Hearing Nami's words, the entire Straw Hat crew's expressions immediately changed.
Luffy also couldn't help but frown.
He immediately activated his Observation Haki and sensed a large group of people ahead.
"Vivi!"
Luffy called out.
Vivi immediately understood and transformed into a Qingluan, taking Luffy towards that direction.
The others also maintained their fastest speed, following closely behind.
Over on Moriah's side.
When Absalom said he was going to kill Brook, Moriah hadn't responded yet, but Hogback was the first to speak.
"No! If we kill Hummer, Ryuma's shadow will detach."
"We would lose a powerful fighting force because of that."
Absalom looked at Brook, who was blocking their way, his face ferocious, gritting his teeth, and said angrily.
"But this guy is too annoying."
"If we don't get rid of him, he'll keep blocking us like this."
"Aren't we supposed to go find the Straw Hat?"
"There's also a powerful swordsman among them, right?!"
"At that time, wouldn't it be fine to give that swordsman's shadow to Ryuma?"
Saying that, Absalom glanced at the corpse Hogback had prepared for Zoro, disdain on his face, and said.
"The corpse you prepared for that swordsman is far too inferior compared to Ryuma."
Upon hearing this, Hogback immediately retorted with dissatisfaction.
"How easy is it to find a powerful corpse?"
"This is already the strongest corpse we have."
Seeing that the two were still arguing, Moriah suddenly spoke.
"Alright! Stop arguing, both of you."
"What Absalom said also makes sense."
"Roronoa Zoro's shadow from the Straw Hat, combined with Ryuma's corpse, would indeed be the best choice."
"Let's do as Absalom said!"
"As long as we have the Straw Hat's shadows, we won't have to worry about not finding powerful corpses anymore."
"At that time, we can directly take '307' and the others to hunt those strong individuals."
"This way, our zombie army will become stronger and stronger."
"I will definitely become the Pirate King!"
"Gihahahahaha…"
Moriah once again fantasized about himself possessing a powerful zombie army and becoming the Pirate King.
At this moment, Absalom also chuckled and gave the order.
"Ryuma, stop holding back, kill Hummer!"
"We will find you a stronger shadow later."
Receiving the order, Ryuma unhesitatingly advanced with his sword.
"Yes!"
Although he knew that killing Brook would mean his own demise, he could not disobey the order.
Brook was now panting, his entire body covered in wounds.
In the battle with Ryuma just now, he was focused on stopping Moriah and his crew, which created many defensive openings, leading to him being injured by Ryuma.
And now, upon seeing Ryuma approaching him, Brook knew he could no longer resist.
In their brief exchange just now, he had already realized that even after training desperately for so many years, he was still no match for Ryuma.
At this moment, he resigned himself to his fate.
With his own strength, he couldn't reclaim his shadow.
And this also meant that he would never be able to leave this Devil Sea.
He would never be able to fulfill the promise in his heart.
Thinking of these things, Brook suddenly became incredibly resolute and determined.
Since it was already destined that he couldn't fulfill the promise, he didn't intend to run anymore.
The only thing he could do now was to fight to the death and buy Luffy and the others a little more time.
He had just reminded Luffy and the others to leave quickly.
Just a little more time would help them escape Moriah's clutches.
Brook thought this to himself, gripping the sharp sword in his hand tightly.
At this point, he had prepared himself for death.
Ryuma had now arrived in front of Brook.
And what made him pause was that he noticed Brook's aura seemed a little different in an instant.
"Oh?! It seems you've made up your mind to die."
Ryuma said in surprise.
After his surprise, he couldn't help but exclaim.
"How unexpected!"
"Last time, in order to survive, you didn't hesitate to kneel and beg me for mercy."
"But this time, you chose to die."
"What gave you this resolve?"
"Is it the Straw Hat?"
Although Ryuma was now a zombie, he still retained some of his original characteristics and personality.
As the strongest samurai in Wano Country, he greatly admired Brook's current aura.
Brook's expression remained unchanged, his tone resolute.
"Precisely!"
"Luffy and the others are important friends of mine, and I won't let you pass."
Ryuma began to draw his sword upon hearing this, and slowly said.
"Although I admire you, however…"
"You must die here!"
"Don't worry!"
"I will give you a quick and painless death, with the courtesy due to a swordsman."
As his words fell, Ryuma and Brook both gripped their swords tightly, preparing for their final duel.
However, just as they were each preparing.
Everyone suddenly caught a glimpse of an extremely fast shadow flashing overhead.
When they looked up, they saw a figure falling rapidly.
The landing spot was precisely in front of Ryuma.
Seeing this, Ryuma immediately retreated and dodged.
Bang!
With a loud bang, smoke and dust rose everywhere.
Brook was forced to take two steps back by the rolling smoke and vibration.
His gaze, however, was fixed intently on the area within the smoke.
Moriah's crew was also attracted by this sudden commotion, and all of them focused their attention on the smoke.
As the smoke slowly dissipated.
A figure wearing a Straw Hat gradually emerged into everyone's view.
And the moment he clearly saw that person, Brook couldn't help but let out a cry of surprise.
"Lu… Luffy?!"
Moriah's crew also recognized Luffy at this moment.
Seeing Luffy appear, excitement showed in their eyes, especially Moriah's.
Their prey was right before them.
Luffy, on his side, heard Brook's voice behind him, but he didn't turn his head, merely stared at Moriah's crew in front of him, and slowly spoke.
"Are you alright, Brook?"
Brook immediately responded upon hearing this.
"Mm! I'm fine!"
"Only a dozen bones cracked, that's all."
Brook said, then checked the places where cracks had appeared on his body, explaining.
"Because I'm bones, I can recover as long as I replenish calcium."
As he was speaking, Brook suddenly realized something, and immediately shook his head, casting aside such irrelevant thoughts, and shouted frantically at Luffy.
"Luffy!"
"Why are you here?!"
"Didn't I tell you all to leave quickly?!"
"You hurry and escape!"
"This man in front of you is a Shichibukai."
"His strength is extremely powerful."
"I'm very sorry!"
"I can't even defeat one of his subordinates, a zombie."
"So, Luffy…"
"You all leave here quickly."
"My shadow has already been taken by them, and I will never escape this sea area."
"So, I will fight to the death here to buy you all time."
Saying that, Brook's voice suddenly became a little heavier, and he quickly said.
"Luffy!"
"If possible, I have a request."
"I have a promise with a whale named Laboon at the entrance of the Grand Line."
"I promised to meet it again after sailing around the Grand Line once."
"Although I don't know if it's still waiting for us there now, after all, 50 years have passed, so it's understandable if it's not."
"But no matter if Laboon is there or not, I must keep this promise."
Saying that, Brook opened his skull and took out a Tone Dial from inside.
"I can no longer leave this Devil Sea and fulfill my promise with Laboon."
"If possible, I would like you, Luffy, to help me deliver this Tone Dial to Laboon."
"Inside is a piece of music performed by all of us for Laboon."
"If it hears this, it will know that we haven't forgotten our promise to it."
Not long after Luffy landed, Vivi also descended from the air, landing right beside Brook.
And upon hearing Brook's words, Vivi's pupils suddenly constricted, her expression one of shock.
Seeing this, Brook was still a little surprised.
"What's wrong, Miss Vivi?"
Just then, Luffy's voice suddenly came out.
"Brook!"
Hearing Luffy call him, Brook immediately looked towards Luffy.
Then, he heard Luffy say,
"Laboon… he's still waiting for you!"
"Eh?!"
Brook suddenly froze at the words, his whole body appearing stunned as he stared blankly at Luffy's back.
Then, he heard Luffy continue,
"When we came to the Grand Line, we met Laboon."
"He has always been keeping his promise to you."
Hearing Luffy's words, tears were already welling up in Brook's eyes.
His body trembled uncontrollably, his emotions too agitated to suppress.
And Luffy continued to say,
"I also made a promise with Laboon."
"I told him..."
"I will definitely return to see him, bringing news of the person who made the previous promise with him, after sailing around the Grand Line once."
"So Brook..."
"I will take you with me, and after sailing around the Grand Line once, we will return to reunite with Laboon."
"Whatever you want to say..."
"You can tell Laboon yourself then!"
After hearing Luffy's words, Brook could no longer control his emotions.
Tears and snot continuously gushed out from his skull, his emotions extremely agitated.
"La... Laboon..."
"It's been 50 years!"
"Is he still waiting for us?!"
"Waaahhh..."
Brook cried uncontrollably.
Among the crew, his feelings for Laboon were the deepest.
The time they had agreed upon with Laboon was two or three years.
But now 50 years had passed, and Laboon was still waiting for them.
This moved Brook immensely.
But at this moment, he still suppressed this emotion, wiped away the tears from his eyes, and said to Luffy with a resolute tone,
"Mr. Luffy!"
"It's truly wonderful to hear news of Laboon from you."
"Although I really want to go back and see Laboon..."
"However, the person in front of us is not someone we can defeat."
"Mr. Luffy! Please entrust this Tone Dial to Laboon for me."
"I am already very satisfied to have heard news of Laboon."
"Please tell Laboon one more time for me that I'm sorry, I cannot fulfill the promise."
As Brook spoke, he shoved the Tone Dial into Vivi's hand, then said sternly,
"You all go quickly, I'll stop them."
With that, he drew his sword and was about to rush towards Moriah and his group.
However, just then, he heard Moriah on the other side suddenly speak.
"Kishishishishi..."
"Straw Hat!"
"As expected of a man with a 3 billion Berries bounty."
"Facing so many of us alone, and still having such presence!"
Upon hearing this, Brook's forward charge immediately came to a sudden halt.
He couldn't keep his balance and fell to the ground with a thud.
However, he didn't pay any attention to it, but instead raised his head, looking at Luffy's back with extreme astonishment, and said tremblingly,
"3... 3 billion?!"
"I didn't hear wrong, did I?!"
Brook didn't know who he was asking.
But Vivi beside him answered,
"You didn't hear wrong!"
"Luffy is now a great pirate with a 3 billion Berries bounty."
Brook gasped, exclaiming,
"sugei!"
"Is Mr. Luffy such an amazing pirate?"
"I've been drifting in this sea area and had no idea about the news outside!"
"Even Moriah's identity, I only learned about it when I came here last time."
"I heard the Shichibukai are some very famous pirates now!"
"Then who is stronger between Mr. Luffy and them?"
"Can he defeat Moriah?"
Hearing Brook's questions, Vivi smiled faintly, saying confidently,
"As for the Shichibukai, Luffy can take care of them with one punch."
At these words, Brook exclaimed again.
"Really?"
"Is Mr. Luffy that amazing?"
"sugei!"
"That's incredible!"
"It's so surprising, my eyeballs are going to pop out."
"Ah?! Although I don't have eyeballs."
It seemed that because of Vivi's words, Brook gained great confidence in Luffy, so his mood also relaxed a bit.
He even started making his usual cold jokes again.
But even so, he still kept his eyes fixed on Luffy's figure, constantly paying attention to the impending battle.
Luffy's side.
After hearing Moriah's words, he spoke coldly,
"Hand over Brook's shadow, and I can spare your life."
Moriah was clearly displeased by Luffy's tone and snorted coldly.
"Hmph! Straw Hat!"
"You are too arrogant!"
"It's true that your reputation is great now, but not all pirates will be intimidated by your fame."
"Let alone you, I even dared to go to war with Kaido of the Four Emperors."
"What is a mere Straw Hat like you?"
Moriah's words fully displayed his presence and strength.
This made the surrounding zombies watching feel incredibly proud, each one filled with arrogance and confidence.
However, after hearing Moriah's words, Luffy merely said indifferently, "Oh?!"
"Did you defeat Kaido?"
"If that's the case, you should have already become one of the Four Emperors."
"Why are you only a Shichibukai now?"
A simple question, yet incredibly lethal.
Moriah had originally intended to curb Luffy's arrogant demeanor, but instead, he was infuriated to death by Luffy.
The surrounding zombies, who were originally full of confidence, instantly deflated, wanting to dig into the ground and bury themselves.
"You bastard!"
Moriah's eyes were filled with rage, he gritted his teeth, his entire aura erupting, intending to start a fight with Luffy.
Hogback, sensing something was wrong, immediately became extremely frightened and tried to persuade him from the side,
"Master, calm down!"
"We can't beat him!"
At these words, the anger in Moriah's eyes instantly became murderous, and he glared fiercely at Hogback.
Hogback was immediately so scared that he stumbled and fell on his backside.
He was the weakest of the three strange beings, with no combat ability whatsoever.
How could he withstand Moriah's aura?
And at this moment, it was Perona who spoke.
"Master!"
"Once you take Straw Hat's shadow, he'll be forced to hide in this thick fog for the rest of his life."
"Wouldn't that be the most painful torment for him?"
"You are meant to be the Pirate King, there's no need to get angry with a worm like him who can only live in darkness from now on."
It must be said that Perona's words made Moriah feel extremely comfortable.
His mood recovered, and he chuckled.
Then he looked at Luffy and laughed,
"Straw Hat!"
"I won't bother with you."
"Because you'll soon have your shadow taken by me."
"Your shadow will become a slave obeying my commands, and you will become a worm that can only live in the dark!"
"Kishishishishi..."
After a triumphant and confident laugh, Moriah suddenly roared.
"Perona! Do it!"