting more of an impact, but he simply came away moistened from the rain within it. He continued to climb but stopped as he did a double take; the world had become golden here above the clouds, and even though his ears were popping like firecrackers, he was aghast with how beautiful everything was. His eyes teared up, and he put his goggles down to defend them against the wind, but found it was his own emotion from seeing the splendor of the world from this height.
The others felt this same splendor from where they were on the Merry; Luffy stared out over the world with the widest, most brimming smile ever, his body chuckling with laughter though he didn't let a sound escape his mouth; Zoro was wearing a warm smile that was rather uncharacteristic from him, somewhere between calm and serene; Sanji laughed the entire way, truly believing that the All Blue could exist if something that beautiful could exist; and Nami, who was somewhere between a scream and a cackle as she held on tight to the Merry's railing.
The Going Merry clung tight to the current of Reverse Mountain's river, but they felt that their ship was not going to gain any more speed, yet something far more pressing was right there on the edge of sight. "Guys!" Luffy called, excited. "The top is coming up! Hold on tight!"
Usopp finally reached the top of the crow's nest and panted as he tied the sails up, staring dead ahead. Indeed, there was the crest of the mountain; if the crashing water at the base of the mountain had been any deterrent, here was a far greater one, as he could see the convergence of at least three but what he knew were four rivers converging at the top of the Mountain where the four Blues could converge. The words of warning and scorn from the shipwrights of Loguetown rang back in Usopp's head: This caravel can't make it past Reverse Mountain, much less sail the Grand Line!
Yet there was no time for second thoughts, much less first on this strangest of adventures the Straw Hats had departed on in Usopp's estimation. The defiance of strength they'd exhibited as well as the stubbornness against authority had been something else, no doubt about it. But Usopp suddenly felt the greater working of their mission ahead; the wonder, the excitement. The Going Merry slammed against the crest of Reverse Mountain but bound above the water without harm, the spray shining rainbows around them as the Merry began descending back to the water.
And another miracle: They landed safely in the down current that would lead to the Grand Line! The crew were rocked wherever they were; Nami stumbled into Zoro, who caught and stabilized her, which caught Sanji's ire; yet there were no problems as the Merry began picking up momentum once more as she bore down the fifth river of Reverse Mountain. "HERE WE CO-OME!" Luffy called out as the ship gained speed, eventually barreling down the mountain to their ultimate sea.
"Woah," Sanji said as he was forced to take his hands off of the helm; it shook more violently than it had on the ascent, bound by the converging four currents that propelled the water back down this one river. It was turbulent to say the least; from either side of the ship, there was white water slurring about and sending spray onto the Straw Hats. Luffy laughed the whole way, but like Sanji, Usopp, Nami, and Zoro began to grow concerned.
"Should we throw down anchor?" Zoro asked as Nami separated from him.
"Are you insane?! That's a one way ticket," Nami said condescendingly, not meaning to but simultaneously making Sanji feel better about Zoro's "chivalrous" moment. "What I said still applies. We can't do anything! We just have to grin and bear it until we're shot out onto calm water."
"Luffy! Can you do that Balloon thing to protect the Merry if she gets too close to those walls?" Usopp called down, pointing at the craggy rocks of the Red Line and Reverse Mountain that bordered the river on either side, looming up like great block walls. The sun was high in the sky, so it still shone upon them as plunged back through the clouds into the lower atmosphere.
Nami's compass that she wore on her wrist began to react violently, the needle flinging itself every which way. "What is this?" she wondered, staring at it and tapping the glass.
"We've reached the Grand Line's environment," Zoro said, surprisingly knowledgeable all of a sudden. "Our normal compasses won't work. I hope we have some Poses."
"We've got quite a few!" Nami remarked. "I'll go get them."
"I mean, that can wait," Zoro said, facing ahead as the Going Merry continued to pick up speed as gravity played into effect on them now. Ahead were crags spiking out of the water, but they were closer to the walls that funneled the river to the Grand Line, so avoiding them was little problem. Yet at the mouth was a great object that rose up from the sea. It seemed to be a massive rock that blocked them from the entrance to the Grand Line.
"What is that?!" Usopp screamed, staring ahead through the spyglass. The surface was sheen and slimy looking but he figured it must be some strange rock. There were partings on either side of the object. But what do the gods expect of us, to get over there now?! Usopp thought, and he descended down the ladder to the deck as fast as his limbs could bear him.
"What is that?" Luffy wondered as Usopp descended to the deck and panted as the others began to notice danger that the great object that was ahead of them posed.
Usopp leaned on his knees as he called to the others, "Help! Cannon! We'll blast it!"
"I've got you!" Sanji called. "Mosshead, take the helm!" Sanji called as he leapt over the railing to enter the cabin with Usopp into the underbelly of the Going Merry to man the cannon.
Zoro and Nami ran for the helm together, but Zoro scrunched his face up as he took the helm, trying to steady them out. "What did he just call me?" he asked Nami.
"Don't do that!" she said, referring to his straining against the current. "You'll break our rudder."
"Sorry," Zoro said, releasing the helm rather innocently. "I've never actually sailed on a ship before. I just had my waiver."
Come back! Please!
Luffy scrunched his face up. "What on earth is that?!" he exclaimed to himself, cupping a hand around his ear.
I miss you!
He stared straight ahead, curious again about the strange object that laid ahead of them, a blockade to their entry to the Grand Line. "No way," Luffy said.
Ahhhhhh! This one was a great wailing cry that made Luffy clap his hands to his ears; the other four Straw Hats did the same above and below deck as a massive creature's wail seemed to break out across the air around them. It hurts so bad! "What does?!" Luffy screamed back in response. "What hurts?!"
"This sound! What is that?!" Zoro screamed back, everyone still clapping a hand to their ears.
"Someone's in pain!" Luffy cried back. "Do you not hear them?"
"I don't hear anything but that whale cry!" Nami cried out, moaning from the massive decibels that were ringing out around their ears as the Merry continued on toward the object ahead of them, and it clicked with Luffy. The sound suddenly seemed not to matter to him. The surface of the object didn't seem so perfect and sheen anymore. That whale cry, Luffy thought, and he heard the fore gunport open as Usopp and Sanji shoved the cannon out of it to aim at the object.
"Don't you dare, Usopp! Sanji!" Luffy screamed down, grabbing hold of the figurehead to chastise his crew before they could fire. "Don't fire a single shot!"
"Why?! If we don't break that rock, we'll dash against it and die!" Usopp repelled back.
"It's not a rock!" Luffy screamed back, and he stared ahead as the whale cry finally ended. Everyone relaxed slightly, but now the ship was far too close to the object to even hope to steer them into the gaps between it and the Red Line.
"Tell me this isn't so," Nami said, collapsing by the helm. Beside her, Zoro had noticed what Luffy had noticed seconds ago now.
On the surface of the object was a massive wound, bleeding profusely into the water. It was so massive that it was easy to focus on too small of an area to realize that this was no rock after all; it was a living creature. It hadn't been that wound that made Luffy aware to this fact, though; yet it was all he could focus on now. There was little fear in his mind to being dashed against the whale, though he did hope the whale would make a move before too much longer. He was too fond of the Merry, and he might injure the whale further in that instance.
Yet his instincts paid out; the whale gave out a lower, less painful, but far more mournful cry as the object shifted, showing its face and blowhole as it raised itself up high and dove down into the water. The other four Straw Hats' eyes were all far wider than they thought they could get; none of them had ever seen such a massive creature before. Mohmoo didn't even compare. And now, their blockade into the Grand Line was opened.
Being so massive, though, the whale caused a wake that made that of the strange ship from earlier pale in comparison, and when the Merry crashed into it, it bounced on the wake violently, threatening to shake Luffy, Nami, and Zoro off the ship. Below deck, Usopp and Sanji were jostled around with the cannon and the rest of the armament on that floor of the ship. For the most part, they were safe. At this point, they were safe; the wake balanced out and the ship bobbed to normality, coasting calmly before too much longer on open sea, wide as the eye could see to either side.
"WA-HOO!" Luffy cried as he let his legs snap off the figurehead, keeping himself in place as he leaped to his feet. His arms pumped furiously in the air; it had been the first goal simply, but it felt unbelievable that he was now here on the same sea as Shanks. He shook with anticipation.
"What on earth?" Nami stammered out as she rose to her feet unsteadily.
At either side of them were two capes that jutted off of the base of Reverse Mountain. On one was a lighthouse that stood in stark contrast to the Unmanned Lighthouse; it had the full equipment in terms of doors and windows, presumably lodging inside, but the light stood dull and, even from this distance, dusty and unused. On the other cape to their starboard was a modest shack situated in the middle of the rocky outcrop. There was a small fire pit a few paces from the front door, but little else of note.
"Where are we?" Nami asked as the cabin door opened. Usopp and Sanji came out, the latter holding the Log Pose they'd received from Zeff.
He walked over to Nami and Zoro, handing the Pose to Nami. "This is what we've got to use from here on, I think. It's pointed to the same island since my old man sailed the Grand Line."
"Should we follow that one then?" Usopp wondered from below, hands on his hips. "Are we ready for that yet?"
"We're ready for anything!" Luffy said, hopping off of the figurehead to join the others. "What about that other Pose thing we got from Buggy's crew? To JAY-YAH!" Luffy giggled; he'd taken to thinking that was a funny name.
Before they could pontificate more on what to do next, the water broke ahead of them and the whale surfaced, roaring again as it splashed back down onto the surface of the water, causing more wake that rocked the Going Merry up and down. The Straw Hats held on tight as the whale's big, beady eye stared down at them. "It's as big as the mountain!" Usopp quivered. He and Nami fell to their knees.
The whale stuck to its side this time and rolled over to reveal a big, iron door in its side, spiral shaped. It quickly whirred to life, opening up in the same spiral course it was shaped in. "What the Hell is that?!" Sanji exclaimed, finding it to be the strangest thing he'd ever seen.
More strange than that was the island that drifted out from the whale's body. It was small indeed, but it was an island still; its base was coated in what looked to be Wootz steel, but the island was incredibly buoyant, also subject to the whale's wake. On it was a single coconut palm tree and a shack smaller than the one on the cape to their right. In front of it was a sun chair; and in front of the lounge chair was a man with the strangest hair they had ever seen. As the wake balanced out, they each independently came to think his hair looked more like a mushroom.
And he held a rifle, aiming it toward their pirate ship.
"Who are you lot?" the man cried from his island as it continued to drift toward the Going Merry. But that's when he noticed their Jolly Roger, staring at it as he pulled his face from the iron sights of his rifle. His expression wavered, though the Straw Hats were too far to notice it. Who are these fools?
"Lower that gun, old man!" Luffy yelled, pointing a finger at the stranger who'd threatened them. "I saw that wound on the whale. What are you doing to it?! You floating around inside of it?!"
The man scrunched his face up. "Well, yes. I'm his doctor."
He grumbled as he looked up to his left at the wound that was visible on the whale's surface. He shook his head. "The last folks that passed through here musta done that to Laboon. Poor thing. You pirates these days . . . so many of you just go blasting. No thought to stop and think critically." He shook his head, leaning the butt of his gun on the ground as he grumbled to himself, wondering about a treatment for Laboon the whale.
"So, the whale is Laboon?" Usopp said to the man as their vessels drifted closer together. Neither party felt much threat from the other even at this point. "Who are you, old timer?"
"Old timer?! I'm only eighty-nine!" the man cried, and while indeed he looked far younger than eighty-nine, he was still quite old looking; none of the Straw Hats felt like particular offense was warranted there. "I didn't feel anything inside Laboon but himself thrashing around." The man suddenly got serious, staring again at the Straw Hats. "You didn't fire your guns at him, did you?"
Usopp and Sanji suddenly hung their heads, feeling ashamed of themselves, but Luffy just crossed his arms and stared ahead at the doctor, shaking his head and huffing his nose. "No way! I heard him talking about how much pain he's in. I saw his wound."
"You heard him - what?" the doctor stammered out, unsure about what exactly he'd just heard.
"Hey, who are you, old man?" Zoro asked more sternly. "We're the Straw Hat Pirates from the East Blue. I'm Roronoa Zoro."
"I'm Crocus," the doctor replied, struck by the young man's firmness and simultaneous attention to his courtesies. "The Straw Hat Pirates, huh? Fitting." He gestured toward their Jolly Roger, smirking.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy! Er, I guess I'm 'Straw Hat' now," Luffy said, wondering what he should refer to himself as from now on.
"Yes, I figured! I recognized you from the papers. They say you caused quite a stir in Loguetown," Crocus said, chuckling. "Welcome to the Grand Line."
"Thank you! But I didn't do any of that," Luffy said, wanting to explain himself. "I only went to visit Roger's Scaffold and pay my respects before we went here. Buggy and his crew did the rest of that."
"Did they, now?" Crocus said, surprised to find Buggy the Clown was capable of such devastation. The papers mentioned updated bounties being declared for the Clown Pirates soon. I wonder what heights you'll achieve as well, Buggy, Crocus thought. "But you currently have the highest bounty in the East Blue. There must be some reason you're so prestigious. But B25 pales in comparison to the highest bounties from the other Blues."
Crocus expected to make the captain waver; he was unimpressed with the size of his crew, more so worried than he was judgmental. How he could properly turn these kids around was another matter, but he wanted to test them first. Yet Luffy instead raised a hand, counting off on his fingers as he listed his accomplishments. "I defeated the captain of the Black Cat Pirates! My First Mate defeated his First Mate while my cook defeated Axe-Guy from the Navy! Next, we battled fishmen from Fishman Island. I dueled their captain - and I hated him, so I don't know his name, but I beat him and broke his ship. My First Mate and cook defeated fishmen by themselves. And we did do battle with Buggy and his crew many days ago. Again, my First Mate defeated -."
Crocus began to laugh, raising his hands and stumbling over his words as he set his rifle down. "Okay, okay now! I believe you. I trust you. Sorry if I caused offense." He raised an eyebrow, looking sideways at Luffy for a moment. "Is that really true, though?"
"Yup!" Luffy said, pulling Usopp and Sanji under his arms as he hugged them tight. "This is First Mate Usopp and our cook, Sanji! Usopp's been with me the longest!"
"And how long have you been pirates?" Crocus asked, pocketing his hands.
Luffy and Usopp gave each other a stare, counting for a moment on their hands. "Almost two months," Usopp answered first.
Crocus' jaw fell wide. "Are you serious?! You're beyond novices - you're greenhorns! What are you doing out here?!"
"What about my bounty?" Luffy whined.
"I don't give a hoot about your bounty! Most pirates have been banded together for a year before they sail the Grand Line," Crocus explained, sternly looking between the five Straw Hats.
"Well, we've got Zoro, too, who you met," Luffy said, chuckling as he continued with, "Between me, him, Sanji, Usopp, and our fearless navigator, Nami, we're unbeatable! But I'm still gonna recruit so many crewmates along the way. We just had to start our journey for the One Piece! We couldn't wait any longer, with so many great pirates chasing it."
The One Piece. Ah, yet again, Roger, Crocus thought warmly as he sat down on the sunchair, getting comfortable with his new friends. "Good to hear. If you were after anything else, I'd tell you to turn around."
"Wow! You really have that much faith in us, Corckus?" Luffy asked, leaning on the railing. He was eager to get the man's blessing.
"If you weren't after the One Piece, you'd be idiots. And you're still idiots, but you're my kind of idiots," Crocus said, placing his hands behind his head as he stared up at the blue sky. "And it's Crocus, kid. But! It's great to meet you all. Feel free to stay a while! You're friends of the Keeper of the Cape."
"Is that the whale?" Sanji asked, still curious about him.
"No, he's just Laboon, a close friend of mine," Crocus explained.
"So, someone injured him," Nami said, motioning toward his still bleeding wound.
"Like I said, you pirates fire upon when you enter instead of opting for some compassion," Crocus said, depressed to admit so but confronting it as he steeped his breath through his nose. "If it's not you pirates, it's poachers. Sometimes, the lines overlap. He's an Island Whale, so he's sturdy enough to withstand such blows. But he's just here waiting for his friends."
"His friends?" Luffy asked, suddenly quite serious. "Are they other whales?"
"No," Crocus said bitterly, shutting his eyes. "They were a pirate crew."