The first obstacle to entering the Grand Line was neither vicious pirates nor abnormal weather, but a fish:
Laboon the whale.
This giant whale, an "Island Whale" by species, fully lived up to its name. Just the upper half of its body above the water stood over a thousand meters tall, its enormous size resembling a moving island.
Day after day, it guarded the entrance to the Grand Line, waiting for the master from whom it had been separated years ago. It relied on self-harm by ramming the Red Line to ease the longing and grief in its heart.
Laboon itself had no intention of hurting anyone, but its massive body, stretched across the entrance to the Grand Line, was an insurmountable barrier in itself.
If sailors entered the Grand Line during Laboon's active hours, they would have to face this unexpected beast head-on.
Every year, many fleets with poor navigational skill and weak ships met their end here, their vessels destroyed and their crews killed before they could even touch the Grand Line's doorknob.
And being stared at directly by Laboon's eye, larger than a ship itself, was an even more terrifying experience.
"M-Monster!"
"It's looking at us!"
The pirates cried out in panic, their minds blank with terror at the sight of Laboon's eye.
Even Garen, who had been mentally prepared, could not help but be stunned by the spectacular sight after personally seeing Laboon's colossal body, as immense as the legendary Kun of the Dao Realm.
Garen was only briefly distracted when the panicked pirates caused considerable trouble:
A pirate frightened out of his mind stared at that horrifyingly enormous eye, and his muddled brain made an extremely terrible decision:
"Fire! Blow that monster to death!"
The pirates seemed to have a special superstition about their advanced