Luffy knew perfectly well that, under normal circumstances, he really should not have had such a thought.
But the thought had already surfaced, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Thoughts raced through Luffy's head like a barrage of scrolling comments.
The sight of those smug faces made his chest tighten. No matter how he looked at it, it left him deeply uncomfortable.
The old man was still drifting back and forth on the sea, his breathing so faint it seemed it could stop at any moment.
Luffy reached down, hauled him out of the water, and took him straight back to the little hut.
The old man froze, staring at him with a very strange look in his eyes.
"Thank you for saving me. But honestly, why did you choose to save me out of nowhere? Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't have had any reason to, would you?"
Luffy shook his head.
Luffy did not respond.
"I don't know why either. Maybe it was just because I didn't like the look of them. Whenever I don't like the look of someone, I usually just take action. I've always had a violent temper."
"Anyway, what exactly happened? Why is this guy doing that?"
The old man sighed.
A look of utter helplessness settled over his face.
"To put it bluntly, those guys are thugs from a nearby village."
"Their goal has always been clear: they want to catch Laboon."
"If they catch Laboon, they can feast on him."
"With a body that big, he could feed their village for two or three years."
"Laboon is the biggest whale living in the West Blue."
"How could I possibly let him become food? There's a reason he keeps ramming the Red Line and roaring like mad."
"He's a whale with