The sea returned to its calm, as if nothing had happened.
So calm it was, it was almost terrifying, like the eerie silence before a storm.
It is never the storm itself that frightens the most, but the shattering of a clear sky by looming clouds, and the unsettling feeling it brings.
Shhh…
Deep below the ocean, where a dark shadow had just darted, a sharp, piercing noise suddenly erupted.
It was as if boiling water had met freezing sea currents, immense energy surged between them, producing an unstable, grating sound.
Crocus, standing at the shore, withdrew his harpoon.
He was about to investigate further, when his eyes suddenly widened. Something had caught his attention.
The pupils of his eyes trembled, as if he could not believe the overwhelming power his Observation Haki sensed was truly right before him.
Only his body responded honestly, instinctively retreating several steps away from the water.
In Crocus's line of sight, a giant, glowing red sphere appeared deep beneath the waves.
It looked like the sun had fallen into the ocean.
Even hundreds of meters underwater, he could feel the boundless heat radiating from this sun beneath the sea.
The red energy sphere expanded rapidly, soon nearly a thousand meters in diameter.
And it began slowly rising toward the ocean's surface.
The water started boiling, bubbles forming and bursting endlessly.
"No… this is bad!!"
Feeling the overwhelming energy about to burst from the sea, Crocus shouted inwardly, panic surging through him.
His face turned pale. He spun around and ran toward the Red Line with all his strength, sprinting like a young man despite his age.
His legs kicked up dust as he seemed to blur into motion, giving off the effect of the Marine's Rokushiki: Rokuogan.
At the same moment Crocus turned, the underwater sun broke through the waves.
…
The piercing noise continued, mixed with the bubbling sea.
From the depths, a colossal bubble suddenly formed.
The entire ocean reflected a fiery red-orange, like a sunset burning across the sky.
BOOM!!!
A deafening roar erupted as the bubble shot upward!
A blazing column of flame, like magma from an underwater volcano, surged from the deep, connecting the sea and sky in molten red heat.
The ocean boiled violently!
Even pressed against the Red Line's cliffs, Crocus's skin burned under the superheated steam.
He looked like a crab being cooked in a giant pot.
Blackened bits of material instantly covered his body.
He was scared, truly terrified!
What kind of monsters were these?!
Clad in Haki, he finally dared to breathe the rare air again, though the heat seared his windpipe.
The fiery column, nearly a kilometer tall, began shrinking.
Yet the sea, seemingly fearful, did not follow the flame toward the center.
In the middle of the ocean, a strange vacuum formed, like the eye of a rapidly spinning whirlpool, appearing in the calm water.
The towering flames finally shrank to mere tens of meters and stopped.
Behind the raging fire barrier, the silhouette of a ship slowly appeared.
Like a shadow puppet, it grew larger.
Whoosh!
The red-orange flames instantly vanished!
The surging water churned violently, filling the void like a crowd pressing into a subway.
And there, the Going Merry descended steadily onto the turbulent waves.
Riding the high surf, it headed toward the lighthouse's nearby docking port.
…
"Uncle! Long time no see!"
Luffy, jumping off the Going Merry first, seemed completely unaware of the massive display they had just caused.
He smiled cheerfully, greeting the reunited Crocus.
"You kid…"
Crocus wiped water off his glasses, staring at Luffy grinning widely. He couldn't tell if Luffy truly didn't know or was just pretending.
With a sigh, he relaxed his Haki and said:
"Heading to the Grand Line and causing such a commotion. You think you're some rookie who just left port!?"
"Ah… hahaha…"
Embarrassed, Luffy scratched his head. Seeing the scorch marks on Crocus, he realized he'd gotten carried away.
"Sorry, sorry, Uncle!
It's just… today we got some new crew.
I got a little too excited and acted like a kid…"
Laughing at his own explanation, Luffy remembered his new companions and his joy swelled again, bursting into carefree laughter.
"Hmph!"
Crocus put his glasses back on, giving a slight huff. "You lot are still just a bunch of kids in front of me."
He scanned the Going Merry crew stepping down.
Aside from Brook and Robin, there was Zoro carrying Koby, Sanji carrying Usopp, and Nami dressed in a Gothic-style princess outfit…
The new additions surprised him.
He knew Luffy had returned, but the East Blue had been in chaos.
Even newly entering Grand Line pirates like Buggy mentioned that pirates were hiding or living as ordinary citizens.
Yet Luffy had managed, in just two years, to gather a reliable crew, impressive.
And aside from the two fainted earlier, these three newcomers genuinely inspired a sense of intimidation…
Especially the swordsman with three swords.
He was not someone to mess with.
…
"Yohohoho~"
Finally, Brook stepped down, greeting Crocus with a gentlemanly bow, smiling brightly.
"Mr. Crocus! Long time no see!"
Crocus responded calmly:
"Ah… Brook. Long time no see…"
His voice hinted at faint reluctance and anticipation.
Sensing it, Brook added:
"Laboon misses you too, Mr. Crocus."
He retrieved Laboon's spirit orb from his afro.
Luffy immediately chimed in:
"Speaking of which, Laboon hasn't come out in a while.
Now that we're in the Grand Line, we don't have to worry as much.
From now on, it can join us on adventures!"
"Woah~"
Laboon's joyful voice resonated through the spirit orb.
Since activating the ship system, Luffy had intentionally kept Laboon contained for a while, to help the Going Merry's spirit mature.
Also, Laboon's enormous size could easily destroy islands with careless movements in the East Blue.
But in the Grand Line, there was less risk, fewer islands, no weak spots.
Once they had enough coins, Luffy planned to build a small home for Laboon on the Going Merry.
He remembered the system had structures for pets, but he had no money at the time.
If I had something really good and couldn't afford it, I'd regret it forever!
Money was indeed a problem.
East Blue pirates were weak and worthless.
Licking his lips, Luffy's eyes glinted with thought.
The Grand Line pirates are in for it…