Chapter 184: Dinner Without Shadows! The Skeleton's Corny Jokes and the Demon's Gate
"Hold on tight! We're heading back!!"
On the decaying deck of the ghost ship, Luffy let out an excited shout.
His highly elastic rubber arms suddenly stretched backward.
One arm tightly coiled around the tall skeleton Brook, while the other arm wrapped around Nami and Tatsuya.
"Whoosh—!"
Luffy catapulted the three of them directly off the ghost ship, tracing a parabola through the thick fog and crashing heavily onto the grassy deck of the Thousand Sunny.
Bang!
The four of them landed steadily on the deck.
However, when Usopp and Chopper saw that Luffy had not only returned in one piece,
but was also blatantly carrying a huge, living skeleton in his hand,
"G-G-Ghost!!!"
The moment they saw Brook land, Usopp and Chopper simultaneously rolled their eyes back, foamed at the mouth, kicked their legs, and fainted dead away.
After a long while, under the blowing of the cold wind, the two finally woke up groggily.
As soon as he woke up, Usopp immediately knelt on the grass, frantically rummaging through his pile of garlic and crosses, muttering under his breath.
Meanwhile, Chopper hid behind the mainmast, poking out half of his small head.
While crying with teary eyes, he asked in a trembling voice:
"Mr... Mr. Bones, are you... are you contagious with osteoporosis?"
Zoro, who had been leaning against the base of the mainmast, was also suddenly startled awake by the deafening commotion.
"Enemy attack?!"
Zoro's eyes sharpened, and he instantly drew the Sandai Kitetsu and Yubashiri from his waist.
But when he clearly saw the skeleton on the deck tidying its afro, his brow immediately furrowed:
"Wait... what kind of monster is this?!"
"SUPER—Incredible!!!"
The perverted shipwright Franky's eyes were practically shooting lasers.
Like a fanatical scientist who had seen an unparalleled machine, he paced around Brook, sizing him up from top to bottom.
He even reached out with his iron-plated fingers to tap on Brook's ribs:
"This completely defies scientific common sense!
"There's no muscle tissue for tension, nor a nervous system for transmission.
"Just what principle is this body moving on?
"Difficult! Too difficult! It's simply a miracle of the Creator!"
Robin stood to the side, resting her delicate chin on one hand.
Her deep eyes held not a trace of fear; instead, they carried a hint of appreciation as an elegant smile curled her lips:
"What a perfect skeletal specimen.
"If this is a Shinigami come from the depths of hell to claim lives, it's certainly exceptionally unique."
Seeing everyone's varied reactions, Luffy put his hands on his hips and announced loudly with great pride:
"Listen up, everyone!
"He is our new companion! Our musician, Brook!"
"Since a new companion is on board, what are we waiting for! Let's hold a welcoming banquet!!!"
...
Since the captain had spoken, Sanji, the chef, though full of complaints about the skeleton,
had no choice but to tie on his apron and enter the luxurious kitchen of the Aquarium Bar.
Before long, the long dining table was filled with a sumptuous feast.
Fragrant seafood pasta, sizzling roasted meat steaks, and various exquisite side dishes.
"Yohohoho!
"What a magnificent ship, then I won't be polite!"
Brook sat down at the dining table quite naturally, picked up a knife and fork, and began to stuff mouthfuls of pasta and roasted meat into his opening and closing jawbone.
However, a comical scene occurred.
Just as the food was swallowed down his throat,
everyone watched as the sauce-covered noodles and meat chunks
leaked directly out through the gaps in his empty ribs,
clattering down onto the leather chair he was sitting on and the clean wooden floor.
"Hey!!!"
The veins on Sanji's forehead instantly throbbed with rage.
He launched a kick, violently striking the edge of the dining table, and pointed at Brook, cursing loudly:
"You bastard bones!! Everything you eat is leaking out!
"Show some respect for the chef's hard work!! Don't get my restaurant dirty!"
"Oh dear, I am truly very sorry."
Brook apologized repeatedly, then elegantly picked up a cup of steaming black tea.
He looked at the food on the table with his empty eye sockets and began his skeleton corny joke performance:
"My, Mr. Sanji's skills are truly wonderful.
"This soup is so delicious it makes tears fall from my eyes..."
Brook paused, slightly spreading the hand holding the teacup:
"Even though... I don't have any eyes to cry with! Yohohohohoho!"
"Pfft-hahahahaha!!!!"
This joke, which sounded bone-chillingly cold to others, accurately hit Luffy and Chopper's funny bones.
The two of them laughed so hard they fell off their chairs and rolled frantically on the wooden floor.
Luffy slapped the floor hard while clutching his stomach and shouting:
"Hahaha! That's too funny!! No eyes!! My stomach hurts, hahaha!"
At the other end of the dining table,
hearing this corny joke, Tatsuya's movement of cutting his steak paused slightly.
He complained helplessly in his heart: 'Just what about this is funny... are these two idiots' funny bones located on the soles of their feet?'
Tatsuya put down his knife and fork.
Then, he looked up slightly and gazed at Brook opposite him with a smile.
"Mr. Skeleton."
"I'm sorry to interrupt your fun at a time like this, but I have a question I've been curious about."
Tatsuya extended a slender finger across the table, pointing directly at the floor beneath Brook's chair:
"We have such a dazzlingly large chandelier lit above our heads..."
"Why is it that, only beneath your feet... there isn't even a trace of a shadow?"
The moment those words were spoken,
the originally joyful atmosphere in the entire Aquarium Bar instantly froze.
Even Luffy and Chopper, who were still rolling on the ground, were stunned and stopped laughing.
Everyone looked in the direction Tatsuya was pointing.
Under the brilliant light from above, Luffy, Zoro, Nami...
every person had a heavy black shadow cast beneath their feet.
However, when the light shone on Brook's tall skeletal frame, the light actually passed right through him.
The space beneath where he sat was clean and empty.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!"
After a brief daze, Usopp and Chopper hugged each other tightly again.
"It really is a ghost!!! It's a shadowless demon!! Help!!!"
Facing everyone's gazes, which were a mix of shock and fear,
Brook slowly put down his teacup.
In his empty eye sockets, his usual playfulness and flippancy disappeared, replaced by a deep sense of sorrow and gravity.
He became uncharacteristically serious.
"This gentleman's observation skills are truly sharp."
Brook sighed and began to tell the story of his long-buried tragic encounter.
He told everyone that he was once a musician for a pirate crew.
Because he had eaten the 'Revive-Revive Fruit,' his soul was able to return from the Underworld after the entire crew died in battle.
But because the fog was too thick, his soul was lost for a year, and by the time he found his body, only white bones remained.
However, that wasn't the worst part.
"In the thick fog of this area known as the Florian Triangle, I encountered an extremely powerful man."
Brook's voice became low:
"That man possesses a terrifying Devil Fruit ability to steal the shadows of others.
"My shadow was forcibly stripped away by him."
"A person who loses their shadow is equivalent to being abandoned by the light of this world.
"Once exposed to sunlight, the body will instantly turn to ash and completely vanish from this world."
Brook looked up, gazing at the impenetrable black mist outside the window:
"Therefore, I cannot leave these waters.
"I can only wander alone in this dark mist, alongside the bones of my fallen comrades, for five whole years..."
After hearing this heavy story, the atmosphere in the restaurant became somewhat oppressive.
Brook stood up.
He picked up the Cane Sword disguised as a purple walking stick beside him and walked out of the restaurant step by step.
The Straw Hat crew followed him out.
Brook turned around, leaned his cane on the ground, and bowed very solemnly to Luffy.
"Thank you very much for your hospitality, Mr. Luffy.
"I enjoyed this long-overdue dinner very much; it felt as though I had returned to the days spent with my comrades."
"But..."
Brook straightened up:
"I cannot become your companion."
"I still have an extremely important promise that I must fulfill!
"There is a comrade who has been waiting for us in the same spot for fifty years, waiting for me to return!"
"Before that... I must go and take back my shadow!!"
With that, Brook did not hesitate.
He suddenly turned around and leapt down from the gunwale of the Thousand Sunny.
An amazing sight occurred.
Because he was only a skeleton, his body was extremely light.
The moment he landed on the sea, his long feet actually alternated rapidly on the surface as if he were treading on flat ground.
"Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap..."
In just a few seconds, that tall black silhouette completely disappeared into the dark mist.
Watching the direction Brook had left, the deck fell silent.
Luffy stood by the gunwale, one hand pressing down on the old Straw Hat on his head.
He didn't stop him, nor was he disappointed.
On the contrary, his mouth slowly stretched into a grin.
"It's decided!"
Luffy slammed his right fist into his left palm and announced loudly:
"I'm going to help him get his shadow back!!"
"I don't care who that shadow-stealing guy is, I'll just knock him flying!
"That skeleton is our future musician!!"
At the same moment Luffy made his bold declaration,
a sudden change occurred on the sea!
Less than two minutes after Brook left, the originally dead sea around the Thousand Sunny suddenly began to boil and roar violently, like boiling water.
"What's going on?!"
Nami rushed to the helm and turned the wheel hard, her face instantly changing color:
"The rudder is broken!! It's completely out of control!
"Something beneath the surface is dragging us down!!"
"What?!"
Everyone was startled and immediately ran to the bow.
Franky once again turned the super searchlight on the bow to its maximum power.
By the two beams of piercing light, everyone was shocked to discover
that the front half of the Sunny's hull had been tightly entangled by an enormous white spider web at some point.
No matter how Franky started the paddle wheels, the hull couldn't move an inch.
Just then.
The thick fog ahead was suddenly forcibly blown away by an extremely eerie and cold wind.
When they saw the scene before them, everyone, including Zoro and Sanji, couldn't help but gasp.
Directly in front of them, a mobile island so massive it was suffocating had appeared!
The outer perimeter of this island was tightly surrounded by a ring of medieval castle walls that reached into the clouds.
And directly ahead of them, on the wall, a terrifying gate shaped like a giant demon's gaping maw was slowly rising, accompanied by the heavy roar of machinery.
On the gate's lintel, which was covered in moss and skeletal decorations, a string of large English letters was written in a dilapidated Gothic font, striking the eye:
[Thriller Bark]
The giant spider web that was tightly entangling the Sunny was being pulled by some irresistible mechanical force from within the island.
The Thousand Sunny was being dragged bit by bit into that massive gate, which resembled a demon's maw.
"Rumble—!!!"
The moment the Sunny's stern completely entered the island's interior,
the massive gate slammed shut behind them, the heavy stone crashing into the sea and sending up a towering spray of water.
The way back was completely cut off.
The Sunny was trapped in a sinister and terrifying inland sea.
Surrounded by high walls, in the distance were Gothic castles that looked like haunted houses.
Tatsuya turned his head, looking at his companions who were as if facing a great enemy.
The corners of his mouth curled into an arc:
"It seems someone is very 'eager' to invite us to be guests on the island."
"Everyone, pay attention."
"Since the host has opened the door to welcome us, let's... prepare for battle."
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