Shakky Joins of Her Own Accord

Sabaody Archipelago, Lawless Zone, in a secluded alley.

"Shakky, I know you're all alone, with nothing tying you down, so you can do whatever you want. But that also means you're... all on your own! Grab her!"

The middle-aged man in gold-rimmed glasses didn't spare Shakky another glance. He turned and walked away as dozens of burly men appeared around her, surrounding her.

"You've probably saved up more than five hundred million Beli over the years, haven't you, Shakky?"

He'd heard that Shakky had made tens of millions of Beli again today, and he couldn't resist making his move and robbing her. She was just a little information broker. He was going to take her down today.

"Just as I thought. You're a hypocritical piece of trash!"

Rip-off: Lime Powder.

Shakky struck the huge bamboo pole beside her. A cloud of white lime powder rained down, and when it got into the burly men's eyes, they cried out in pain. Quicklime heated up when it came into contact with water, and their eyes had been badly burned. They might even go blind.

Shakky had already lifted the manhole cover and jumped down, escaping through the maze of sewers.

"Damn that bitch! Are you dead yet? If you're not, chase her! I'm going to kill her today!"

The middle-aged man in gold-rimmed glasses used his footwork to leap into the sewer. He saw the three passageways and spotted footprints, then quickly chased after them. But after a while, he realized the footprints had disappeared.

"Damn it, she tricked me. That bitch!"

The middle-aged man in gold-rimmed glasses realized Shakky had fooled him. She'd planted false footprints ahead of time and escaped in another direction. He could only return empty-handed, cursing under his breath.

Now he'd tipped her off, and Shakky had probably gotten far away. She wouldn't contact him or sell him information again, so he'd lost his chance to rob her.

"Those bastards really are all bad news. Good thing I kept a trick up my sleeve, or I'd have been in trouble!"

Shakky climbed out of the sewer and looked at the familiar city. It seemed she'd have to find another island to operate on.

"Wait, I think I've got an idea!"

Shakky thought of the cold man who had taken down Poison Cannon Sarin in one move. According to the information she'd heard before, Brook should have been a warmhearted musician. How had he become so cold and unapproachable? It seemed the destruction of his pirate crew had completely changed his personality.

She'd heard he might gather new crewmates and set sail again. She could join his new pirate crew now. She'd act on the idea right away!

Shakky put her belongings away in a hiding place, then went to find out whether Brook was willing to take her on.

World Economic News Agency Headquarters.

Brook was trying to make his soul leave his body—to achieve astral projection. In this state, his soul could pass through physical obstacles like walls and scout for information.

He'd escaped from Hell as a soul and drifted into his body. Now he focused his spirit and tried to float out of his body again.

After repeated effort, a pale soul-Brook emerged. Only his upper body had appeared; his lower half remained attached to Brook's body. Soul-Brook began flying around the room, but his tail stayed connected to his body and didn't seem able to break free!

Soul-Brook drifted to the window and was about to pass through it when he saw a short-haired woman with a knife. With a snap, she pried open the window and came face-to-face with soul-Brook. They stared at each other, wide-eyed.

He wasn't in an unfamiliar environment, so Brook hadn't activated Life Detection. Somehow, this thief had crept right up to the window.

"Ahhh! A ghost!"

Shakky's shrill scream rang out. Soul-Brook was so startled that he instantly slipped back into his body. His ghostly, lifeless blue eyes opened again, while Shakky had already fallen.

The agency's guards rushed over and surrounded Shakky. Moore Thomas also ran out in his pajamas, while Antonio, still bleary-eyed from sleep, looked at the short-haired woman surrounded by the guards.

"Isn't that the girl who helped the captain exchange his bounty earlier today?"

Antonio came to his senses and looked at the girl lying on the ground, confused.

"Big Brother Brook, are you hurt?"

Moore Thomas looked toward Brook, who was standing by the window, and asked out of habit. He didn't think the girl could hurt Brook.

"What are you doing here?"

Brook jumped down from the upstairs window and looked at the short-haired woman, who seemed vaguely familiar.

"Are you a person or a ghost?"

Shakky had been frightened by Brook's soul form. She'd actually seen a transparent ghost that looked just like him.

"It's a Devil Fruit ability. Got it? Tell me why you're here, or you're going to prison!"

"No, no! My name's Shakky. Didn't I make more than twenty million Beli from you today? I'm being hunted now, so I want to join your crew!"

Shakky hurriedly explained, waving her hands. She was afraid they'd catch her and hand her over to the Navy if she didn't speak fast enough.

"You said your name was Shakky? Fine. You're my second crewmate from now on."

Brook looked at the short-haired woman and saw a hint of the same shrewdness as that black-hearted Rip-off proprietress. He'd take her on. Hopefully, she'd grow into the troublesome great pirate Garp had spoken of.

"That's it? Just like that? You're not messing with me, are you?"

"I told you, Shakky. You're my second crewmate now."

Brook's cold, blue eyes fixed on Shakky as he repeated himself.

"Got it, Captain Brook. You'd better take good care of me!"

Shakky finally got to her feet, patted the dust off her behind, and rubbed her sore bottom.

"What are you good at?"

"Gathering information. I know how to navigate, too, and I'm a decent cook!"

"Then you'll be the navigator first and an information broker second. Antonio is a good information broker. Teach him."

Brook sent Moore Thomas and the guards back to bed, then took Shakky and Antonio into the room to get familiar with one another's abilities and strengths.

"A Devil Fruit user with the Den Den Mushi Devil Fruit? That's incredibly useful for an information broker!"

"That's right! I can talk directly with little snails, and I can eavesdrop on their conversations, too. Hee-hee!"

Antonio smiled sheepishly. Eavesdropping on little snails was pretty rude.

"Antonio can currently perform most of a Den Den Mushi's functions, but he has very little experience with the world and basically doesn't know anything. Teach him how to identify and gather important information."

Since Brook had bought several kinds of Den Den Mushi, Antonio could do more than talk with them. He could imitate a broadcast Den Den Mushi and speak as loudly as a megaphone, take pictures like a camera Den Den Mushi, and send the signal to a designated fax machine to print them out. He'd even learned a little of the Den Den Mushi's unique mimicry ability...

Brook figured that if Antonio continued developing his powers, he might master every Den Den Mushi function. As long as he encountered a new kind of Den Den Mushi, he could learn its corresponding ability.

"That's amazing! I wish I had the Den Den Mushi Devil Fruit, too!"

Shakky gazed at Antonio with shining eyes. He edged a little closer to Captain Brook, frightened.