【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Sanji and Zoro noticed that Luffy had been rescued, so they rescued the stranger who had fallen down with him.

"The whale has calmed down..." Nami said softly. The whale, which had been extremely crazy just now, began to calm down after the old man crawled into the house.

"Who are they?" Usopp asked, looking at the two wet strangers on the deck.

"I don't know, I just rescued him." Zoro answered casually.

"It's you. I didn't expect you were still planning to target Lab. But I'm here, so don't even think about hurting Lab!" a voice shouted, which made them shift their attention to the person who spoke. It was a very strange uncle with flower-like hair, and he kept staring at them strangely.

At this moment, the two strangers rescued by Sanji and Zoro suddenly jumped up together and laughed evilly, raising their cannons and saying, "Oh ho ho ho! Stop the meaningless resistance. We are already in the belly of the whale. It's too easy to blow a hole in its belly!!"

Luffy walked behind the two men who were laughing evilly, punched them in the head, knocked them down, and said with a pursed mouth, "I couldn't help but beat them up."

Sanji, who usually hates to see girls get hurt, didn't say anything this time when faced with Luffy's behavior. Because when he swore in his heart that he would use his dreams and life to protect their captain, it foreshadowed that no matter what happened in the future, he would always stand behind Luffy.

……

They docked the boat at the uncle's island, and through communication they learned the uncle's name and understood that he was inside the whale to treat the whale from the inside.

"Labo is the name of this whale. He is an island whale from the West Sea, the largest whale in the world, and he is a whale with human emotions." The uncle said as he got up from the recliner.

"You seem to know them?" Zoro looked at the two people who were knocked unconscious by Luffy.

"They are two thugs from a nearby town. Their goal is to hunt down Lab because Lab's meat can feed their town for at least two or three years. But I will never let them do that!" Kurokas said as he walked. "Aren't you going out? Come with me."

Uncle Kurokas led them out of Lab's stomach smoothly. During this period, Uncle Kurokas also gave Lab a shot of sedative. Now they stood on the shore of Gemini Cape, quietly looking at Lab on the water.

"Why did Narab hit the red earth continent with his head?" Qi asked curiously.

"Labu has been waiting here for a group of pirates to appear, and this wait lasted for fifty years. After that incident, Labu has been constantly ramming his body against the Red Earth Continent."

Then Crocus told them the story of a certain pirate group and Lab fifty years ago.

It turns out that Lab had traveled with that pirate group in the West Sea when he was a child, and the uncle became friends with the pirates when they were repairing their ship at Gemini Cape.

But when they were about to leave, the pirates thought that the Grand Line was too dangerous and it was not suitable to take Labb with them, so the pirates made an agreement with Labb that they would return here after traveling around the world for a week in three years, so Labb had been waiting here.

"But it's been 50 years now..." There was a hint of sadness in Kurokas' voice.

"Does it still believe that its companions are still alive?" Usopp asked softly.

"It looks like that group of pirates are dead." Zoro said.

"Hey, Zoro, such a touching story, don't you hope for a good ending?" Usopp said angrily, "Maybe they will come back! Don't you think this story is very touching?"

"But the truth is more cruel than we imagined." Kurokas looked at Rab with some sadness. "I got the news many years ago that they had left the Grand Line. It is impossible for ordinary people to sail in such a terrifying sea."

"Did that group of cowards ignore the agreement and flee that sea for their own lives?" Sanji said.

"Does that mean they abandoned this whale?!" Usopp said angrily, "It has been waiting here for 50 years because it believed in them!"

"But there's no point in waiting. I think those pirates may not have left, but they may have really died on the Grand Line." Qi said. He felt that the pirates would not give up on Lab.

"Yes, this waiting is meaningless, which is why Rab lost his mind. I told him the truth a long time ago, but Rab refused to listen."

"Since then, Lab has started to roar at Upside Down Mountain and ram his body against the Red Earth Continent. He still firmly believes that they will come back from the other side of the rock wall. He refuses to listen to the truth because he is afraid that the meaning of waiting will be lost."

Kurokas continued, "Its home is in the West Sea, but it has grown too big to go back to the West Sea, so the pirates who came here with it are its only companions and hope."

Luffy stood up and walked towards the whale without anyone noticing, yelling towards it "HEY!!"

"What does that idiot want to do now?" Sanji had a bad feeling. Every time Luffy was not paying attention, he would do something that made them terrified.

"If you're not paying attention and not watching him... he'll cause a commotion." Qi sighed helplessly.

"Maybe he just wants to communicate with the whale?" Usopp held on to a glimmer of hope.

"He's definitely going to get into trouble," Nami said with a headache as she watched Luffy assume his fighting stance.

"Labo! Let's duel!" Luffy yelled, then stretched out his hand and attacked the latest scar on the whale's head with his fist.

"Pooooooooooooooo!" Laboon roared in pain, shaking his head continuously towards Luffy. When Laboon rushed towards him, Luffy grabbed Laboon's scar, and then used the elastic force of his contracted arm to jump onto Laboon's head.

Laboon shook its head hard to try to shake the person on it off, but Luffy grabbed it hard and its shaking motion didn't work, so it stopped shaking and started to crash towards the island with the person on its head.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Zoro and the others yelled at Luffy who was knocked away.

Qi watched as Luffy stood up again after being knocked away by Laboo, and then continued to punch Laboo until he was knocked into the lighthouse by Laboo again. Then, when Laboo was about to attack again, Luffy stopped it and said, "Draw!"

"I'm strong, am I not?" Luffy asked with a smile, "Our battle is not over yet, we still have to fight one more time to decide the winner. We agreed that when I sail a week on the Grand Line, we will definitely come back here to meet you again, and then we will duel again!"