After Luffy said he wanted to talk with Laboon, he lay down on top of Laboon's head.
"You're just lying there doing nothing. What kind of conversation is that supposed to be?"
Crocus muttered at the sight of the two of them sitting still as if they were doing nothing at all, and Hancock, who had been seated at the table with the others, stood up and spoke.
"Shut up, old man. If Luffy says he's going to do something, it means he's got the confidence to do it."
"The world doesn't move just because someone makes up their mind."
"At the very least, Luffy means every word he says."
Even as he listened to Hancock with his back turned, Luffy and Laboon still remained motionless.
At least, to the eye.
(No matter how out of it you are, swallowing whatever comes down from Reverse Mountain is just reckless.)
(That's why my crew and I ended up inside your stomach in the first place. If Mr. Crocus hadn't explained the situation, who knows what we would've done trying to get out?)
(Sorry, Luffy. These days, when my mind goes fuzzy, I get so scattered I can't even keep my own body under control.)
(Since when?)
(I wasn't like this before... but lately, I've been a little like that.)
Perched on top of Laboon's head, Luffy looked as though he was doing nothing at all, but in truth he was using his ability to keep talking with Laboon.
(I actually know everything, Luffy... that the Rumbar Pirates aren't coming back.)
(Maybe it's not that they won't come back. Maybe it's that they can't.)
(The people of the Rumbar Pirates... were the first to treat me warmly after I lost my mother as a child and ended up all alone.)
(I was hurt when they said they'd leave me here, but they called me their friend and even promised they'd come back.)
(But after I heard from Crocus that they ran away, I ended up slamming my head into the Red Line without even realizing it.)
(Why were you headbutting it in the first place?)
(At first I thought I'd done it because I was sad about losing precious people, but thinking about it now, it was more than that.)
(The waiting that had become the purpose of my life when I was alone... I was furious that it had all become meaningless.)
(And yet, I still can't let go of the tiny hope that those people might return.)
(Being able to wait for someone was proof that I wasn't alone.)
(...)
(I sound stupid, don't I?)
(It's fine. I've had a somewhat similar experience too.)
(Similar?)
After a brief silence, Luffy answered Laboon and sat up.
(I had subordinates. They were only subordinates in name, really just a bunch of friends.)
(They were wild beyond belief, but if I led the way, they'd follow without question.)
(But one day, I lost everyone except one... because I was weak.)
(Ah...)
(After that day, I went back to my hometown and started climbing the mountain to smash the cliff wall.)
(The wall?)
(Yeah. I kept breaking it until both my fists bled and my bones cracked.)
(Of course, back then I was also smashing the wall with all the resentment in my heart... but do you know what's different between me then and you now?)
(What is it?)
(I was preparing for what came next.)
(It was a vague plan, and I pushed my body to the limit just to shake off the pain in front of me, but all of it was preparation for the day I'd move forward.)
(Back then, after I returned home, I spent days doing nothing but blaming myself, and then that thought suddenly came to me.)
(I wondered how those guys would look at me if they were still alive.)
Even though he was on top of Laboon's head and couldn't possibly see it, Laboon lifted both eyes upward and listened closely to his words.
(The answer was obvious. They wouldn't have wanted me to stay like that.)
(They would've wanted me to keep moving forward instead of staying in the same place.)
(So I endured by pouring all my rising anger and disappointment in myself into getting stronger, because I thought that would help no matter what path I took.)
(A year after I started smashing that wall, I happened to return to the sea, and that year of training helped.)
(Amazing, Luffy. Compared to you, I...)
(Laboon, one thing is certain.)
(The people who left you here would never want you to get hurt because of them.)
A single tear fell from Laboon's enormous eye into the sea of tears below.
(Yeah, Luffy... I think they'd say that.)
(And Mr. Crocus worries about you too.)
(If you've spent fifty years together, you'd have piled up mountains of affection. Isn't Mr. Crocus precious to you?)
(He is... but even knowing that, I still...)
(As you live, there are times when you don't realize how precious the people beside you are.)
(You don't notice it until they're gone. You really have to cherish people while they're still there.)
(You're right.)
(So what are you going to do now? Are you going to slam your head into the Red Line again?)
(I won't do it, Luffy.)
(I promise you as a friend, okay?)
(A friend?)
(If we've comforted each other by talking about the past, then we're friends, aren't we?)
(That's right, Luffy! We're friends!)
Laboon opened his already huge eyes even wider, his gaze bright and sparkling.
(I'm going to begin my adventure on the Grand Line from here too, Laboon. My goal is to travel all the way around the world and come back here.)
(So if you can, come back here and meet me again. I promise you as a friend.)
(Really?)
(But the world doesn't always go the way I want it to. Even if I don't die, there may be situations where I can't come back.)
(But that still wouldn't mean we stop being friends.)
(Even if we're far apart, if I see a whale in the sea that looks like you and remember what happened between us, that's what being friends means.)
(Right?)
(That's right, Luffy! No matter where you are, the two of us are friends!)
(Yeah, Laboon. If we get the chance, let's meet again next time.)
(Okay, Luffy!)
"Bwooooooo!"
Laboon, still shedding tears, answered Luffy and shouted with his mouth wide open.
Luffy, who had been on top of Laboon's head, leapt into the air, and Crocus watched the sight together with the others.
"Laboon..."
Startled, Crocus looked at Laboon and smiled.
He had realized what emotion Laboon was feeling as he howled like that.
*****
"What did you talk about with Laboon for so long?"
"I just listened well and answered well. Nothing more than that."
"This is bad, Luffy. The compass is completely broken!"
Just as Luffy and Crocus were talking after returning to the lighthouse area, Nami thrust out the compass in her hand with a flustered expression.
The needle inside it, which was supposed to show direction, kept spinning endlessly.
"It's not just this one that's broken. Everything on the ship is broken."
"That isn't broken. It's only natural."
"Natural?"
"The islands of the Grand Line emit strange and powerful magnetic fields. A normal compass can't be used here."
"That's why you need a special compass called a [Log Pose], which can detect and record the magnetic field of the island you're on."
"It looks like this, Nami."
Luffy held out a strangely shaped compass with a needle inside a crystal sphere.
"How can you not tell your navigator something like this?!"
"I was going to tell you after we crossed Reverse Mountain, but then things happened."
"Then where did you get that Log Pose? Did you already have it?"
"Remember when we were rescuing those tied-up guys and they threw off their coats, which had almost been melted away by stomach acid?"
Luffy said, pointing at the two bound men beside Karoo.
"I picked this up when it fell out of one of their coats."
""That's ours!""
"Kwaaak?"
"But what does recording magnetism have to do with getting to the next island?"
"Because a Log Pose that records the magnetic field of the place you're currently in points toward the next island."
"Hey, old man! Are we supposed to be air?!"
Ignoring the bound man's complaint, Crocus continued speaking to Nami.
"In this sea, where you can't even properly tell where you are, the magnetic record shown by a Log Pose is the only path."
"Most people begin their voyage with a Log Pose set to one of the seven islands' magnetic fields in this area."
"Even if they start on different routes, in the end they all arrive at the final island of the Grand Line."
"That island's name is [Raftel], the legendary island reached only by the Roger Pirates."
At the moment everyone's attention focused on Crocus's words, Usopp broke out in a cold sweat and spoke up.
"That's where the One Piece is, right?! And Mr. Crocus, you were in the Roger Pirates too!"
"I got off the ship before we reached Raftel. I'd been away from here too long, and I was worried about Laboon."
"So I never saw it myself."
"Ah... still, that must've been a huge disappointment."
"The memories I made on that ship are enough for me."
That's a lie. Mr. Crocus went to Raftel with the Roger Pirates.
Even if he saved Laboon, he can't bring himself to betray his comrades' bond just to tell the truth.
Still, that doesn't matter. Now that I know the truth, what I want is something else.
"Then we'll get ready to depart now, Mr. Crocus."
"I've got nothing but gratitude for you all."
"You eased the worries of this old man who doesn't have much time left. When I finally reach the end of my life, I'll be able to close my eyes more peacefully."
"You need to live a long time so you can keep looking after Laboon."
"By the way, if you're so grateful to us, could you give us something that might help a bunch of rookie sailors like us..."
"I don't have any money."
"A old man's knowledge can't be measured in money anyway."
"We don't have a doctor on our ship, so if possible..."
"I'm not sailing anymore."
"That would be great, but it doesn't seem likely, so we're asking for something else."
"Hmm... then this should help."
At some point, Crocus had tucked a thick book under his arm, and he handed it to Luffy.
"I poured all my medical knowledge into this after getting off Roger's ship. It's truly something you can't put a price on."
"It's really thick. Thank you so much."
"I brought it out in case there was something you wanted, but I'm glad you seem satisfied."
I really wanted the medical knowledge of Crocus, a veteran doctor who had experienced adventures on the Grand Line.
For us, who still don't have a ship's doctor to serve as our [doctor], this book that can save my comrades' lives is a treasure no less valuable than gold and jewels.
"Then we'll get ready to depart now."
"Make sure you don't leave anything behind."
"W-wait a second!"
Just as Luffy and the others were about to gather their things, the bound Vivi shouted.
To get to the conclusion first, she was asking to be taken aboard so they could reach their destination.
The two whose ropes had been untied were kneeling beside the standing Karoo, and after hearing what the two said, Hancock leaned her face toward the bound man and spoke.
"Hmm~ Whiskey Peak? What's that?"
"I-it's the name of the village we live in, Your Majesty!"
"Because Vivi's Karoo smashed our little boat to pieces, we've got no way to get back home anymore♡"
"By the way, what are you two supposed to be?"
"My name is Mr. 9!"
"Wait a second, Mr. 9...!"
"And the girl next to me is Miss Wednesday... ngh!"
While the man was speaking, Vivi punched him in the side as hard as she could.
"Blue hair, what do you think you're doing while I'm in the middle of a special interrogation?"
"W-what I just said was only a cool-sounding nickname, and we're just ordinary bounty hunters with nothing special about us!"
"I stopped you from talking because I was embarrassed by the nickname I made up, not because I had any other reason!"
"Trying to hunt Laboon was just a side job because we weren't making any money..."
"Those names you just mentioned... I feel like I've heard them somewhere before?"
""...!""
While Vivi was answering Hancock, Zoro said that, and the expressions of the two men instantly stiffened.
"Where did you hear them, Zoro?"
"I feel like I've heard them before... or maybe not?"
"Why bring it up if you can't even remember properly!"
"I expected as much when I heard you were a hopeless idiot, but now that I see you, you really have nothing in your head!"
"Do you remember everything you've ever seen and heard in your life?!"
"Shut up, Marimo! Was Hancock wrong?"
"Zoro's sense of direction is that bad. He even gets lost in a tiny place like Syrup Village."
"I've been dealing with that since the time we went after Buggy, Usopp."
"Admit it, Zoro. You really are hopelessly bad with directions."
"Will you all shut up already?! This has nothing to do with being bad with directions in the first place!"
As Zoro answered Hancock's criticism, Sanji, Usopp, Nami, and Luffy spoke in turn.
Because of that, while Zoro was still shouting, Vivi lowered her head again while still kneeling.
"We may seem suspicious, but we have no other thoughts besides wanting to return to our village!"
"We know you're pirates from your flag, but we're still asking because seeing the way Captain Luffy treated life earlier made us realize something."
"We think you're at least not bad people, so we're asking based on that character of yours. Please, let us aboard!"
"P-please, Captain!"
"Kwaaak!"
After the three of them shouted, silence fell for a while, and everyone's eyes turned to Luffy.
"Get on board. In exchange, you'll do all the chores while you're aboard."
"You trust these guys?"
"I trust desperation, Mr. Crocus. They've got no way out of here except with us."
"And killing them would be a pain, so this is fine. We're basically pacifists."
"Of course, if they betray us... then we can just smash their heads in, so it's all good."
After saying those chilling words, Luffy looked down at the two kneeling figures with cold eyes.
"Got it?"
""Y-yes, sir!!!""
"Kwaaak!"
With that, Luffy's crew finished their preparations and raised the ship's anchor.
The moment the ship caught the wind and began to move, Laboon nearby opened his mouth wide toward the ship.
"Bwooooooo!!!"
"...Take care, Laboon."
As Luffy murmured that and watched the Going Merry sail away, Crocus also murmured quietly.
"He was a man with a mysterious air about him. It's been a long time since I've seen one like that."
"I really hope those guys are the pirates we've been waiting for."
"Right, Roger?"