Brook had no interest in wasting more words with Maxway, who was still trying to bargain. Without hesitation, he raised his hand and unleashed a slash of Shichiseiken energy. In Brook's eyes, this guy's value had already run dry.
He'd already propped up the Umi Family — Maxway was now nothing more than dead weight. Recruiting him was just a way to pad his forces and make sure Bra Kara, the Pocket-Pocket Fruit user, stayed obedient.
But Maxway, who was used to being the boss, would never bow to anyone else. Worst case, Brook could have Bra Kara's memory partially wiped and slowly retrain him from scratch.
"You bastard!! You actually attacked me?!"
At this close range, Maxway had no choice but to meet Brook's slash head-on with his Armament Haki-coated fist!
The moment they clashed, Brook's sword energy blasted him back, sending him crashing into his own officers and seriously injuring several of his company men.
"I already told you — submit, or die! There's no choice left! Take them down!"
Brook had no patience to coax submission from someone this useless. He barked the order to his crew, while Charlotte Linlin gleefully reaped a fresh batch of souls.
The crew knew the drill by now — they didn't kill the enemies outright. After all, they were still useful as fodder for the Memory Seahorse, Linlin, and Brook's recycling scheme. Layer upon layer of exploitation.
Even the few employees who were on par with Bra Kara — men worth two or three hundred million Belly — couldn't hold back the Hell Pirates' assault.
"I surrender! Please, stop the killing!!"
Watching his elite officers, built up over more than a decade, fall one by one, Maxway was in agony. As much as it galled him, he had no choice but to swallow his pride and beg for mercy.
"Too late. The time for deals is over. Now it's slaughter time — I don't take surrender!"
Brook showed no mercy. He was only interested in harvesting a batch of ghosts to boost his own strength. He lunged at Maxway with killing intent, holding nothing back.
"You—!"
Maxway couldn't believe it. Even after he finally caved and chose to surrender, Brook rejected him outright. Before he could even process it, a cursed blade had already pierced through his chest.
"Why?!" Maxway's eyes were filled with unwillingness and rage.
"Memory Seahorse, Linlin — come feast!"
Brook didn't spare him another glance. Some people, once they've lost all their leverage, still dare to haggle — those kinds weren't worth keeping alive. The only reason Brook had negotiated with the Umi Family was because he couldn't track them down at first. But Maxway? He was surrounded, utterly powerless, with no cards left to play. Brook had no intention of wasting another breath.
The Memory Seahorse and Linlin eagerly swooped in to devour Maxway's soul. Redfield arrived shortly after, sifting through Maxway's memories to uncover his secret hideouts and hidden stashes.
Seeing their boss fall, the rest of the New World Dispatch Company staff broke and surrendered on the spot. But Brook showed no mercy — he chose to wipe them out to the last man, ensuring their silence.
He couldn't risk word getting out that he'd muscled in on the supposedly neutral forces of the underground. That kind of rumor would stir up unwanted hostility in the dark world.
After harvesting this batch of souls, even the corpses were reduced to ashes by Charlotte Linlin's flames. Brook then passed word to the Umi Family, instructing them to seize control of all New World Dispatch Company outposts.
At the same time, the valuable resources would be shipped over, while the funds were left entirely for the Umi Family's expansion. Shakky even provided them with a batch of gold to help both the Umi Family and Mortomas's World Economic News Agency grow stronger.
After two days of hiding in fear, the residents of Blue Pillar Island finally realized the pirates had all left. Only then did life start returning to normal—though now, right beside the port, a blackened stretch of beach had appeared.
The memory seahorse, which had devoured countless memories, continued to grow larger and stronger. By now, its power had already surpassed Shakky, and its Armament Haki-powered flying kicks had become frighteningly fierce. Brook was already planning to get it a Zoan-type Devil Fruit—because, frankly, having no hands or feet was holding back its true potential!
...
Back on the Sky Island, Baron Island, the memory seahorse even took a shot at Bra Kara. A newbie pirate who had eaten the Pocket-Pocket Fruit made his debut, officially becoming Shakky's new storage keeper!
Meanwhile, Shiki, Newgate, and Redfield couldn't hold back their excitement anymore—they were dead set on challenging the Roger Pirates. Brook had no choice but to gather his crew and go meet the future Pirate King himself.
The Golden Ark once again descended on Golden Island. Shiki manipulated the island's gold to set sail from the waters near Bristol Island, heading straight for the Roger Pirates.
Shiki knew these seas well. After Brook and Roger exchanged information through a Den Den Mushi and learned the island's name, Shiki locked onto the target and charged ahead.
"Gyahahaha~ Brook, I'm really curious to see just how tough this Roger guy is!"
The Golden Lion, Shiki, chomped on his cigar, his fighting spirit already blazing with anticipation.
"Uh... well, it's hard to say," Brook replied, rubbing his chin. "You guys have already learned Ryuo Haki back in Wano... Roger probably hasn't mastered that yet. So his strength might not be quite as overwhelming as people think."
In Brook's memory, Roger was incredibly powerful. But now, he had already altered the fates of Shiki, Newgate, and the others—making them far stronger than their counterparts from the same era.
"Gurarara~ This Roger climbed up the hard way, learning through trial and error. But we've had you guiding us the whole time, Brook. We've gotten strong fast—I bet they can't keep up!"
Newgate grinned, feeling the huge leap in power he'd gained after joining the Hell Pirates. Whether it was Haki, Ryuo training methods, or Brook's tailored guidance on Devil Fruit mastery, everything had pushed them forward.
Brook seemed to know everything, laying out each crew member's development path like a grand blueprint. All they had to do was follow his steps, and their strength multiplied.
"Brook is our guiding light!" Redfield chimed in, feeling that ever since he'd met Brook, everything had started falling into place. The man's ability to strategize and lead—it was almost godlike, always steering them toward victory.
"Brook… did you really come back from Hell? Can you actually see people's fates?"
Even Charlotte Linlin, Big Mom herself, found Brook a little too mysterious. He somehow knew about people's destinies and turning points long before they happened—it was both amazing and a little unnerving.
"Yohohoho~ Don't worry, everyone. Just keep training hard. I'll make sure all your dreams come true—one by one!"
Brook chuckled, his voice light but firm. He had no intention of leading them toward ruin—only toward a brighter, stronger future.
But to get there, Brook knew he had to give up a bit of his lingering kindness. He needed to harvest more souls to boost the power of his Yomi Yomi no Mi. He couldn't allow his crew to fracture over strength gaps, nor could he let Rocks crush them in a single blow.
Only by maintaining overwhelming power could he keep his fighters in line—so that Shiki's ambition for domination and Newgate's sense of justice wouldn't clash and tear the crew apart.
-----------
+188 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg