(A/N: Thank you so much to son of morgana and yupino for your reviews! :) Also to everyone who favorited, followed, and added this story to their alerts! Considering One Piece is so long, I'll probably skip over most of the filler episodes. Of course if any of you want me to add a certain filler, just let me know. I most likely won't cover the movies either. ^^ And I didn't know about Corazon when I first made Toffee, but I'm sure they would have gotten along it they had met. xD I'm just now getting half-way though the Whole Cake Arc, eh heh!)
"Oh, an assassin! Is that all?" Usopp said with a laugh while rubbing a finger across the tip of his nose. He didn't seem to realize what he had just brushed off, his eyes nearly bulging out of there sockets once it eventually dawned on him. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU WERE ASSOCIATED WITH ASSASSINS?!"
Nami had taken to roughly shaking Luffy back and forth, her own eyes solid white while they were narrowed in obvious anger. "HOW COULD YOU BRING SOMEONE SO DANGEROUS ON BOARD THE SHIP, LUFFY?!"
"I didn't know she was one," Luffy admitted with an apathetic look, bringing up a finger to dig in his nose. "Is it really such a big deal?"
"OF COURSE IT'S A BIG DEAL!" Nami and Usopp screamed out together with anger veins pulsing like mad on the side of their heads. Why did their captain always have to be so reckless?!
Sanji, who didn't seem all that bothered himself, grabbed a cigarette to place in his mouth. He let out a puff of smoke after lighting it before speaking up in a calm tone, "I don't think she's dangerous. Besides, according to Luffy, Toffee-chan helped him out when he landed himself in trouble."
"Even so..." Nami murmured, looking warily at Toffee. The grey haired woman wore an awkward expression on her face as she seemed to be trying to avoid their gazes. She certainly didn't look like a threat, but appearances could be deceiving...
Placing a hand on the hilt of Wado Ichimoji, a small smirk formed on his tan face where Zoro voiced, "Don't worry. If she does turn out to be a threat, we can always take her down."
The fine hairs on the back of Toffee's neck stood straight up as she couldn't help but let out a frightened little "Eep!", holding her hands defensively in front of herself. "Y-y-you don't have to worry about me ever doing something like that, eh heh! I promise I'll leave just as soon as we reach a nice town!"
She placed a strand of her short spiky locks behind her ear before she started to walk away from the small band of pirates. "I'll even stay down in the cargo hold if that will make you feel saf-Ack!" her sentence ended up getting cut off as the pink eyed female tripped due to the slippery deck from the continued downpour of rain, falling flat on her face.
"That's hilarious, Toffee!" Luffy burst out with a laugh, holding onto his stomach since the so-called-assassin wasn't bothering to get up; her shadow having taken to poking her. Seeing that Toffee wasn't going to react, the shadow creature shrugged it's shoulders before laying down beside her on the ground.
A small sweat drop rolled down the back of Zoro's head as he removed his hand from the hilt of his blade. "I'm starting to get the feeling she's more of a danger to herself than to us..."
"...Agreed." Nami and Usopp both uttered out, sharing similar indifferent expressions.
A few days had passed by and the rain still hadn't let up. But according to Nami, if they continued to make their way through the storm, they would soon reach the entrance of the Grand Line. Toffee still found it amazing that she was sailing the seas with a group of pirates, and they weren't at all what she expected them to be.
Nami and Usopp were still a little cautious about her, but they weren't being hostile and were actually quite friendly once they had opened up. Sanji was very polite and an overall gentleman, and created some of the best food she had ever tasted before in her life. Zoro, while seeming scary at first, was actually a pretty laid back guy and seemed rather protective over his crewmates.
And Luffy. Well he was...
"Oi! That angel cake was for the ladies, you thief!" Sanji yelled out with an anger vein, chasing the captain all over the vessel.
"Shishishi! This is really good!' Luffy chirped, completely ignoring the cook as he happily munched on the layered sponge dessert. He jumped over Zoro who was leaning against the mast and taking a nap, not even caring that he was getting soaked; Sanji not bothering to jump over the green haired male as he ended up stepping on the swordsman in a rather delicate place as this caused Zoro to wake up with a yelp of pain.
"Bastard! Get back here!" Zoro growled out, joining in with the little chase.
Toffee winced since the three of them had ended up crashing into Usopp and stepping all over the poor guy, before she tilted her head that was covered by a blue rain coat that Nami had leant her. "Are they always like this?"
Nami who was pinching at her temple in annoyance grumbled out, "Unfortunately so. And you'll never get used to it, believe me..." Holding a rolled up map in her hand, Nami took to poking at Heartless with it as he was perched on the side on the ship. "You said this was your Devil Fruit, right? I've been wondering something. If this...thing is your shadow, why do you call it a he?"
"Mmm...I've just always thought of Heartless as a guy. I'm not really sure why," Toffee admitted while placing a finger against her chin. "But I don't think my shadow exactly has a gender...Still, he doesn't really like girly stuff. My brother, Ash, tried putting a cute bow on Heartless once, and he ended up shredding it to pieces before throwing what was left of the ribbon back at Ashley's face..."
Nami couldn't help but stare at the creature in slight discomfort while she pulled the hood of her pink coat more securely around her head. "And here I thought Luffy had a bizarre power...I've never known Devil Fruit's could actually create living beings as well that come with their own personality..."
Toffee just giggled at this. "Heartless definitely comes in handy. Normally he fights his own battles for me, but I can also use him like this," she hummed out, her shadow surprising Nami when it slinked back down onto the floor. "Shadow Intercept: Paralysis Technique!"
Her shadow spread out across the floor and made it's way over to Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji where it latched onto the males shadows; the three men wearing looks of surprise when they found out they could no longer move.
"Ngggggh! Ah, it's no use. My body feels like lead right now!" Luffy whined as he struggled to stir any part of his body.
"The hell is this?" Zoro mumbled out in annoyance, scowling over at Toffee noticing she had her hands clasped together while she was focused on them. "Oi, shadow girl! Whatever it is you're doing, knock it off!"
"Sorry. I was just giving Nami-san a demonstration of how my powers can be used. And I was kind of afraid you might hurt Usopp further if you kept running over him," Toffee mused with a smile.
"Thank you...for your consideration..." Usopp groaned out while he twitched on the ground where he continued to lay.
"Ah~ You're so kind, Toffee-chan~ I'm just glad your ability hasn't stopped my heart from beating for you~" Sanji praised with flushed cheeks, his words earning an 'are you serious' expression from Zoro.
Nami was slightly startled by the sight before her, but a mischevious gleam soon shone in her brown eyes that caused the guys to actually sweat nervously. "So you can paralyze anything your shadow touches? That could definitely come in handy~"
"Yes. Just as long as Heartless is able to connect with that persons shadow. It only lasts for 3 minutes and there are other ways I can use my shadow after I capture someone, but I don't really like using those techniques unless I have no other choice..." Toffee trailed off while releasing her power.
"Those definitely seem like the abilites an assassin would have," Usopp muttered as he gradually stood up, bending to crack his spine back into place. Though he grinned awkwardly while waving his hands. "N-not that you seem like a bad person, ah hah! ...A-anyways, funny how the weather suddenly cleared up."
Nami blinked since she hadn't even paid attention to the fact that they were now sailing in sunny weather, the light soon fading from her eyes. "Oh no! This is bad! We must be in the Calm Belt!" Noticing the confused looks on everyone's faces, a small anger vein appeared on the side of the orange haired female's head and she said more forcefully, "See that storm in the distance! We need to get back to it now, so just start rowing!"
"Yes, Nami-san~!" Sanji happily agreed, the others not looking as convinced.
"It's nice weather here. Why do we have to go back there?" Zoro questioned with a bored look on his face.
"Because the ship is heading south!"
"Oh! Doesn't that mean we're in the Grand Line?"
"IF IT WERE THAT EASY, THERE WOULD BE MORE PEOPLE COMING HERE!" Nami shrieked at the much too calm swordsman, who dug a finger in his ear due to her practically deafening him. Letting out a calming breath of air Nami continued, "The Grand Line is surrounded by two seas, and one of the seas is the Calm Belt, the sea without wind."
Before Nami could continue, the ship began to violently shake, almost as if an earthquake was happening on the ocean. In fact, the ship had been lifted up by a giant creature that looked like a mutated cross between a zebra and a fish, and it wasn't the only monstrosity that had surrounded the crew.
Everyone was frozen in place with looks of utter horror on their faces; the sudden scare being too much for Usopp as he had fallen backwards while foaming at the mouth. Nami meanwhile had dropped down to her knees while clinging onto the mast where she sobbed out, "This sea is, a giant sea monsters nest!"
"When this monster dives, let's begin rowing as fast as we can!" Zoro exclaimed with a panicked expression, already holding onto a large oar along with Luffy and Sanji. "Got it?!"
"Yes!" Luffy and Sanji agreed quickly. The monster didn't get a chance to dive, instead unleashing a huge sneeze that knocked the Straw Hat's ship clear off it's head; this causing everyone to unleash banshee-like screams as they went shooting off like a cannonball.
Some how they had ended up back in the part of the sea where the storm was, the group looking completely burnt out from that rather rough ordeal.
"Do you understand...why we have to use an entrance now?" Nami groaned out, slowly lifting up her face that was reddened from the impact of it connecting with the deck.
"Yes. I understand now..." Zoro mumbled back, the only one who hadn't landed on his stomach or back, but was in a sitting position with his face buried into his knees.
Nami sat up, rubbing at her aching face before a sudden look of realization formed upon it. "I've got it! You remember the mountain I told you about earlier? We have to go up it! If the waves from four oceans head to that mountain, it will create a stream! That stream will push the water up the canal, and when the water has reached the mountain's peak, it will push back to the Grand Line! So the ship can go up the mountain by the stream power!"
A more troubled expression arose on Nami's features and she continued by saying, "The only problem left is how to control the rudder. Reverse Mountain is a huge iceburg. When the stream hits the mountain, the water will go down. If we can't control our ship to the entrance, we will hit the mountain and sink. Do you understand?"
"Hahaha! So that means it's a magic mountain, right?" Luffy exclaimed, his words causing Nami to heavily sigh since he clearly didn't understand at all.
Toffee scratched at her cheek, glancing out at the distance where her eyes shimmered in awe. "I think that mountain you guys were discussing is just ahead of us...! Amazing! I've never seen a mountain so big! It's peak actually reaches the clouds...!"
"Unreal..." Zoro muttered in disbelief, using a spyglass where he could get a better view. A stone archway hung over the fierce watercourse that was currently being directed upwards. "The water really is climbing the mountain!"
Though Usopp and Sanji were trying to direct the ship up the mountain, Luffy ended up having to use his rubber ability to make sure they didn't crash into the sides when the helm actually broke, his actions causing Toffee to lightly smile while the group of pirates happily cried out, "WE MADE IT!"
"We're coming up to the clouds!" Luffy cheered, having jumped to sit on the sheep's head of the Going Merry. "To the top! Yahoo!" The crew ended up being tossed off the ship for a moment before they safely landed back on board as the vessel shot dowards at an incredible speed. "The greatest ocean in the world...Grand Line!"
While the others cheered or laughed from the adrenaline enducing experience, Zoro rose a brow while looking around. "Did you hear something just now? I just heard a strange noise!"
"Must've been the wind. There's a lot of strange rock formations here that could've caused it," Nami clarified with an untroubled smile.
"Nami-san! I see a mountain up ahead!" Sanji called out while standing up on the crow's nest.
"A mountain? There can't be!"
"But I see it right there!"
Toffee blinked while placing a hand over her eyes that she had narrowed as she tried to make out what Sanji had seen through the thick mist. And she couldn't help but laugh nervously when realizing what was actually blocking their way. "Um, I don't think that's a mountain...It looks like a whale. And a really large one at that..."
The fog that had been surrounding the ship cleared up, causing Luffy and the others to let out cries of surprise or screams of terror when seeing the creature Toffee had mentioned poking its head out of the water.
"W-W-W-W-WHAT DO WE DO?!" Usopp badly trembled out.
"Fight it?" Luffy brought up casually.
"Idiot! We can't fight something like that!" Nami shrieked out, wishing she could bonk Luffy upside the head right now.
"T-t-t-the currents taking us right at it! What are we going to doooo?!"
"Wait a minute! We've gotten this close, but it still just looks like a wall. So where's its eye?" Sanji brought up.
"You're right! It may not have noticed us yet!" Nami gasped out.
"At this rate we'll hit it dead on..." Zoro voiced, his eyes widening for a moment before he turned to Usopp. "Oi! There's a opening on the left! Port! Hard to Port!"
When hearing that the helm was broken, Zoro let out a "tch!" before running to help Sanji and Usopp try and turn the rudder. Yet no matter how much they pulled, the device wouldn't budge...Luffy had ran off during all of the commotion, and Nami and Toffee weren't sure what he was up to until they heard the sound of a cannon being shot.
"Well...at least Luffy's idea made us stop..." Toffee mused, glancing down at Nami who was laying sprawled out upon the deck with tears in her eyes. She blinked when seeing the ship's head, that had been knocked off, coming toward the two of them, and she quickly jumped to catch it, despite it's size, before it could possibly hit a still out of it Nami.
"AHHHHHH! MY SPECIAL SEAT!" Luffy screamed out, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head when seeing the figurehead that Toffee gently sat down on the floor.
"R-RUN FOR IT! WHILE WE CAN!" Zoro shouted out once getting over the shock of the weapon they rarely used being fired.
"What's wrong with it?" Usopp gulped out considering the whale wasn't making a move despite having just been blasted.
The whale soon let out a baleful cry that caused Usopp, Sanji, and Zoro to row like madmen with the manual oars as they sailed by the creatures large unblinking black eye. For some reason he didn't seem to be paying any attention to them at all.
"Luffy?" Nami whispered out after having sat up, noticing Luffy glaring at the whale.
"Damn you...My favorite seat...WHAT THE HELL DID YOU BREAK IT FOR?!" Luffy shouted angrily, stretching out his arm where he harshly punched the animal right in it's eye.
"YOU IDIOOOOOOOOOOT!" everyone bellowed out with solid white eyes that were leaking nonstop tears. The whale didn't move for a few seconds, it's black orb trailing downwards to stare directly at the ship. "IT SEES US!"
"How'd you like that! I'll kick your ass, jerk!"
"Shut up, dumb ass!" Zoro and Usopp yelled together while clobbering their captain upon the head. His antics always landed them in more trouble than they needed.
Unleashing an enormous wail, the aquatic mammal opened it's large mouth, forcing the Going Merry to be pulled toward it. Luffy, who had fallen off the ship, quickly saved himself by latching onto one of the whale's teeth where he then proceeded to climb up it's scarred head while his ship, crew, and Toffee were devoured.
"What do I do? Everyone was eaten!" Luffy realized in horror as his pupils had grown small. Proceeding to punch the whale over and over, Luffy growled out, "Oi, stupid! Spit everyone up! Give them back! Give them back!"
The whale began to gradually sink under the water, causing Luffy to become more panicked as he started to stomp on the creatures head, but he was completely ignored. And it wasn't long before the whale had fully sank down into the watery depths.
"What do you think?" Nami questioned with a blank expression on her face.
"What do I think? It doesn't matter what you think," Zoro muttered with his own indifferent look.
"We clearly just got swallowed by a whale." Sanji sighed out tiredly.
Toffee's eyes had stars in them while she chirped out, "Incredible! I didn't know whale's actually have a tiny island with a house inside of them! There really are so many fascinating things out on the sea~"
"Of course they don't! Th-this is probably just some messed up dream!" Usopp exclaimed while his body twitched. Noticing Toffee had pulled out a notebook where she was quickly jotting down something within it, his eyes narrowed in anger while he loudly scolded, "THIS ISN'T THE TIME TO BE WRITING!"
Nami blinked multiple times, shockingly not screaming when a giant squid appeared in front of the ship where she voiced in a daze, "So that house is just an illusion. Then that monster must be..."
"A GIANT SQUID!" Nami and Usopp abruptly bawled out together, both clinging onto Toffee who merely tilted her head.
Before the sea monster could attack, harpoons that came from the house pierced through the purple hued squid, killing it instantly. Seeing that they were no longer in danger, Zoro and Sanji who were about to strike the creature themselves, relaxed.
"Looks like someone's home," Zoro mused, a smirk forming on his lips.
"Better hope it's a person..." Sanji added, narrowing his eyes warily at the abode.
Toffee gently took to simultaneously patting at Nami and Usopp's backs seeing frightened tears in both of their eyes. "There, there. I'm sure everything will be okay...What would your captain do in this type of situation?"
"Oh yeah, is Luffy alright?" Nami sniffled out, sharing a tearfully concerned look with Usopp who just shook his head, not sure how to answer that.
However Usopp soon stepped forward where he pointed at the island and said in a commanding tone, "Shoot it! Blast the island with the cannon!"
"No, hang on a sec. Someone's coming out," Sanji interjected when seeing a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. It was probably a good thing Sanji had spoken up as the house appeared to belong to an old man who oddly enough had a large flower behind his balding head.
The old man seemed to be having an intense stare down with Sanji, yet instead of making a move or saying anything, he sat down in his lawn chair and pulled out a newspaper where he began to read.
"SAY SOMETHING, ASSHOLE!" Sanji snapped, his teeth scarily enough resembling a sharks at the moment.
"We'll fight you if that's what you want, jerk! We've got a cannon right here!" Usopp threatened. Though his words didn't seem all that menacing considering he was shouting them from the doorway that led to the crews meeting room. He could easily make himself scarce if it came to a fight.
The white haired male gave a rather ominous gaze where he uttered out, "Don't. Or someone will die."
"And who would that be?" Sanji questioned, Zoro and him becoming more defensive while Nami and Usopp were clinging to each other in what looked like an odd dance. Toffee merely had a troubled look on her face. This man was clearly stronger than his goofy countenance portrayed, but she wasn't getting a hostile vibe from him. And that became more clear from his simple answer.
"Me."
"YOU?! You freakin..."
"Hey. Don't get pissed off," Zoro remarked with an amused smirk, placing a hand on Sanji's tense shoulder. "Old man, tell me...Where are we? And who are you?"
Once again the elderly man gave his rather piercing look before saying after a few moments, "If you want something from someone, it's proper manners to introduce yourself first."
"Yeah. That's right...My mistake," Zoro said with a small chuckle. "My name is Roro-
"I am Crocus. I am the keeper of the Twin Capes Lighthouses. I am 71 years old, Gemini, Blood Type-"
"CAN I KILL HIM NOW?!" Zoro roared out, starting to unsheathe his blade as Sanji had to calm the moss haired male down this time.
Toffee couldn't help but giggle, causing Nami and Usopp to stare at the slightly older female as if she had lost her mind. "I don't know. I think he's pretty funny,"
"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!" Zoro snapped, turning his angered expression on the grey haired girl instead which caused Toffee to squeak in fright and hide behind the mast where she peeked out along with her shadow.
"You want to know where you are? You come to my one man resort...and then yell such rude things at me. Do you think you're inside a rat's stomach?"
Usopp nervously peered around at the bright blue and cloud filled sky that surrounded them. It was almost as if they were still out on the open sea. "So we really were swallowed by the whale! But this doesn't look like the inside of a whale..."
"Hold on! What's going to happen to us?!" Nami exclaimed, slapping her hands against her fair cheeks. "I don't want to be digested!"
The old man known as Crocus stared intensely at the group for a long time, causing everyone but Toffee to scream out, "STOP DOING THAT!" finding his reoccurring jest more and more infuriating each time he did it.
"Can't you appreciate a good running gag? That small grey haired girl is the only one with a good sense of humor," Crocus grumbled, motioning over to a random steel door the group hadn't noticed. "As for the exit, it's over there."
"Hold on a second! What's an exit doing in a whale's stomach?" Nami questioned, completely startled even if they could get out. "And why is that door in the sky?"
Toffee smiled faintly, moving to stand by the navigator while motioning up at the ceiling. "You didn't notice? The sky, the clouds, even the birds are just paintings. Of course, I'm not sure why there would be paintings inside of a whale's belly..."
"I like having fun,"
"Ah, that makes sense. I like drawing and painting, too!" Toffee hummed out with a soft smile while displaying some of the pictures she had sketched out in her notebook which made Crocus nod his head in approval.
"WHY ARE YOU TALKING SO EASILY WITH SOME WEIRD OLD MAN?! WE SHOULD BE QUESTIONING HIM WHY HE'S HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Usopp screamed while giving a light shake to Toffee.
"Just forget about him. Nami, there's the exit, so let's get out of here," Zoro mentioned while placing a firm hand on Usopp's shoulder before he ended up making Toffee anymore dizzier than she already was.
Before the crew could even proceed to sail out of the bizarre whale, the waves violently rippled as both the ship and Crocuses house were tossed about . At least, everyone had believed it was nothing more than a house until Nami pointed out that it was a ship just like theirs. Only his was made of iron.
"That must mean the 'ocean' is made of stomach acid!" Usopp realized with beads of sweat trickling down his tan face.
"So if we stay here too long, we'll get digested..." Sanji muttered.
Crocus suddenly spoke up noticing the pirates panicking once again. "This whale...Laboon has started ramming himself against the Red Line."
"Now that you mention it, this whale had some huge scars on it's head..." Nami murmured with a deep frown. "And it was bellowing to the sky..."
"What are you saying?" Usopp asked her in confusion.
"It's in pain!"
"So does that mean the old man is...
"Yes. He's probably trying to kill the whale from inside it's body!"
"Is that...really what he's trying to do, though...?" Toffee pondered softly, placing her index finger over her bottom lip.
Zoro shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Now that we've solved this mystery, let's get out of here. Our ship's going to dissolve if you just stand there complaining."
"Well, the whaling business doesn't bother me...and I don't feel like saving this one," Sanji added, walking past Nami, Usopp, and Toffee who seemed more concerned. "Let's get out of here."
Yet even if the crew did want to escape, the waves were too strong and they wouldn't be able to make it to the door at this rate. What was even more bizarre, Crocus had jumped into the raging water of acid despite the dangers it could pose.
"I'm glad he made it out safely," Toffe sighed out when seeing the elderly man climbing up a set of metal stairs that were attached to the door.
"Just ignore him. We have to figure out how to open the door," Zoro stated sternly.
After saying this, three figures came shooting out of the exit; one of the screams being very distinctive and belonging to a certain someone as they came falling out of the sky
"Yo! You guys are all okay!" Luffy said with a bearing of both happiness and nervousness once noticing his ship and friends. "By the way...Save me!"
"Luffy caught up with us...but he brought a couple of weirdos with him," Usopp observed, leaning over the side of the ship along with the others as they watched Luffy and the two strangers fall into the acid.
After having noticed that Crocus had disappeared, Nami glanced around in astonishment. "It's calm! The whales calmed down."
"Looks that way..." Zoro agreed, turning his attention on the unknown figures after Sanji and him had pulled Luffy and them out of the dangerous water. "So, we saved your asses. Now who are you?"
"Mr. 9, these are pirates," the female who had her long blue locks pulled up into a high ponytail hissed out after she turned away from Sanji in discomfort since he was staring at her with lovestruck eyes.
"I can see that, Miss Wednesday..." the man who sported orange hair and oddly enough wore a crown on his head replied back. "But I think we can convince them."
"Probably..."
"Are you two scoundrels still here?! Don't make me repeat myself!" Crocus suddenly said sharply, his abrupt reappearance generating everyone's focus onto him. "As long as I am alive, you won't lay one finger on Laboon!"
"Who's the old guy?" Luffy asked curiously.
Miss Wednesday let out a sudden laugh before anyone could respond, standing up while picking up a large firearm where she uttered out, "You may say that, but we cannot retreat."
"Killing the whale is our mission," Mr. 9 chuckled out, also grabbing his weapon. "We won't let you interfere with our whaling anymore! We'll rip a hole in its stomach! Let 'er rip, baby!"
"Roger!"
Two large cannons made their way for Laboon's stomach, yet Crocus lept in front of them taking the full impact as these actions caused Toffee to cover her mouth in horror.
"He...sacrificed himself to protect the whale..." Toffee whispered out from behind her hands.
"Ah hah hah hah! Cease your pathetic resistance!"
"If you want to protect it that badly, just try that again! The whale is going to feed our town!"
Luffy's features suddenly darkened and he jumped toward the two laughing individuals where he roughly slammed their heads together; the harsh impact instantly forcing them to pass out.
"Don't know why. Just had to hit them," Luffy declared when seeing the bewildered looks on his crews faces.
Toffee glanced out at the old man who seemed to be okay, though his body was bruised and scraped. "I sort of can't blame you. Feeding their town or not, their actions seemed pretty messed up..."
Crocus managed to swim to his vessel on his own where the Straw Hat's and Toffee boarded. "You helped me immensely...But why?"
"I didn't help you. Just didn't want to see that," Luffy replied carelessly, seeming more focused on trying to climb up the lone tree on the ship.
"Um, what's the deal with those guys? And what are you doing inside this whale?" Nami inquired, staring down at the now tied up Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday before she placed her hands on her hips.
"These two scoundrels are from a nearby town. They want the whale's meat. Laboon could feed their town for two or three years."
"Laboon?"
"That's the whale's name. He's an island whale. They inhabit West Blue...The largest species of whale in the world. How could I let him become food?" Crocus explained. "There's a reason why he continues to bash his head against the Red Line...And why he faces Reverse Mountain and bellows..."
"A reason?"
"Yeah. This whale, you see...He's a whale with a heart like a person. And he's been earnestly waiting for a certain group of pirates...For 50 years."