Tears streaming down her cheeks, Nami grasped Albert tightly, crying out in despair, "Albert, we're really finished!"
Albert was equally distraught. It wasn't that he was powerless to act, but he couldn't shake the unsettling thought that his memory was slipping away. He had completely forgotten about the rudder malfunction that had just occurred! How could that be? Beep beep beep~ Could this be a sign of amnesia?
But right now, the priority was avoiding a collision with Laboon, which was actually a straightforward issue to address… like, for instance, by firing a cannon.
Speaking of firing cannons, Albert had picked up that skill from Luffy in the original story.
He stepped into the cannon turret, loaded it, and fired!
Whoosh… Boom…
The recoil from the cannonball brought the Brave Explorer to a halt just shy of a meter away from Laboon.
"We… we're saved! I thought I was going to die!" Nami collapsed onto the deck, her expression vacant as she mumbled to herself.
"Uh, Nami, shouldn't we row away first?" Albert reminded her.
With a swift movement, Nami jumped to her feet. In that split second, Albert could see that she had trained her Shave technique—a true sign of potential!
"Quick, grab the oars! Let's row!"
"Right!"
Bartolomeo and Albert swiftly retrieved the oars and rowed towards the lighthouse.
Once they docked at the lighthouse and disembarked, Nami exclaimed, "Albert, look! There's a flower… wait, no, it's a person. Who are you?" She had initially thought it was a flower, but was startled when a face suddenly turned around.
"When asking someone's name, it's polite to introduce yourself first," Crocus said lazily from his sun lounger.
"Oh… sorry, my name is…"
"I'm the lighthouse keeper of Twin Capes, Crocus." He interrupted without much interest.
"Hey, Albert, take him down!" Nami shouted angrily, itching for a fight.
Albert wrapped his arms around Nami to soothe her, saying, "Alright, you can vent later."
Once she calmed down, Albert turned to Crocus and asked, "Are you interested in hearing about the Rumbar Pirates?"
"Rumbar Pirates? What are you talking about?" Crocus narrowed his eyes and stood up suddenly.
Awoo ooo ooo ooo~
Laboon, overhearing Albert, shouted with excitement.
Albert wore a smug grin, "You want to know? How about we make a trade?"
"In exchange for what?" Crocus asked with a serious tone.
"I need your medical skills and a Log Pose."
"Alright, but you have to promise that what you're saying is true."
Albert patted his chest confidently, "No problem, I assure you it's the truth!"
He had longed to learn medical skills, as there was no ship doctor on his crew—something that was rather unfortunate. They lacked proper medical care, bandaging, illness treatment, and suturing capabilities… it was a bleak situation.
"Albert, what are you talking about?" Nami asked with confusion before following up with curiosity.
With a sigh, Albert explained Laboon's story, the Rumbar Pirates, and their connection.
"Waaah… Laboon is so unfortunate, my heart aches for it…" Nami's natural sensitivity as a woman kicked in, prompting her to feel deep sympathy for Laboon.
"Waaah… La... Laboon... you are just... too... too…!" Bartolomeo cried out, words slurred.
Awoo ooo ooo~
Seeing Laboon's distress, Albert said, "Are you worried? Let me tell you, the Rumbar Pirates are all gone!"
Awoo ooo ooo~
Laboon immediately fell into sadness, as if cast under a shadow of despair.
"Kid, are you trying to get yourself killed?" Crocus shouted, looking grim.
Albert gestured for Crocus to be quiet.
"But…" he continued, turning back to Laboon, "there's one survivor—Brook. Do you remember him? He came back to life after eating the Yomi Yomi no Mi, but he's currently trapped. I'm going to bring him back so you two can reunite! So please, don't hurt yourself anymore, just wait for me. This is my promise."
Awoo ooo ooo~
Laboon, once despondent, now brimmed with hope. Tears streamed from its eyes as it solemnly nodded to Albert, sealing their promise.
Crocus observed Laboon with kindness, as though seeing his own child, smiling gently as it frolicked in the sea.
"Thank you, Albert, for delivering such wonderful news. Laboon hasn't been this joyful in years," Crocus expressed gratefully.
Albert beamed, "I'm just making an equal exchange."
Crocus appeared stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter, "Hahaha... Don't you worry, you won't get shortchanged, but my book isn't here."
"Where is it then?" Albert asked, puzzled.
"Haha, it's in Laboon's belly!" Crocus laughed earnestly.
Albert was taken aback, recalling Crocus's vacation spot inside Laboon.
"Can I take a look?"
"Absolutely, follow me."
"Okay." Albert turned to Bartolomeo and instructed, "chicken, fix the ship first; Nami and I will be right back."
"Sure thing, boss!" Bartolomeo replied eagerly.
Then, Albert took Nami and followed Crocus, entering Laboon's belly through a specially crafted door.
"Wow, how is it possible to have blue skies and white clouds here?" Nami exclaimed, utterly amazed by the sight before them as they stepped into Laboon's stomach.
"It's painted," Albert explained.
"What?"
Nami scrutinized the scene again and realized the seagulls in the sky weren't moving—it really was a painting.
"It's just a little hobby of mine," Crocus replied nonchalantly, a hint of pride in his voice.
Pointing to a small island within Laboon's stomach, Crocus said, "That's my vacation spot."
Caught off guard by the transformed vacation spot, Nami marveled, while Albert couldn't help but be fascinated by the biological modifications he had previously only seen in comics. Witnessing it in person was astonishing; he pondered how this world could blend biology and machinery so seamlessly. In his old life, this would have been a blessing for those with disabilities.
"My medical books are over there; let's go down." With that, Crocus descended a ladder.
Albert waited for Crocus to reach the island before scooping up Nami and, using Moonwalk, gracefully flew over to where Crocus was.
"Six Forms of the Navy!" Crocus remarked, eyeing Albert with exasperation. "Why didn't you mention you knew that before? I could have avoided climbing the ladder!"
"Hehe." Albert grinned, relishing the moment, "Because I don't enjoy carrying men!"
His tone was so self-righteous that Crocus was tempted to take off his slippers and throw them at him.
Nami nestled next to Albert, chuckling at the playful banter, finding the whole situation quite amusing.
"Hmph! You little brat, stay there." Crocus declared, storming into the house to fetch his medical books.
"Albert, why are you acting that way? What if you anger him?" Nami laughed while covering her mouth.
"Hmph!" Albert turned away, unfazed, "Don't worry; he's a doctor; he can heal himself."
Awoo-oo-oo-oo~
Boom…
With Laboon's roar, a small boat with a broken front splashed down into the sea of stomach acid.
Albert looked closer and thought, "Hey, isn't that the Straw Hats' Going Merry?"
"Albert, who are these people?" Nami asked, taken aback.
"It's fine. They're just a bunch of fun folks."
"I must be dreaming," Usopp's voice echoed from the Straw Hats' ship.
"Ah~ it's probably just a dream," Zoro replied calmly.
"Then, what about this house, this island, and these people?" A beautiful woman asked, visibly confused.
"It's an illusion!"
Splash~
Suddenly, a massive squid, several times the size of the small boat, appeared.
"What about this?"
"Ah… a giant squid!" The crew aboard the Straw Hats' ship screamed in panic.
Startled by the unexpected giant squid, Nami almost yelled until two terrified screams caught her attention. Then she remembered Albert was with her, calming her racing heart.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh…
Three fish spears surged forward, dispatching the giant squid and halting Sanji and Zoro in their tracks.
"Seems it's not an illusion, Swordsman Albert!" Zoro exclaimed, locking his gaze onto Albert.
"I didn't expect to see you guys here," Albert smiled back.
"Did you also get swallowed by the whale?"
Shaking his head, Albert replied, "Nope, I came in willingly."
"Ah, flowers!"
"No, it's a person—someone with a headdress!"
As exclamations flew from the Straw Hats, Crocus emerged from the wooden house with a gloomy look, exuding a palpable sense of disregard. He tossed the medical books to Albert and then reclined on the sun lounger, engrossed in reading the newspaper.
****
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