Since arriving in this world, William considered himself to have seen and experienced a great deal. He had even mastered incredible powers like the Devil Fruits and Rokushiki, but when he suddenly saw a skeleton begin to speak, he instinctively took a few deep puffs from his pipe to mask his shock.
The reactions of the others aboard the ship were far worse. Even the usually composed Joey Fello lost his cool at the sight of a talking skeleton. At his command, the sailors, who had been poised to act, opened fire. The ship's side cannons erupted with bursts of orange flame, and because the two vessels were so close, the cannonballs struck the derelict ship directly, leaving it teetering on the brink of collapse.
"Stop! Please stop!" The skeleton leaped onto the railing of the derelict ship, frantically waving its bony arms in an attempt to halt the bombardment. It was only then that the crew noticed the skeleton's peculiar attire—a black tuxedo, paired with a voluminous afro and a tall top hat—creating an eerie yet oddly formal appearance.
"What the hell is this thing?!" Selkirk muttered under his breath, frowning.
At the moment the skeleton first spoke, Portia, who had been standing in the corridor, was quickly escorted away by Karslana for her safety. With her gone, William no longer needed to worry about revealing too much in front of outsiders.
"It could be a Devil Fruit ability... or something equally bizarre," William speculated. His first thought was that the skeleton was the result of a Devil Fruit power.
Strictly speaking, his own Steam-Steam Fruit, a Logia-type ability, would have been considered ghostly by the standards of his previous life. After all, who had ever heard of someone turning into steam?
Thus, after his initial shock, William quickly calmed down. He turned to Gin and Selkirk, saying, "Whatever it is, it's not Moria. Let's not reveal our identities for now. We should head back to the cabin."
Meanwhile, the skeleton, seeing that its pleas were ineffective, leaped gracefully from the derelict ship. Its body seemed weightless as it landed nimbly in the crow's nest of the Starlight, standing face-to-face with the lookout in the cramped space.
The lookout screamed in terror, fumbling to draw his sword and strike the skeleton. However, the skeleton moved with astonishing speed, restraining the man's joints and using him as a shield against the sailors aiming their guns below.
"I just want to borrow some tools to fix the rudder of my ship!" the skeleton pleaded, shrinking behind the terrified lookout. Its thin, skeletal frame, devoid of flesh, made it easy to hide, with only its dense afro visible.
"What... what are you?!" Joey Fello shouted up at the skeleton, his voice tinged with both fear and anger. With a hostage in its grasp, he had no choice but to order the sailors to cease fire.
"I'm a dead man... reduced to nothing but bones..." the skeleton began to explain, but before it could finish, a few panicked sailors ignored Joey Fello's orders and fired their guns. Shots rang out, sending splinters flying across the crow's nest. The skeleton, however, had already anticipated the attack. It leaped out of the crow's nest with remarkable agility, deftly avoiding the bullets while still holding onto the unconscious lookout to prevent him from being harmed.
Clutching a rope attached to the mast with one hand and the back of the lookout's collar with the other, the skeleton called down to the sailors, "You're the ones who asked me who I am! Don't shoot! I mean you no harm!"
Joey Fello shot a glare at the sailors who had fired without permission. The skeleton's appearance—complete with an afro, boundless energy, and the ability to speak—had initially shattered his worldview. But after the initial shock wore off, Joey Fello began to regain his composure. Most importantly, the skeleton's actions—its agility, its refusal to retaliate, and its effort to protect the lookout even under gunfire—suggested that it truly harbored no ill intent.
Joey Fello tilted his head back and shouted, "Are you human or ghost?"
"I'm a Devil Fruit user! I ate the Revive-Revive Fruit! I'm no ghost—I'm terrified of ghosts!" the skeleton replied.
Joey Fello ignored the skeleton's final remark, but the mention of a Devil Fruit seemed to ease the tension among the crew.
It was strange. In terms of sheer absurdity, the powers of Devil Fruits were no less fantastical than tales of ghosts and monsters. Yet, as soon as the skeleton revealed itself to be a Devil Fruit user, the fear that had gripped the crew began to dissipate. Perhaps it was the unknown nature of ghosts that made them so terrifying. By contrast, while the origins of Devil Fruits remained a mystery, their existence was well-documented and widely accepted. Compared to the idea of a genuine ghost, a skeleton brought to life by a Devil Fruit seemed almost mundane.
...
After revealing its identity—and more importantly, demonstrating a strong desire to communicate—the skeleton finally managed to convince the crew to lower their weapons, though they remained cautiously wary. It introduced itself as Brook and shared its story.
Brook was a pirate and musician from the West Blue. When he admitted to being a pirate, the crew immediately tensed up again. However, as Brook recounted his tragic tale, their wariness gave way to sympathy.
Like many others who pursued the thrill of adventure, Brook and his companions had sailed into the Grand Line aboard their pirate ship. But, like countless other nameless pirates, they became mere footnotes in the grand tales of legendary pirates. First, some of the crew fell victim to a contagious disease and had to be left behind. Then, in the Florian Triangle, the remaining crew encountered a far stronger pirate group. In the ensuing battle, Brook and his comrades were completely annihilated. Brook himself was among the dead.
They had not conquered the Grand Line. In death, they hadn't even earned the right to be buried in their homeland.
Thanks to the Revive-Revive Fruit, Brook's soul was able to return to the world of the living. As long as he could find his body, he could be resurrected. However, the dense fog of the Florian Triangle caused him to spend an entire year searching for his corpse, which, by then, had already decomposed into a skeleton. When he finally reunited with his body, he was reborn in his current skeletal form.
But Brook's misfortunes didn't end there. For a ship to sail long distances, a large crew wasn't strictly necessary, but key technical personnel were indispensable. As a musician, Brook's skills were of little practical use for survival at sea. After the battle, he found the ship severely damaged, with the rudder completely unusable. Without tools, materials, or the necessary expertise, Brook was helpless. Left alone with the remains of his comrades, he drifted aimlessly through the foggy seas aboard his broken ship. Decades passed in solitude. Occasionally, he would sing or play music to entertain himself, and those who passed through the Florian Triangle would hear his haunting melodies, giving rise to countless ghost stories.
(End of Chapter) ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📚 BOOK COMPLETED ON PATREON!📚
This story has reached its conclusion on my Patreon!
🔥 Full story available now
💎 Exclusive bonus content & early access to new books
👉 Join my Patreon community today!
[✨ patreon.com/GoldenLong]
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━