OPTC Chapter 187. Brook: Even as a Pirate, I Won't Raise My Hand Against You
Brook's sharp tongue had earned him a light beating, though nothing too serious. In the end, Zhang Da Ye still invited him to sit down in the small bar.
The bar was built on the top deck of the Amber. It was smaller than the tavern Zhang had once opened on the island, but it was well-stocked—not just with alcohol, but also red tea, green tea, fruit juices, and soda.
Zhang had even brought along the tavern's old signboard and hung it in the bar. Goodman had specially crafted it back when the tavern first opened, making it a meaningful keepsake.
Now, set before Brook was a cup of red tea and several imitation snacks modeled after Fishman Island's treats.
The genuine ones had long since been devoured. These were fresh replacements Tom had made as an apology gift—after all, Tom had just shoved two whole garlic cloves into Brook's mouth during the commotion.
As a polite cat, Tom felt obliged to prepare something special once he confirmed Brook really counted as "human."
Brook, despite being hit earlier, showed no trace of anger. Instead, he happily savored Tom's food. "Mr. Tom's cooking is truly excellent! Decades have passed since I've tasted anything so delicious. It's so good I nearly swallowed my tongue—ah, although I no longer have a tongue, yohohoho~"
Zhang Da Ye smiled knowingly at Brook's signature skeleton joke. That was exactly the Brook he remembered.
"Ohhohohoho!" Tom, whose sense of humor was far lower, rolled on the floor laughing.
Of course, not everyone found it funny. Rui Meng Meng shivered instead, unsettled by a talking skeleton—something one couldn't just "get used to."
Artoria didn't pay any attention. She was too busy finishing her own plate of snacks. When it came to food, Tom never forgot her.
In return, Artoria often shared her own treats with Tom when she used her allowance to buy something nice. "Sharing food" was probably the best proof of how close the two were.
Shark Chili had quietly excused himself—not because he was afraid of the skeleton, but because he feared Brook might start singing. To avoid rudeness, he even made up the excuse of needing to "check their course."
"Still able to stay so optimistic in this state, huh? Is that some kind of side effect of resurrection?" Ye Yan rested his chin on one hand. By common sense, resurrection was impossible. Even if it were, there had to be a price.
Everyone sipped their drinks while asking Brook their questions.
"No, the devil fruit's drawback only made me unable to swim. I look like this because, when my soul returned from the underworld, I expected to simply re-enter my body. But I lost my way in this sea and wandered for an entire year before finding it again. By then… only bones remained."
"Just bones, yet you still revived? And you can drink and eat too? That's unbelievable." Rui Meng Meng had just been curious whether the tea he drank would spill out of his ribcage.
"Yohohoho! Just being alive at all is enough. At least this way, I still have the chance to carry out my fallen crewmates' dreams… and fulfill a certain promise." Brook finished the last sip of his tea, then stood and bowed deeply.
"Thank you for your kind hospitality. Today has been the happiest day in all forty years since my resurrection. Meeting you here is truly wonderful. But forgive my boldness—before I go, could I borrow some tools to repair my ship's rudder?"
"Repair your rudder?" Zhang Da Ye blinked. "Shouldn't you be asking to join us instead?"
"In the battle over forty years ago, not only was my Rumbar Pirates wiped out, but the ship suffered heavy damage. Even the rudder broke. Without it, we could only drift endlessly, which is why I've been trapped here for forty years."
Zhang finally noticed the shadow beneath Brook's feet. So he wasn't trapped here because his shadow was stolen—just because his ship was broken?
In the original timeline, Brook would lose his shadow about five years later, after going to Thriller Bark in search of tools and materials to fix that very rudder.
Well, it didn't matter much. They already planned to take on Moria anyway.
"If all you want is to leave, we can give you a lift," Zhang offered.
"Truly? Thank you so much!" Brook's eye sockets lit up with joy.
"Da Ye, didn't he just say he's a pirate?" Artoria cut in. She'd caught the name "Rumbar Pirates." Thinking back, even his shabby sails still faintly showed the skull-and-crossbones.
"You're right, I am a pirate. Allow me to introduce myself properly: I'm Brook, acting captain of the Rumbar Pirates, with a bounty of 33 million berries." He even pulled out his old wanted poster. "But though I am a pirate, I have my own principles. I would never harm ordinary people—or benefactors. If my presence troubles you, I'll leave at once."
His words carried conviction, though perhaps he'd misjudged their strength. Zhang Da Ye chuckled.
"Thing is, we're from a little tavern in Sabaody. On the side, we're bounty hunters. We've taken down pirates worth thirty, fifty million before. You saw those monsters on board earlier. What you really ought to worry about is whether we'll come after you."
"Eh? Eh???!?!"
Brook froze. The truth finally hit him. This wasn't a pirate crew. The friendly tea and laughter had lulled him into forgetting he'd been alone for decades, starved of human contact. He had mistaken them for ordinary folks.
But thinking back… those eight monsters who held him down? At best, he could defeat two or three.
"So in the end… the one in danger is me?" Brook collapsed to his knees, despairing. "If I get another life, I want to come back as a pair of underwear…"
Ye Yan stared at his theatrics. "Do you really need to fall into despair that hard? Wait… is this despair, or just perversion?"
Zhang frowned. "Something's off about this line…"
The next moment, a small white, translucent ghost drifted straight through Zhang's body.
Instantly, Zhang crouched in the corner, mumbling, "Tom calls me his master, but I've only ever relied on him to survive. What good am I, really…"
Tom, meanwhile, had frozen stiff the second he saw the ghost. When it came for him, his soul practically leapt out in fright. A "Soul No.1" clung to his waist, trembling. Then came a No.2, a No.3… all the way up to No.9. Nine little souls in a row shivered behind him.
The ghost pierced through all nine at once. In that instant, they were sucked back into Tom's body. He collapsed, pounding the floor and wailing. No one could understand his cries, but it was probably something like: "A cat that gets kicked out of the house for failing to catch mice is too useless!"
And it wasn't over yet. Three more ghosts drifted toward Artoria, Rui Meng Meng, and Ye Yan…
One even passed through the author himself. "I'm so sorry, everyone… my typing speed is really too slow, wuwuwu~"
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