In the Underworld, on the Yellow Springs Road.
Luke vaguely opened his eyes. There was no light, and everything around him was a hazy gray. A dizzy, light, floating sensation made him feel slightly uncomfortable.
What's with the darkness? Did I forget to turn on the lights? Where are the city's neon lights? Or is there a power outage in the neighborhood?
I hope it's not a power outage. After drifting for several years, the only companions in my rented room are those delicate and fragile goldfish. If there's no electricity and the water isn't flowing to oxygenate, these precious goldfish will probably die by morning. They are the solace for my lonely soul—I fed them one by one with my own hands.
He closed his eyes, opened them again, shook his head, and scanned his surroundings. Luke was stunned for a moment. Why couldn't he feel his hands and feet?
In the dead silence, a pale bone path stretched into the distance. In the distance, a murky yellow river seemed to surge. The dim and deep environment made Luke's soul tremble involuntarily.
Where am I?
Luke fell into confusion. He was truly bewildered. Is this a dream?
Am I dead? Is this the Yellow Springs Road?
Suddenly, an overwhelming flood of memories surged and crashed into Luke's soul, forcefully merging with it, rapidly intertwining and fusing.
Brook, the musician of the Rumbar Pirates—a pirate crew that entered the Grand Line from the West Blue. His bounty was 33 million Berries, and he was originally the Captain of the Guard of the Dumoria Kingdom in the West Blue.
In the year 1470 of the Sea Calendar, the Rumbar Pirates parted ways with the island whale Laboon at Twin Capes. Soon after, their Captain, Yorki, contracted a plague and left the crew. Brook became the acting captain. A few months later, they encountered an enemy in the Florian Triangle who used poison gas weapons, and the pirate crew was ultimately annihilated.
I actually transmigrated to the One Piece world, about to become that perverted skeleton Brook who loves to look at panties?
Luke's soul trembled slightly. This was even worse than transmigrating into Ainz Ooal Gown, the Bone King of Overlord. Bones becoming king—nonsense! At least Momonga was a level-100 maxed-out boss.
I didn't expect that even after transmigrating, I still couldn't escape my fate? Luke felt a bit of a headache just thinking about it.
In his previous life, he was an isolated video editing blogger, specializing in dark-themed popular science videos—dark web kidnapping auctions, injustice in crime, bizarre and terrifying cases from various countries, Southeast Asian fish slaves, Myanmar-Northern fraud…
These experiences left Luke with a sense of indignant youth that was out of step with reality, making him even more alienated from women. But what man doesn't like a life of indulgence with girls?
Luke desperately tried to digest and integrate Brook's memories, understanding his current predicament: he seemed to have just died and entered the world of the dead—the Underworld.
His current soul was protected by the power of the Yomi Yomi no Mi, preventing his memories from being erased by the Yellow Springs and from being dragged into the depths of the Underworld. Brook's consciousness had already been dispersed by his foreign soul; Luke had taken over, merging with Brook.
According to the original timeline, Brook's consciousness would take a long time to recover, and then he would escape the Yellow Springs Road. In the story, after Brook escaped, he was lost in the thick fog of the Florian Triangle for a year, and by the time he returned to his body, it had already turned into white bones.
However, based on the crime videos Luke had edited, he knew that in just one year, it was highly unlikely for a corpse to skeletonize completely. Under relatively dry conditions, it could take seven or eight years to become skeletonized, and about ten years for the skeleton to be completely defatted and dried.
Also, according to Brook's recollections in the original story, he lived alone in the fog for over thirty years until he encountered Gecko Moria and had his shadow stolen.
So, Luke speculated that in the original story, Brook floated on the Yellow Springs Road for at least ten years before escaping the world of the dead, reviving with the Yomi energy and Yellow Springs Ghost Qi from the Underworld.
Now that Luke had merged with Brook's soul and regained consciousness, he had to find a way to escape the Yellow Springs Road as soon as possible. He absolutely had to return to Brook's physical body within a short time, or he would become a rotting zombie or a bone monster.
Luke desperately swung his soul body, stirring up the surrounding Yomi energy and Yellow Springs Ghost Qi. These energies slowly merged with Luke's soul body. The power of the Yomi Yomi no Mi protected Luke's soul consciousness from erosion and allowed him to slowly absorb the Yomi energy and Yellow Springs Ghost Qi.
Next to him, blurry souls of various shapes were continuously being extinguished, slowly drifting towards the Underworld, sending shivers down one's spine.
Luke's soul, like a small tadpole, wagged its soul tail, heading back the way it came, towards the entrance of the world of the dead. The power of the Yomi Yomi no Mi also helped his soul advance, attempting to escape this world.
Luke had been wiggling for several hours over a short distance. Fortunately, he had also merged with Brook's soul, now possessing double the soul power, which prevented him from exhausting his soul.
Thinking of Brook's ability to release cold demonic spirit energy from the Yellow Springs, causing freezing damage to enemies, Luke tried to devour and integrate the power of the Yomi energy and Yellow Springs Ghost Qi while escaping.
Indeed, under the demonic power of the Yomi Yomi no Mi, Luke's soul began to actively merge with the Yomi energy and Yellow Springs Ghost Qi, continuously strengthening his soul.
Combined with Brook's ability to astral project in the original story, Luke desired to devour these powers even more. The stronger his soul, the stronger he would be after returning to his physical body.
Through Luke's unremitting efforts, he finally saw the entrance to the world of the dead. However, as his soul grew stronger, something terrifying seemed to be awakening deep within the Underworld, and the pulling force grew stronger and stronger, dragging him towards the Underworld.
Frightened, Luke no longer dared to absorb the Yomi energy and Yellow Springs Ghost Qi recklessly and desperately floated towards the exit.
If it weren't for the Yomi Yomi no Mi's power protecting his soul from being erased by the Yellow Springs and pulled into the Underworld, perhaps no soul could resist the erosion of the world of the dead.
As his soul lightened, Luke finally escaped the world of the dead. Without thinking too much, he immediately searched for Brook's body in the Florian Triangle.
Without the confusion of consciousness on the Yellow Springs Road and the time spent getting lost in the thick fog as in the original story, the Rumbar Pirates' ship hadn't drifted far. Luke excitedly floated toward the ship and saw Brook's physical body. Less than a day had passed; it was still very fresh and could be salvaged.
Without another word, the merged soul of Luke and Brook entered Brook's body. The cold Yellow Springs Ghost Qi merged into the congealed blood, turning the blood a ghostly blue and causing it to flow again. The poison spots on the body began to disappear.
The Yomi energy entered his soul and mind, and the dark, gloomy, and oppressive aura of the Underworld permeated around Brook.
"Hoo~~ Ah!!!"
Luke—now Brook—finally revived. His icy body froze a layer of white frost onto the deck. Brook opened his mouth and exhaled a breath, and white mist filled the air, condensing into frost.
Crackling sounds. Brook stood up, feeling like he had become something similar to the Night King from Game of Thrones. Controlling the Yomi energy and Yellow Springs Ghost Qi to recede, Brook slowly regained a bit of flesh color, but his body remained extremely cold.
The first thing Luke did was pull down his pants and tease his little darling. The result made Brook incredibly excited—it could still move and stand tall.
Suddenly, Luke felt there was still a little warmth in this icy world.
Looking around, he saw the deck full of corpses. As a modern person, suddenly seeing such a scene—coupled with the unique thick fog of the Florian Triangle, which was no less eerie than the Yellow Springs Road—Luke couldn't help but swallow a cold gulp.
He had edited many tragic cases and watched many horror movies. After a moment to compose himself, Luke's gaze hardened.
"My comrades, you were all good brothers to Brook in life. May the sons of the sea rest peacefully in the embrace of Mother Sea. I will definitely avenge you all!"
Luke moved all the bodies into the ship's cabin as their final resting place.
End of the Chapter.
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