Just as Brook was in utter shock, a dark shadow flew back onto Brook.
"My shadow is back!!"
Brook looked at his shadow and immediately cried out in delight.
"It seems my knights have defeated Shimotsuki Ryuma and reclaimed your shadow."
"We are your benefactors."
"Tell me, what's your background?"
Wang Shi spoke calmly, looking at the mysterious skeleton.
"Actually, I am the captain of the royal guard of the Oli Kingdom in the West Blue, the ancestral home of the Celestial Dragon Manmaia family."
When the Manmayer family returned to the Oli Kingdom for a visit, I served as their guard and did indeed have some interaction with young Gunko."
"Gunko really likes my singing."
"She's a little different from the other Celestial Dragons; she's kind and innocent."
I wonder how she is now.
"But after so many years, Gunko must be an old lady by now."
Brook recounted a story from the past, almost as if talking to himself.
That's it?
"Otherwise, you thought there was some kind of story behind it?"
Wang Shi's disbelief and Brook's counter-question immediately created an awkward atmosphere.
However, Wang Shi felt that Brook must have some secrets and inside stories that he hadn't told.
"Now Gunko has become the vessel for the King of the World. He is very young and possesses immortality, but his memories have been altered, so he has probably forgotten many people and things."
Wang Shi stared at Brook, wanting to see the guy's reaction.
Wang Shi even suspected that the Revive-Revive Fruit no Gunko (Revive-Revive Fruit) was given to Brook by Junzi, who wanted Brook to stay with him forever.
"What!!"
Brook was utterly shocked. What container? What memory modification?
Did Gunko not age, thus gaining the power of immortality?
"Judging by your appearance, you probably won't be able to escape the Florian Triangle by yourself."
"Come aboard my ship for now, I'll take you out, but I need to study your Revive-Revive Fruit) abilities."
"By the way, can't you draw blood from those bones of yours?"
Wang Shi was temporarily too lazy to investigate Brook and Gunko's story; he only wanted to study the Revive-Revive Fruit's abilities.
"Um, there should be some blood, right? After all, I can eat, drink, and excrete..."
"I also get nosebleeds..."
Brook scratched his head, resigned to the domineering young man's attitude.
Let's get out of here first and figure it out later.
Actually, he still wants to continue being a pirate, fulfill his crewmates' dreams, travel around the world, and go back to find Laboon.
This young man was clearly either a high-ranking nobleman or royalty.
They seem very strong.
Are all the knights under his command capable of defeating Gecko Moria?
"Then take some and do it yourself, or should I beat you up?"
"Um, can I eat first? I haven't eaten anything for many years."
Wang Shi had no choice but to carry Brook back to the Exile Emperor.
"A golden spaceship?"
Are you Celestial Dragons?
"Is technology that advanced now?"
"Have all the pirate ships on the sea turned into spaceships now?"
"Has that pirate turned into a thief?"
Brook stared in shock at the two floating golden warships once again.
In his time, even Golden Lion Shiki hadn't emerged yet, and the concepts of flying pirates and flying warships were nonexistent.
"I am not a Celestial Dragon, I am Emperor Wang Zi of the East Blue Goa Empire."
Wang Shi left Brook on the deck, where there was a dining table with various kinds of food.
Smile, Spaden, Nami, and Kaya were all a little surprised to see Wang Shi bring back a talking skeleton.
"This guy is a resurrected person who ate the Revive-Revive Fruit, not a monster."
Wang Shi gave a brief introduction to the skeleton and handed the blood-drawing device to Brook was immediately eating and drinking heartily.
"Flying warships are not yet widespread; even the Celestial Dragons don't have them."
"You're lucky today. You've met us and even boarded a golden spaceship that even the Celestial Dragons don't have."
Wang Shi lay on the sun lounger, but the gloomy sky made him feel uneasy.
"Delicious! Delicious!"
"I'm finally alive!"
Brook indulged in food she hadn't eaten in decades.
"The ability to come back to life after death?"
"This Devil Fruit ability is truly amazing."
With three powerful figures— Wang Shi, Issho, and Spaden —backing them up, Nami and Kaya weren't too afraid of the white skeleton.
"Beautiful ladies, may I take a look at how fat you are..."
"Thump~"
Brook's head was swatted away by the Seven-Star Dragon Emperor's tail.
Nami and Kaya stared wide-eyed at the skeleton man who had been 'killed' by the Seven-Star Dragon Emperor.
The skeleton ability user that Wang Shi specially brought back was just killed like that?
"Oh ho ho ho, sorry, I couldn't help but say something inappropriate."
"Please help me put my head back in."
Brook's voice came from the skull on the deck.
Spaden picked up the head with some curiosity and placed it back on the skeleton's neck.
"This could be considered a different kind of immortality."
Spaden looked at the restored skeleton man and marveled at the bizarre and fantastical nature of Devil Fruit.
However, he did not envy this method of immortality.
After all, what's the point of life if your whole body is just bones?
"This gentleman has a very powerful aura."
Brook felt the pressure from Spaden, a feeling as terrifying as when he faced the Holy Knight.
Does this Goa Emperor have that many powerful warriors under his command?
That Thunder Giant who was fighting Gecko Moria was clearly no ordinary opponent.
It seems I've encountered a group of extraordinary rulers and ministers from Affiliated Nation.
"So-so, they might not even be able to stay in the top five on the ship."
Spaden smiled modestly. With Wang Shi, Aramaki, and Yi Xiao ahead of him, Kuma's strength should not be underestimated. At present, the two are evenly matched.
Enel is desperately trying to catch up, and Viscount Zoro is also very talented; he might catch up in two years.
"What? Your strength only ranks in the top five?"
Brook was a little stunned. He felt that Spaden alone could wipe out his former pirate crew.
Are there really that many monsters in the ocean these days?!
During the fifty years I was lost in the Florian Triangle, what tremendous changes occurred in this ocean?
"Brook, do you remember what happened in the underworld? What did you see? How did it feel?"
Is the underworld or hell real? Does the Grim Reaper really exist in this world?
Wang Shi took a sip of his drink and asked Brook a question.
This guy escaped from the underworld; Zoro saw the Grim Reaper with a scythe as he lay dying...
Does another underworld, a realm for the dead, truly exist in this world?
"I don't remember much about that. I was in a dazed state at the time. When I regained consciousness, I was frantically searching for my body."
In the end, all they found was a body that had turned into bones.
Brook smiled helplessly. He felt quite unlucky. When he returned from the underworld, the pirate ship, now devoid of any living people, had long since drifted away.
"Is your soul returning to the place of death?"
Wang Shi knew that Brook's soul definitely wasn't near his body, otherwise he wouldn't have searched for his body for so long.
What exactly is the principle Revive-Revive Fruit (Revive-Revive Fruit)?
Are there time-space anchor points for the return of souls?
When other lives die, do their souls go to the underworld?
Is reincarnation a real phenomenon?