Chapter 6.1

-...uuuuuuu...

I blinked as a faint, mournful sound floated through the air, interrupting my laughter. -What the...?

"Did you hear that too?" Zoro called out to me.

"It's quite possible that it's the wind," Nami shrugged indifferently. -The rock formations here are quite unusual.

"I'm not sure about that..." I frowned slightly, racking my brains. This sound reminded me of something... where did I hear it...? Soundbite, could you...

Soundbite imitated the sound of a cassette tape rewinding for a second, and then finally...

-...uuuuuuuu...

I raised an eyebrow, surprised by the quality of the replay. -Well... it was much clearer than I remember.

Soundbite's skin turned a shade of gray, more ashen than usual, and the blood drained from his face. "It wasn't me!" he squealed.

I stared at the snail in disbelief. -Sorry, what!?

-...vvvuuuuuuuuuuu...

I flinched when the sound was repeated, this time several times louder. It was very, very, very familiar...

"Hey!" Usopp shouted from where he was hanging on the mainmast yard, and curiously lowered one of the lenses of his glasses. -It seems to me that there is something ahead!

"Yeah!" Sanji agreed, pointing to the fog ahead of us. -It looks like a mountain!

"Huh?" Nami blinked in confusion. -This can't be, the only thing that should be here is Gemini Cape!

"Then what the hell is this??" Zoro asked, pointing at a dark silhouette that began to appear in his field of vision, almost as large as the Red Line itself.

"What the hell!?" Nami blurted out incredulously. -But... that map was accurate! There are no mountains here!

I squinted at the silhouette and tried to tie the ends meet. Massive form, being where there shouldn't be anything like it. And that sound... I know that sound, I know I've heard it before. If only I could remember what that sound was!

- BWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

...Ahhhh, Sea King.

"This is not a mountain," I whispered, stunned.

The crew stared at me in confusion for a second...

- BWWWWWWWWWW!

"GIANT!" Soundbite shouted.

Before they turned their heads at the new repetition of the sound. The fog finally parted just enough to give us a clear view of what stood in our way.

And what he was like.

"DAMN IT, IT'S A WHALE!" Usopp screamed in horror.

"No," I couldn't resist, I mentally corrected Usopp, looking at the creature towering in front of us. This is not a whale.

And indeed he wasn't... or at least he wasn't just a whale. Oda tried his best, but didn't give Laboon his due. It's not really his fault. It was difficult to truly depict such a beast with a simple pen and paper. He was... I think 'Titan' is the right word. A massive, dominant form of flesh and blood, wrapped in pitch black skin. He was almost as big as some of the largest creatures we'd seen on the outskirts of Calm Belt, and I was pretty sure he could - judging by the building-sized teeth I could barely see sticking out of the corners his mouth is to swallow some of the smaller ones.

Simply put, Laboon was...well, he was great.

He was also going to crush us with his gigantic body without moving a single muscle.

As we raced toward a literal killer whale, my teammates panicked wildly around me. I found myself going back to the option that my mind deemed the most logical at the time.

- Pfff...

I laughed.

"PFFHAHAHA!" I laughed, barely able to hold on to Merry's railing, while laughter burst out non-stop from my churning stomach.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU LAUGHING, STUPID!?" Nami screamed, grabbing me by the collar.

I froze for a moment as the question struck me. Now that I think about it... why am I laughing? After all, there was nothing funny about our situation! We were rushing towards death at a speed that almost guaranteed to break every bone in our body! It wasn't funny, it was dangerous! It was deadly! It was absolutely crazy -!... Ahhh...

Giggling nervously, a shaky smile appeared on my face. -Umm... maybe now is the wrong time to announce this, but I think I just realized that I'm an adrenaline junkie?

- WHAT??

Before I could respond, a massive EXPLOSION rocked the ship before we were jerked and the ship's movement continued at a much slower pace, knocking us all off our feet.

Nami blinked in confusion, trying to pull her legs under her. -What the hell was that??

Soundbite's eyes took in his surroundings for a second before settling directly in front of him. "Stupid!" he said in Nami's voice.

Nami and I followed Soundbite's gaze... and then noticed a column of smoke rising up.

- CANNON! - My teammates screamed in horror.

I, however, was more focused on the fact that Laboon kept coming!

"Hey!" Luffy shouted from under the bow cockpit. -Did it work? Have we stopped?

"Not completely!" I barked, jumping up and wrapping the rigging around my hand again.

"PREPARE FOR IMPACT!" Soundbite yelled.

A second later we hit Laboon's hide. Fortunately, the damage to the ship from the impact was insignificant.

*Wood crackling*!

I winced when Merry's head didn't come away from his neck very cleanly. It's not very good.

"This is bad..." Nami sobbed, clinging to Merry's railing with all her might, Her eyes were half devoid of life. - Am I dead?

- Not yet...

- AAA! MY FAVORITE PLACE!

I flinched as Luffy's voice rang out, filled with equal parts horror and rage. -Wait a minute, I promise you won't have to wait long.

- We won't wait, period!

"OOOMF!" I croaked as Zoro tossed me one of Merry's oars and Usopp quickly helped me pick it up.

"Come on!" he ordered as Sanji helped him lower the second oar into the water. -Let's get out of here before this creature reacts!

"Seriously?" Usopp yelled, jerking the paddle into motion next to me. -Is this thing so big that it didn't notice when it got shot with a fucking cannon, or is it just slow??

"I think it's more the former than the latter!" I grunted, alternately pushing and pulling the wooden stick. -In the end, based on my experience? The intelligence of animals can sometimes seriously surprise you!

"EXAMPLE!" Soundbite nodded firmly.

"After all, you would expect a snail that can talk to have at least half a brain cell...

- HEY!

- YOU! LISTEN!

We all froze when Luffy's voice came out.

Apparently Laboon noticed this too, considering his body was submerged just enough for his giant eye to hover over us.

Nami swallowed hard, looking nervously at our captain. "Luffy..." she desperately tried to calm him down. -I understand that you are angry, but this thing is a million times heavier than you. Whatever you want to do, don't do anything stupid...!

"BASTARD!" Luffy shouted, extending his arm and punching him right in the center of Laboon's cornea.

"THIS IS A BLOOD!" the rest of the crew screamed.

"You can't be seriously surprised by this..." I sighed with a tired smile.

However, if we were to guess, Laboon was almost certainly surprised, judging by the way his pupil twitched down and stared at us with a dead gaze.

"He noticed us..." Nami squeezed out.

"I'LL MAKE HIM PAY EVEN MORE ATTENTION TO US!" Luffy roared.

"SHUT UP, BLIND!" Zoro and Usopp ordered, grabbing him and doing everything they could to silence him.

I tried to say something... and froze when I saw Laboon twitch slightly. -I think it might be too late!

- BWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!

As if to prove to me that he was right, Laboon suddenly moved, his mass moving much faster than it should have even if he were half his size, as he turned his head and opened his mouth, allowing a veritable waterfall to rush down his throat.

I cursed when Merry suddenly rushed forward. Correction, the waterfall moved and pulled us in with it!

"Hold on to something!" I shouted, holding Soundbyte to my chest with one hand and clutching the rigging as tightly as I could with the other.

"WAAAH!" Luffy screamed in panic as the deck of the Merry suddenly jerked a little harder, throwing Luffy far away from our ship and in an unknown direction. -I'M FALLING!

- WHAT THE HELL DID I JUST SAY!?

"HOLD ON!" Usopp shouted in horror. -WE'RE GOING DOWN!

And indeed, we were rushing down. Down, down, down, twisting, swinging and swaying in all directions. It was like the craziest roller coaster in the world. It was pitch black, wild and extremely smelly.

Finally, Merry's decline stabilized. It was uncontrollable, yes, but at least we were no longer in danger of falling overboard every second.

I was breathing heavily, trying to get more air into my lungs and get to my feet. "Re...!" I paused for a second before placing Soundbite on my shoulder and tapping his shell. -Roll call!

- Here.

- Here.

- I survived.

- I think I have the 'I'm-terrified-beyond-all-measure...' disease.

- In this we are similar... - I tiredly shook my head, trying to see at least something in the pitch darkness. -Does anyone know where we are? Besides the obvious, I mean.

- You can't see a damn thing, captain!

- Shit! Luffy! Where is Luffy??

"The last time I saw him was thrown overboard," I said. -Noooo, I wouldn't worry. For anyone else, I'd say he's drowned and drinking tea with Davy Jones. Luffy? Ten bellies for him to go down this hole and sooner or later reunite with the team.

- I accept the bet!

- Do you have no shame at all, witch?

- DON'T CALL NAMI-SUAN W...!

- Eh, guys?

- WHAT??

- We're not dead yet, right?

"I didn't get wings or a halo, so no."

- Damn it, what makes you think that you will go to heaven, snail?

- Pfft, compared to you and most people in these seas? I'm a fucking saint! Uh, in the literal sense, not in the crazy degenerate sense.

- Oh, let's go...!

- So we're still alive, right?

- Yes, Usopp, we are still alive!

- Then can anyone explain the light at the end of the tunnel?

We all turned towards the stern and saw a bright light illuminating the darkness. A bright light that was quickly approaching.

"Hold on!" I barked.

And with these words Merry climbed out into the light, suddenly the smooth water killed the momentum of the ship and brought us to a hard and final stop.

We slowly rose to our feet, looking around to get a better look at our surroundings... and then stared in disbelief.

"Uh... guys?" I squeaked numbly.

"Do you see what I see?!" Soundbite demanded.

"It depends on the circumstances..." Nami said slowly, carefully keeping her tone neutral. -Do you see the big blue sky after we were swallowed by the whale, not to mention the island with the palm tree and the house on it?

"Yeah." Zoro, Usopp and Sanji nodded firmly.

"Ah..." Nami nodded reservedly. -Then there are two possibilities: firstly, we have all gone crazy.

I looked at Nami with disapproval.

-...Okay, in that case... yes, I have nothing.

"I never thought that I would live to see this day..." I whispered to myself, looking around. I racked my brain, trying to remember the exact details of what would happen, cursing myself for missing the opportunity to replay the series in my head when I had time. -Well... maybe we really are in the belly of a whale? The walls may have been painted or something else.

Zoro stared at me in disbelief. -You're not serious.

I slapped my hand on my chest and raised my hand to the pseudo-sky. -May the Sea King strike me if I'm lying!

*Splash*!

- GRAAAOOOO!

- AAAAHH! SEA KING!

Oh, just great.

Coming face to face with a giant squid rushing towards me, my mind immediately stopped against my will, causing me to blurt out the first thing that came to mind.

- May the Sea King be overthrown if I lie!

K-T-KNOCK!

I blinked in surprise as three harpoons shot out from the giant squid's eyes, causing it to twitch once, twice, three times before slowly collapsing back, its blood and ink staining its stomach acid.

I stared at the scene in shock before suddenly looking up. -May a billion bellies fall from the sky if I'm lying!

Nothing.

I frowned in disappointment. -Seriously? What self-respecting omnipotent being doesn't do everything three times!?

- ROBBERY! - Soundbite agreed.