144- Laboon
"So, old man." Ethan said as he picked up his plate.
"What's the deal with this whale?" he asked causing everyone to look at Crocus hear what he had to say.
"The whale's name is Laboon. it is a unique and magnificent creature, an island whale, one of the largest species in the world that could only be found in the West Blue." he said before he took a sip of the whiskey Makino poured for him.
"Those two people from before were hunting Laboon for whale meat. A whale the size of Laboon could feed a small island for at least two years," he said.
"So that's who those two are." Ann said.
"Hey, where are they?" Nojiko then asked after looking on the ship and seeing them gone.
"They will come back, because I smashed their log pose." Ethan smiled, earlier when they tied them up he smashed their log pose without anyone noticing.
Then everyone turned their attention to Crocus' story.
"There is a reason it keeps hitting itself against the Red Line and howling at Reverse Mountain." Crocus said before he ate some of the food.
"Inside Laboon beats the heart of a human and is absolutely devoted to a certain band of pirates." he said causing Zora to raise an eyebrow at that.
"You see Laboon followed a group of pirate all the way from the West Blue and entered the Grand Line. When they arrived here at the Twin Capes their ship was so badly damaged that they spent several months here trying to repair. After they repaired their ship they set sail and because the Grand Line was so dangerous they had to leave Laboon here, but before they left they promised it they could come back for it." he said with a sad look on his face.
"It has been 50 long years since then," he said causing everyone's eyes to widen.
"Don't you think 50 years is a bit extreme." Hailey said as she finished her food.
"Those pirates sure know how to test someone's patience," Nojiko said.
"You idiot, this is the Grand Line." Zora said from her place next to Kuina.
"Those pirates are most likely dead," Sanju said.
Nami: "Sad to say but that's likely true."
Clara: "Back in those days when they sailed, the Grand Line was an uncharted sea, thousand times more than it is now."
"They could still come back for it, have some sympathy." Lucy said making Sanju chuckle. It was an amusing thing to hear, pirates having sympathy.
"You may one to believe that, but the reality is cold." Crocus said getting their attention once more.
"Those pirates aren't dead, the truth is they abandoned their quest. I learned that they turned tail and left the Grand Line." he said causing all of them to take on a sad look on their face.
Except for Ethan, he knows that they are all dead and the only one who survives is Brook, and Brook can't be considered a living person either because he's a skeleton.
"What a bunch of spineless cowards who rather save themselves instead of keeping a promise to a friend." Nojiko said angrily causing everyone to nod.
"that's just cruelty on a grand scale." Makino said.
Lucy just looked at the whale with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Did you tell it?" Lucy asked while never taking her eyes off Laboon.
"I did, every miserable detail." Crocus said sadly.
"That was the day that Laboon began to howl at Reverse Mountain. Soon after it had begun to slam its body against the Red Line, it is as if it believes that wall is what is keeping its friends away and if it could break it they would soon return," Crocus said causing Hailey and Ann to tear up a bit along with Kaya and Makino.
"Laboon is a lost soul dying to be with its friends and is killing itself trying to get to them." he said.
Lucy the got up from her seat and walked over to the side of the Twin Capes with Laboon was and stared at the whale.
'Is she going to fight it like in the anime?' Ethan thought while looking at Lucy and did not try to stop her. she was free to do what she wanted to do.
At least Lucy won't break the main mast in order to hit Laboon with it, and she'll fight it with her own hands.
Sora, who was sitting on her father's lap, looked at her mother curiously and when she saw the next scene, her eyes sparkled while she clapped happily.
'It's too big, I have to make my fist bigger.' Lucy looked at the giant whale.
Lucy corks her mouth with her thumb, bites into her thumb joint and blows very hard into it, which inflates her arm.
*Gear Third*
Lucy blows so much air into her body and her arm become the size equivalent to that of a giant's.
*Gomu Gomu no Gigant Pistol*
Lucy delivers a Gomu Gomu no Pistol with extreme force due to the larger size of her fist.
Lucy jumped high into the sky then her fist came down and struck the whale causing it to howl in both pain and anger.
"You want to fight you stupid whale!" Lucy yelled at the whale.
Everyone was beginning to panic at what Lucy was trying to do.
Laboon narrowed its eyes at Lucy before it jumped out of the water and slammed its head into Lucy.
Since she was in the air, she couldn't dodge the attack and was hit and thrown away.
When Laboon went back into the water and turned towards her, Lucy covered her fist in Armament Haki before launching forward and punching Laboon right in the head.
'It seems that there is no weakness in Gear Third.' Lucy did not shrink after using Gear Third.
'But Laboon was able to withstand this strong blow to Lucy, which means that he gained some strength and defense from butting the red line every once in a while.'
"LUCY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" The girls yelled.
Lucy didn't reply all she was doing smiling widely as she and Laboon fought.
Laboon then swam away from the Twin Capes for a bit before it came charging towards Lucy. As it was about to attack Lucy spoke and stopped it in its tracks.
"It's a tie." she said causing Laboon to stop in its tracks and stare at Lucy.
"I'm strong isn't it? Do you want to defeat me?Our fight is not over so we have to fight again someday, your friends may be dead so now I'm your friend." she said as she dusted herself off.
There was a big smile on Lucy's face.
"Wait for me to fight again, as soon as we finish our journey I will come back to see you, then let us fight." Lucy said causing tears to form in Laboon's eyes. Then Laboon looked up to the sky and howled happily.
Crocus looked at the scene with a smile on his face. But what Lucy said next made him frown.
"No, I changed my mind." Laboon looked at Lucy again and there was sadness and disappointment in its eyes.
"You've already been waiting for 50 years in this place. To make you wait even longer seems pretty cruel even though it gives you some hope." Laboon listened attentively to every word Lucy said.
"You are now big and strong, unlike you were 50 years ago. So how about you join my crew? If you do that we can sail the world and see different things that you wouldn't see if you stayed here." Lucy noticed the hesitation in its eyes.
Laboon still wants to stay here, because there is a possibility that its comrades will come here while it is away.
Ethan didn't expect Lucy to ask Laboon to join the crew, but he doesn't mind. So he walked toward Laboon and spoke. "Laboon, if you go with us, there's a good chance you'll meet one of your comrades instead of staying here."
*But this is only a possibility, as Crocus said they are behind this mountain or dead.*
Laboon's words reached Ethan's mind.
"You're waiting for the Rumbar Pirates here, aren't you? I know about them, they're all dead except for one and he's trapped somewhere on this sea. Do you want to save him?" Of course, Ethan couldn't remember the name of the pirates that Brook was with, but he asked Freya for the name and she gave him the answer.
Crocus and Laboon both looked at Ethan in shock. even the girls looked at Ethan strangely, wondering where he got this information from.
"That's impossible, I joined a pirate crew and searched for them for years but couldn't find any trace of them, indicating that they were either dead or out of the Grand Line."
Crocus couldn't believe Ethan. but Laboon believed him because its instinct told it that Ethan was telling the truth.
"You certainly didn't find a trace of them, because they disappeared inside the Florian Triangle." Upon hearing this, Crocus' eyes widened in shock.
*I want to join a crew.*