"We can't escape. Someone has to stay behind, and I'm the best one for the job.
"Miss Nami, I'm strong. Very strong. But that strength costs me my soul, and the happiness you've all given me has made me reluctant to lose it.
"But now, the time has come."
Chopper ran forward, sobbing as he clung to Brook's leg.
"Brook, don't do anything stupid! We can escape. If we use the Coup de Vent, we—"
"He's right, Brook."
Brook looked at them with his empty eye sockets. A sense of fulfillment filled his heart.
Dying for these two would be worth it.
"Miss Nami, Doctor Chopper, don't let my sacrifice be in vain. Find a chance to escape with the Coup de Vent."
With that, Brook closed his eyes.
"Soul King: Soul Knight."
Brook's entire skeleton began to tremble violently. Blue flames spread across his body from the inside out.
Whoosh! The blue flames surged high, forcing Nami and Chopper back.
"I have heard your summons. Give me your soul, and I shall lend you all my power."
Brook's voice changed. It was no longer his voice, but that of the Revive-Revive Fruit within him.
The Revive-Revive Fruit could bring a person back from the dead. It was even more powerful than most Logia fruits. Its power governed the cycle of life and death.
A glimmer of green appeared in Brook's eye sockets.
"Brook?"
Nami called to him tentatively.
"It's me, Miss Nami. Go!"
Brook jumped off the ship and landed on the sea.
Crack, crack, crack! A vast stretch of seawater froze, as though Aokiji had used the Ice-Ice Fruit.
The sea froze solid for three kilometers in every direction. Only one channel of water remained unfrozen: the route Brook had left for the Thousand Sunny.
Werther, on the