"So that's what happened to it…"
Under Red's explanation, everyone quickly came to understand Laboon's past—the now-vanished Rumbar Pirates, and the musician Brook who had lost himself in the Florian Triangle.
Luffy and Usopp clung tightly to each other, utterly moved by Laboon and the Rumbar Pirates' story, bawling their eyes out without the slightest restraint.
The other Straw Hats were no better—each of them wore expressions filled with deep emotion.
After a moment of silence, Luffy suddenly clenched his fist, his gaze firm.
"Alright! I've decided!"
"I'm not eating it anymore!"
"I want Laboon to become our partner—then we'll take it with us to find its other companion!!!"
"Yeah!!!"
The Straw Hats immediately responded in unison.
At that moment, however, the only outsider present voiced something distinctly out of tune.
"You might as well give it a rest."
Smoker clenched a cigar that had been soaked by seawater and gone stale, his back turned to the Straw Hats.
"That's an island whale. You don't even share the same language—how do you expect to recruit it?"
"And besides…"
Hiss—
Smoker took a deep drag and exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, sneering.
"Entrusting your emotions to an animal… you pirates really are unbearably childish."
"What's your problem!?"
Usopp immediately shouted back in protest.
The rest of the Straw Hats quickly joined in.
"Exactly!"Nami shot Smoker an irritated glance. "If all Marines were like you, that'd be a disaster."
"Cold-blooded man!" Sanji echoed."Heartless man!"
Zoro added flatly, "Freeloader."
Luffy followed up, "Marine guy!"
"Hey, Luffy, 'Marine' isn't an insult!" Usopp hurriedly corrected him.
Luffy fell silent for a moment. Then said, "Pirate guy!"
"Hey! Now you're insulting us too!" Usopp perfectly fulfilled his role as the crew's straight man—even though he lacked an antenna and a sarcasm energy collector.
Listening to the Straw Hats' relentless mockery, two veins bulged on Smoker's forehead, pulsing with frustration and anger.
"Bastards! I've had enough of this!"
He suddenly shouted.
Unable to endure the Straw Hats' atmosphere any longer, Smoker growled,
"If you don't plan on doing anything to me, then give me a small boat so I can leave this ship!"
"I guarantee I won't tell anyone about what happened today!"
"Uh… that might not work, Colonel Smoker."
Red, who hadn't had time to join the teasing, rejected him with a grin.
"You don't really know how to navigate, do you?"
"This is the Grand Line—weather here changes like a mad god's mood. Letting a Devil Fruit user leave alone like this is basically murder, isn't it?"
"Why don't you stay obediently on the Going Merry? Once we reach a city with a Marine base, we'll let you go."
"Damn it…!"
Struck right where it hurt, Smoker exploded in powerless rage.
"Once we find a Marine base, I'll make sure they arrest every single one of you!"
"Haha…" Red grinned. "We'll talk about that when the time comes."
"Wait! I think I see people over there!"
Usopp suddenly shouted as if he'd spotted something.
Everyone instantly followed the direction he was pointing.
Soon after, they spotted two flamboyantly dressed figures on Laboon's back.
The pair were climbing along the whale's body using grappling hooks.
"What are they doing?" Luffy asked curiously.
No one answered—except Red, whose brows subtly furrowed.
He instantly recalled this part of the story.
If he wasn't mistaken, those two were Princess Vivi—disguised as a Baroque Works agent known as Miss Wednesday—and the genuine Baroque Works operative, Mr. 9.
Entering Laboon's body was part of a Baroque Works mission—
Kill Laboon, and provide his meat to the bounty hunters of Whiskey Peak.
"Princess Vivi…"
Red murmured softly to himself.
According to his plans, she would soon become an ally of the Straw Hats.
But right now, their target was Laboon—the partner Luffy had just acknowledged.
Without hesitation, Red immediately said to Luffy:
"Luffy! Stop them! They're planning to harm Laboon!"
"What!?"
Luffy froze for a split second, then—never doubting Red for even an instant—rage surged violently in his eyes.
"She's dared to lay a hand on my chosen partner—I won't allow it!"
Whoosh!!!
The moment his words fell, Luffy's arm stretched out violently.
Because Laboon had repeatedly slammed into the Red Line in hopes of reuniting with its companion, its forehead was already covered in scars.
Those very scars now became perfect footholds for Luffy.
"Hey! You two—what do you think you're doing to my new partner!?"
Using the recoil of his rubber body, Luffy shot forward like a rocket, reaching Vivi and Mr. 9 in an instant and blocking their path.
"Huh!? Why is there someone else here!?"
Both of them stared in shock.
Mr. 9's eyes suddenly narrowed.
"Wait… I think I've seen that face before!"
He abruptly pulled out a stack of Marine bounty posters from his waist.
Though only a bounty hunter in name, Mr. 9 was unusually sensitive to wanted faces.
It didn't take long before he found what he was looking for.
Lifting his head, Mr. 9 stared straight at Luffy.
"You're the pirate with a 50,000,000 Beli bounty—Straw Hat Monkey D. Luffy!"
"What!? Fifty million!? Are you sure you're not mistaken!?"
Vivi cried out in shock, playing her role flawlessly.
"No mistake."
Mr. 9 put the poster away, his eyes locked firmly on Luffy.
"The intelligence says they're about to enter the Grand Line!"
"I just didn't expect it to be this soon!"
"Miss Wednesday—looks like we're getting promoted and rich!!!"
Mr. 9 wrapped his rope around his body, then pulled out two metal batons from behind his back, greedily licking his lips.
Clearly, he saw Luffy—who came from the weakest sea—as top-tier prey.
Dragging him back would be far easier than killing an island whale.
So he thought.
In the next instant, treating Laboon's back like solid ground, Mr. 9 charged forward, swinging his batons.
And then—
Bang!
A dull impact sounded.
Mr. 9's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed unconscious on the spot.
The two metal batons fell freely from the sky, splashing into the sea.
"What's with this? That was way too weak!"
Luffy complained unhappily—having taken him out with a single punch, without using his Devil Fruit ability or even Armament Haki.
He'd expected the Grand Line to greet him with strong opponents right away.
Then, his gaze shifted back to Vivi.
"Mr. 9!!!"
Vivi screamed in shock—but received no response.
"Damn it… guess I've got no choice. I'll use that move!"
Gritting her teeth, she suddenly stripped off her jacket right in front of Luffy, revealing her graceful figure.
"What's she doing!? If you've got guts, take me on!"
On the Going Merry, Sanji utterly lost control and ran to the bow, ready to "help" Luffy.
But Usopp, whose eyesight was sharper, noticed something off.
"Something's wrong—there's a trick to her clothes!"
"What!?"Nami, Zoro, and the others froze.
In the next second, Vivi began to dance rhythmically.
The black-and-white rings covering her outfit emitted bizarre visual fluctuations.
Using a special dance combined with custom clothing to hypnotize enemies—
That was the technique Vivi had relied on to infiltrate the upper ranks of Baroque Works!
Normally, turning one's head or closing one's eyes was enough to resist it.
But in the world of pirates, most people lacked that kind of caution.
Among them, Luffy ranked first.
"Strange… why do I feel so sleepy all of a sudden…"
Standing on Laboon's back, Luffy yawned.
His eyelids grew heavier by the second—and just like that, he fell sound asleep.
The arm gripping Laboon's skin went limp, and his body plummeted straight toward the sea below.
"Oh no!" Usopp shouted. "Luffy's been hypnotized!"
"Are you idiots!?"
"How can something this trash even work!?"
Smoker finally snapped on the deck.
Letting out a furious roar, smoke erupted beneath his feet, launching him into the air.
Watching pirates who had completely restrained him moments ago now lose their captain so easily to some random nobody—
The insult doubled.
In midair, his arms transformed into massive clouds of smoke.
One reached down to catch the falling Luffy;the other seized Vivi and the unconscious Mr. 9 firmly from Laboon's back, instantly stabilizing the situation.
And yet—
That only made him feel more miserable.
"What on earth am I doing…?"
Smoker gazed skyward, feeling his sanity slipping under the Straw Hats' influence.
For a long while, he was utterly speechless.
(End of Chapter)