Chapter 47 - Laboon is Hitting the Red Line! The Invaders Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday!

From Crocus' facial expressions, Noah could tell that the man was shocked to hear his name from a stranger. And as he continued to stare mysteriously, the old man spoke, grabbing his hand.

"You know my name, but I don't know yours." Although Crocus wanted to play his usual game of staring for a while, this young man in front of him seemed to already know him.

"My name is Noah, captain of the Black Artemis and a pirate." With a smile, he casually pointed to the ship behind him and continued, "And I'm sorry for starting the conversation this way. You are famous where I come from, the Guardian of the Twin Cape Lighthouse. That's all I know about you."

As he spoke, Nami, Nojiko, and Ryu also disembarked as they docked the ship closest to the island. They naturally stood aside, not interfering in the conversation between the two. They were curious about how Noah knew who the old man was, but they were already used to his habit of always knowing a few things.

"No problem, boy..." Crocus studied the young man in front of him for a while before nodding. He then dropped his harpoon and rope that he was going to use to kill the giant squid and went to the creature while saying, "If you are looking for a way out, you can use those giant gates. They will take you straight to the sea."

"But if we leave now, doesn't it mean we'll end up underwater? The ship could be destroyed by the pressure and completely sink." Nami suddenly realized this, imagining that the whale would not stand still and would submerge in the water.

"..."

Crocus did not immediately respond, but stared at them for a while. Even Nami felt a little uncomfortable, thinking that she had asked an indiscreet question. But after the old man stared too much, she felt a nerve rise on her forehead.

"You’re alrig-"

"Don't worry, he will end up rising eventually and you can go at this time." Crocus casually replied without looking at her, but asked as soon as he touched the squid near the island, "Young man, may I?"

"Sure. We were also thinking about stopping to eat. And I've never eaten grilled squid, so it's a good opportunity now." Noah avoided laughing and answered Crocus's question. He knew that this old man had the weird habit of taking a long time to answer questions while staring.

"You don't know what you're missing-" Crocus was about to teach what a well-done grilled squid is when sudden tremors came.

BAAANG!

The previously calm waters suddenly stirred when a noise joined the tremors, causing the Black Artemis, and even the small island where they were, to shake irregularly. And as none of the people there were weak, they held on steadfastly amidst the tremors.

"Is the whale hitting something?" Noah asked, frowning. He knew very well what Laboon was doing, having seen it in the anime. But experiencing the situation firsthand, it seemed more like the whale was experiencing a tragedy or a huge fight.

"Yes..." Crocus released the giant squid and let out a sigh, "He's hitting against the Red Line."

"That's why the wound marks on his face..." Nojiko remembered seeing several scars, as large as the whale's own face. At that moment, she thought they were marks from battles against other sea creatures, but apparently that was not the case.

BAAANG!

"Do you have any way to make him stop? He might end up opening the wounds." Despite not being in a great situation, and even inside the whale, Nami still felt a bit of sympathy for him. The reason? She didn't know, but she could find out later, after these thunderous tremors stopped.

"Sure." Crocus looked again at this strange crew in front of him and found them a little more pleasing to the eyes, which was not easy, "I built a network of rooms here and one of them has a syringe with sedatives. I need to go now, otherwise he will keep beating until he faints again. Wait here."

BAAANG!

As soon as he finished speaking, Crocus was about to jump into the water when he felt someone approaching him.

"Boat is faster." Noah jumped high and reached the Black Artemis, quickly throwing a small boat that every medium-sized ship carried. He immediately jumped into the boat and invited the old man to enter, "If these beats last longer, the whale will get hurt even more."

BAAANG!

Feeling the tremors again, Crocus just shook his head and jumped towards the boat. Taking the extra pair of oars, the two began to row towards the giant gate at a speed much greater than he could swim. The girls and Ryu stayed on the island watching them go there.

"Boy, why are you helping?" While rowing, Crocus asked in an attempt to probe the character of this young adult in front of him.

“Excluding the fact that I intend to leave here and continue sailing?” Noah showed a weak smile, “It's also an apology. I previously hit the whale with a blow to get him out of the way. I know we could have died if he had continued there, but it's over now."

Looking at him for a while, Crocus just shook his head with a small smile, “While you're sailing the sea, try not to hit any creature that you're not sure you can kill. It can cost your life.”

Without answering back, Noah just nodded.

A short time later they arrived at a staircase that gave access to a small gate on a platform built in the giant gate itself. This door gave access to a giant corridor and in turn, some rooms. One of these rooms contains a large sedative tube that is injected directly into Laboon's bloodstream and makes him calm down.

But, looking at the door, Noah climbed the stairs first with a little anticipation. He remembers that behind it, a small surprise awaits.

And now he wanted to see who would really be surprised.

°°°

Behind the door, carrying two weapons resembling enormous bazookas, were a man and a woman.

Mr. 9, a codename used by his organization, is a young man with red hair. He wears a golden crown and his agent number is written on his cheeks. His outfit consists of a green suit with white lace and a ruffled red scarf. Despite his royal-looking attire, he is not a prince or a king.

Whereas the woman, codenamed Miss Wednesday, has blue hair and wore her ponytail in a very high position. She wears a shirt with dark blue and white circles, shorts fastened with a belt, and a white coat. Overall, she seems like a very beautiful woman, but her facial features are a bit more serious than normal.

"Alright, we managed to infiltrate." With his back to the wall, Mr. 9 spoke with a serious expression, to which he received a nod from the woman, "Listen well, Miss Wednesday. Through these doors is the stomach. The old man must be there. We must eliminate him."

Lowering his bazooka, his expression became a little fiercer.

"Everything for the whale."

"Yes, Mr. 9. This whale is a valuable asset to our town." Understanding her task here, Miss Wednesday looked at him while waiting for his commands.

"Alright, Miss Wednesday. We will open these doors in "Three...Two...One...Baby!". Stay alert." Still leaning against the wall, Mr. 9 calmly gave the instructions on how it would work next.

"Alright, Mr. 9! I'm ready."

With a tacit understanding between them, the two briefly looked at each other before taking a moment to breathe and focus. And as soon as they were ready, they looked at the door with a serious look. Mr. 9 stood in front of the door and was about to give a kick to open it.

"Three...Two...One...Bab-"

Until it opened suddenly, revealing the figures of the old man and another man they didn’t recognize on the other side.

“...”

Looking at each other with wide eyes, the two sides stayed like that for a moment until Crocus coughed.

“You guys again?”

°°°

"How interesting. How long have you been studying medicine? Being able to create an effective sedative for a whale of that size must have taken some time and study..."

Looking around the sedative room, Noah asked Crocus out of curiosity, who was administering the sedative through the huge syringe.

"Since I was very young. I've had my share of experiences as a doctor, and I've been taking care of Laboon since he was little. So it was easy to create an effective sedative, even if I had to change it over the years."

"I see." Noah nodded his head and looked into a corner of the room, "Would it work on them?"

“HHMM! HHMHHHMMHMH! HMMMMM!”

“Hmm… Hmhmhmm…”

Tied in a corner of the room were Mr. 9 and Miss Wednesday. While he was trying his best to protest and try to free himself from the ropes, she just looked at the ceiling of the room as if she had already given up and regretted her actions.

"We can try…" Looking at them too, mainly at Mr. 9, Crocus was tempted with the idea.

And this received a quick rejection from the two, who shook their heads in despair. If a sedative for whales were applied to them, they might as well die right now with their heart going to take a nap forever.

After playing with them, Noah and Crocus realized that everything had calmed down and that the sedative had taken effect. So, taking the two invaders, they returned to the small island.

Now would be a good time to clarify some doubts with Crocus.