Shalria touched the huge lump on her head and sucked in a sharp breath.
"That hurts! You rotten old man, are you asking for a beating? Take this!"
She coated her right hand in Armament Haki and charged at Garp.
"Huh? Never had a beating before, brat?"
Wham! Another punch.
Shalria dropped straight to the ground, her eyes rolling back.
Sengoku slapped the desk. "Garp, you're putting me in a difficult position here."
Garp scratched his head. "Well, I didn't expect the brat to go down so easily."
The nearby CP0 agents swiftly moved forward and surrounded Garp. One agent stepped up and picked Shalria up.
"Take her for treatment, quickly."
Sengoku sat back in his chair, picked up a document, and handed it to the sheep beside him. The sheep opened its mouth and ate it.
Inside a luxurious, spotless hospital room.
Shalria lay sprawled on the bed, pressing an ice pack firmly against her forehead as she kept hissing in pain.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow... Who even is that old man? Why do his punches hurt so much?"
The CP0 agent standing beside her spoke in a low voice.
"He is Marine Vice Admiral Garp."
Shalria froze, disbelief written all over her face.
"A Marine Vice Admiral? Can a Marine Vice Admiral really be that strong? You've got to be kidding!"
The CP0 agent stood there, momentarily at a loss for words.
A brief silence followed.
Shalria rubbed her forehead and muttered under her breath.
"Fine, fine... That old man really is pretty strong. I spent two whole years training hard, and I couldn't even take one hit from him."
A crisp knock came from outside the hospital room.
"Reporting!"
The CP0 agent reached over and opened the door, and a Marine soldier strode into the room.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku has approved your request to accompany a warship to sea to capture pirates."
Shalria blinked at the news, then looked utterly dismissive.
"Huh? Since when did I need his approval? What a waste of time. Hand it over!"
The CP0 agent beside her took the approval document from the Marine and offered it to Shalria.
Shalria frowned impatiently.
"What are you giving it to me for? I can't read it. Put it away!"
Rubbing her still-aching forehead, she braced herself against the edge of the bed and got up.
"Hurry up, we're going to the warship right now! It really hurts..."
Shalria headed toward the warship in the harbor with her group of CP0 agents.
She looked up at the unmistakable Dog-Head Warship before her, her face full of suspicion.
"Are you sure this ship's number matches the one we were assigned?"
The CP0 crew member beside her nodded.
"Yes, this is the warship."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a familiar figure stood quietly atop the warship's towering dog-head figurehead.
With his hands behind his back, Garp looked down at the group and spoke with a broad grin.
"Hey, brat. Weren't you dead set on going out to sea to fight pirates? Want to sail with this old man?"
Shalria's mouth fell wide open. She pointed rigidly at Garp on the bow, utterly dumbfounded.
"You, you, you..."
Garp answered her in a casual, offhand tone.
"Enough with the 'you' and 'me.' Stick with this old man to catch pirates, and you can't go wrong."
Shalria swallowed and instinctively took a small step back.
Garp leaped from the towering bow and landed heavily behind Shalria.
Shalria spun around and looked up at Garp.
"Brat, once you accept your orders, you're a Marine. Running away before battle isn't a good look."
"I-I'm not!"
"That's not for you to decide."
Garp grinned, grabbed Shalria by the collar, and leaped again, taking her up onto the warship's deck.
The CP0 agents exchanged glances, then followed without hesitation, jumping aboard the warship one after another.
Charlos's large ship sailed slowly onward.
A series of deep, thunderous booms came from the distance, carrying clearly across the sea to the ship.
Charlos bit into the ice pop in his hand and looked into the distance.
"What's that?"
Amina stepped up to the railing and followed his gaze.
"It looks like a mountain."
"A mountain?" Charlos frowned.
"Two mountains. It looks like one mountain is crashing into the other."
As he watched the enormous dark shape, a figure from his memories flashed through Charlos's mind, and he understood.
"I know what's going on."
"What?" Amina turned to look at him.
"They say there's an enormous whale near Reverse Mountain. It keeps ramming the Red Line year after year, trying to smash that mountain apart."
Amina tilted her head, her face full of disbelief.
"What a ridiculous whale. But from here, it really does look just like a huge mountain."
The large ship continued approaching slowly, and as the distance closed, the enormous outline gradually became clearer.
"It really is a whale."
The enormous whale, Laboon, gradually stopped ramming the mountain and floated quietly on the sea.
His head was covered in a patchwork of crisscrossing scars, some deep and some shallow, a shocking sight.
Amira gazed at the colossal creature, a pang of sympathy rising in her heart.
"Charlos, he has so many wounds on his head."
Charlos glanced at her. "What, do you want to treat him?"
Amira nodded firmly.
"I was thinking about it. He just looks so pitiful."
Charlos considered it for a moment, then said, "Why don't you fly over and take a look first?"
Amira blinked and turned to Charlos.
"Huh? What?"
"I said, fly over and take a look first."
Amira didn't understand Charlos's intention at first, but she still spread her snow-white wings, took flight, and flew toward Laboon.
Charlos finished his ice pop in one bite and casually tossed the stick behind him.
Amina reached out and caught the ice pop stick securely, then looked up at Charlos.
"Why did you ask my sister to fly over and take a look?"
"If she doesn't see for herself, she won't understand just how big he is."
"Oh," Amina replied, tossing the ice pop stick into a nearby trash can.
Meanwhile, Amira had already flown back onto the deck, flapping her snow-white wings.
Charlos looked at her. "Well? What do you think?"
Amira shook her head gently.
"I hadn't thought it through enough."
The luxurious ship drew closer and closer to Laboon, and the wind and waves grew stronger with it.
Charlos asked, "How do you think our ship compares to that whale?"
Amira lowered her head in thought for a moment, then answered slowly:
"Even if our ship were twice as big, I'm afraid it would only be about the size of one of his teeth."
The luxurious ship was now right beside Laboon.
Charlos leaped to the top of the ship's tallest mast, drew a deep breath, and shouted at the giant whale on the sea:
"Hey! You're Laboon, right?"
Laboon's enormous eye turned slowly, fixing a heavy gaze on Charlos atop the mast.
Facing the colossal creature, Charlos marveled inwardly.
I'd only heard he was enormous. I never imagined he'd be this terrifyingly huge.
Standing atop the mast, Charlos shouted at the giant whale, "Why are you ramming the Red Line?"
Laboon's enormous eye shifted slightly, turning straight back toward the Red Line ahead, completely ignoring Charlos on the mast.
Charlos's heart sank a little. Seriously? He's just ignoring me?
Just then, a figure leaped down from the top of Laboon's enormous head and landed steadily on the ship's deck.
It was an old man with graying hair and round glasses.
After landing, the old man adjusted the round glasses on his nose, looked up at Charlos atop the mast, and asked:
"Hey, brat, how did you know this whale's name was Laboon?"