"If you're interested, I'll tell you Laboom's story." Curious, the Straw Hats listened to the story. 

Crocus told how, when he was a young man and had just taken up his position as a lighthouse keeper a few years before, a pirate crew from the West Blue came from Reverse Mounten. To his surprise, the pirate crew had been followed by a young baby whale, which they had named Laboom. The pirates had told him that on their journey they had met Laboom, who was wandering all alone in the sea. After they became friends with the baby whale, it had joined their journey and always swam alongside their ship. They had actually said goodbye to Laboom before Reverse Mounten, knowing that the Grand Line would be too dangerous for him. Giant whales, as Crocus told them, usually swam together in huge schools, their families. But to Laboom, these pirates had been his family. The pirates had been at anchor for a few months to repair their ship and during that time Crocus had even made friends with them. When the day came when they would continue their journey, the captain of the pirate crew had asked him to look after Laboom until they returned in perhaps two or three years. The captain had given Laboom his word to return one day. Instinctively, Laboom wanted to follow the pirates as they sailed into the sunset, but stayed at the port when Crocus called out to him. 

The glasses-wearing man had his eyes closed for a moment as he saw the image before his eyes. Some days it felt like it was just yesterday. He opened them again and stared at the water in front of him before saying: "That was 50 years ago." "50 years?" "Laboom has been waiting for these guys for 50 years?" asked Usopp, stunned. Nami's look had taken on something understanding as she said, "So that's why he's roaring like that. And why he keeps banging his head against the Red Line." "Yes."

It had taken a while, but they had managed toget the Going Merry through the huge gate into what Sanji called the pipesystem. Luffy shook her arms a little as she sat below the broken part of thefigurehead. She could still feel the strain in them. "I really hope I don't have to do something like that again too soon.""Those water pipes are really impressive," said the blonde as hestood with the others on the bow, "I'm surprised that the whale is stillalive with such a huge tunnel inside." "Is that more of your'humor'?" asked the white-haired man, who was sitting on his league on thesmaller part of his island and leafing through the newspaper. "That's mydoctor humor." "Doctor?" Luffy asked surprised. Crocus didn'tseem to have heard the younger one or simply ignored her as he continued. "I amhis doctor, after all. A long time ago I ran a clinic here on the cap. I hadeven been a ship's doctor years ago." "Really?" That piquedLuffy's interest. The only ship's doctor she had ever met was Hongou whenShanks was in Foosha Village. She grinned as she looked at the old man andsaid, "Hey, then why don't you become the doctor on my ship?""Don't be silly," the glasses-wearing man said, shaking his headbefore standing up and starting to climb up the ladder , which led to a footbridgenear another large gate. "Unlike you youngsters, I'm too old to rushheadlong into such stories." "A doctor," Sanji said thoughtfullyas the five looked at the old man, "So that's the reason why you live withinthe whale ." "And it's only thanks to your medical skills that thisis all possible," Nami added, her gaze gliding over the metal plates.Crocus had reached the end of the ladder and looked down at the five as hesaid, "That's right. When they get that big, there's no way to treat themfrom the outside." The white-haired man walked towards a crank. "Let'sgo." The gate began to open slowly and the Merry sailed out into the open. Theisland, which was attached to the stern, was dragged along. "We'reoutside!" Luffy shouted and jumped up, "This is the real sky!"

The Straw Hat crew was so happy to be out in theopen again that none of them initially noticed how the two prisoners slowlyregained consciousness. Unnoticed, Miss Wednesday had managed to free herselffrom her bonds and quickly set about untying Mr. 9. "Miss Wednesday, what areyou doing...?" the orange-haired man began, but his partner motioned for him tobe quiet.

"But 50 whole years?" said Usopp when they hadleft Laboom with the Merry and looked at the whale. Luffy had sat on the brokenhead of the figurehead that they had carried together to the bow of the ship."Those lousy pirates are making him wait a long time." "Idiot," said Sanji,taking a drag from his cigarette. He slipped his hands into his pocket beforecontinuing: "This is the Grand Line we're talking about or have you alreadyforgotten? They're probably already dead. So there's no point in waiting forthem any longer." "They probably are, considering it's already been50 years," agreed Nami and crossing her arms over her chest had. "Iguess that just shows how terrible and unexpected the sea is going to get fromhere on out." The long-nosed man looked at the two reproachfully. "How canyou say something so heartless?! You don't even know that! They could alwayscome back!" Tears began to form in his eyes. "This is such a heartwarmingstory. A whale that continues to believe in the promise of his friends. Orisn't it, old man?" Crocus had quietly listened to the young crew'sconversation while staring fixedly at Laboom. "Yes." He adjusted hisglasses before continuing. "But the truth is more cruel than you can imagine."The five pirates looked at him in surprise. "It was all part of their plan.These guys...just ran off the Grand Line." Crocus had one arm outstretched tosupport himself on the palm tree while the other was clenched into a fist. TheStraw Hats' eyes had widened before Usopp was the first to find his voiceagain. "That can't be. So they just left Laboom behind?!" "Theywere trying to escape the Gran Line. That means they would have had to crossthe Calm Belt, right?" Nami asked, looking at the white-haired man who hadhis back to them. "Even if by some miracle they were still alive, they wouldnever return here. The seasons, the weather, the ocean currents even the wind.They all come and go in an unpredictable pattern. Normal logic is useless inthese waters. The terror of the Grand Line quickly overwhelms those with weakwills." "So these weak-willed cowards, without thinking about yourlife or their promise, packed up their things and threw in the towel,"said the Smutje with clearly audible disgust in his voice. "They just abandonedLaboom?! And he has been waiting undeterred for 50 years for them to come back.This is so cruel!" While the others were talking, Luffy was only half listeningto them. Her gaze was solely focused on Laboom, who had risen from the wateragain. She could see his big brown eyes. How they shimmered with hope. Thestraw hat wearer could understand how Laboom felt. If Ace and she had onlyreceived Sabo's letter back then and not found out from Dogura what hadhappened...she was sure that, like Laboom, she would have the hope of seeingher blonde brother one day again.

"But if you knew that all along," Namibegan, looking at the older man, "then why didn't you tell him?" Hisface contorted a little. "I have. Everything, but he was too stubborn tolisten to me." Crocus could still remember that evening too well, it was aday that was burned into his memory forever. "That same evening, Laboom startedroaring at Reverse Mounting and ramming his head into the Red Line. He stillbelieves they will return from the other side. He just doesn't want to acceptthe truth." "What a whale. Even if there is no point in waiting anymore.""If there was no point in waiting, he would have listened to me. More thananything, he's afraid of losing his reason for waiting. His home is the WestBlue. And yet there is no way for him to return there. All he wants was tocontinue to be friends with the crew he followed here." Luffy had narrowedher eyes as she noticed something on Laboom's head. Something was flowing downfrom there and it certainly wasn't water. "You know, he may be in thismiserable state, but you've been betrayed too, haven't you?" Sanji askedbefore taking his cigarette out of his mouth and letting out smoke. "Thatshouldn't be your problem anymore, should it?" "Look at the scars onhis head!" the old man urged them, "If he keeps hitting his headagainst the Red Line, he will undoubtedly die." A sad smile was on his face."We may have a strange relationship, but it's already 50 years. I will notstand idly by and watch him die."

None of them had noticed how the straw hatwearer got up and went to the mast. She gripped the mast and began to pull. "I'm sorry, Merry, but Laboom needs this moreurgently than you do." The wood groaned under the strain until it suddenlybroke off. Surprisingly, no one had heard this when the black-haired womanfound herself with the mast in her arms. She swayed a bit before finding herfooting again. She took another deep breath before, with more or less a battlecry, she jumped from the ship onto the whale and began running over its back toits head. Surprised, the remaining members of the Straw Hat crew looked attheir captain and only saw her jumping off the ship. "What's she up to now?"Sanji asked no one in particular. Zoro just shook his head. "You really can'ttake your eyes off her for a second. It almost looks as if she has gone amongthe mountaineers." Meanwhile, Luffy had reached her goal. She saw the woundthat was oozing blood. "Gomu Gomuno Ikebana!" She swung the mast and rammed it into Laboom's wound tostop the bleeding. The others looked at her, Zoro and Usopp with their armscrossed while Sanji had his hands in his pockets. The gray-eyed man looked atthe object that the young Portgas had used and it seemed strangely familiar."That's the mast, isn't it?" "Yup, straight from the ship,"the blonde agreed. "That's our main mast," Usopp confirmed with anod, before shouting angrily, "STOP TAKEING THE SHIP APART!"

The brown-eyed woman clung to the mast as shefelt Laboom begin to tremble beneath her. That turned out to be a gooddecision. Not two seconds later, Laboom began to rear up and let out a painedroar. The sea around him was becoming turbulent and the others on the ship werescrambling to keep from disembarking. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU DOTHAT?!?" Even Crocus was shocked by the straw hat wearer's action. Whowould come up with the idea of ramming a mast into a wound?! "Who would have thought that I would one daybe happy that Gramps tore up the trees I was escaping onto and tossed themaround?" It was a combination of instinctive action and pureadrenaline that made Luffy possible despite the wild back and forth to hold on.She was actually a little surprised at herself that her fingers hadn't dug intothe wood yet. Just the thought of the last time that had happened made hershudder. It was hard enough to escape Garp when he came to "train". But doingthat while having to drag half a tree with you because you couldn't get yourfingers out was a whole different story.

Without warning, Laboom suddenly jumped out ofthe water and rammed his head, or more precisely the place where Luffy was,against the cliff where one of the two lighthouses stood. The straw hat wearingwoman lost her footing and was pushed into the rock beneath her. "Hey, girl!"Crocus shouted in shock when he saw this. "No worries! Even if she getscrushed, she won't die!" Nami shouted to the old man while holding on to therailing with both arms. Laboom roared again as the wound on his head began tobleed more heavily. Luffy sat up and grinned, wiping some blood from the cornerof his mouth. Her body was covered in small scratches from some rocks, but sheignored them. Her straw hat lay next to her. "He he. Idiot." The whale glaredat her angrily as it lurched forward. The black-haired woman jumped up beforejumping out of the way. However, Laboom lashed out with his tail while she wasin the air and hit her. She lost her breath for a moment as she landed on herback on the stone. However, she didn't have time to recover as she had to avoidthe whale's next attack. She jumped up and twisted on her foot before slammingher fist right into the whale's eye. Laboom roared before hitting her with hishead, sending her flying into the wall of the lighthouse. The person wearingglasses and her friends watched, spellbound, as the brown-eyed woman and thegiant whale fought with each other. "What is she thinking?" Usopp asked no onein particular. Although he silently wondered if she had even thought beforestarting this madness. Luffy, meanwhile, had taken a running start and jumpedoff a small hill before turning in mid-air and swinging her leg. It hit Laboomsquare in the head and made him freeze for a brief moment before he caughthimself and hit his head in the air against the black-haired woman. Luffygroaned a little as her back collided against the wall of the lighthouse again.She slid down the wall, her head falling forward. "Luffy!" "What the hell areyou doing?!" Before she could give an answer, however, Laboom had startedmoving again, roaring. Frozen, the Straw Hats and Crocus watched as the animalapproached the young captain. He had almost reached the small cliff whenLuffy's voice suddenly rang out, causing the whale to stop. "It's a draw!"

The young Portgas stood up, grabbing her strawhat before putting it back on and looking at Laboom. A grin was on her face."You're pretty strong. You want to defeat me, don't you?" The eyes of thewhale and the straw hat wearer met. "Our fight is not over yet. So we'll haveto compete again at some point." Her eyes softened before she continued."Your friends may be dead, but from now on I am your rival! One day we willfight each other again to see which of us is stronger. As soon as we havesailed around the Grand Line I will come back. That's a promise!" Usopp,Nami, Sanji and Zoro couldn't help but smile when they heard Luffy talk. And ifthere was one thing they could be sure of it was the fact that Luffy would keepher word and never make a promise that she wasn't sure she would one dayfulfill. Tears began to gather in Laboom's eyes as he heard the human's words.It had been a long time since he had last heard those words, back when he wasstill a calf. How long had he longed to have a real reason to wait? He knew that the man from the lighthouse wouldnever lie to him. But what else could he do but keep waiting? Once again Laboomrose from the water and uttered his voice. But it sounded softer this time,like he was agreeing with Luffy. There was a smile on Crocus' lips as he wipedaway some of his own tears.

"Hey, Usopp," the black-haired woman called to her gunner. "Yes?" "Do we happen to have some paint left? And maybe a big brush?" "Uh, I think so. But what are you going to do with it?" She winked at him before saying, "Shishishishi, let it be a surprise."

It took a while, but Luffy looked at her workwith satisfaction. "Looks good." A huge, crooked, grinning skull in astraw hat looked back at her from Laboom's head. Before beginning hermasterpiece, Crocus had tended to Laboom's wound and her friends had begunrepairing the Going Merry. She was completely covered in paint as she crossedher arms and looked at the whale that had been lying still in the water theentire time she was painting. "This is the sign of our promise! That's whyyou'd better stop banging your head against the Red Line, otherwise it'll comeoff." Laboom made a sound as if he agreed with her. "All right!" Crocuswatched the interaction between the two with a smile. The old lighthouse keepernever expected the day that someone would be able to stop Laboom from hisself-destructive ways. Usopp, who was just getting some planks to repair,suddenly noticed the empty ropes next to the stairs to the stern. "Hey, wheredid the two jokers go?" "The two jokers?" wondered Nami, who was standing withSanji on the railing in front of the galley. "Oh, you mean the two weird guys.They must have taken the chance and run away. I wonder who they were."

Luffy, who had freshened up at Nami's behest as soon as she re-entered the Merry, noticed something on the floor as she came out of the bathroom. Curious, she picked up the object and took a closer look. It reminded her a little of a watch. Only instead of a clock it had a small glass ball with a compass needle in it. The needle was attached to the upper curvature by a small metal rod. She tilted her head thoughtfully. "What is that?" She looked at it for a while before putting it in the pocket of her shorts. "Maybe Nami has an idea what that thing is."

Nami stretched a bit before sitting on a log atthe wooden table that Crocus had brought from the lighthouse. "All done.Now it's time to chart our course for the Grand Line." She had a map spread outin front of her and the compass in her hand. Meanwhile, Sanji grinned as hepulled the elephant tuna out of the freezer and said, "Now I finally havethe chance to cook this." Usopp cursed under his breath as he hammeredneedle after needle through the metal he was using had to fix the mast. "Such astupid cow. Just taking our ship apart like that." The snoring of a certainswordsman didn't improve the long-nosed man's mood either. "Hey, Zoro! Get yourass over here and help out! I'm not the ship's carpenter here!" But thegreen-haired man continued to sleep peacefully with his arms folded behind hishead. At least until Nami's scream echoed from the twins' cap. Luffy looked atthe navigator in surprise. "What's wrong all of a sudden? You're prettyloud." At the same moment, Sanji appeared loaded with four large plates onwhich he had prepared the fish. "What's wrong, Namiswan? Don't worry if youwant something to eat." "Food?" asked Usopp, who had climbed upthe rope ladder behind Sanji. Sweat ran down the orange-haired woman's body asshe looked at the compass in disbelief before finding her voice again. "Thecompass is broken! It doesn't point in one direction." The twoblack-haired teens and the cook had come closer to take a closer look at thecompass. "Oh, she's right." "The needle just goes in circles." "Shishishi, thatlooks kind of funny." Crocus, who had heard this, spoke up: "So you five camehere without haveing the slightest idea of what awaits you here. What blatantstupidity. Did you come here to throw your life away?" Luffy, who hadsquatted on one of the makeshift seats, ignored him as she hungrily eyed thefood that Sanji had placed on the table. She only now realized how hungry thefight with Laboom had made her. Sanji gave her a warning look. "The foodisn't just for you, Luffy." "I already told you. This ocean does notfollow normal logic. The compass isn't broken." "Then could it bethat the magnetic field is being influenced somehow?" Nami asked. Theglasses-wearing man nodded. "That's correct. The islands of the Grand Lineare rich in minerals which create abnormal magnetic fields. In addition, thewind and currents here are completely unstable. If you are the navigator, youmust be able to understand how insurmountable this is." "You'reright," the brown-eyed woman began, "We would be doomed if we had noway to determine our direction." Luffy had taken advantage of theopportunity. While no one was paying attention to her or the food, she hadbegun to devour the meal as inconspicuously as possible. It's better to eatcarefully than to attract unwanted attention. "I didn't know that. I'm reallysorry," Nami said, laughing as she scratched her head. "Hey, that's bad!How are we supposed to survive our journey?!" Usopp shouted in panic. How couldNami stay so calm? She of all people should understand what that means for them.And here is the orange-haired woman, acting as if she had forgotten just onelittle thing. "Hey, this is really tasty. Sanji has really outdonehimself." "CAN YOU SHUT UP?! WE REALLY HAVE OTHER PROBLEMS THAN FOOD,LUFFY!" snapped the older woman at the straw hat wearer. She was holding a largeslice of fish in her hands, into which she had sunk her teeth. Withoutreleasing her bite, she said, "But this elephant tuna is really good."

"Navigating the Grand Line will be impossible ifyou don't have a log port," Crocus continued. "Log Port? I've never heard ofanything like that," said the navigator, looking at the white-haired manin confusion. "This is a unique compass that orientates itself on magneticfields." "A strange compass?" Luffy asked with his mouth full.She suddenly remembered the strange thing she had found on the deck of the GoingMerry. Crocus' eyes fell on the young Portgas. "Yes. They have a veryspecial design." The black-haired woman rummaged around in her shorts beforeshe pulled out the strange clock with the crystal ball and held it up. "Somethinglike that?" "Yes, that's exactly what I was talking about. If you don't havethis Log Port, sailing on the Grand Line will be impossible." "Isee," said Nami, whose eye had begun to twitch suspiciously when she sawthe object in Luffy's hand. "But please wait a second. Luffy..." Theorange-haired girl had slowly turned her head towards her captain, who waslooking at her innocently with her big eyes. Somehow the black-haired womancouldn't shake the feeling that she was in great danger. Before she could evenreact, Nami had already thrown a punch and hit the younger woman directly inthe cheek, causing her head to turn with the punch and she to fall from herseat. "WHY THE HELL DO YOU HAVE ONE?!" With a few small tears, Luffyheld her cheek before looking back at Nami and saying, "Those two weirdbirds dropped it on the ship." "Did they?" "Why did you hitme?" "And more importantly.Where did she get Garp's strange technique that causes me pain even though I'mmade of rubber?" "Because I just had the need to do it.""The need to do it?" "Someone has to make it clear to you whenyou're doing this idiotic thing. And since you don't seem to react to anythingelse, you'll just have to live with it!" said Nami as she stepped up tothe one sitting on the floor and snatched the Log Port out of her hand. Hereyes immediately fell on the navigate instrument in her hand. "So this is a LogPort. I've never seen anything like that before." "The whole thingworks like this, it's very simple: The islands of the Grand Line influence themagnetism of the Log Port. This means that the needle aligns itself with themagnetic currents emitted by it and thus shows the course to the next islandwith absolute precision. In these waters, where nautical maps are not of muchuse, it is only possible to orient yourself with the help of the Log Port. Fromthe cap of the twins you can choose one of seven magnetic currents. With thehelp of the Log Port you are automatically taken from one island to the next.It doesn't matter which stream you take. They all slowly flow together and meetat the last island on this route, Laugh Tale.* The last stop on the Grand Line.It is said that only Gold Roger, the king of the pirates, has set foot on it.At least that's what the legend says." "Laugh Tale?" Nami askedwith a raised eyebrow. Who came up with this name? Usopp grinned. "Then the OnePiece is definitely hidden there, guys!" "It's possible. There's a rumor goingaround," said the glasses-wearing man. Luffy looked at the old manthoughtfully. She couldn't shake the feeling that he hadn't told themeverything he knew. The straw hat wearer didn't know whether to be suspiciousor just ignore it. Maybe Crocus had a reason? "But no one has ever made itto this island." Luffy grinned as she bit through the remains of the food,the bones. "We'll find out when we get there." The white-haired man looked atthe girl in surprise. He blinked a few times. He could have sworn that he hadseen a completely different person in front of him for a moment.

Satisfied, Luffy let out a gasp of air as she patted her slightly rounded stomach. "Oof, I'm full. Come on, let's set sail!" "YOU EATED ALL THIS ALONE?!" Sanji shouted in horror as he realized too late that only a few pitiful remnants of the meal he had cooked were left. Anger rose in the Smutje like an inner conflict. The food had actually been intended for everyone and Luffy had simply devoured it without hesitation. If she were a man, he wouldn't have hesitated for a second to teach the evildoer a lesson. But never in his life could he bring himself to seriously hurt a woman! But Luffy also had to learn that she had to be considerate of the others! Usopp couldn't believe his eyes as he looked over the empty plates. "Woah, even the bones." Nami smiled as she looked at the Log Port she had secured around her left wrist. "So a Log Port. This is really important for our trip. Our fate at sea depends on this little thing." Meanwhile, Sanji had come to a solution. "Luffy, you can't just swallow everything that was meant for everyone!" He swung his leg out in a spinning kick and...hit Usopp, who bumped into Luffy and took her with him. The two black-haired teens flew past Nami and landed near the cliff, groaning. "Hey, why did you kick me?! I didn't do anything!" complained the long-nose man, holding his aching chest after rolling off Luffy. "Because I don't hurt ladies! That's why you had to serve as a damper, long nose." "What kind of twisted logic is that?!?" However, none of them had noticed that the Log Port had shattered as the captain and gunner flew past the orange-haired woman. Completely frozen, she stared blankly at the remains on her wrist. Her hands were clenched into fists as her entire body began to shake. "Sanji..." A cold shiver ran down the spines of the two brown-eyed teens when they heard Nami's voice. However, the person addressed seemed to have noticed nothing of the lurking danger as he turned to his orange-haired angel with hearts in his eyes. "Yes~ Namiswan~?" "You three should go cool down a bit!" she shouted as she sent Sanji, Usopp and Luffy over the cliff with one kick. "WHY ALWAYS ME?!?!?" Three subsequent splashes let them know that the three idiots had not missed their target. Desperately, the brown-eyed woman looked back at what had once been a Log Port. "These idiots. The Log Port was so important and now it's just a puzzle." "Don't worry. I have another one that you can use," said Crocus, who had been looking at everything with his arms crossed. He found it a little difficult to suppress a smile. "After all, I owe you one for saving Laboom."

It didn't take long for Crocus to return fromthe lighthouse with the Log Port. The log port he gave her was similar to theone that was destroyed. However, instead of a leather strap that could be puton like a watch, this Log Port had a wooden frame that Nami could put on like abracelet.

Meanwhile, Laboom had brought the three unluckyravens back to shore, or rather pushed them out of the water with his heads. Butthey weren't the only ones back on dry land. Next to them lay Mr. 9 and MissWednesday gasping for air. "Phew, I thought that was for me," Luffybreathed a sigh of relief before she noticed the two extras out of the cornerof her eye. She straightened up and her eyes met the blue-haired woman's beforeSanji stood up, walked over to her and, like the gentleman he was, offered hera hand. "Allow me to help you, my beautiful one." "Thank youvery much." Smiling, she accepted his hand before the blue-eyed man helpedher up. The blonde placed a hand on her back before walking away from herpartner. "We have wonderful weather today, don't you think?" "Hey! I have arequest," the orange-haired one spoke up as he stood up himself. Sanji stoppedand gave him an annoyed look.

"Whiskey Peak?" Luffy asked, tiltingher head to the side. "That's a strange name." She sat cross-leggedon the table and looked at the kneeling duo in front of her. Usopp stood behindher with his arms crossed, while Sanji stood to her left with his hands in hispants and Nami, kneeling herself, was next to the table. Her eyes never takeingher eyes off the two of them. Crocus stood apart from everything with his armscrossed and watched everything in silence. "What is that supposed to be?" "Thisis the city we live in. Um...Ma'am," said the green-claded man as he nervouslylooked up at the black-haired woman. "Don't you have your own ship?" Nami askedskeptically. She could smell three miles against the wind that something wasstrange here. "Tragically it was destroyed," the blue-haired woman admitted.Nami leaned forward provocatively with a smug smile and looked the crown bearerdirectly in the eyes. She could see that he had already started sweating."Wouldn't that be a bit too kind on our part, Mr. 9? Especially consideringthat you tried to kill the whale." "Who are you two?" askedUsopp skeptically. "I'm a king!" "Liar!" Nami said gravelyas she pinched the orange-haired man's cheek and pulled his face a little long.She didn't have the nerve for games like that after what she'd been through."We can't tell!" his partner said, head bowed as she stared at theground. Mr. 9, who had been released by Nami, had positioned himself next tohis partner again. "All we want is to return to our city! We didn't really wantto do this kind of menial work..." "...but please understand that'secrecy' is part of our organization's motto!" Miss Wednesday finishedthe sentence. "We really can't say anything!" "We beg youkind-hearted people to help us." "We will certainly repay yourkindness." "Don't listen to them!" Crocus spoke up, "Nomatter what they say, in the end, they're nothing more than a bunch ofconniving scumbags." The thief already had an idea to check how seriousthe duo were. She raised her wrist, which still had the broken Log Portattached, so that the two of them could see it as she put on a mock worriedface. "The thing is, our Log Port is broken and we don't have anotherone... Are you sure you still want to come?" "WHAT?! YOU BROKE IT?!"Mr. 9 shouted angrily as he and his partner jumped up. "THAT BELONGED TO ME, DOYOU ACTUALLY KNOW THAT?!?!" "You made us throw ourselves at your feet when youcan't even get anywhere!" The navigator grinned before turning away slightlyand said, "Oh, but... Crocus is kind enough to give us another one."The two agents froze before immediately throwing themselves back to the ground."We submit to the mercy of your kindness!" Mr. 9 gritted his teeth ashe looked at the orange-haired woman with suppressed anger. "Such a crap! The brat tricked us intotelling her everything!"

Luffy had watched everything in silence beforeshe announced her decision. "Secure. You can come with us." The two agentslooked at the straw hat wearing woman in surprise. "The place is called WhiskeyPeak, right? Let's sail there." She grinned at her friends, who stared ather just as speechless as the duo. "H-hey, are you serious?" Usoppasked worriedly as he started to break out in a cold sweat again, "We justmet these guys and you just want to take them with you?!" "That'sfine. Don't worry about details like that." "The only place fromwhich you can determine your further journey is here at the beginning,"Crocus reminded Luffy. The straw hat wearer looked over her shoulder with agrin before saying: "If we don't like it, we'll just come back." Theglasses wearer couldn't help but smile. "Ah, I see." The captain ofthe Straw Hats turned back to her crew. "All right then. Then let's set sail."She jumped off the table and looked at Laboom once more as she began to getstuck. "I made my promise to Laboom." "And who are you?" asked Miss Wednesday,recovering from her shock. "Me?" the black-haired woman asked and looked ather. "I am the person who will become Pirate King!" Crocus had hiseyes closed and smiled to himself when he heard this. It reminded him ofanother person who had set a seemingly impossible goal for himself. The twoagents looked at each other for a moment before raising a hand to hide theirgrins. "Foolish pirates."

The sun began to slowly sink below the horizon as the last of the cargo was safely brought aboard. "Everything is ready. Your Log Port should now be aligned," said the glasses-wearing man as he watched the crew prepare to set sail. "Did you align it with the map?" "Yes," said Nami, looking at the compass needle. She had used the time to change briefly. She was now wearing a top with pink checkered straps, which was black from the chest down and had the word ''Mode'' written on it in pink letters. She had also swapped her blue skirt for a yellow one with the same pattern. "It points right to Whiskey Peak." "Goodbye, flower granps! And thanks again for the Log Port," Luffy called out as she waved goodbye to Crocus. "Nevertheless. Now make sure you get moving." The straw hat wearer turned to Laboom one last time. "See you then. I will definitely come back, Laboom!" Laboom made his voice sound as if he was also saying goodbye for now. She looked at her friends before shouting, "Set course for Whiskey Peak! Full speed ahead!" "Aye!" The anchor was lightened and the sails let down. Crocus and Laboom watched the Going Merry for a long time before it disappeared over the horizon. "I wonder if these are the pirates we've been waiting for," said Crocus as the wind blew around him, "This girl is quite similar to you and seems to have a similar mysterious aura around her as you, Capatin. Or what would you think...Roger?" 

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* Who remembers that at the beginning the last island was called "Unicorn" and later "Raftel"? 

 In addition, Oda must have come up with the idea of the Road-Porneglyphs later. Because Crocus' statement is completely wrong...or he intentionally told it wrong. This is debatable.