Brook Joins

This lesson was truly unforgettable for life.

Then Ata looked at Brook again. A living skeleton was quite the spectacle too!

When Ata had been kneeling on the ground earlier, Brook had not gotten a clear look at her face. Now that she was standing and looking at him, Brook was instantly dumbstruck.

He had never seen such a beautiful, captivating woman.

After snapping out of it, he blushed—or rather, his "face" did—and sidled up to Ata shyly. "May I see your panties?"

Ata: "!!!!!"

For a moment, she did not even react. But then raging flames erupted in her eyes.

"You perverted skeleton, go die!"

Brook was kicked flying.

"Tsk, tsk..."

Moke could not help letting out a strange laugh. The Straw Hat Pirates had two idiots, Sanji and Brook... the former had no bottom line, while the latter was simply driven by "a man's curiosity."

It was harmless enough.

When facing women, he would not hesitate to fight. He was not like Sanji, whose legs went weak at the sight of a woman.

To be honest, Brook was a little weak at this point. But even so, he was still on the level of Doflamingo's senior officers.

And he was considerably stronger than several of them.

Most importantly, Brook had decent potential. His strength did not improve slowly either; two years later in the original story, he was at least passable.

Besides, Moke needed more hands right now.

And both he and Ata were Swordmasters. Would it not be easy to raise Brook's strength?

They could just take turns beating him up. There was no way his strength would not improve.

After weighing it over again and again, Moke extended an invitation. "If I'm not mistaken, you came here to take back your shadow, right? How about this? I'll help you get it back, and you join my pirate crew."

Brook, who had been knocked to the ground, immediately got back up. "Yohohohohoho~ Deal!"

Brook had come here many times already, and every attempt had ended in failure. He knew perfectly well that reclaiming his shadow alone was practically impossible.

"Huh?"

Ata looked surprised. She truly had not expected the captain to recruit this perverted skeleton.

Moke said, "This guy is a decent Swordsman... he's only one step away from becoming a Swordmaster. Once he joins us, teach him properly. I think his strength will rise quickly. When we face Doflamingo, we'll have another capable fighter."

As soon as she heard that, Ata, who had still been a little upset, immediately entered sage mode. The way she looked at Brook changed somewhat as well.

"Yohohohohoho~"

Brook let out his signature laugh again, though it sounded a little weak this time. He instinctively took two steps back as well... because of Ata's gaze.

It gave him a distinctly unfriendly premonition.

Perona, inside the castle, had recovered her senses as well. At that moment, she could not spare attention for anything else.

She ran out and released all the zombie generals under Absalom's command.

The zombie generals were unquestionably the backbone of Gecko Moria's Zombie Army, so she moved quickly.

By the time Moke, Ata, and Brook arrived at the castle gates,

they had already blocked the entrance.

The two at the front were Ryuma and Captain John. They were the strongest among the zombie generals... though there was one fewer than in the original story, namely Jigoro.

Still, these two were more than enough for the current Brook.

Moke turned to Ata and said, "The two zombies in front are Ryuma and Captain John. They were both remarkable figures when they were alive, and even as zombies, they still have considerable strength. They're perfect for Brook to practice against. Keep an eye on him from the side."

After saying that, he added, "As long as he doesn't die, don't interfere... even if his bones crack, he can recover by drinking some milk."

Brook: "..." Listen to that. Was that something a person should say?

Ata nodded with a serious expression.

Brook said, "There's really no need to take it this seriously..."

Moke chuckled, then said, "You guys play here. I'll go meet Gecko Moria."

As he spoke, his entire body turned into a cloud of mist and drifted away into the air.

"Uh????"

The next second, Ryuma felt his grip loosen. Looking down, he found—well, would you look at that... his sword was gone.

Ata happened to see it too.

Her eyes immediately lit up. "So that's what the captain had his eye on—his sword! I wonder what kind of blade it is!"

Then her gaze landed on Captain John. The captain had singled out both of the men before her, saying they had been extraordinary figures in life.

And both of them used swords.

Since Ryuma's sword was a fine blade, the swords in John's hands could not be too bad either!

So, she became interested in the twin swords in John's hands. Although she could not use that many herself, she could always keep them as collectibles!

Everyone had their hobbies!

Gecko Moria seemed to have sensed that something was happening and actually came out from the center of the castle.

He happened to run straight into Moke, who had entered the castle.

Both of them froze, neither expecting to encounter the other so suddenly.

After recovering, Moke looked at Gecko Moria and could not help shaking his head. Gecko Moria had once been quite a figure.

Twenty-three years ago, he had only been twenty-seven.

He had dared to challenge Kaido... but unfortunately, after Kaido defeated him and he lost all his companions, the blow had made him question his entire life. His will had sunk afterward, and he began doubting his own strength. He only wanted to rely on external things, causing his own power to steadily decline.

He had completely lost his former lofty ambitions. All that remained was... an obese body.

Gecko Moria's pupils shrank slightly. As one of the Shichibukai, he had naturally been among the first to receive news whenever someone new joined the Shichibukai.

So he recognized Moke immediately.

"Hey, shishishi..."

He was not stupid. Moke had arrived uninvited, and clearly had no good intentions. His eyes narrowed as he sneered, then demanded, "What did you do to Absalom?"

Absalom had yet to return and report, while this man had already barged into the castle and appeared before him. A bad feeling immediately rose in his heart.

Moke answered flatly, "Killed him."

Gecko Moria's pupils trembled violently. Finally, he roared, "Kid, you're courting death!"

It had to be said, Gecko Moria was furious.

"Shadow Box..."

Gecko Moria turned his shadow into Scattered Bats, then had those bat shadows surround Moke.

The corners of Moke's lips curled up into a sneer. His entire body directly transformed into mist and scattered in all directions. The next second, the bat shadows at his former position formed a black cube resembling a box.

If his reaction had been even a fraction slower, he would have been trapped inside.

It had to be said, Gecko Moria did have some skill. And his Paramecia, the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, was incredibly powerful. What a pity...

The scattered mist gathered again on Gecko Moria's left, reforming into a human shape.

Then Moke's gaze fell on Gecko Moria's shadow beneath his feet, since Gecko Moria's attacks were basically all formed from his shadow.

He lowered his head to look at his own shadow, deep in thought...