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"Ow~"
At the calm port of Twin Capes, a deafening sound like the roar of a dragon suddenly erupted.
Huge ripples instantly appeared in the sea, and waves rose under the impact of the sound waves.
Laboon's huge eyeballs suddenly turned, focusing on Luffy.
Although as an animal, he didn't have a brain as flexible as humans.
But he had been smart since childhood and could already understand human language.
More importantly, he heard a familiar name in Luffy's mouth - [Brook]!
All of a sudden! The whole sea suddenly boiled like hot water.
Laboon turned his huge body, slowly retreated, focused all his attention on Luffy, and then let out another deafening cry:
"Ouch——!!?"
At the same time.
Inside Laboon's body, there was a huge space.
As the caretaker of the Twin Cape Lighthouse, Crocus suddenly stood up in surprise.
"Strange, the tranquilizer has worn off?!"
In order to see the Rumbar Pirates again, Laboon had been ramming his head against the extremely solid Red Line for decades, leaving his forehead covered in scars.
To protect Laboon, Crocus had moved his home into Laboon's body, and with his superb medical skills, he had transformed Laboon's insides into a huge secret base.
Whenever Laboon tried to hit the Red Line, Crocus would inject him with a special sedative in a specific chamber to force him to calm down.
Day after day, year after year.
This had already become a part of Crocus's life.
It's just that today, Laboon seemed unusually resistant to the tranquilizer.
Crocus trotted all the way to the injection chamber, but the violent tremor that should have occurred hadn't come for a long time.
"Strange?!"
Confused, he scratched his flower-shaped head and immediately walked out along the passage from the sedation room.
To better take care of Laboon, Crocus had built dozens of passages inside. They were intricate and complicated. Only he knew where these passages would lead.
It was a complete nightmare for someone like Zoro!
Squeak~ With a sound of metal friction, Crocus slowly pushed open the sealed gate behind Laboon and stuck his head out.
The next second, he was surprised to see a young man wearing a straw hat sitting at the scar in the middle of Laboon's forehead, talking and laughing with Laboon.
Crocus's eyes instantly focused on the straw hat, and his eyes suddenly widened: "That hat, I don't remember..."
A flash of nostalgia suddenly appeared in his eyes.
The next moment, he walked out of the gate and yelled at Luffy: "Hey! Boy, why did you come here?!"
"Huh?!"
Hearing Crocus's voice, Luffy turned his head in confusion, and immediately showed a puzzled look on his face: "Old man?! Who are you?"
Crocus raised his eyebrows: "Before asking other people's names, it is the most basic courtesy to say your own name first, right?"
"Ah! That's right, my name is Monkey D..."
Luffy was stunned for a moment, but just when he was about to say his name, he heard Crocus suddenly speak, as if rushing to answer: "I'm Crocus, the lighthouse keeper of Twin Cape!"
"..."
The scene fell silent instantly.
After a while.
Luffy suddenly grinned: "Old man, you are so funny!"
"...Ah."
Crocus raised his eyebrows and lifted the corners of his mouth slightly, "I haven't met such an interesting young man like you in a long time."
"So... why are you here?!" He repeated the original question.
"Ah..." Luffy laughed cheerfully and said, "I am inviting this whale to be our partner!"
"It seems I've succeeded!"
"Right, Laboon?!"
Luffy happily patted Laboon on the head.
And Laboon immediately let out a loud roar in response to Luffy.
But amidst Laboon's deafening cries, Crocus's face changed from calm at the beginning, to stunned, and finally to his mouth hanging open, showing an expression of incredible shock.
...
...
Half an hour later, on the deck of the Going Merry.
Crocus picked up the wine glass in front of him and stared at his old reflection in the glass, lost in thought.
"So that's how it is."
He suddenly sighed: "I thought... the Rumbar Pirates had abandoned the Grand Line!"
"It seems I blamed them wrongly!"
After speaking, he slowly turned his head to look at the huge Laboon next to the Merry, with tears gleaming in his eyes: "This is really wonderful, Laboon!"
"You were right!"
"It turns out they never forgot you~ And now, you have a chance to meet them again!!!"
"That's great...!"
Crocus murmured to himself, immediately drank the wine in his glass, and then stood up.
He said solemnly to the Straw Hats:
"Since Laboon has agreed to go on an adventure with you, I have no reason to stop him!"
"However, Laboon is no ordinary sea beast!"
"If I find out that you are not treating him well, I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth!"
At this moment, Crocus was like an old father about to entrust his daughter to a young man, his eyes becoming inexplicably wet.
Luffy, playing the role of the young man, showed a smile as bright as the sun, placed his hand on his straw hat, and made a gesture as if he was making a solemn promise:
"Hehe, don't worry, old man!"
"We will definitely take good care of Laboon!"
As the vice-captain, Red also stood up with a smile on his face, poured a full glass of wine for him and promised:
"Master Crocus, you don't have to worry about Laboon!"
"And I think... you won't be apart for too long!"
"Because it won't be long before our captain leads us to find [ONE PIECE] and become the freest people on the seas in this era, just like you all were back then!!!"
"Oh?"
After hearing this, a look of surprise suddenly flashed in Crocus's eyes, and he said to Red in surprise: "You know me?"
"Of course!" Red smiled slightly, picked up his wine glass and toasted.
"Crocus, the exclusive ship doctor of the Pirate King Roger's crew. The wheels of time haven't been fast enough to erase you all from history."
"What!!!?"
"Pffft--!!!"
Luffy suddenly spat out a large mouthful of milk, and then he, like everyone else on the Merry, looked at Crocus in shock: "Old man?! Are you a member of Roger the Pirate King's crew?!"
"Hahaha, it's just an old story~!" Crocus waved his hand and smiled indifferently.
Perhaps it was due to his revealed identity, but at this moment, his every move appeared unexpectedly dignified in the eyes of the Straw Hats.
Compared to Luffy, whose eyes were shining with admiration, Zoro and Sanji were suddenly ignited with fighting spirit.
The crew members of Roger the Pirate King must be incredibly strong!
If they could have a fight with him, wouldn't it improve their strength?
Eager to become stronger, the two of them thought about challenging Crocus.
However, Red, noticing their intentions, signaled with his eyes for them to stop.
In the Grand Line, strong fighters were plentiful.
There was no need to bother this old man now.
He and Laboon had guarded Twin Cape for 50 years, and their relationship had grown extremely deep.
Now that they were taking Laboon away, the old man would inevitably feel reluctant to let go.
Let's leave the remaining time to them.
At Red's suggestion, the Straw Hats did not immediately head toward their chosen route on their first day in the Grand Line.
Instead, they stayed at the coast of Twin Cape, holding a grand welcome ceremony for their new partner Laboon.
Smoker, Vivi, and Mr. 9, who had watched all of this unfold, were so shocked that they didn't know what to say!
At this moment, they felt as if their heads were filled with lead, completely losing the ability to think.
Vivi was deep in thought, while Mr. 9 was simply dumbfounded.
But Smoker... was puzzled by how extensive the Straw Hat gang's intelligence network was!
Their unassuming vice-captain actually knew so many things!
The Rumbar Pirates who disappeared 50 years ago; The truth about the ghost ship in the Florian Triangle; And she revealed Crocus's identity as a Roger Pirates crew member in one casual sentence.
Although he hadn't been in contact with the Straw Hat Pirates for long, Smoker felt more and more certain...
The deputy captain wearing a baseball cap and looking like a young boy might be the most dangerous person in this entire group!!!
"...Why have I never heard anything about Red?!"
In front of the flickering bonfire, Smoker couldn't help but murmur softly as he watched Red celebrating with his friends not far away.
And just then...
A figure suddenly sat down next to him.
Surprisingly, it was Miss Wednesday – the harmless assassin who posed no threat, had Sanji's protection, had her clothes changed and weapons removed – actually Princess Vivi!
She looked extremely hesitant at this moment, her eyes flickering as if she was struggling with something.
But in the end, she still lowered her voice and asked Smoker: "Your pirate group... are you really going to challenge Crocodile of the Shichibukai?!"
"..."
Smoker thought: I really am NOT one of them!!!