Rain

While we were still debating the old man's words, a small iron door above the front was suddenly opened, and three figures fell straight into the sea of ​​stomach acid.A woman with long blue hair looked surprised, a man in green clothes and a crown yelled and fell, and the last one was a black-haired boy in a red vest and a straw hat.

Luffy?

When he fell down, he saw us, with surprise on his face, and smiled brightly while pressing his hat: "What, you are all here!" Then he fell into the sea water with a splash, splashing into the sky.

Zoro cursed, and quickly jumped down to fish him up.Back on the deck, both of them were wet, the corners of my eyes twitched, and I turned my head to look aside.It wasn't stomach acid that slowly dripped onto the deck from them, well, it wasn't a mixture of stomach acid and undigested corpses, it wasn't...

And the two people who fell with Luffy took advantage of this gap to swim to the small island next to them and stood up.He didn't lose the small cannon barrel he was holding when he fell, and aimed at the stomach wall of the whale through a scope on his shoulder, singing in harmony.

I gritted my teeth, stepped on the railing and jumped out, a silver light flashed in my hand.

"Now that we're in!" They moved in unison and pulled the trigger, "It doesn't matter where you make a hole!" The two cannons shot straight at the stomach wall of the whale next to the iron gate.

At this time, as if the scene was not chaotic enough, the small door on the high place was opened again, and the old man rushed out with a speargun: "I will never let you hurt Rab!" Covering his chest, he opened his eyes wide.But the blow did not land on him, the originally smooth trajectory of the cannonball suddenly stopped in front of him, and then the solid cannon shell was torn apart without being exploded, and quietly fell into the sea of ​​stomach acid below with him .

The faces of the two strangely dressed people were originally flushed, but after seeing this sudden phenomenon, their faces froze with laughter, full of puzzlement.The woman with long blue hair frowned, with a puzzled tone: "Mr9, this, this is?"

"I don't know, MissWedsday..." The man placed the bazooka on his shoulder again, "Try again! We will take it back as food for the town!"

Using numbers and day codes as names to address each other...it is Barot's studio where bounty hunters gather.

I, still dripping with water, frowned, and said in a cold tone, "No matter how many times I try, it's useless." Someone from behind gave a heavy punch, and then firmly tied them up with the solid hemp rope in the bag. up.

I still haven't forgotten the way Ryan taught me to punch.And Eric smiled brightly and wrapped the rope, but his subordinates used such strength to tie up the enemy that they were foaming at the mouth, which has always impressed me deeply.

So there is no pressure to imitate.

The old man also swam back to the island, looked at me with a complicated expression: "Girl, you have become stronger."

Probably, otherwise it would not re-enter the great channel, would it?

I finished the action of binding my hands, looked at the two bound hands and feet, and clapped my hands in satisfaction: "Yeah." After looking at MissWednesday twice more, I twisted my clothes uncomfortably, wanting to wash a bath...

After going out, the old man sat by the campfire and told us the story of Raab bit by bit.

For 50 years, the pirates and accompanying whales were left to wait and never came back.So the whale hit the red earth angrily with its head, day after day, year after year.

It was embarrassing to hear.

Luffy sat aside puzzled, and complained: "Those pirates are really too much, why haven't they come back?"

"Stupid, this is a great waterway." Sanji lit a cigarette, looked at the blue sky and the vast ocean, and said in a faint voice, "If you come back in two or three years, if you haven't come back in 50 years, they He's dead and can't come back."

Probably so...

"How can you say such words without dreams!" Usopp thumped the table angrily, and raised his voice, "I don't know the result yet, maybe they will really come back! Don't you think this story is very touching? A whale that has always believed in the agreement of its companions!" He didn't wait for our answer, and turned his head to me: "Rain, that's right! Didn't you go to the great channel and come out smoothly?"

I lowered my eyes and didn't answer.Usopp's originally confident expression began to disintegrate in my silence, gradually fragmented.

The old man Sunflower, who was looking at the lighthouse, was more direct, looking up at the blue sky, ruthlessly crushing Usopp's expectations: "Facts are crueler than imagination."

"They escaped." He lowered his head, sat alone on the side, his back to us, and said calmly, "They escaped from the great channel. We have obtained definite information."

I raised my head abruptly. They might not know it here, but I know very well how easy it is to transmit news and intelligence on the Great Channel?With a flash of inspiration, the number was instantly matched in my mind.Gu Luokas, with extremely superb medical skills, is known as the hand of the god of death. It is said that he can even snatch people back from the god of death. He sailed with One Piece more than 20 years ago and disappeared after conquering the great waterway.I looked at the old man in surprise, so he became the watchman of the Twin Strait Lighthouse?

"What, what!" Usopp was too shocked to speak coherently, stunned.

"How is this possible!" Nami was the first to retort, with cold sweat dripping from her forehead, probably remembering our recent experience of escaping from death, "To escape from the great channel, one must Through the windless belt!"

"Exactly. That's why their life and death are uncertain." The old man folded his hands on his chest, his glasses were flooded and he couldn't see his expression clearly. "The weather, flow direction, season, and wind direction on this sea are all in chaos. On this sea, Common sense doesn't apply."

Eric was in the Navy before entering the Grand Line with the Spades Pirates and sailed on the Grand Line a lot, so we didn't have any major problems.But at that time, several of us were frightened by the unpredictability of the great channel.

It is no exaggeration to say that the climate of the Great Channel changes rapidly.

A hot summer day can turn into ice and snow in an instant, and the northward wind may blow to the south in a second.I clearly remember that when Eric first entered this ocean, he was far less proficient than later.He would often have to get up and correct his course before he could eat a few bites. Although the smile on his face was still bright, anyone with a discerning eye could see that he was extremely irritable in his heart and dared not approach him.

The men on board quietly blamed it on: "He's on his period."

Of course, there's no need to tell you what happened to the guy Eric caught calling him that in his face one day.

I can only tell you that while complaining about the increased workload, Wally smiled happily at the new test subject.This is the so-called pain and happiness.Of course, please don't doubt Wally's attributes, he is a complete ghost.

Wally...

This name I have to repeat like a prayer every day before going to bed...I unconsciously recall happy memories about him every day...Only in this way can I continue to grow stronger and stronger with a smile, instead of crying and crying Despair ends life.

There was a flash of pain in my eyes, and I subconsciously covered my right with my left hand, trying to maintain a calm expression.

The old man's eyes suddenly became sharp: "The scary thing about this ocean is that it can manipulate the cowardly heart in an instant."

He has lived here for so long, and has seen countless ships come and go, enter and leave.He has seen someone with a face full of hope and confidence flee back in embarrassment, his face pale.He has seen vicious people go in, and when they come back, they are skinny and have dull eyes.

Sanji sat at the table leisurely, put out his cigarette butt, and said in a leisurely tone, "So, in order to save their own lives, those cowardly people no longer cared about keeping any promises, and slipped away from the great channel."

"You mean they abandoned this whale!" Usopp was so excited that his hands and feet were trembling with anger, "It's too much! It has been waiting for 50 years! A full 50 years!"

"I told it. I didn't hide anything, but it just kept going." The old man closed his eyes, his tone helpless, "It's true that they made an agreement with it. But they won't come back. But it just won't listen From now on, I will hit the Red Earth Continent with my head again and again.” Then he sat where he was, without saying a word for a long time.We fell silent, and no one interrupted his recollection.

50 years...for a promise...

"It's almost like insisting that they will come back from there immediately." His voice was a bit bitter, "I tried to tell it again and again, but it refused to accept the reality."

Usopp's tone was puzzled: "This whale is really strange. It's still waiting... there's no point in waiting any longer."

No, I can probably understand... If you wait for something, waiting without meaning is emptiness, an emptiness that makes people want to die.The entire waiting process was completely denied, which is terrifying.

"It is the lack of meaning that is scary." The old man's tone was vicissitudes, and the pain honed by the years could not be concealed. "The loss of the meaning of waiting is more terrifying than anything else."

I bowed my head quietly.

What I'm going to do next... probably... makes sense, right?Nothing is more important than revenge for Wally who died because of me.Sometimes I hate my good memory, remembering every detail of that night.It's just that all the emotions, sadness, shame, pain, panic, and fear, have all settled into deep-seated hatred in the past two years.

For the name I would say every night following Wally.

killer.

His hands clenched into fists.

"The opposite of it is its hometown, the West Sea. But it can't go back." The old man was still talking slowly, "so its companions are its only hope."

I can't go home, I can never go back... My eyelashes fluttered slightly, and my eyes didn't open.

The sun is bright and warm, but there is still a coldness in my heart.

Sanji frowned slightly, with a newly lit cigarette in his mouth: "Actually, you don't need to worry about it, do you?"

"Although I have a strange relationship with it, we have been together for 50 years." The old man smiled, "Can we ignore it now?"

Zoro stood aside, silent, not knowing what he was thinking.

Nami covered her mouth and said nothing.

Then when everyone was feeling emotional, Luffy rose up unexpectedly and attacked Rab, and we were collectively dumbfounded.I looked at the Golden Meili silently, and gave Yang Shou a consoling look.A moment of silence for you meeting such a single-celled captain... that is the most important mainmast of a sailboat...

The nonsensical scene dilutes my emotions.

It is no exaggeration to say that the earth was shaking and the mountains were shaking when Luffy fought Rab.

In the past, there was a great roc that spread its wings for thousands of miles, and there was a fish in Beiming, named Kun.The Kun is so big, I don't know how many thousands of miles away it is.The scene that the ancients saw back then was nothing more than this.

Luffy was thrown flying by Rab, fell heavily on the stone wall, and fell.When we wanted to go over to see his injury, Luffy got up and popped out such a sentence without thinking: "It's a tie."

We were stunned, and so was Rab.

Luffy looked up at Rab, with a serious tone: "Listen! We haven't finished this fight, but we haven't decided the outcome with you yet! Although your companion is dead, I am your enemy! Wait I will come to see you again after I make a round trip from the Great Channel! Let’s do it then!”

If you are afraid of losing the reason to wait and live in despair, I will give you a reason to live.

What a domineering and direct guy.

We clearly saw that the giant whale's eyes were filled with tears, and it was singing upwards.

There was a long-lost smile on the old man's face, and our group had the same smile on their faces, dark or shallow, with helpless expressions.

"Very good." Luffy carried a paintbrush that was bigger than himself, borrowed from the old man, and looked at the huge graffiti on the whale's head with satisfaction, "This is our battle agreement!"

The graffiti whale couldn't see it because of the angle, so it chirped in approval.

I personally think that if it really saw the post-modern art pattern, it would be a different matter.

"Until we come back, don't bang your head against the red earth continent, and get rid of the pattern!" Luffy's voice was crisp, his smile was sunny, and he looked very comfortable.Rab tweeted his approval again, and the smile on the face of the old man standing aside never faded away.

Sanji is preparing meals in the cabin, Usopp is helplessly repairing the ship, and Zoro is sleeping.And I was pulled by Nami to study the nautical chart.

"Old man." I stopped the administrator of the Twin Straits when he approached, and I was very polite, "Do you have any extra record pointers?"

"Yes." The old man, who was obviously in a good mood, looked at me with some surprise, and asked confirmingly, "You don't have any?"

I shook my head and looked straight into his eyes: "No, mine is the permanent pointer."

"Recording pointer? Permanent pointer? The previous one?" Nami looked at the cloud from the side, wondering, "What is that?"

I signaled Nami to take out the compass, and as expected, I saw her turn pale with fright: "What! The compass is out of control!"

"Each island in the great waterway has its own magnetic field." The old man dutifully explained, "And the record pointer can record the route to the next island, which is the only way to move forward in the great waterway without getting lost."

"There are seven routes in the great waterway, and they will converge into one after passing through the red earth continent again." I added calmly, and glanced at the old man, "then the last island, Raftan Road, is the end of the great waterway."

"So, is OnePiece there!" Usopp was excited, and put down the knocking in his hand.

The old man shook his head, and said in a calm tone, "I don't know. Only the fleet led by One Piece has arrived." I raised my eyebrows. If the old man didn't want to point out that I was a member of the fabled fleet, of course I wouldn't say it. .

Lu Fei's tone was casual, and he didn't think it was a big deal: "That kind of thing, don't you know if you go and see it?"

"I'll give you my own one." The old man smiled when he heard Luffy's answer, "As a thank you for helping Rab."

Before leaving, I sat in a quiet place and closed my eyes.It was pitch black in front of my eyes, and gradually, dots of quiet flames of different colors ignited in the darkness.Close to that light blue flame, the vast loneliness like sea waves, my soul connects with it.

"...!" Shocked, extreme, shocked.

"They will definitely come back." I thought quietly, knowing that my voice was echoing in the whale's mind at this moment.

After the shock, there was silence, a long silence.

"I believe him." The syllables gushing out, the language of the whale, I understood.

The record pointers of two secret agents were lost, and they had the nerve to beg us to send them back.

The captain's expression is very simple: "Yes."

So we carried the record pointer and set off again after Rab and the old man said goodbye.

The direction of progress, according to the two agents, is called Whiskey Peak.

The old man's record pointer is pointing in the same direction as mine, what a... nice coincidence.

The author has something to say:

Hey, it's finally time to reach Whiskey Peak.

Hangman, hangman, la la la~