Whoosh! The Nidai Kitetsu plunged straight into the stone floor-with its blunt edge! Brook broke out in a cold sweat, let out a long breath, and sank to the ground. "It actually... actually..." Still reeling from what had just happened, his lips moved, but no words came out.
Barn bent down and pulled the Nidai Kitetsu from the floor. He gently stroked the blade, then turned to "look" at Brook. A gleam flashed through his pale pupils, but only for an instant. Then Barn grinned with joy, utterly unrestrained!
"Hahahahahahaha! Look, Brook! I conquered it!" A red glimmer flashed across the Nidai Kitetsu's blade as well, acknowledging Barn as its master.
Brook slowly rose from the ground and watched the overjoyed Barn sheath the sword and wave it at him over and over, showing it off like an innocent child. But when Brook recalled the heart-stopping scene from moments earlier, cold sweat began trickling down his back again. Just how powerful a soul lives inside that tiny body? he wondered.
Barn was truly happy now. I knew it! Out of more than six billion people in the world, I landed a chance to transmigrate that practically nobody ever gets! With luck this ridiculous, I'm at least as lucky as Zoro! Nidai Kitetsu, I won't let your edge go to waste!
At the same time, Barn was delighted to discover that after obtaining the Nidai Kitetsu, his strength and other attributes on his personal information screen had risen considerably. The previously empty left-hand weapon slot now displayed the Nidai Kitetsu. Best of all, the skill bar, which had always been gray and unusable, had turned yellow and become available. Barn finally understood why he had been unable to use his skills even after allocating his SP:
"So I need to equip a weapon to use skills!"
With Barn on his back, Brook retraced their route. They had barely reached the harbor when, before Brook could speak, Barn shouted, "Captain York! Get the crew to carry the gold! There's loads and loads of it! Even Brook can't carry it all!"
The moment York heard Barn's voice, he ran to the side of the ship and looked down. "Really? Hahaha! Barn, Brook, looks like you two found quite a haul!"
"Brook and I found all of it! You can't have any!" Taking full advantage of being a little kid, Barn hugged the Nidai Kitetsu and pouted stubbornly. His behavior left Brook and York unsure whether to laugh or cry. "All right, all right! I wasn't planning to take it from you anyway!" Brook let out his signature laugh as well. "Yohohoho!"
York planted his hands on his hips and cleared his throat. "Ahem! Sako! Go call back the other treasure-hunting teams! Mabu! Take some people and follow Brook! We're going to haul gold! Hahaha!"
"Yeah!" Sako and Mabu answered loudly. They were pirates, after all, so treasure was something they took very seriously.
Brook left with the others, while Barn stayed behind. For one thing, he didn't want to do manual labor. For another, Brook needed to carry things and couldn't carry him too-not that Brook had liked carrying him in the first place. So Barn stayed to keep Captain York company, chatting with him in the captain's cabin.
"Barn, I've been wondering for a while. What's that on your head?" York pointed curiously at Barn's head. "Huh? On my head? Is there something there?" Barn reached up and felt around. "Uh, what's this?" He took a bird's nest off his head. York leaned over for a look and burst out laughing. "What are you laughing at, York? What is it?"
"Hahaha! Barn, you had something that big on your head and didn't even know! Hahahaha!" Once York started laughing, he simply couldn't stop, as though his laughter had an endless supply of fuel. Barn's face darkened with exasperation. "Hey, York, stop laughing and tell me what it is!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Hey! Keep laughing and I'll report you for discriminating against a disabled person! Tell me what's inside!"
"Haha, it's a bird's nest. There's a little bird inside that's only just started growing feathers, with two broken eggshells beside it. It probably hatched not long ago." York really was far too easily amused. Barn had no idea what could possibly be funny enough to make him laugh for so long.
Surprised to hear that he had brought a bird back on his head, Barn asked, "York, what kind of bird is it?"
"How would I know? It hasn't even grown all its feathers yet. How am I supposed to tell?"
"Oh." Barn wasn't disappointed at failing to get an answer. Curious, he brought his face close to the nest, even though he couldn't see. Just then, the little bird woke up. It slowly opened its eyes, and the first thing it saw was Barn's big face. It shakily got to its feet and hopped toward him, chirping. Barn heard its cries and asked York, "Is it awake?" The little bird was now facing his big nose. It looked to the left, then to the right, and then... gave it a peck...