Entering the Florian Triangle, the entire ship felt as if it had sailed straight into hell.
Thick, inky fog blanketed sky and sea alike; darkness, like a god that ruled everything, enshrouded the whole waterscape.
Even though the Uchiha carried only the Navy Headquarters' finest—veterans who had followed Vice Admiral Chiyu across every corner of the world and through countless major incidents—the unknown terror before them still left everyone on edge and highly alert.
Nami had already heard Chiyu explain this place's secrets, yet knowledge did not banish fear.
She hid behind Rear Admiral Hina, timidly poking her head forward.
Franky, by contrast, showed no fear at all. His remodeled hands clanged together with a metallic crash, as though he were itching for these rumored ghosts to appear.
Just then—
A battered pirate ship really did loom out of the black mist ahead…
Nami gasped.
All the marines turned to look.
The vessel looked as if it had drifted alone for centuries: sails riddled with holes, hull nearly in pieces—by rights it should not have been able to sail at all.
More unnerving still, eerie music drifted from that tattered "ghost" ship…
Nami screamed again; several sailors broke into cold sweat.
Franky, however, gave a low laugh. "Let me go see what secrets this ghost ship is hiding!"
Chiyu already knew exactly who was aboard.
"I'm going too."
"What?!"
Seeing Chiyu-sama eager, Nami quickly blurted, "Th‑Then I'll go too! It's safer near Chiyu-sama…"
Chiyu nodded. "Rear Admiral Hina, you stay behind."
"Yes, Vice Admiral!"
Though he had been demoted, Hina and many others still addressed Chiyu as "Vice Admiral"—part habit, part quiet protest against HQ's decision.
Chiyu, Franky, and Nami boarded the ghost ship.
Chiyu soon located the source of the music.
An afro‑haired figure stood at the rail, singing.
Nami exhaled in relief. "So someone really is singing—I thought it was a ghost!"
The singer turned at the sound of voices.
Nami's soul nearly fled her body; her shriek echoed across the Florian Triangle.
"A g‑ghost!!"
The afro had no human face; save for the hair, the entire body was nothing but a pallid, gleaming skeleton!
Even Franky's expression finally changed. "It… it really is a ghost?!"
He leveled his left arm, which had already morphed into a cannon, ready to fire.
The "ghost" hurriedly lowered his violin and waved frantically. "Please—don't shoot! I‑I'm not an actual spirit! I only came back to life because I ate the Yomi Yomi no Mi…"
"Yomi Yomi no Mi?"
Franky and Nami were both taken aback.
"Yes. After eating the Revive‑Revive Fruit, I revived one day after death. My body had rotted to bare bones, yet somehow I still returned… Yohohoho!"
His cheerful laugh in such a form left Franky and Nami speechless.
"So that can happen… Well, if it's Devil Fruit power, I guess nothing's impossible. Still, you shouldn't go around scaring people like this!"
The skeleton shook his skull. "No, I wasn't trying to frighten anyone. It's just that…"
He recounted his story: once a member of the Rumbar Pirates, his death, the Revive‑Revive Fruit's awakening, and—most important—his current plight.
"While wandering alone here, I encountered the Warlord Gecko Moria. He cut off my shadow; ever since, I've been trapped in this sea. If I step into sunlight, I'll perish again…
"I've tried many times to reclaim my shadow, but even when I sneak onto Thriller Bark, I can't defeat the swordsman who stole it—Ryuma, the zombie's body, once a great samurai from Wano. I also fence, yet I'm no match for him…"
Franky and Nami finally understood.
"Your name is Brook?"
"That's right."
Nami said, "Chiyu-sama, he was a pirate, but… he's already dead."
Chiyu nodded. "I won't kill him."
Death had already atoned for Brook's past sins, and in any case, Brook no longer had the power to do evil.
Franky clenched his fist. "The real culprit is that damned Gecko Moria! He's behind everything here—killing who‑knows‑how‑many people, making a shadow army, a zombie army… He's utterly deranged!"
"Chiyu-sama," he urged, "let's go take him down!"
"I'm going too!" Nami added.
Brook bowed. "If you're going after Moria, please take me along. I can help, at least a little."
Chiyu gave no objection. They returned to the Uchiha, and soon—
With Brook guiding them, they drew near the legendary Thriller Bark.
"They say it's the largest ship in the world. Frankly, it's more a floating town than a vessel. But beware: stitched‑up zombies everywhere, and shadow soldiers made from stolen shadows."
In this chapter, Chiyu meant to test his subordinates, so he planned not to fight himself.
Leaving a detachment to guard the warship, he led Rear Admiral Hina, Franky, Nami, Brook, several Marine majors, and elite soldiers onto Thriller Bark.
Just as Brook had said, the place oozed a dreadful, eerie atmosphere.
They had not advanced far when a squad of genuine zombies charged them—decayed bodies crudely sewn back together, grotesque and horrific.
The marines, though shocked, did not hesitate and opened fire at once.
Ratatatatata—!
A hail of bullets: even zombies couldn't withstand such firepower.
Franky riddled them with nails, rounds, and jets of flame.
Rear Admiral Hina spread both arms, forming a giant iron cage that trapped scores of zombies; her troops then riddled them with lead.
The three majors unleashed their own powers:
Blade "Elephant Sword" roared, swinging Funkfreed; the blade turned into a colossal elephant that slammed down, flattening a zombie leader. Its trunk morphed into a sharp blade that whipped out and pierced another zombie's throat—far beyond anything Spandam had ever managed.
Box, who had eaten the Ox‑Ox Fruit, Giraffe Model, bellowed and entered his hybrid form. Combining human agility with animal power, he shot his long neck like a cannonball, smashing a dozen zombies and trampling more—then used Rokushiki's Finger Gun through every limb, even his neck, crushing all resistance.
Barbara, user of the Bubble‑Bubble Fruit, flung up her arms.
"Golden Bubbles!"
A snowy torrent of foam washed over the zombies, scouring them clean and leaving their bodies slick—unable even to stand, they toppled in a heap.
Then: "Relaxing Bubbles!"—another wave that stripped their strength, leaving them limp and motionless.
Even Nami wielded her Slip‑Slip Fruit ever more deftly, turning herself frictionless to evade attacks, then lashed out with an iron staff, imitating Rokushiki's Finger Gun—each thrust like a fired bullet.
Brook, newly joined, displayed his unique fencing—swift thrust-and‑slash strikes so fast opponents only realized they'd been cut when he resheathed, the shock wave felling them at once.
Chiyu watched and nodded to himself. His subordinates were not yet top‑tier, but they were growing fast. Their strength would keep rising—and one day they would form an invincible force at his side.
Just then, the zombie commotion stirred chaos deeper within Thriller Bark.
More grotesque creatures poured out—three‑headed hellhounds, hippo‑pig hybrids, ghastly beings neither man nor beast—blocking the marines' path.
And a towering figure materialized behind the zombie horde:
One of the Seven Warlords of the Sea—Gecko Moria!
"Who dares cause trouble here? Tired of living?!"
But when his eyes fixed on Chiyu, he suddenly sucked in a breath of cold air.
"Y‑You… are you—the Navy God of Slaughter, Uchiha Chiyu?!"
Terror flashed across Gecko Moria's face.