Many years ago, in the warm waters of the West Blue, there was a young Island Whale that had just lost its pod.
It was tiny, only a few meters long, drifting aimlessly through the sea.
Until one day, it heard a sound.
Not the waves, not a school of fish, but cheerful voices singing together.
"Yohohoho~ Yohohoho—"
Laboon surfaced and saw a ship flying a skull flag.
The people aboard played instruments, beat drums, and sang to their hearts' content.
It quietly followed that ship, for one day, then another.
At last, the people on the ship noticed it.
They were not afraid or driven it away. Instead, they leaned over the railing and waved at it.
"What a cute little guy! Are you following us?"
"Look! It seems like it's listening to us sing!"
A gentleman with an afro and a suit smiled at it.
"Hoho! Since you like music so much, come travel with us!"
"Our Rumbar Pirates happen to be short on a loyal listener!"
They named it "Laboon."
And so, Laboon found a family.
It followed the Rumbar Pirates' ship across the West Blue, listening to every performance and every joke they shared.
The ship's musician, Brook, even composed bass melodies specifically for it.
Captain Yorki would stroke its head and tell it stories of adventure.
Until they arrived here—at the foot of the Red Line, the entrance to the Grand Line.
"Laboon, it's dangerous ahead. You can't go in with us." Captain Yorki patted its head.
"Wait for us here, all right? Once we sail around the world, three years... three years at most, we'll come back for you!"
"Then Brook can write you a brand-new march!"
Laboon understood.
It let out a reluctant whimper.
But it obediently stopped before Reverse Mountain.
It watched the little ship carrying all its family ride the rising current up the Red Line and vanish beyond the clouds.
Then it began to wait.
One year, two years, three years... ten years, more than ten years.
It grew from a tiny Island Whale into a colossal beast.
It learned to hunt and fend off Sea Kings, yet it never left these waters.
Every day, it surfaced and looked toward the summit of Reverse Mountain, hoping that familiar skull flag would appear again.
Hope gradually became anxiety, anxiety became stubbornness, and stubbornness eventually turned into rage.
Had they forgotten it?
Were they... not coming back?
No! This mountain had to be blocking them!
Break it open! If it broke it open, it could see them again!
And so, day after day, year after year.
Laboon rammed that impossible crimson cliff again and again.
Time returned to the present.
Just as Laboon gathered its strength and prepared for another futile charge—
A figure wreathed in azure flames and trailing golden streaks of light.
Sliced through the air above the sea, hurtling straight toward its scar-covered forehead.
"Pineapple Shrapnel."
Lin Nuo had now fully entered his Phoenix Model.
The elegant yet majestic azure bird spread its wings and swept them forward.
A massive amount of life-filled azure fire poured down.
It enveloped the bleeding impact wound on Laboon's forehead.
The flames seeped into the wound.
That numb yet soothing sensation made Laboon halt just as it was about to exert force.
Lin Nuo hovered before Laboon's enormous eye.
Only at such close range did he truly feel how massive Laboon was.
But compared to the whale in his memories, this one was clearly much "younger," and its wounds were far less horrifying.
Sure enough, the timeline is still early.
Lin Nuo mused inwardly.
If he could stop it from continuing to hurt itself and establish a connection with it now...
The system's four-stage progress should rise by quite a bit.
But how could he stop it?
Wake Laboon up with a beating, like Luffy had?
Just then, inspiration struck him.
The Rumbar Pirates... were all musicians and artists... Laboon loved hearing them sing, especially Brook...
Songs, memories.
He immediately took the Memory Seahorse out of his system inventory.
The little creature swished its tail and looked at him with innocent, confused eyes.
"Laboon likes songs, right? I may not have much else in my head, but I've got more than enough playlists!"
Lin Nuo's eyes lit up.
"Just give it the right medicine."
For the first time, he pressed the Memory Seahorse against his forehead.
He tried to draw out the memories related specifically to the song "Binks' Sake."
The Memory Seahorse glowed blue.
The next moment, an impassioned, festive melody full of firecracker pops and erhu music began to play.
"Good fortune comes, wishing you good fortune! Good fortune brings joy and love—"
Lin Nuo: "???"
No, no! Skip the song!
The seahorse flashed again.
"Congratulations on getting rich! Congratulations on your splendor~ Let the bad things come over, and let the best things go away—"
Cold sweat broke out on Lin Nuo's forehead.
Not this one either!
The seahorse's blue glow flickered erratically, then it tossed out another tune—it was the ending theme from some anime, "Flower of Hope"~
Laboon shook its head.
It glanced at Lin Nuo with its enormous eye, puzzled by this tiny thing that had stopped it from ramming the mountain.
Please move aside. I need to keep ramming it!
It let out a warning cry and began backing away, preparing to charge again.
"Come on, buddy, put some effort into it!" Lin Nuo hugged the Memory Seahorse.
"If you pull the wrong one again, we're both getting sent flying by this whale!"
At the words "sent flying," the Memory Seahorse shuddered.
It pressed tightly against Lin Nuo's forehead and dove deeper, searching more precisely...
Found it!
"This is the one!!"
Lin Nuo's spirits rose.
By then, Laboon had finished gathering strength.
It let out a whine and prepared to surge forward!
Even with azure flames still on its forehead, it did not care.
Lin Nuo exploded forward in his flame-off form, turning into a streak of azure lightning.
In an instant, he appeared beside Laboon's eye.
He pressed the Memory Seahorse directly against it.
Then—
Ding.
A simple piano note rang inside Laboon's mind.
Ding-dong, ding ding-dong...
Laboon's charging body seemed to have had its pause button pressed.
[Yohohoho~ Yohohoho, yohohoho, yoho, hoho!]
The piano laid out the melody, and strings quietly joined in...
[Bring Binks' Sake to your side...]
[Like the sea breeze, freely riding the wind and waves...]
Laboon's eye widened instantly.
Then its round eye gradually rippled like water, trembling.
Huge tears rolled from Laboon's eyes, crashing into the sea and splashing up waves.
[Across the sea, even the sunset is lively...]
[Birdsong draws circles in the sky...]
The image of everyone raising their cups, singing "Yohohoho" with it beneath the sunset...
[We pirates cleave through the waves... skull sails and skull flags flutter in the wind...]
[Endless, aimless, simply singing to our hearts' content...]
[Yohohoho~ Yoho, hoho! Yohohoho, yoho, hoho...]
The final note.
Carrying the scent of drink and carefree abandon, it slowly faded away.
The music ended.
The threads on the seahorse's body snapped.
Lin Nuo returned to human form, put away the Memory Seahorse, and stood beside Laboon's eye.
"Laboon, listen! The Rumbar Pirates never forgot you! Their musician, Brook, is still alive somewhere in this world!"
"It's just that something happened to them in the Grand Line. They lost their way for now and couldn't return."
Laboon's enormous eye snapped into focus on Lin Nuo.
"I promise you," Lin Nuo said solemnly, word by word.
"Once I gain a foothold in the Grand Line and build up my own forces, I'll find the Rumbar Pirates' survivors. I'll find Brook and his ship!"
"I'll bring them back here and have them perform Binks' Sake for you in person again!"
"So don't ram it anymore."
"Live well, stay healthy, and wait for us to return. This is our new promise."
Laboon looked at the determined human before it, black wings growing from his back.
Slowly, slowly, it opened its enormous mouth.
It let out a long, deep whale song.
"Woooooo—"
The song pierced the sea's surface and echoed between the rocky walls of the Red Line.
In the distance, everyone aboard the Quest for Knowledge and the White Shell watched the scene in breathless silence.
They were stunned, speechless.
Stockton quickly recorded everything in his notebook.
Laboon took one final, deep look at Lin Nuo.
Then it slowly sank, stirring up a massive whirlpool.
At last, it vanished beneath the surface.
Lin Nuo let out a long breath.
"Done!"
But I really will have to find Brook in the future. I already made the promise, he thought. And the ship really does need a musician right now.
Brook and Uta would both be suitable choices.
Too bad one is still a ghost in the Florian Triangle, while the other hasn't even been born yet.
Forget it. I'll worry about that later.
He turned to look at the now clearly visible Reverse Mountain and the Twin Cape lighthouse.
"The interlude is over. Time to handle the real business."
"Whiskey Peak, the Grand Line, Poneglyph rubbings... Here I come!"
He spread his wings and flew back toward the White Shell.
Meanwhile, atop the towering lighthouse at Twin Cape.
A burly middle-aged man wearing glasses, with hair shaped like cactus petals, lowered the newspaper in his hands.
He had watched the entire scene: that stubborn, foolish whale stopped ramming the mountain, spoke with a flying human, then sank into the sea.
He stroked his chin.
"Healing wounds with flames, soothing the soul with music, and making a promise like that..."
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Crocus's mouth.
"A Lunarian, with the Phoenix ability."
"Interesting."
"Looks like the lighthouse won't be too boring for a while."
He picked up the teacup from the small table beside him and took a light sip, his gaze once again turning toward Lin Nuo's ship.
His eyes were filled with scrutiny and anticipation.
Before you continue