A winged, six-limbed Memory Seahorse—looking like a cross between Pokémon's Beedrill and Kingdra—yanked the Devil Fruit from its mouth. It had already gained the Hornet Fruit's powers, so the job was done!
With a casual flick, it tossed the fruit aside, wings buzzing as it adjusted to its new flight ability. As a sea creature, ever since spotting a Dragon, it had dreamed of soaring through the skies.
Now, it zipped through the air, gleefully testing its new powers. Suddenly, a venomous stinger shot from its tail, aimed straight at Brook—the guy who'd dared shove a Devil Fruit in its face!
"Yohohoho! A projectile stinger, eh? Not bad, not bad! That's a solid ranged attack!"
Brook swatted the stinger aside with ease, the attack barely a blip to him.
"Say, Memory Seahorse, can't you take a page out of Parrot's book? He's chattering away like a pro! You've devoured so many memories—can't you pick up human speech already?"
The Memory Seahorse, still fuming but silent, glared at Brook. Parrot piped up, translating its garbled noises.
"He says he can just control people to talk for him. No need to bother speaking himself!"
Indeed, the Memory Seahorse could enslave weaker humans to do its bidding, using their voices as proxies.
"Alright, alright, no need to get cranky. Focus on mastering that Hornet Fruit—get those flight and combat skills down pat!"
Brook soothed the irritable seahorse, then turned his attention to collecting the Devil Fruits from the Kurozumi siblings. It was time to recruit some new crew members. Having Devil Fruits but no worthy subordinates to eat them? That'd be a downright criminal waste!
...
Staring at the corpse of Sandy, Brook had a sudden epiphany. Poisoned by capitalist thinking, he realized he'd overlooked something valuable—corpses could be put to use!
If he could snag Moria's Shadow-Shadow Fruit, the Hell Pirates could offer a full-service package, complete with a zombie army that perfectly fit their spooky vibe. Sandy's body was too high-caliber to toss away. And what about Dawei and Brelco's corpses? Had he let those big-shot pirate bodies go to waste? Were they already rotting?
Dawei and his top officers were buried at the Siren Pirates' base on Puso Island, now Vesper's turf. Brelco, on the other hand, died on his own Squid Island—likely fresher. Brook immediately ordered his crew to retrieve Brelco's body. Sandy's corpse was flash-frozen and handed to Vegapunk for storage in a high-tech icebox.
Soon after, Brook secured the Kurozumi siblings' Clone-Clone and Barrier-Barrier Fruits, adding them to his stash. With these, he now held five Devil Fruits: the Mythical Zoan Octopus Siren Fruit, the Rhino Beetle Fruit, and the Paramecia Bone-Control, Clone, and Barrier Fruits. The Rhino Beetle Fruit was earmarked as a prize for the standout recruit in their upcoming hiring drive.
The remaining fruits needed strong candidates. Most of his crew—Fishman Tom and Tiger—shunned Devil Fruits, leaving only Kaido and Qilin Lion as potential users. Brook already had plans for their fruits, but what about his Wano allies?
The Ashura brothers, Hyougoro, and the yakuza clan heads were solid picks, but most preferred staying in Wano, making them less ideal for fruit users under Brook's direct command. Still, Ashura Jakun's swordsmanship caught his eye—maybe a fruit could supercharge him!
...
Brook pulled out a thick stack of Supernova bounty posters from recent years, scanning for familiar names or promising talents. Since this wasn't the main storyline, most were strangers. The ones he recognized—like Naguri, Chinjao, and World—were either Conqueror's Haki users or already Devil Fruit eaters.
"Hmm, Ibadonbo? He hasn't been forced into the Rocks Pirates? And Golden Pirate Woonan's back in the Grand Line? Nice, nice! Neither's a fruit user or Conqueror's Haki wielder—perfect candidates!"
In the original story, Ibadonbo ruled Level 6 of Impel Down, commanding a crew of hardened prisoners. Woonan was a notorious pirate in his own right. Like World, both were captains, making them tough to recruit. Rocks would've snapped them up if it were easy, but Brook's intel network—bolstered by Seagull News—gave him an edge.
With Mortomas's help, Brook quickly got rough locations for these pirates.
"Well, damn! They're all stirring up trouble in Rocks' massive territory! Picking on the Rocks Pirates' spread-out forces, huh?"
This complicated things. Brook had no desire to waltz into Rocks' turf to deal with these Supernovas. If he did, Rocks might drop everything to take him on instead!
...
As Brook mulled over his talent-scouting woes, Mortomas delivered another message: the Umi Family, underworld powerhouses, were requesting elite combat support.
In the next week or two, they planned a full-scale assault on the Worldcom Shipping Syndicate to monopolize the underworld's transport industry and claim the title of Dark Emperor.
The news sparked a grin on Brook's skull. He sent a swift confirmation to the Umi Family but stressed secrecy—the Hell Pirates, as their backers, couldn't be exposed yet.
To avoid suspicion, they'd need to avoid flashy Devil Fruit powers during the operation. Moves like the Quake-Quake or Thunder were too recognizable and could draw unwanted attention from rival factions.
Brook ordered his crew to prep standard uniforms and masks for the mission. Swordsmanship and physical techniques only—no fruit powers. It was time to gear up and back the Umi Family's big play!
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