Thriller Bark

In the thick fog of the Devil's Sea, Brook's ruined ghost ship drifts beside the Thousand Sunny. From the darkness comes his singsong laugh: "YOHOHO HOHO!!!" He steps forward with a theatrical bow and announces, "A CHEERFUL GREETING!!!" Then the skeleton with an afro opens his mouth wide and introduces himself: "I'M 'DEAD-BONES' BROOK!! NICE TO MEET YOU!!" He politely adds, "HELLO, EVERYONE! HOW DO YOU DO? SEEMS LIKE MY SHIP AND I CAUSED SOME TROUBLE." The Straw Hats recoil in horror and confusion: "ARE YOU JOKING!!? WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUY!!?" Brook only laughs back, "YOHOHO, DON'T BE SO HARSH!!"

The crew's panic bursts all at once. Chopper cries, "IT'S A SKELETON!!!" while Usopp and Chopper pray desperately, "BEGONE FOUL SPIRIT, BEGONE FOUL SPIRIT!!" Usopp tries to convince himself, "REALLY? I'M GLAD IT'S JUST A DREAM!" and insists, "THERE'S NO REASON FOR A SKELETON TO TALK, WALK, OR WEAR AN AFRO!! THIS IS A DREAM, IT'S JUST A DREAM!" Brook immediately turns to Nami and asks, "OH, HELLO, YOUNG LADY! COULD YOU LET ME SEE YOUR PANTIES?" Nami kicks him away: "STOP THAT, YOU PERVERTED SKELETON!" Luffy, meanwhile, has already decided, "HE'S FUNNY, SO I MADE HIM OUR NAKAMA." Sanji protests, "HEY, LUFFY!! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS GUY??" and Luffy snaps, "I WON'T ACCEPT THAT!!" As Brook cheerfully says, "YOHOHOHO! WELL, IT'S NOT GETTING ANY WARMER OUT HERE!" Luffy calls, "LET'S GO INSIDE THE SHIP!!!" and "LET'S HAVE DINNER!!!" while Nami shouts after him, "DON'T GO DECIDING BY YOURSELF!!!" Sanji and Nami are left embarrassed: "YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO STOP LUFFY FROM RUNNING WILD!!" "WHY DO YOU THINK YOU WENT WITH HIM?" They bow their heads: "WE'RE ASHAMED."

Inside the Thousand Sunny, Brook marvels at the dining room with the wonder of a man who has not known a proper home in years. Franky beams, "YOU HAVE GOOD EYES, INDEED." Brook admires the ship: "THIS IS AN INCREDIBLE SHIP, YOHOHO!" Franky proudly answers, "THAT'S RIGHT. 'SUPER' FRANKY MADE THIS SHIP!" Brook keeps praising it: "AND THE KITCHEN, TOO!" and "OH, SUCH A WONDERFUL DINING ROOM!" Sanji warns, "DON'T BE SO FRIENDLY WITH HIM, FRANKY." Brook says, "BUT IT WOULD BE NICE IF WE COULD START EATING." He adds that it has been "DECADES SINCE I'VE HAD A PROPER MEAL..." and explains his hunger with a skull joke: "EVERY DAY I'VE BEEN LIVING WITH THIS PAIN, AS THOUGH THE SKIN OF MY BELLY AND MY BACK WERE STUCK TOGETHER." Then, cackling, he corrects himself: "BUT OF COURSE, I DON'T HAVE SKIN ON MY BELLY," and "OR ON MY BACK!! YOHOHO HO!!" "SKULL-JOKE!!" Robin quietly notes, "I LOVE HOW UNCONCERNED THAT SOUNDS..." Brook sits politely and says, "SINCE I'M A GENTLE-MAN, I'LL WAIT FOR THE MEAL!"

Brook and Luffy pound the table in perfect rhythm, chanting, "DINNE~~~~R" and "DINNE~~~~R" while Sanji roars, "SHUT UP AND WAIT QUIETLY!! I'M MAKING IT! PLEASE DRINK YOUR MILK IN THE MEANTIME." Even before introductions are settled, Brook asks Luffy, "BY THE WAY, WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU?" Luffy answers simply, "I'M LUFFY." Brook realizes, "I DON'T KNOW YOUR NAME YET..." Luffy struggles with Brook's name as "KOROPOK-KURU..." and Brook answers, "I'M BROOK. UMM..." with the footnote "MYTHICAL AINU DWARF GOD." Sanji fumes, "YOU TWO DON'T EVEN KNOW EACH OTHER!!!" Brook turns again to Nami with another indecent offer: "OH, YOUNG LADY, YOUR MEAT SEEMS TO BE A LITTLE BIGGER THAN MINE. WOULD YOU LIKE TO TRADE?" Nami snaps, "YOU CAN HAVE MORE, SO EAT YOUR OWN!!" Luffy happily urges him, "NMAHOOO! HEY, BROOK, EAT A LOT OF THIS; SANJI'S FOOD IS THE BEST!" Brook, moved by the feast, says, "I SHOULD WHAT...? INSTEAD OF MY STOMACH, MY HEART IS FULL..." The crew decides, "LET'S POSTPONE EVICTING THE SKELETON FOR A WHILE." Brook answers, "IT'S TIME TO EAT."

After the meal, the plates are empty and the crew begins to question Brook. Someone asks, "A DEVIL'S FRUIT, RIGHT?" Brook names it: "YOMI-YOMI NO MI"? A note explains, "YOMI-GAERU IS THE VERB FOR RESURRECT." Brook says, "THE TRUTH IS, I ALREADY DIED SOME DECADES AGO!" Nami confirms, "THAT'S RIGHT!" and Sanji scolds Luffy, "FIRST, CLEAN YOUR FACE. HOW CAN YOU BE SO DIRTY AFTER EATING?" Brook explains, "IN SHORT, THE YOMI-YOMI NO MI DEVIL FRUIT HAS THE POWER OF REVIVAL. I WAS PROMISED THAT I COULD LIVE A SECOND TIME AS A 'REVIVED HUMAN'." The idea sounds marvelous to Luffy: "OH, HOW WONDERFUL THAT ABILITY SEEMED!" Brook then reveals the cost of his past: "I WAS A PIRATE IN THOSE OLD TIMES." "ON THE SHIP YOU SAW EARLIER." "I CAME TO THIS 'DEVIL'S SEA' ALONG WITH MY NAKAMA." Sanji interrupts, "WANT ME TO HIT SOME MANNERS IN YOU?" as Brook repeatedly burps, "OH, EXCUSE ME, BURP!" Brook continues, "UNLUCKILY, WE HAPPENED TO ENGAGE WITH SOME FRIGHTENINGLY STRONG FELLOWS, AND MY ENTIRE CREW WAS ANNIHILATED." He adds, "OF COURSE, I ALSO DIED AT THAT TIME!" and clarifies that, while alive, the only ability the fruit gave him was "THE INABILITY TO SWIM."

Brook tells how his soul came back from the underworld: "THAT DAY, AT LAST, THE FRUIT'S ABILITY WAS ACTIVATED." "MY SOUL WAS RETURNED FROM THE UNDERWORLD!" But the Devil's Sea had hidden everything in fog. "BUT, AS YOU CAN SEE, THERE IS A THICK FOG ON THIS SEA AND I GOT LOST." Had he found his body at once, "I WOULD HAVE BEEN RESURRECTED," but instead, "MY SOUL WANDERED AROUND THIS FOG FOR A WHOLE YEAR!" By the time he found himself, "IT WAS ONLY WHITE BONES." Brook remembers the shock with a laugh: "I WAS UTTERLY SURPRISED - I DIDN'T EVEN HAVE MY EYEBALLS! YOHOHOHO!!" Luffy says, "YOU'RE JUST AS STUPID AS ZORO, HUH?" while Sanji warns, "HEY." Franky reasons that Brook's white-bone form is the fruit's true revived power, but after the function was fulfilled, "THE ONLY ABILITY YOU HAVE IS THE INABILITY TO SWIM." Sanji says, "BUT YOU'RE STILL CURSED, RIGHT?" Usopp wonders why Brook still has hair: "USUALLY, WHEN YOUR BODY ROTS AWAY YOU ALSO LOSE YOUR HAIR. BUT YOU'RE AN AFRO SKELETON..." Brook answers with pride, "THE ROOTS OF MY HAIR ARE STRONG." Usopp can only mutter, "WELL... YEAH, WHATEVER."

The crew tries to define what Brook is. Chopper asks, "SO, ARE YOU A GHOST AFTER ALL, OR NOT?" Brook insists, "EVEN IF YOU WERE A HUMAN, YOU DON'T LOOK LIKE ONE AT ALL!!" and then admits, "BUT I STRONGLY DISLIKE GHOSTS!" If he sees one, he says, "I'LL SCREAM!" Nami asks, "HAVE YOU SEEN YOURSELF IN A MIRROR?" The question instantly unsettles him. When she presents the mirror, Brook shrieks, "GYAAAAAAA!!!" and cries, "TAKE AWAY THAT MIRROR!!" Then he notices the impossible: "EH? WAIT A MOMENT!" "THE MIRROR...!!" Usopp and Chopper see him reflected and shout, "YOU'RE NOT...!!" and "REFLECTED IN THE MIRROR!!?" Luffy is thrilled instead of frightened: "REALLY?? THAT'S INCREDIBLE!!"

The dining room erupts again. Someone cries, "HE'S... A VAM-PIRE??" while Usopp stammers, "!!?" and "AND..." But Brook tells them to look at the floor, not the mirror: "LOOK CAREFULLY, YOU DON'T HAVE A SHADOW!!" The crew sees that no shadow falls beneath him. Usopp shouts, "UWAH! IT'S TRUE!! WHAT ARE YOU??" Sanji snaps, "HOW CAN YOU BE THAT CALM?" and Usopp complains, "WE'RE MAKING ALL THIS RACKET BECAUSE OF YOU!!" Brook merely sits with tea, making a quiet "SLUUURP," while Zoro watches in silence: "..."

Brook finally says, "I'LL TELL YOU EVERYTHING NOW..." Since he began drifting on this sea, "IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME..." and he makes the point plainly: "BEING A SKELETON... AND NOT HAVING A SHADOW... ARE COMPLETELY DIFFERENT THINGS." Luffy listens in rare silence: "..." Brook reveals the truth in pieces: "SOME YEARS AGO..." "A MAN SNATCHED AWAY MY SHADOW..." Luffy explodes, "TELL US EVERYTHING NOW!!" Brook jokes, "TO BE CONTINUED IN THE NEXT CHAPTER." Nami asks, "YOUR SHADOW...?" Brook says, "YOU'RE A TALKING SKELETON." Then he explains why this is more serious than it sounds: "BUT IT COULD. A SHADOW BEING STOLEN... IT MEANS THAT I CANNOT EXIST IN A WORLD WITH LIGHT." He adds, "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOU SAY. IT WON'T SURPRISE US ANYMORE, RIGHT?"

Brook describes what sunlight does to someone without a shadow. He has seen it himself: "I SAW SOMEONE I MET DISAPPEAR UNDER THE SUN IN FRONT OF MY OWN EYES!! IT WAS A HORRIBLE SIGHT FOR ME, EVEN THOUGH I'M A SKELETON." If his own body is exposed to direct sunlight, "IT WILL START TO DISAPPEAR." He says, "I DON'T HAVE THE SHADOW THAT SHOULD BE SEEN IN THE LIGHT." He also cannot appear normally in a mirror or in a photograph. "IN SHORT, MINE IS AN EXISTENCE REJECTED BY LIGHT." Sanji asks the obvious question: "WHY ARE YOU SO CHEERFUL? YOUR LIFE SUCKS." Brook repeats his greeting with outrageous cheer, "I'M 'DEAD-BONES' BROOK! NICE TO MEET YOU!!" and adds, "MY NAKAMA WERE ALL ANNIHILATED!" Even so, he declares, "AND EVEN THEN, I'M STILL ALIVE AND KICKING!" "AS A SKELETON, THOUGH!!!" Brook dances and laughs, "YOHO HOHOHO HOHO~~" until Sanji shouts, "SHUT UP!!"

Brook's laughter turns into an open confession of loneliness. "TODAY IS A WONDERFUL DAY!!" he cries. "I WAS ABLE TO FIND SOMEBODY!!" The crew falls quiet. He says he was "ALL ALONE ON A SHIP THAT WON'T OBEY ITS RUDDER," unable to tell "THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TODAY AND TOMORROW ON THIS DARK SEA WITH A THICK FOG." He asks, "HOW MANY YEARS I'VE BEEN WANDERING!" Chopper trembles, "...!!" Brook admits what those years did to him: "I'VE BEEN REAAAALLY LONELY!!" and "LONELY AND AFRAID! SO MUCH THAT I WANTED TO DIE!!" The room that had been full of jokes becomes solemn as Nami, Usopp, Sanji, and the others understand that Brook has been laughing across decades of isolation.

Brook thanks Luffy directly: "YOU INVITED ME TO BE YOUR NAKAMA!" "I'M REALLY GLAD. THANK YOU VERY MUCH." In the dining room he lifts both arms and says, "IF I HAD TEARS, I COULD CRY WITH HAPPINESS!!" "I'VE LIVED A LONG TIME!! PEOPLE ARE A DELIGHT!!" "FOR ME, YOU'RE MY DELIGHT!! YOHOHO!!" Then he breaks the happy mood: "BUT THE TRUTH IS, I SHOULD DECLINE." Luffy yells, "HEY! WHY??" Brook reminds them, "EARLIER, I TOLD YOU THAT MY SHADOW WAS STOLEN. MY BODY CANNOT LIVE UNDER THE SUN." For now he is safe only because of the fog of this Devil's Sea. Even if he left with them, "IT WOULD BE JUST A MATTER OF TIME BEFORE MY BODY DISAPPEARED." His duty is clear: "I HAVE TO GET BACK MY SHADOW, WHICH IS STILL HERE." Until then, "I HAVE TO WAIT FOR A MIRACLE DAY!! YOHOHO!!"

Luffy refuses to leave Brook's problem alone. "WHAT ARE YOU SAYING!? WE'RE NOT STRANGERS!!" he shouts. "IF THAT'S THE CASE, WE'LL GET YOUR SHADOW BACK!!!" "TELL ME WHO STOLE IT!!" Brook is moved but firm: "YOU'RE REALLY A GOOD PERSON. I'M SURPRISED." "EVEN THEN, I CANNOT TELL YOU THAT." Luffy presses him, "WHERE IS IT??" Brook answers, "NO, I WON'T SAY IT! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME! YOHOHO." The others argue that "IT WON'T HURT IF YOU JUST TELL US HIS NAME" and ask, "IS THE ENEMY SO STRONG?" Brook's reason is not cowardice. "I ONLY JUST MET YOU," he says. "YOU SHOULDN'T SAY THAT 'YOU'LL DIE FOR ME'." He does not know whether he can meet the man before his second life ends, but, "IF I CAN DO THAT, I'VE DECIDED THAT I WILL FIGHT HIM."

Brook tries to turn the meeting into celebration instead of sacrifice. He says, "HOWEVER, LET'S SING A SONG! IN HONOR OF THE GOOD ENCOUNTER WE HAD TODAY." He adds, "I'M VERY PROUD OF MY ABILITIES. I USED TO BE THE MUSICIAN ON MY PIRATE SHIP." Luffy, still emotional, shouts, "EEH?? REALLY?? I'M BEGGING YOU, BE MY NAKAMA, YOU IDIOT!!" Brook answers, "YOHOHO!! LET'S HAVE A HAPPY SEA SONG!" Before the music can begin, the sea and ship shake violently: "GYAAAAAAAAAA!!" Someone yells, "HEY, WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Then a pale ghost floats into the room. The crew screams, "A-- A GHOST!!!" "UWAH!! THERE'S SOMETHING!!" and asks, "WHAT'S THAT VIBRATION??" as Brook reacts in terror to the very thing he claimed to hate.

Outside, a colossal island-like vessel looms over the Thousand Sunny, walled in by chains, spires, towers, and a dark castle. The name crashes over the page: "THRILLER BARK!!!" It is "THE 'GHOST ISLAND' THAT WANDERS THROUGH THE SEA..." The crew stares at the impossible sight and shouts, "WHY IS THERE AN ISLAND??" Brook recognizes the danger at once: "WHAT'S THIS?? THIS SHIP UNDER 'SURVEILLANCE' ALREADY??" The Sunny is no longer outside; the forward gate has closed. Someone cries, "PLEASE LOOK AT THIS!! THE FORWARD GATE HAS ALREADY CLOSED!" Brook realizes, "THIS IS THE INSIDE OF THE GATE! THAT MEANS...!!" The crew had unknowingly picked up a floating barrel, and someone says, "AH!! WE DID!!" Another explains, "THAT WAS A TRAP. THIS SHIP HAS BEEN TARGETED EVER SINCE THEN." Brook urges them, "LOOK BEHIND THE SHIP, PLEASE!!"

Brook explains the giant vessel while the Sunny drifts inside its trap. Nami says, "A WANDERING ISLAND? THE LOG POSE ISN'T RESPONDING...!!" Brook confirms, "THAT'S RIGHT. THAT'S BECAUSE THIS ISLAND CAME FROM FAR AWAY WEST BLUE." Yet he still calls the day lucky. "MY HEART'S DESIRE WAS FULFILLED!!!" he says. "NOT ONLY WAS I ABLE TO MEET SOME PEOPLE!" "BUT TODAY WAS A LUCKY DAY!" Suddenly his impossibly light body is lifted away, and Sanji cries, "WOW! HIS BODY IS SO LIGHT!!" Brook, carried off toward Thriller Bark, shouts his warning: "DO NOT EVEN THINK ABOUT LOWERING YOUR ANCHOR AT THIS ISLAND!!" He urges them, "PLEASE, TRY TO BREAK THROUGH THE BACK OF THE GATE AND ESCAPE!!" Then, with one last graceful farewell, he says, "I'M SO GLAD THAT I MET YOU TODAY AND COULD EAT YOUR DELICIOUS FOOD. I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU!!" "YOHOHOHO!! THAT'S RIGHT! AS LIGHT AS DEAD BONES!"

Brook leaps from the Sunny toward Thriller Bark, saying, "IF IT IS FATED, WE'LL MEET AGAIN ON SOME OTHER SEA!!" Luffy shouts, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? JUMPING IN THE SEA?!" Chopper panics, "HEY, HEY! YOU'RE A DEVIL'S-FRUIT USER!!" and the crew calls, "HEY! WAIT, BROOK!!!" But Brook lands on the water with a splash and keeps moving, laughing "YOHO HOHO~~" as he runs across the sea itself. The Straw Hats stare: "HE CAN RUN ON TOP OF THE SEA!!!" "WOW! INCREDIBLE!!!" With Thriller Bark looming behind them, Usopp urges, "A-ANYWAY, LET'S DO AS HE TOLD US, LUFFY!!" "WE DON'T KNOW WHAT WILL HAPPEN, BUT THIS ISLAND IS DEFINITELY DANGEROUS!" Luffy grins instead and asks, "MH?" "DID YOU SAY SOMETHING?" Then he declares what everyone fears: "YOU WANT TO GO!!?"

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