Chapter 102

Coasting down the canal toward open water, the crew hears a thunderous bellow and Usopp spots what looks like a mountain blocking the path. Nami expects clear sea ahead, but the obstacle turns out to be a colossal whale that resembles a sheer wall and seemingly cannot see the tiny ship. Their scramble for a plan goes nowhere. Luffy's cannon idea succeeds only in firing a ball at the creature, which snaps off the Going Merry's figurehead. Furious that his favorite perch is gone, Luffy slugs the whale in the eye, provoking it to swallow the vessel entirely.

The Straw Hats officially enter the Grand Line, only to be blocked by the giant whale Laboon. Luffy's special seat is destroyed and the Going Merry is gulped down. Luffy himself lands atop the whale rather than inside it, hammering its skull as it begins to submerge, and he notices a metal hatch on its surface just before it goes under. Inside, Zoro, Nami, Sanji, and Usopp find themselves seemingly outdoors on an island, where a harpoon spears a passing giant squid, hinting that someone lives within the beast. Luffy, meanwhile, ends up crawling through a tunnel in the whale's body.

The cover continues the Diary of Koby-Meppo series, Vol. 17, "Helmeppo's Determination," in which Helmeppo summons his nerve for the first time and openly disowns his father Morgan. An art oversight places Morgan's axe on his left arm rather than his right. Crocus appears only in shadow at the lighthouse, foreshadowing the man dwelling inside Laboon.