Shakky Joins Voluntarily

Sabaody Archipelago, Lawless Zone, in a secluded alleyway.

"Shakky, I know you are all alone with no ties, which allows you to be reckless, but it also means you are... isolated and helpless! Seize her!"

The middle-aged man in gold-rimmed glasses stopped looking at Shakky and turned to walk away. Suddenly, dozens of burly men appeared from all sides, surrounding her.

"Over these years, I reckon you've stashed away no less than five hundred million Berries, haven't you, Shakky?"

Having heard today that Shakky had raked in another few tens of millions of Berries, he could no longer resist the urge to rob her. She was just a small-time intelligence broker; he was determined to devour her today.

"Truly hypocritical, you dog!"

Rip-off: Lime Powder

Shakky struck the giant bamboo pole beside her, and instantly, countless white lime powder rained down from the air. As the powder touched the eyes of the burly men, they immediately let out agonizing screams. The quicklime reacted with the moisture in their eyes, causing intense heat and severe burns; they were at risk of being blinded permanently.

Meanwhile, Shakky had already pried open a manhole cover, jumped down, and vanished into the complex sewer system.

"Damn that bitch! Is she dead? If not, chase her! I'm going to slaughter her today!"

The gold-rimmed middle-aged man utilized a movement technique, quickly leaping into the sewer. He scanned the three diverging tunnels and, spotting footprints, gave chase. However, after pursuing for a while, he realized the footprints had vanished.

"Damn it, I've been tricked. Dammit!"

The gold-rimmed man realized he had been played by Shakky, who had faked the footprints to lead him astray while she had already escaped in another direction. He had no choice but to return empty-handed, cursing under his breath.

Now that he had alerted the prey, Shakky would likely have fled far away and would never contact him or sell him intelligence again. His chance to rob her was gone.

"These bastards, none of them are easy to deal with. Good thing I kept an ace up my sleeve, or I would've suffered!"

Shakky jumped out of the sewer and looked at the familiar city. It seemed she would have to move to another island to make a living.

"Wait, I think I just thought of someone!"

Shakky recalled the cold man who had taken out Poison Cannon Sarin in a single move. According to past intelligence, Brook should have been a passionate musician; how did he become this cold, unapproachable figure? It seemed the destruction of his pirate crew had completely altered his personality.

Word was he might be looking to recruit new crew members and set sail again. She felt she could try to join his new pirate crew—she would act on the thought!

Shakky packed up her belongings to hide them first, then went to probe Brook's intentions.

World Economic News Agency headquarters.

Brook was attempting to separate his soul from his physical body to achieve an out-of-body state. In this soul form, he could ignore physical barriers like walls to gather intelligence.

He had originally escaped from the underworld in his soul form and drifted into his body; now, he focused his soul, trying to drift out of his physical shell once more.

After continuous effort, a pale, soul-form Brook emerged. It consisted only of his upper body, with his lower soul tethered to his physical form. The soul-form Brook began flying around the room, but his tail remained connected to his body; it seemed it could not be severed!

The soul-form Brook drifted to the window and was about to pass through when he saw a woman with short black hair holding a small knife. With a snap, she pried open the window, and they came face-to-face, staring at each other in shock.

Since he wasn't in an unfamiliar environment, Brook hadn't activated his Life Detection, and he had actually been snuck up on by this thief.

"Ah! A ghost!"

A shrill female voice erupted from Shakky, scaring the soul-form Brook so much that he instantly snapped back into his body. His cold, dead-blue eyes opened once more, while Shakky had already fallen backward.

Numerous guards from the news agency quickly surrounded the area, encircling Shakky. Moore Thomas also rushed out in his pajamas, and Antonio looked on, bleary-eyed, at the surrounded woman with short black hair!

"Isn't this the girl who helped the Captain exchange the bounty earlier today?"

Antonio sobered up, looking suspiciously at the girl sprawled on the ground.

"Brother Brook, are you hurt?"

Moore Thomas looked at Brook, who was standing by the window, asking out of routine; he didn't believe this girl could harm Brook.

"What do you want?"

Brook jumped down from the window and looked at the somewhat familiar woman with short black hair.

"Are you human or a ghost?"

Shakky had been terrified by Brook's soul state; she had actually seen a transparent phantom identical to Brook.

"Devil Fruit ability, get it? State your purpose, or it's off to prison with you!"

"No, no! My name is Shakky. Didn't I earn over twenty million Berries from you today? I'm being hunted now, so I want to join you!"

Shakky waved her small hands, explaining hurriedly, terrified that if she spoke too slowly, she would be caught and handed over to the Marines.

"You say your name is Shakky? Fine. From now on, you are my second crew member."

Brook looked at the woman with short black hair and caught a glimpse of the shadow of that cunning, black-bellied boss. He would take her in; he hoped she would grow into the troublesome pirate Garp had spoken of.

"That's it? Just like that? You aren't lying to me, are you!"

"I said it, Shakky. You are already my second crew member."

Brook's cold, blue-lit eyes stared at Shakky as he repeated himself.

"Understood, Captain Brook. You'd better protect me well!"

Shakky finally climbed to her feet, brushed the dust off her backside, and rubbed her aching hip.

"What is your specialty?"

"Gathering intelligence. I also know navigation, and my cooking isn't bad either!"

"From now on, your primary role will be navigator, and your secondary role will be intelligence officer. Antonio is an excellent intelligence officer; you should mentor him."

Brook waved for Moore Thomas and the guards to return to their posts so he could continue sleeping, then led Shakky and Antonio into the room to familiarize themselves with each other's abilities and specialties.

"A Den Den Mushi Devil Fruit user? That is far too powerful for an intelligence officer!"

"It is, isn't it? I can communicate directly with the little snails, and I can even eavesdrop on their conversations, hee hee~"

Antonio laughed sheepishly; eavesdropping on the little snails was quite impolite.

"Antonio currently possesses most of the functions of a Den Den Mushi, but his social experience is poor, and he basically doesn't know how to do anything. You teach him how to distinguish and collect key intelligence."

As Brook purchased various types of Den Den Mushi, Antonio not only learned to chat with them but also discovered he could learn to broadcast like a loudspeaker, take photos like a Camera Den Den Mushi, transmit signals to specific fax machines for printing, and even mastered a bit of the unique mimicry inherent to the snails...

Brook felt that as Antonio continued to develop his powers further, he might eventually master the functions of every Den Den Mushi; as long as he had encountered a newly discovered snail, he could learn its corresponding ability.

"Too strong! I really wish I had this Den Den Mushi Devil Fruit too!"

Shakky stared at Antonio with glowing eyes, scaring him into edging closer to Captain Brook's side.