Memory Seahorse

The Memory Seahorse hopped toward the village with great effort, its tail even beginning to chafe from the exertion.

Once my ability grows stronger, I will control a human to carry me every day. I never want to hop again.

The Memory Seahorse felt like crying without tears; it was still too young and was currently consuming memories to grow, so it could not yet control a human.

Finally reaching the village, it found most people already asleep, which made it much easier to feast upon their memories.

The Memory Seahorse crept quietly before a house, already drawing out the memories of the sleeping humans through the window as glowing, colorful ribbons of light drifted toward its mouth.

Delicious, but these humans' memories were too mundane; they lacked the flavor it imagined. It could only eat to fill its stomach and grow slowly, and who knew how long it would take to consume enough memories to become a soaring Millennium Dragon.

Brook had long since activated Life Detection, waiting for the monster to appear. After walking a circle around the village, he discovered this sneaky pink Memory Seahorse, which was even smaller than he had imagined.

"Is it tasty?"

Brook asked the little seahorse, which was focused on its meal, in a soft voice.

The Memory Seahorse nodded as if it were a serious matter, but it instantly whipped its head around to see a human over two meters tall, whose deep blue eyes seemed to carry a chilling intent, scaring it so much that it scrambled and hopped back toward its lair.

However, the little seahorse's hopping speed was truly pathetic. Brook stepped forward, picked up the Memory Seahorse, and looked at it with curiosity.

"To think you are still so small, not even fully grown, are you? You can understand me, right? Follow me from now on, and I will take you to eat even more powerful and delicious memories!"

Brook stared at this pink seahorse with its special ability and couldn't help but want to raise it; he estimated it would be quite useful in the future.

Feeling the icy chill radiating from the strange man's hand, the Memory Seahorse nodded frantically. If I don't agree, will I be crushed on the spot? I'm still just a baby; I've only been consuming memories for less than a month!

Brook was very satisfied with the Memory Seahorse's attitude and hung it on his shoulder, where it immediately wrapped its tail around Brook's clothes to secure itself so it wouldn't fall off.

"These islanders' memories are too ordinary to help you grow. I'll take you out to sea later and feed you the memories of those pirates."

Brook's words made the Memory Seahorse nod wildly, as if it had just found a wealthy benefactor.

Shakky was a bit curious to see Captain Brook return from his trip bringing back a pink seahorse.

"Is this the monster that eats memories?"

"From now on, it is also our partner." Brook introduced them so they could get to know each other and understand their respective abilities.

"Memory Seahorse, you must never lay a hand on your own partners!" Brook warned the creature capable of devouring memories.

"How amazing, I never imagined such a creature existed." Antonio exclaimed.

"You're one to talk, a Devil Fruit user who can communicate with Den Den Mushi," Shakky said with a mix of envy and irritation.

"Shakky, what type of Devil Fruit would you want in the future?" Relying on his foresight of the plot, he should be able to snatch a Devil Fruit that originally belonged to someone else; by then, he would be a boss with a bit of influence himself.

"I want a Devil Fruit that makes me run fast, then I can protect myself well!" Shakky thought for 0.01 seconds and gave her answer immediately.

"I understand. If possible, I'll even find the Rumble-Rumble Fruit for you. That is a top-tier Logia Devil Fruit with incredible speed and devastating power!"

Brook wanted to go to Sky Island to look for that Rumble-Rumble Fruit; he wondered if it had already been reborn on Birka Island.

"Captain, you aren't joking, are you? That's a Logia Devil Fruit! You'd be willing to give it to me? Even if you were, it's impossible to find. You're just talking nonsense!"

Although she knew it was impossible, Shakky was still moved by Brook's thoughts and attitude.

"Alright, get some good rest, we set off again tomorrow!"

The next day.

After resting, Brook and his crew set off early in the morning. The pirate ship sailed out of the harbor, and it was the Memory Seahorse's first time boarding a ship to head out to sea.

"Shakky, Antonio, you two need to train your physical techniques as well. You cannot be too weak."

The foundation of the intelligence hunter Shakky was quite good; she had the aptitude to become a strong woman, and her current strength was more than enough to handle a Marine Major. As for Antonio, he was truly a bit weak; why hadn't the Den Den Mushi Devil Fruit significantly enhanced his physique, instead only strengthening his communication abilities related to Den Den Mushi?

"Understood, Captain Brook, I won't hold us back!"

Antonio had almost become a slave, so he knew that this world was ruled by strength; without powerful martial prowess, it was easy to end up a prisoner.

"Captain, the direction toward Water 7 has been corrected. We just need to keep sailing along the direction of the Eternal Pose."

Shakky looked at the Eternal Pose on her wrist and said with a confident expression.

The day was clear and cloudless, the weather fine. The pirate ship moved forward with the sea breeze, and Brook began his development of the Revive-Revive Fruit, while Shakky and Antonio began their physical training.

The pink Memory Seahorse stared at the sea, looking forward to the appearance of pirates, because Captain Brook had said that once they took down pirates, it could consume a massive amount of spectacular memories.

"Haha~, Captain, those old shipwrights never expected that after we sailed out on our new ship, we'd double back and rob them too!!"

A pirate officer laughed loudly; it seemed they had gained quite a lot from robbing the shipyard that had built their new vessel.

"We are now called the most wicked pirate crew by the Marines."

The captain of the Smokescreen Pirates, Smog Emi, was a user of the Smog Devil Fruit, a despicable pirate who could release massive amounts of suffocating smoke to calmly finish off his opponents. With a bounty of 150 million Berries, he was considered one of this year's Supernovas.

"Those shipwrights, I gave them money and they actually dared to take it. If I didn't rob them, how could I live up to my title as the most wicked pirate? Smog-haha~"

"Captain, there is a pirate ship ahead, it doesn't seem to be flying a flag!" The lookout, holding a monocular, reported loudly to Emi.

"Where did this small pirate crew come from? There don't seem to be many of them. Are they pirates who escaped from somewhere? Go up and rob them!"

Even a mosquito is meat, and since it was an easy task to resolve, Emi made his decision immediately and issued the order swiftly.

On the other side, Brook and his crew also spotted the brand-new ship, as well as the pirate flag flying from it.

"Captain Brook, this is bad. It's Smog Emi of the Smokescreen Pirates, with a bounty of 150 million Berries. Are you sure you can take him? If not, we should run for it!"

Shakky was well aware of the Smokescreen Pirates' despicable and cruel nature; very few of their opponents ever survived, as the Smokescreen Fruit was rather underhanded.

"It's fine, I'm not afraid of poisonous smoke!"

Brook's resurrected Underworld Body was immune to the effects of such smog on flesh and blood; he was virtually resistant to most toxins, unless they were of an extremely corrosive, lethal variety.