The little yellow flower, Lily Carnation, clapped its two leaves together like pleading hands, groveling before Brook like a desperate lackey.
"Now that's the spirit! Play smart and stick with us—you'll be living large, eating gourmet, and drinking the finest rum! No more waiting for pirates to raid you!"
Brook dispersed the eerie aura around him, letting Lily Carnation's blood-vine roots recover. Seeing its weakened state, he figured this flower of life and death was a parasitic plant, unable to survive long without a host.
He quickly ordered his crew to fetch a white-furred fox beast from Merveille.
"Parasite on this for now, Lily. It's a decent beast—don't get greedy dreaming of a human powerhouse!"
The Hell Pirates' banquet squad was stretched thin as it was—no way they'd spare a strong host for a flower! If there was any surplus muscle, maybe they'd consider it.
And so, a white-furred, long-tailed fox with a yellow flower sprouting from its head pranced before the crew. But Brook realized a snag: the fox couldn't talk. How was Lily supposed to communicate?
"Ahem, we'll find it a better host later," Brook muttered. Turning to Parrot, he asked, "Hey, Parrot, got any prisoners left in that Castle Fruit castle of yours?"
Brook recalled they'd captured a few, right?
Parrot puffed out his feathered belly, opening a door below it to reveal an empty prison cell.
"Captain Brook, any prisoners we had are long gone—used up, poof! See for yourself!"
The crew snickered at the awkward placement of Parrot's door.
"What's with flashing that hole at me, you feathered show-off?" Brook teased. "Think you're a pretty parrot girl now? Even if you turned into a mythical parrot maiden, I wouldn't bat an eye—and you're just a male bird!"
"Alright, alright, close that door!" Brook waved him off.
"Crocus, bring that guy over. Feed him another Dandelion!"
Brook decided to let Lily Carnation return to its original host, Viscount Fraule. With Crocus around, the guy wouldn't keel over.
The little yellow flower deftly yanked its blood-vine roots from the fox and burrowed back into Viscount Fraule, eyeing the powerful humans around it with newfound respect.
If it had known it'd end up bowing to them, it wouldn't have fired those root-arrows! That white-bearded giant, Newgate, had obliterated half its painstakingly grown arsenal. Only a hidden root under the soil remained, and who knew how many critters it'd need to devour to recover?
...
"Hey, little flower!" Charlotte Linlin boomed, scooping up Viscount Fraule in one massive hand. "Can you really mimic anyone?"
"Uh, well, if I've seen them, I can whip up a copy," Lily Carnation replied through the viscount, its voice slow and deliberate. "But they're not exactly brainy. If I parasitize a host, I can tap into their memories to mimic someone's voice, thoughts, even mannerisms—create a leaf-person that matches what you're picturing!"
Linlin's eyes gleamed, but Lily's gaze lingered on her, practically drooling.
Such potent vitality! I wanna latch on, gobble her up!
But one glance at Brook's terrifying presence shut that idea down.
Nope, can't beat him.
"So, if you parasitize someone, you get all their memories?" Brook asked, intrigued. This ability sounded even handier than Redfield's mind-reading Observation Haki, though it came at the cost of the host's life.
"Yup!" Lily answered honestly. Its frail body relied on trickery, luring hosts to let it latch on, then slowly consuming and controlling them.
"Don't let it parasitize anyone, Linlin," Brook cautioned. "Just show it a picture of Carmel. No need for memories."
Brook wasn't keen on Lily peeking into his and Linlin's private moments—those sweaty, heart-pounding, life-creating romps!
Grumbling, Linlin ditched the idea of a memory-fueled Carmel and handed Lily a photo of Mother Carmel. The flower released a spore, which sprouted into a leaf-person version of Carmel, complete with clothes.
"Mother Carmel!" Linlin squealed, gently cradling the leaf-person, careful not to crush it. It lacked the nun's memories but was a perfect real-life figure!
"Without parasitizing or knowing her voice and habits, I can't make her talk or act right," Lily explained. It had no clue how Mother Carmel sounded or moved.
...
"Gurarara!" Whitebeard Newgate chuckled, touched by the sight. "Makes me wanna see my family."
An orphan, Newgate had faint memories of his parents but no photos. He wasn't about to let a flower parasitize him, so he let the thought pass.
Redfield, too, mused about his long-lost parents. Their photos were probably gone, but as a refined noble, he could sketch them himself.
Piano, chess, calligraphy, painting—I've got some skills!
Shakky, ever the scheming old fox, cackled and pulled out a stack of bounty posters, her capitalist grin shining through.
"Step right up, folks!" she crowed, waving posters of New World overlords Rocks D. Gibeck and Vesper. "Check this out!"
Lily glanced at the posters, and poof—two leaf-person overlords materialized.
"Don't miss out! Slap Rocks for just a thousand Belly! Kick his enemy Vesper for only nine-nine-eight! Get your shot in!
Pick your overlord—Rocks or Vesper, take your choice! Bulk discounts, ninety-eight percent off! Got a grudge? Settle it now!
Oi, big guy, pay up before you swing! This idea's patented, got it? Want in on this game? Fork over the licensing and franchise fees!
The holy Captain Brook protects innovative minds like mine. I own all the rights, and final say's mine!"
Shakky shot a glare at Golden Lion Shiki, who was sneaking toward Lily with Newgate's bounty poster.
"No copying my hustle without paying!"
Shiki's face darkened, and even Brook's skeletal jaw dropped.
"What kind of nonsense is this?!" Brook thought. Shakky's capitalist brain was spinning too fast—she was monopolizing the market!
No way! Brook had to shut this down with an anti-monopoly rule, or it'd stunt the Hell Pirates' growth.
And no, I'm not telling you about my stash of beautiful pirate bounty posters and princess photos! Silva's got stacks of pin-up albums too!
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+300 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg