Seeing Laboon about to go crazy again, Luffy couldn't help but ask, "Uncle, why is it hitting the mountain with its head? Is it because the food here doesn't suit its taste?"
Everyone's face darkened, and Zoro immediately snapped back, "Do you think everyone's like you?"
Sandy joked, "Wrong. Luffy's just saying that whale is like Luffy."
Usopp chimed in, "Luffy's appetite seems to be even better than that animal's, right?"
Hearing his crew roast him like that, Luffy just grinned. Mr. 9, confused, turned to Miss Wednesday. "Is he really the Captain?"
Miss Wednesday was at a loss. "Probably… maybe…"
Sanji laughed, "Luffy, you should be more careful in the future. They're saying you don't look like a Captain."
"Shishishi, you're all so interesting!" Luffy replied without a care in the world.
Crocus then explained, "Fifty years ago, a Pirate crew brought Laboon here. Because Laboon was too small, that Pirate crew couldn't take it on adventures and had to leave it here.
They promised Laboon that after they circled the world, they'd return to pick it up. But fifty years have passed, and that crew never came back. So Laboon…"
"Fifty years ago?" Usopp muttered. Everyone immediately understood what that meant.
Luffy looked at Crocus. "Didn't you tell it that crew was wiped out?"
Crocus sighed. "I did. But it wouldn't listen."
Seeing Laboon about to ram the mountain again, Luffy suddenly had an idea. He broke off the mast of the Going Merry and stuck it right into Laboon's head.
Sandy was dumbfounded.
Usopp exploded first. That mast was a gift from Kaya—his childhood friend. "Luffy, you bastard!"
Nami couldn't help but scold, "Luffy! Don't do anything reckless!"
But Luffy ignored them completely.
After a short "duel" with the whale, he declared, "Our duel ends in a draw! Now let's make a promise. We'll duel again after our ship has sailed around the world!"
"Moo moo moo…"
They couldn't understand the whale's words, but everyone understood the meaning. Laboon had agreed.
Sandy crossed his arms and looked up at the whale. "Hey, you stinky fish, yeah I'm talking about you, bastard fish. Do you know our ship almost sank just now because of you?
Listen up. The world's big, and there's a lot of beautiful stuff out there. Life isn't just about some old promise. You can go find yourself a cute female whale and have some fun, idiot.
And if you're not into that, then be content with your loneliness—because isn't loneliness also a kind of romance?"
[Ding!Congratulations to the host for completing a flashy operation
Reward: Conqueror's Haki +1level.]
The surprise came too fast—like a tornado.
"Again!" Sandy yelled with joy, doing dozens of backflips.
Overexcited, he spotted a fish tank nearby, grabbed the beautiful fish inside, kissed it hard, then tossed it into the sea.
Everyone was left speechless.
Sanji weakly turned to Usopp. "Usopp… wasn't that fish the one you worked so hard to catch?"
Usopp had a soft spot for that fish. To see it kissed and then thrown away like nothing?
"Sandy, you bastard!" Usopp snapped. In revenge, he grabbed all the fish Sandy had caught and tossed them into the sea too.
"…"
That was food! Oh my god!
The Going Merry finally left Twin Cape and sailed toward Whiskey Peak.
But not long after they set sail, something weird happened. It was summer just a moment ago… and now it started snowing.
The weather on the Grand Line was unpredictable. It changed constantly—truly living up to its name.
Sandy tilted his head and said, "Huh? First snow of 1520. Came a bit suddenly, didn't it? Like a damn butterfly fluttering around. Hey, Luffy! Usopp! Want to build a snowman?"
"Yeah!" Luffy shouted. "Let's compete to see who builds the best-looking snowman!"
"Tsk tsk tsk," Usopp laughed smugly. "None of you can beat me. Back home, I built snowmen for fifty years. I'm a master."
Luffy's eyes sparkled. "Sugoi! Really, Usopp?"
"Of course," Usopp said proudly.
Sandy wasn't sure whether Luffy was really that gullible or just playing along. He dashed into the kitchen to ask Sanji for some cane of sugar.
Meanwhile, Luffy and Usopp had already started building their snowmen.
Seeing Sandy still idle, Luffy asked, "Sandy, why aren't you building? Giving up already?"
Sandy smirked. "Nah. I'm just contemplating how to build an earth-shattering, ghost-weeping snowman."
Soon, Luffy finished his snowman. As Usopp went to admire it, Sandy secretly sprinkled cane of sugar on Usopp's snowman and started eating it leisurely.
Even ice cream wasn't this good.
Let Sandy build a snowman? What a joke. Cane of sugar mixed with molded snow—now that was the real pursuit.
Usopp turned around and yelled, "Sandy! What did you do to my snowman?"
Sandy scooped up a bit and tossed it to him. "Try it."
Almost hypnotized, Usopp took a bite. "It's delicious!"
Hearing that, Luffy couldn't hold back and swallowed a whole chunk.
Meanwhile, Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday sat shivering at the table.
Miss Wednesday grumbled, "Don't you have heating here?"
Mr. 9 added, "What kind of ship is this? We're freezing."
Nami, busy drawing a map, finally lost her patience and kicked them both out of the room.
Outside, they saw Usopp and Luffy building snowmen, and Sandy sprinkling sugar and eating it like a barbecue.
Nami and the others were completely speechless at the ridiculous scene.