"Oh oh oh oh oh—"
A long hum pierced the ears of every member of the Straw Hat Pirates, in the gaps between the roaring descent of the Going Merry down Reverse Mountain.
"Hey," Zoro was the first to frown, "What's that sound? Did you guys hear something?"
Nami smiled, looking ahead: "It must be the wind, right? It's probably because we're close to the Red Line, and the strange terrain is causing turbulent air."
"Who cares!" Luffy stood at the bow, waving excitedly, "Charge! Grand Line!!"
The Going Merry continued to rush forward, carried by the downward current of Reverse Mountain.
Usopp, adjusting his head-mounted binoculars, made a questioning sound: "What's this… There's a giant… shadow on the sea ahead?" He was adjusting the focus, gazing into the distance.
Sanji exhaled a smoke ring, his excellent eyesight scanning the horizon, his tone becoming somewhat uncertain: "Miss Nami, right ahead… there seems to be a mountain?"
"That's impossible!" Nami turned to Sanji, explaining: "The sea chart shows it clearly! After Twin Cape, it should be an open, endless ocean! How could there be a mountain!"
However, as the ship rapidly approached, the outline of that "mountain" became increasingly clear in everyone's eyes.
It stood, almost completely blocking the exit of Reverse Mountain.
What they saw was the giant creature's… chin… In front of that massive chin, the seawater churned, accompanied by the deep, heart-trembling hum that once again echoed across the sea: "Oh oh oh oh oh—"
A whale!
An island whale so massive it would overturn all their perceptions!
Its head was slightly raised; just its chin and a part of its body floating above the water already resembled an insurmountable dam, completely blocking their inevitable path.
The Going Merry, in front of it, was as insignificant as a booger.
"A whale… a whale!!!" Usopp's scream instantly changed pitch, "It's a whale!!! It's huge!!! We're going to crash! We're going to die! We're definitely going to die!"
"What do we do?! We're going to hit it!" Nami's earlier smile was shattered by the reality before her, her voice tinged with a despairing sob.
"What else can we do?! Fight it?!" Usopp frantically picked up his slingshot.
Zoro immediately said: "It's so big, how could we possibly hurt it! We wouldn't even be enough to tickle it!" Faced with this enormous island whale, he too felt incredibly helpless.
Sanji took a deep drag on his cigarette, forcing himself to calmly analyze: "We need to find its eyes first! To judge its movements! It might… not even have noticed us?"
Zoro's sharp gaze swept over the whale's massive body, "Looking at its posture, it doesn't care about us at all. But with its size, even if it just rolls over, we're done for."
"There's still some space on the left side!"
"The only way now is to go around its left side, immediately! Tomioka! Did you hear me? Hard to port! Quick!"
Tomioka's single arm had already gripped the cold ship's wheel.
"Hm."
In an instant, he lowered his stance, planting his feet, and all his strength was poured into his left arm, turning it sharply!
Creak!
The ship's wheel groaned as if it would break. The inertia of the current from Reverse Mountain was not something the wheel's change of direction could easily overcome.
The Going Merry's course barely changed, still rushing desperately straight towards that wall of flesh.
"It's no use…" Tomioka said in a deep voice, "The current is too strong."
"Damn it!" Zoro cursed under his breath, dashing forward. His strong, powerful hands also gripped the ship's wheel tightly, "I'll help you!" "I'll come too!" Sanji also joined the fray.
"And… and me!" Usopp cried out, rushing over, though his strength was negligible.
The four of them, almost everyone on the ship, unleashed their strength to the maximum. The ship's wheel finally began to move extremely slowly, with great difficulty, and the bow of the ship produced a tiny deflection.
But the distance was still closing rapidly, the textures on the whale's skin becoming Clear enough to be suffocating.
"Crack—"
The slight turn of the going merry, under the combined efforts of everyone, resulted in its ship's wheel breaking, and everyone staggered due to the sudden release of force.
"Ah ah ah ah ah, why did the ship's wheel break!" Usopp shouted, holding the broken wheel.
Zoro also looked at the scene before him and cursed: "Damn it."
Tomioka's gaze immediately locked onto the continuously enlarging giant whale in his sight. His left hand slowly reached for the hilt of his Blade. To contend with such a massive creature, he needed to mobilize his full breathing, requiring ultimate strength and speed… To save the lives of everyone on board, there seemed to be no other choice.
A cold killing intent silently condensed in his deep-sea-like eyes. Just as his fingertips were about to touch the tsuba, and his breathing rhythm was about to change—
"I have another great idea!!!" Luffy's characteristic yell broke the tense atmosphere.
"Luffy! What are you doing?!" Nami looked at him in horror.
Luffy didn't answer but ran into the ship's cabin. He roughly shoved a cannonball into the breech, lighting the fuse with his other hand!
Boom!
The cannonball whistled out from beneath the going merry's sheephead, accurately hitting the giant whale's chin. The giant whale seemed oblivious, still maintaining its sorrowful stillness.
But the enormous recoil of that cannon was solidly transmitted back through the ship's hull! The Going Merry shuddered violently, and its forward momentum visibly slowed—the Going Merry did not smash into pieces.
Luffy stood proudly in front of the cannon, laughing: "Good! Has the ship stopped?"
Compared to Luffy's smile after firing the cannon, the others were left with only shocked expressions, and Nami was moved to tears by Luffy's cannon fire: "Luffy… your idea… we might not make it out alive…"
Crack—Clang!
The going merry was gently pushed forward by the current from behind at a relatively gentle speed, its bow tilting upwards, softly coming to a rest against the whale.
Accompanied by the heartbreaking sound of wood breaking, the Going Merry's iconic sheephead figure snapped from its base, half of it crashing onto the deck.
The ship finally stopped, buffered by Luffy's cannon fire and the whale's body itself.
Silence.
A deathly silence. Only the lapping sound of the current against the whale's body and the ship remained.
It moved, the giant whale's eye moved. He finally felt the power of the cannon fire.
Zoro immediately shouted to everyone: "Quick… quick, escape! Now's our chance!!!"
"What exactly is going on? Didn't it feel us fire the cannon? Or is it too sluggish??" Sanji also frantically grabbed an oar, looking at the giant whale.
"Who knows!! Just row away quickly!!"
Luffy stared blankly at the broken sheephead on the deck, then looked at the bare bow, exposing the raw wood where it had snapped, his expression shifting from bewilderment to anger.
"You…" His voice deepened, suppressing a storm, his rubber fists clenched tightly, making a creaking sound, "You broke my first-class seat!!!"
"Gum-Gum! Pistol!"
His arm retracted sharply, then, imbued with the Going Merry's broken rage, a punch began to thunder towards the giant whale's eye!
And just as that powerful fist was about to strike, Tomioka appeared in the air like a phantom!