"Mr. Sig... can I go back inside first? It's so hot here..."
Brook said somewhat shyly.
Jack shivered and said, "Hot? We're the ones who's freezing! Are you out of your mind? Why are you emitting cold air?"
That's right, Brook is now in a soul state.
Brook's use of the Revive-Revive Fruit has always been very superficial. He doesn't even seem to have any intention of developing its abilities, treating it merely as Devil Fruit ability that "can revive the user once."
In the original work, Brook didn't master the technique of "out-of-body experience" until "two years later".
Furthermore, during his two years of training, Brook also incorporated his soul power into his attacks, whereas before, Brook's combat prowess came solely from his swordsmanship.
One reason is that Brook didn't realize the true power of the Revive-Revive Fruit, and another reason is that he is no longer a Devil Fruit ability!
Sig noticed this the moment he saw him.
It's likely that the Devil was reborn at the time of his death. As for Brook's current "special" nature, and his ability to develop "astral projection" in the original work, it's because his "soul" is no longer the same.
However, it didn't matter that Brook hadn't mastered "astral projection," Sig simply "helped" him by dragging his soul out.
"You no longer have a body, so you won't feel 'heat.' The reason you have this illusion is because your 'soul' is too fragile to exert the Revive-Revive Fruit)," Sig explained.
Similarly, Jack felt cold not because the temperature had actually dropped, but because he was affected by the aura of the "Yellow Springs".
Otherwise, if Jack, with his physique, felt cold, the surrounding sea would have frozen over long ago!
Generally speaking, a "soul" doesn't send chills down your spine; neither Homies nor Perona's "Float" possess that kind of aura.
Sig speculated that this was because Brook had "died" before, so his soul carried a different aura, the so-called "aura of the underworld."
After observing Sig closely, and noting that he seemed to be in the spirit state of a Brook, Sieg reached out and "pushed" him back into his body.
It's called a body, but it's really just bones now.
Brook's condition was clearly not resurrection—he was a skeleton, completely devoid of any life signs!
"Hmm, finally back... It's so reassuring to have a body again." Brook squirmed and wiggled.
"No, no, no, it's better not to be too complacent with this kind of body," Jack remarked from the side.
Sig for a moment about the state of Brook that he had just sensed, then asked, "Could you tell me again what it felt like when you died... and where you felt you were?"
Rather than saying that the power of the Revive-Revive Fruit) is "resurrection once," it's more accurate to say that it allows the user to return from the "Underworld Town," or rather, it allows the user to adapt to the atmosphere of the Underworld Town.
Because he had actually entered the Underworld Town, Brook's state was not merely that of a soul. His relationship with his "body" was no longer that of spirit and flesh, but rather more like... a spirit and a "horned weapon".
However, Brook himself does not think so now. He believes that he is still alive in the form of a skeleton, so he does not strengthen himself by cultivating a special soul, but continues to strengthen his "Soul Weapon".
When Brook first ate the fruit, he had no idea what the power was, nor did he activate its effects.
Until...
He died once, and his soul was passively sent to the Underworld Town. Only then was he truly endowed with some special powers by the Devil Fruit ability. However, he lost the Revive-Revive Fruit due to his death afterward, and all he had left was a specialized soul.
For the next fifty years, Brook remained "hidden" inside the Horcrux and never came out again.
Otherwise, his shadow wouldn't have been taken away five years ago. With his soul mastering the aura of the underworld, he was able to restrain other soul-type fruits!
Upon hearing Sig's words, Brook replied, "Of course... no... problem..."
If he had eyes now, he would surely see the vacant look in the eyes, but unfortunately... he doesn't.
Then Brook lay down and fell asleep.
That's right, it was Sig who used hypnosis.
Brook's memory of the moment of death is very vague, much like how a person wakes up and can't remember the contents of their dream.
Sig didn't understand anything Brook had said before—according to Brook, he had returned from a "very cold" Underworld Town, then wandered in the mist for a year before finding his body.
What kind of place is Underworld Town?
If it's a fixed location, then when Brook "returns," shouldn't he be in the mist?
If the entrance and exit are located at the place of one's death, then... one shouldn't get lost, right?
Sig didn't expect Brook to recall anything more; he merely prompted him to remember before hypnotizing him and preparing to Dream Infiltration to see for himself!
In Brook's dream, Sig, from a third-party perspective, witnessed his own experience...
I saw it too...
The other part of the world...
The Underworld Town of the Dead—that's what the people of Earth call it.
It is not located in a specific place, but exists in the same absolute space as reality, or rather, as Earth, much like the "Spirit World" in the original work of Mystery.
It belongs to a world composed of special information; the information that constitutes "the Underworld Town" is the will of the deceased...
The world of One Piece emphasizes the power of will, and death is merely a physical state; the will still carries information and does not immediately dissipate, which is the "soul" in a narrow sense.
However, it's clear that the Underworld Town isn't a place where the dead can "gather together." There are no living beings there, nor is it a place where "people" can continue to exist after death; otherwise, Brook wouldn't have wanted to "come back"...
The stronger one's will, the longer one may be able to maintain oneself in the Underworld Town after death; however, relatively speaking, one will still be completely reduced to mere "information" in a very short time.
Unlike other "souls" that enter the Underworld Town, although the Devil has left with his death, his soul already possesses the ability to control the aura of the Underworld!
It was this power that prevented Brook's soul from being quickly assimilated into a ghost in the Underworld Town. Instead Underworld Town and gradually manifested as a semi-physical, controllable "soul".
At this time, Brook wandered aimlessly through the Underworld Town, often startled by other "passing" spirits, timidly scattering in all directions. Then... driven by his yearning for the world of the living, Brook instinctively found an exit not far away and "traveled" back.
From the material world to the Underworld Town, it is merely the natural entry of the soul, or rather, "information," after death; no entrance or exit is needed. However, after semi-materialization, an entrance or exit is required to exit.
The Underworld Town and the material world overlap, and this entrance/exit is the closest to Brook...
Through Brook's perspective, Sig saw the bushes, he saw the giant elephant...
Brook, however, was in a panic and in a daze, so he didn't pay attention to any of this and continued to plunge headlong into the fog!
Sig then realized that the nearest entrance was on the back of the giant elephant, and that he had seen these peculiar doors not long ago—the Sig gates.
In the occult symbolism of Wano Country, torii gates are also considered the entrance and exit between this world and "that world"...
Although the indigenous people had been completely slaughtered at that time, the "torii gates" there still served as entrances and exits.
Brook couldn't remember any of this afterward, only that the Underworld Town was a very cold place, and that after he "returned," he got lost in the mist...