Amidst the joyful laughter of The girls.
The island cloud carried the going merry, successfully flying over the Red Line and arriving at the legendary Pirate Graveyard, the Grand Line.
"I'm really looking forward to it. I wonder what we'll encounter after arriving here."
"Huh?! Reyno, what are you doing?!"
Nami had just stretched when she noticed the going merry was rapidly descending.
Clearly, Reyno was in control.
The girls were equally puzzled.
Reyno patiently explained, "The Grand Line is different from the East Blue. After entering here, the magnetic field becomes extremely erratic."
"To navigate here, you must rely on a log pose and an eternal pose made from island magnetic fields."
"So that's how it is," The girls suddenly understood, but Nami quickly reacted, looking at Reyno: "It's one thing for you to know about the East Blue, but how do you know so much about the Grand Line?!"
Reyno smiled. Nami reacted too quickly.
This is just the beginning; you'll have plenty of reasons to be surprised later.
The going merry landed on the sea, and Reyno moored it by the shore, then led The girls off the ship one by one.
Next to one of the lighthouses, everyone saw an old man reading a newspaper.
The old man had a saffron-petal-like hairstyle at the back of his head and wore brightly colored, cool clothing.
He was leisurely crossing his legs, engrossed in reading the newspaper in his hand.
Seeing Reno and the others approach, the old man raised an eyebrow.
"Who are you?!"
He spoke expressionlessly.
Even with the strange combination of one man and six women, the old man remained unfazed.
Having weathered many storms, there was nothing left that could surprise him.
The gentle Kaya stepped forward proactively:
"Hello, sir, we are from the East—"
"My name is Crocus."
Kaya, interrupted, was a little embarrassed but still politely nodded.
She continued to ask, "Grandpa Crocus, where is this place?!"
Upon hearing this, Crocus's voice suddenly rose several octaves: "Before someone answers your question, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?!"
"Youngsters these days are getting more and more impolite."
Nami's temper flared instantly, and she stepped forward: "We are the Reno Pirate Crew from the East Blue, I—"
"This place is called Twin Capes, and I am the lighthouse keeper here."
Her self-introduction was interrupted once again, and Nami immediately bared her teeth, angrily saying, "You old geezer, I think you're the impolite one, aren't you? Can't you let someone finish their sentence?!"
Seeing the silver electric arcs begin to flicker around Nami, Crocus finally fell silent.
Reno, who had been watching the show, smiled and finally stepped forward.
"I am Reno, Captain of the Reno Pirate Crew."
"I've heard your name, Crocus."
what??!
Crocus then shifted his gaze to Reno.
Reno walked over with a smile, "If I'm not mistaken, there was a ship's doctor named Crocus on Pirate King Roger's ship back then."
"Most importantly…" Reno glanced at Crocus's head, "your two hairstyles are identical."
what??!!
Pirate King Roger?!
Ship's doctor Crocus?!
All the women's expressions collectively froze.
This infuriating old man in front of them was actually the doctor on Pirate King Roger's ship?!
Hearing Reno accurately state his identity, Crocus, who had been expressionless, suddenly smiled.
"To think that a junior still recognizes me, it seems you came prepared."
"Let's go, let's talk in my cabin."
Roar, roar!
Roar, roar!
Just then, a deep whimper suddenly came.
"What is that sound?!!" The women's expressions changed slightly.
Crocus, who had been calm and unconcerned, suddenly tensed up and rose abruptly.
"It's the island cloud Laboon," Reno said casually.
"It's that big?!!"
All the women looked towards the direction of the roar, and then they saw a giant whale over 400 meters long.
Even showing only a small part of it, it was comparable to a small mountain.
Immediately after, they saw the giant whale begin to madly ram the Red Line.
This strange behavior aroused everyone's curiosity.
"It has so many wounds on its forehead, did they all come from this?!!"
"That's right," Crocus nodded with a serious expression.
He then returned to his cabin, took out a powerful tranquilizer, and quickly entered Laboon's body.
Every time Laboon became unstable, he would use this method to calm Laboon down.
Although it was a temporary solution, it could minimize the damage Laboon inflicted on its own body.
With the injection, Laboon slowly calmed down.
Although it no longer moved, sad wails and mournful cries still came from its mouth.
"What's wrong with Laboon?!!"
Looking at the returning Crocus, Makino asked with some heartache.
What on earth could make Laboon ignore the pain in its body and continuously ram the Red Line?
Crocus sat down again and recounted a past story about Laboon to everyone.
"So that's how it is…"
The women, understanding the whole process, all sighed, not expecting Laboon to be so loyal and devoted.
But the outcome was truly disheartening.
"It's already been so many years, the Rumbar Pirates are probably long gone…" Nami's words trailed off, but everyone understood what she meant.
For over fifty years, if those people were still alive, they would have returned long ago.
"Sigh…" Crocus sighed helplessly; he, too, knew this truth.
"So you saw earlier, every time Laboon tries to ram the Red Line, I inject it with a tranquilizer to calm it down."
"But even so, it only serves to delay the inevitable."
Everyone looked at Laboon's head again; the crisscrossing scars made them truly heartbroken.
"Actually, there are still people alive from the Rumbar Pirates."
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