Over on the other ship, Brook—who looked as if he'd just experienced some great trauma—approached meekly. "Yes, I won't die."
Brook didn't dare say anything out of line, because Luffy's fist had hurt too much. The kind of pain that struck straight at the soul.
He was a skeleton—he shouldn't have been able to feel pain at all!
But Luffy, after punching Brook, didn't follow any logical pattern.
"So... do you poop?" Luffy asked curiously, staring at Brook.
"Why, yes. I do indeed poop."
Fortunately, Brook could handle any kind of question.
You're all impossible!
If this kept up, who knew where the conversation would end up.
Nami couldn't take it anymore. She bit Luffy's neck, her words muffled and broken. "Can you two just have a normal conversation?!"
Who even comes up with questions like that?
Luffy might have matured in some ways, but his tastes hadn't changed. He inevitably invited this interesting skeleton onto the Thousand Sunny.
Faced with Luffy's invitation, Brook accepted. Luffy's habit of throwing punches without warning was terrifying he suspected that if he refused, his head would end up covered in lumps.
Not that Brook was afraid of getting hit, but for some reason, Luffy's punches hurt extra.
"Yo ho ho ho."
Brook straightened his top hat, his bones still aching, but he let out his signature laugh. "Our first meeting may have been somewhat unconventional, but I am honored by the invitation."
Besides, he had drifted alone for decades. He truly longed for human interaction. He might look like a skeleton, but inside, he was still human!
This gentleman of bones was welcomed aboard the bright, lively Thousand Sunny.
Compared to his dilapidated, deathly ghost ship, this place was paradise!
Aboard the Thousand Sunny—
"Yo ho ho ho! A pleasure to meet you all. I am Brook, reduced to nothing but bones in death. I look forward to working with you."
Brook rested one hand on his cane, raised his little top hat slightly with the other, and executed a perfect gentleman's bow to the Straw Hat crew.
A formal introduction, as if he hadn't just been punched across the deck by Luffy moments ago.
Brook's gaze swept over the crew, lingering briefly on Vivi.
Nami and Robin had gone with Luffy to his ship. If asking them had gotten him punched, surely this one wouldn't—
Were all the women on this ship yours?
He instinctively wanted to say something. He stepped forward—then caught Luffy's friendly smile out of the corner of his eye and immediately swallowed whatever inappropriate question had risen to his non-existent lips. He simply bowed slightly in Vivi's direction. "Good evening, beautiful lady."
Not saying it. Never saying it again.
Chopper and Usopp had initially been hiding behind Zoro and Sanji, peeking out with only half their faces visible to look at the talking skeleton.
But seeing that Brook was polite, witty, and charming, they gradually lowered their guard and couldn't help but crowd around him curiously.
"Are you really human?" Chopper mustered his courage and cautiously poked Brook's ribs with his hoof. This was challenging everything he knew as a doctor!
"Ah, yes. In my previous life, I was human!" Brook replied cheerfully.
Luffy spoke with authority. "It's a Devil Fruit ability, right?"
"Indeed. I died once, but thanks to the Yomi Yomi no Mi, my soul returned to this body. Unfortunately, by the time it came back, the flesh had already rotted away, leaving only bones. Yo ho ho ho~ My apologies for frightening you all."
"So Devil Fruits can even bring the dead back to life."
Sanji slowly exhaled a smoke ring, marveling. "Life and death are eternal laws that all things in this world obey. For a soul to return from the underworld is already extraordinary. But for a body reduced to a skeleton to continue living as a life form... truly unbelievable."
Luffy laughed, holding up Merry. "The sea is full of wonders!"
Resurrection could exist.
Ship spirits—creatures of legend—could exist.
On this sea, any wild idea a human could imagine could become reality!
Luffy and the others showed tremendous warmth toward their polite skeletal guest.
Sanji specially prepared tea and pastries.
Nami wanted to point out the obvious how could a skeleton eat at all?
But as everyone watched Brook expertly lifted a teacup, took a small sip, then pick up a cake, their expressions grew quite complicated.
The food went right in and fell right out through his ribs!
"Sanji-san, your cooking is wonderful! I haven't tasted anything this delicious in decades! So good I could swallow my own tongue—ah, though I no longer have a tongue."
Everyone gradually got used to Brook's morbid little jokes.
If anything, it brought them closer.
A skeleton who tells dark jokes!
For the trio of Chopper, Usopp, and Franky, this was irresistible.
This kind of eccentric character also hit right at Luffy's preferences. He was also quite curious about why Brook was here.
So he asked, "From what you've said, you've been here a long time? Why haven't you left?"
"Because my shadow was stolen."
Brook spoke of his plight, his voice growing heavier. "The one who took my shadow is the master of these waters—Gecko Moria, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Without a shadow, I cannot leave this foggy sea. I cannot stand in sunlight. I have drifted here for over forty years, like a lost soul."
Hearing this, everyone was outraged.
Moria was truly despicable.
And surely Brook wasn't the only victim. Too many ships disappeared in these waters every year. Countless others had likely been exposed to sunlight without their shadows and vanished from the world.
After this exchange, Brook looked at Luffy and the others and remembered his old crewmates. He gripped his cane tightly, his hollow eye sockets gazing into the distance.
"Thanks to you, Luffy-san, I've finally made up my mind. I will reclaim my shadow. I will carry on the unfinished dream of my departed comrades!" Brook stood and bowed.
"If I may be so bold will you grant me one final request? The odds of retrieving my shadow are slim, but if I succeed, I want to use my ship to return to Twin Capes, to see the partner who waited for us. So before we part, might I borrow some tools to repair my rudder..."
"Twin Capes?" Luffy blinked. Isn't that where Laboon is?
"Laboon!" Usopp and Sanji practically shouted in unison, pointing at Brook. "Are you from the Rumbar Pirates—the crew that made a promise to that island whale?!"
Brook froze, his bones trembling slightly. "You know Laboon?"
Luffy grinned. "Of course we do. That guy is our crewmate now."
He would never forget that foolish whale.
Luffy had already thought before that he wanted to use his own strength to bring Laboon to the Grand Line. With his current power, he could do it—after they sailed full circle around the Grand Line.
When Brook learned from Luffy and the others that Laboon had spent years ramming his head against the Red Line, desperately waiting for the Rumbar Pirates to return—only stopping after Luffy and his crew passed by and made a new promise—he could no longer contain his emotions.
Though he had no tears, the keening wail that escaped him, like a boiling kettle, and the trembling of his bones, spoke volumes about the turmoil inside him.
"Waaah... thank goodness... Laboon is alive... he still remembers us." Brook covered his face, his sobs mixed with his distinctive laugh, creating a sound that was especially poignant.
Now Luffy and the others finally understood why the Rumbar Pirates had never fulfilled their promise to Laboon.
It wasn't that they didn't want to—it was that they couldn't.
Once his emotions had settled somewhat, Brook formally introduced himself: "I haven't properly stated this yet—I am Brook, acting captain and musician of the Rumbar Pirates. My bounty in life was 33 million berries."
Brook even pulled out his old wanted poster.
Zoro crossed his arms. "Since you're connected to that whale, giving you a ride to find Moria and reclaim your shadow—that's not a problem."
"Exactly. If you're Laboon's crewmate, then you're our crewmate," Usopp agreed.
That said, everyone instinctively looked to Luffy.
Based on their understanding of their captain, meeting someone like Brook—a skeleton, connected to Laboon, and a musician to boot—should have made Luffy's eyes light up as he immediately extended an invitation to join.
And yet, Luffy looked remarkably composed.
No, on closer inspection, his eyes were sparkling. He was definitely tempted.
But he was calculating.
This crewmate recruitment event lasted two days. If Brook agreed right now, wouldn't the remaining time be wasted?
No, no—he needed to find a way to make Brook be the one to ask to join, and time it for the very end!
So Luffy suppressed his immediate urge to invite Brook and said instead, "Hey, Brook. How about we help you take your shadow back from Moria?"
Brook blinked and quickly waved his hands. "No, no, that's far too dangerous! Gecko Moria, who stole my shadow, is a Warlord of the Sea—incredibly powerful! I couldn't drag you into this."
"Don't worry about it. Our captain might be an idiot, but he's strong!"
Nami couldn't help tugging at Luffy's cheek as she spoke to Brook. "Besides, he was already planning to go after Moria anyway."
What's one Warlord? It's not like they've never fought one before. Luffy didn't even mind Nami's hand on his face. He grinned.
"Don't worry. We've beaten Crocodile, that other Warlord. We've fought God Enel of Skypiea, Rob Lucci of CP9, and we've clashed with Admiral Aokiji too. Before we got here, I even defeated the legendary pirate Golden Lion.Our crew's combined bounty is over 1.5 billion berries!"
Eh?
Ehhh?!
***
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