Chapter 436: Revenge

Chapter 436: Revenge



The great white whale, once a terrible monster that struck fear into the hearts of his many victims, was now thrashing with waning strength on the surface of the sea in its final death throes.

It was almost sad to watch it die, like something unique in the world was disappearing forever.

Cabernet allowed Zoro out of her chest cavity, careful not to let him go running off again.

Everyone watched him closely as he took in the sight of the dying beast, slowly starting to relax as he came to understand what was happening.

"Is that it?" Zoro seemed almost disappointed. "It died, just like that?"

"I don't know of many creatures that could survive an explosion in its stomach," Law said.

"I can!" Cabernet raised her hand with a proud smile. "Wanna see?"

Before anyone could say anything, Cabernet was rifling through Usopp's pockets.

"Stop it! Do you know how long my exploding stars take to make?!" Usopp cried out.

"Please?" Cabernet gave him puppy dog eyes.

Usopp cringed and tried to look away. He was powerless against Cabernet's puppy dog eyes.

"I believe you, I don't need to see it," Law said.

Cabernet pouted. It was one of her favorite party tricks, swallowing explosives.

*splash*

Everyone's heads swiveled to the water where they saw a familiar old man swimming away from the Polar Tang and towards the almost motionless whale.

"I'll strangle ye... with me bare... hands, monster! There won't be... no miraculous recovery... in yer future!" Baha shouted with each breath he took.

"How did he get untied?!" Law asked, already expanding his Room.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"Sorry, captain. When the news came that the whale was dying, he calmed down and I thought it'd be okay to let him come see for himself..." Bepo said softly, looking depressed.

'So cute...' Robin thought.

"Whatever, it's not a big deal. I'll just swap him with Usopp and he can swim back," Law sighed.

"Why me?!" Usopp complained.

Law opened his Room quickly, but not quick enough.

The whale's body was yanked down into the water with a terrifying amount of force. Baha was left suspended in the air for a fraction of a second before he plummeted down into the water where he disappeared beneath the surface. Law tried to find any trace of him that he could, but the undertow created from such a sizable object being dragged downwards had pulled the old man well beyond his range in only a few seconds.

"He's gone..." Law said, his voice betraying none of the complex emotions swirling below the surface.

Baha had largely been a nuisance for the short time that they had known him, but as far as they were aware it wasn't really his fault. The whale was the one that had driven him mad.

It gave them all a strange feeling, witnessing his death. Bepo felt guilty, of course, as did a few of the others. Perhaps the three samurai were the ones who felt the least. As they saw it, the old man had lived until his hair went gray and he got his revenge too. That was pretty good by a warrior's standards.

Zoro's emotions were largely centered on his own sense of inadequacy. What good did his strength do him if he could just be hypnotized by a big fish?

Usopp's mind wandered to all the close calls he had experienced in his travels. He's gotten better since he first set sail, but he wasn't nearly at the level of the powerhouses that he called friends. If that had been him atop the whale when the kraken dragged it down, the result would have been the same.

"I should have just dove in after him," Franky blew his nose into someone else's

handkerchief.

"It's no use dwelling on it. We're sure to see other people die on our journey to the top of the

world," Robin said. She was no stranger to death.

"That's right. He was just a silly old man who nearly got us all killed," Zoro said.

"Maybe you should dwell on it a little more," Usopp said.

"Look on the bright side. The crushing pressure of all that water crashing into him at once probably killed him instantly, so he didn't have to drown," Robin said.

"You're not helping!" Usopp pointed at her.

"It helps a little bit," Bepo muttered.

"It's nice to be appreciated sometimes," Robin sighed.

"I'm the bad guy?!" Usopp pointed at himself.

Several people nodded so Usopp threw his hands up in the air in surrender and went to sulkin

the corner by himself.

It was several hours later that the unusual quiet on the submarine was broken by thunder. The return of the wild weather of the Grand Line was an almost welcome change. They simply didn't have the time or energy to think about depressing things.

The chaos quickly wore out its welcome, however, as they were soon back to cursing the troublesome weather. Everyone aboard wished that they would arrive at Wano sooner rather than later, and sooner or later they would.