Rumble, rumble— Dark clouds gathered overhead, and thick dragons of lightning crawled through them.
Before long, fierce wind and heavy rain came pouring down from the sky.
“Rain?” Snake held the helm steady, glancing at the compass in his hand from time to time.
“Yasopp, how’s it looking up there?” From the lookout, Yasopp shouted excitedly while holding his telescope.
“I see it!!
This is unbelievable!
The seawater… it’s really climbing the mountain!!!” For once, Gavin was not practicing swordsmanship.
Instead, he stood at the bow together with Shanks and Buggy.
“Reverse Mountain, huh?
It’s been a long time since I saw it.” Shanks pressed down the straw hat on his head as he stared at the crimson mountain ahead, his eyes full of memories.
“Snake, that’s the mountain.
See that gap?
Charge straight in!” “Oh!!
Got it!
Bonk, Yasopp, take in the sails!
We’re about to enter the climbing current!” Snake gripped the helm hard, his face filled with excitement.
For a navigator like him, encountering this kind of sea was like a cook finding the All Blue.
It was a moment worth remembering.
The Red Force smoothly rushed into the narrow gap in the mountain.
Countless currents surged upward from the entrance, carrying the Red Force higher and higher as it climbed toward the peak.
“Go, Red Force!” Shanks shouted excitedly, “That’s it!
Shoot straight into the clouds!!” The ship trembled lightly a few times, almost as if answering him.
Gavin brought over two bottles of ale and tossed one to Buggy.
“This is a moment worth celebrating, right, Buggy?” Buggy caught the ale and chugged half the bottle in one go.
“That’s right!!
Isn’t this exactly why we went out to sea?!
Hahaha~~~!” The violent current launched the ship into the air, with drifting clouds all around them.
Just as everyone cried out in amazement, a powerful sense of weightlessness suddenly hit.
BOOM!!
The Red Force dropped back into the current and began its descent down the other side.
At that moment, a loud roar came from ahead.
“That’s Laboon!
Snake, get ready.
We’re charging straight into that whale’s mouth!” As one of the last people to leave the Roger Pirates, Shanks knew perfectly well about Crocus and Laboon.
Naturally, he also knew that the two of them were now living at the entrance of the Grand Line.
“The whale’s mouth?!” Snake shouted in disbelief.
“Captain, you’re not joking, right?!
If we get swallowed, we’ll die!” “Just listen to me!
Crocus made his home inside the whale.
We’ll go straight in and find him.
We’ll need him and Laboon’s help to cross the Calm Belt!” “Fine, fine, you’re the captain.” A wild smile gradually spread across Snake’s face.
“Everyone, hold on tight!
We’re charging into a whale’s mouth!
Bonk, Yasopp, lower the sails!
We need more power!!” “Got it!” The two lowered the sails under the wind and rain, then climbed into the lookout together to stare at the “black mountain” not far away.
“Yasopp, is that really a whale?
If it is, isn’t it way too huge?!” A red light flashed through Yasopp’s eyes as his newly awakened Observation Haki sent the whale’s enormous life presence back into his mind.
“Awesome~~~ Bonk, that really is a super-huge whale!
Is the Grand Line always this fun?!” Whoosh~~ The bow of the Red Force suddenly lifted, and with the help of the wind, the entire ship flew straight toward the top of the “small mountain” ahead.
“Hey!!!
Crocus!
It’s me and Buggy!!” Above the whale’s wide-open mouth, a ship dropped almost vertically.
Buggy’s eyes bulged as he clung tightly to Gavin with both arms and legs.
“Shanks, you lunatic!
If you want to die, don’t drag the great Captain Buggy down with you, bastard!!” “If we fall like this, the ship’s going to smash apart!!” “Hahaha~~” Shanks laughed without a care.
“It won’t!
The Red Force is a ship of destiny!
Our journey definitely won’t stop here!” Just as Shanks expected, Laboon’s head suddenly shifted.
As it pressed down toward the sea, the movement changed the Red Force’s course.
Before the ship could crash against the whale’s tough tongue, a huge surge of seawater rushed in from behind and caught the single-masted ship first.
As the light gradually dimmed, the ship’s speed began to slow.
A spot of brightness appeared at the end of the passage.
Boom~~ The ship shot out of the tunnel and dropped into a small blue-green sea.
“This really is impressive.
Are we inside Laboon’s stomach?” Gavin sniffed the air, which carried a faint sour smell, and looked around curiously.
“Hey~~ Crocus, where are you?
It’s me, Shanks!” Shanks climbed into the lookout and shouted loudly.
Buggy, who had flown up with the power of the Chop-Chop Fruit, also yelled Crocus’s name at the top of his lungs.
Behind the ship, a small patch of land stood in the middle of the stomach-sea.
On it was a stone hut with a thatched roof about four meters tall, and a thin coconut tree grew outside.
Creak~~~ The wooden door opened, and a somewhat balding middle-aged man walked out while rubbing his eyes.
“What’s all this?
Buggy, Shanks, why are you two brats here?” “Long time no see, Crocus!” The two could not wait to jump off the ship and rush toward Crocus with wide grins.
What greeted them, however, were fists wrapped in Armament Haki.
Bang!
Bang!
“Hiss…” Shanks and Buggy crouched down while clutching their heads, each with a red bump steaming on top.
“Don’t act like children.
I’m not your father.” Despite his words, Gavin clearly saw the corner of Crocus’s mouth lift.
“Mr.
Crocus, I’m Gavin, Hickman D.
Gavin, Shanks’s crewmate.” Gavin jumped down from the ship and nodded politely to Crocus.
Crocus looked him up and down a few times, then suddenly said, “A D, huh?
Looks like Shanks found himself a good companion.
Young man, you’re a swordsman, aren’t you?
Draw your blade and show me whether your sword is anything like Rayleigh’s back then.” Gavin did not attack immediately.
Instead, he looked toward Shanks.
“It’s fine.
Go all out,” Shanks said.
“Crocus may have been the ship’s doctor, but on that ship, his strength was definitely in the top five.” “You haven’t awakened Armament Haki yet, so there’s no way you can hurt him.” With Shanks backing him up, Gavin no longer held back and released his spiritual pressure at full force.
Unlike when he had first obtained Shinso, after his previous battle against Gion, his spiritual pressure now carried Kenpachi Zaraki’s golden aura as well.
The memories related to Kenpachi no longer felt dim either.
Golden and silver spiritual pressure erupted at the same time.
“Conqueror’s Haki?!” Buggy shrieked, “Shanks, this guy has Conqueror’s Haki like Captain Roger and Vice-Captain Rayleigh?!” Shanks smiled and nodded.
“That’s right.
Pretty good crewmate, isn’t he?
Hahaha~” “Conqueror’s Haki, huh?
Hm, this feeling is a little unusual.
Young man, with spirit like that, your next slash had better not disappoint me.” Crocus took off the flower-patterned shirt covering his upper body.
Armament Haki coated his skin, shining with a pitch-black glow.
“Come.
Let me see your level.” “Mr.
Crocus, here I come.” Gavin slowly breathed out and lightly pushed his right hand forward.
“Shoot to Kill, Shinso.” “Hm?” Crocus’s expression changed slightly.
In the blink of an eye, his arms crossed in front of him, and his Armament Haki flowed toward his forearms, forming a sturdier layer of invisible armor.
Whoosh— The silver beam struck Crocus’s forearms and pushed him backward nonstop.
“Hah!” Crocus gave a low shout and drove his right foot hard into the ground, stopping himself from being blown away.
This time, Gavin’s expression changed.
Right now, Shinso was still far from reaching its maximum hundredfold extension.
If the tip of the blade was blocked, then according to the mechanics of force… Gavin tightened his grip on the hilt and planted both feet into the ground, but he still could not stop himself from being dragged backward.
“As expected of a veteran pirate.” He had no intention of retracting Shinso at a moment like this.
His whole body tensed as he used the blade to wrestle against Crocus’s strength.
“Young people really are still too green.” Crocus freed his right hand, grabbed the blade directly, and swung it sideways, flinging Gavin into the stomach acid sea.
“So that’s how it is.
You’re not a Devil Fruit user.
What a strange sword style.” Looking at the blade that vanished from his hand, Crocus put his shirt back on.
“Not bad, kid.
For now, I’ll acknowledge your name of D.
Once you get stronger, come find me again and take back today’s loss.” “Now, Shanks, Buggy, you two get over here.
Everyone else, get back on the ship.” “Wait.
Gavin, you can come too.”