"Yohohoho, Yohohoho"
"Yohohoho, Yohohoho"
"Binks's Sake…"
A magnetic acapella voice, accompanied by the beautiful sound of a violin, echoed over Twin Capes.
Fifty years of waiting, fifty years of companionship, fifty years of promises… all contained within this one 'Pirate Song.'
Halfway through the song, Brook put down his violin, opened his skull, took out a Tone Dial, and pressed play.
"Everyone, let's sing one last song together!"
"Alright, this should be our last!"
"Brook, we've lost hope, but you still have hope!"
"If… if you really can revive, then take this Tone Dial back to Twin Capes…"
"Let's give Laboon our final chorus!"
"Alright, everyone, let's begin!"
Yohohoho, Yohohoho
Yohohoho, Yohohoho
A chaotic yet joyful grand ensemble emanated from the Tone Dial.
Brook and Laboon, one man and one whale, were both engrossed in this long-lost, beautiful chorus.
Fifty-year-old memories spontaneously surfaced in their minds.
—Laboon, we will definitely come back!
—After we travel around the world, we will definitely come to pick you up!
In the unseen, the familiar voices echoed in the ears of the man and the whale.
They've returned!!!
They've all returned!!!
However…
Gradually.
The sounds of the instruments in the ensemble diminished.
The accompanying violins and cellos abruptly ceased.
All that remained was the piano solo, and the sound of tears pattering on the keys.
Finally, even the piano solo completely disappeared, and everything fell into dead silence.
Listening to this series of changes in the grand ensemble from the Tone Dial.
Crocus was silent, while Nami, Kuina, and Thor all pursed their lips in unison.
Although they hadn't personally experienced that past, they could roughly understand what had happened just from the changes in the music.
This audio was the Rumba Pirates' last song from fifty years ago.
They encountered a terrible catastrophe on the Grand Line.
All of them reached the end of their lives.
But…
Just as Laboon had always remembered them.
Even at the last moment of their lives.
They still hadn't forgotten their little companion left at Twin Capes.
They left their final chorus for this companion.
"Yohohoho… Yohoho…"
Brook picked up his violin again and sang a cappella.
He wanted to keep singing, to sing for Laboon.
However, his voice kept choking up.
Tears streamed uncontrollably from his eyes.
"I'm sorry… I'm truly sorry, Laboon… I'm so sorry for making you wait for us all these years… I'm so sorry for becoming this unrecognizable appearance… I'm sorry…"
"Giao~ giaogiaogiao~"
Laboon, the whale, cried with urgency, its big eyes welling up, repeatedly vocalizing to comfort him.
"This is truly wonderful, Laboon!"
Crocus, the lighthouse keeper who was like a flower, had moist eyes.
"Wuwuwu, Laboon and Brook, one waited bitterly for fifty years, the other, even after death, persisted in returning from the underworld; their friendship is truly…"
Kuina's eyes were red, shedding tears of emotion for the reunion of Laboon and Brook.
"Fifty years, that's almost an entire lifetime for a human!"
Thor murmured with emotion.
"But… how did that Brook turn into a skeleton? Roland~ Are there necromancers in this world too?"
"No! There are no necromancers in this world, but there are Devil Fruits! Brook ate the Revive-Revive Fruit when he was alive, which allowed him a chance to be reborn after death, as long as his soul returned to his body in time, he could be resurrected!"
At this point, Roland changed the subject.
"As for him turning into a skeleton, it was purely because his soul got lost on its way back. By the time he found his body, it was already two years later, and by then, his body was already a skeleton!"
"I see, that's truly incredible~"
Thor nodded knowingly.
"Necromancer? This world?"
Listening to the conversation between Roland and Thor, Nami's head was filled with question marks, her CPU almost burning out.
She didn't understand!
Completely clueless!
"Wait a moment, by the way, Roland, how do you know these things? Brook didn't seem to have mentioned them, and also, we just heard Mr. Crocus talk about this past during the day, and then Brook… Roland, who exactly are you…?"
Listening to Nami's barrage of questions, like a hundred thousand whys.
Roland didn't answer, simply stretched lazily, and turned to go back to the ship.
"Alright, it's getting late, everyone should rest early, and leave the space for Laboon and them!"
"Wait, wait, Roland, you haven't answered my question yet~ I won't be able to sleep~"
"Hahahaha"
In a place no one noticed, petals drifted down, shattering into nothing upon landing.
"He's truly an interesting man~"
…
…
The next morning.
Dawn broke through the darkness.
Sunlight spilled across the land.
"Wahahaha, not good, not good, not good… I almost disappeared…"
A sudden shriek broke the quiet of Twin Capes.
"What's wrong, Brook!"
Crocus, who was like a flower, strode out while dressing, looking around alertly.
Roland, Thor, Nami, and Kuina also emerged from the ship's cabin one after another.
"I'm sorry, everyone, for disturbing you! This is my problem!"
Brook apologized.
"What exactly happened?"
Nami, with panda eyes, yawned, clearly not having rested well last night.
"Actually, I once encountered Gekko Moria, one of the Shichibukai, and he used his Shadow-Shadow Fruit ability to take my shadow…"
Brook briefly recounted his experience.
"It's fine, as long as I don't appear in direct sunlight, I'll be alright. I can sleep during the day and sing for Laboon at night, that's pretty good too… To be reunited with Laboon like this, I have no regrets even if I die!"
Since Brook himself had said so, Roland and the others naturally wouldn't say anything more.
However, if they were to encounter Moria in the future, they could certainly lend a hand to resolve the situation.
After having breakfast together, it was time for Luo Lin's group to embark on a new journey.
"Roland, I am truly, truly, truly… endlessly grateful!!!"
Brook prostrated himself, kneeling and thanking Roland.
"Get up, this is your own luck!"
Roland said calmly.
"Brook, from now on, you and Mr. Crocus will stay with Laboon!"
"Laboon waited for you for fifty years, you must compensate him well~"
"At least sing to him every day!"
Nami, Kuina, and Thor chuckled.
"Yes, I will!"
Brook nodded solemnly.
"Well then, goodbye!"
Under the watchful eyes of Crocus, Brook, and Laboon, the "Never Empty Army" gradually sailed into the distance.
"Mr. Crocus, Roland is truly an incredible person, almost a god!"
Brook stood in the shadow of the lighthouse, sighing softly.
Only he knew that before arriving here last night, he was still drifting aimlessly in the Devil's Triangle, thousands of miles away.
Roland's ability to bring him here from thousands of miles away in an instant was almost divine.
"Ah! He is indeed an incredible man!"
Crocus sat in his reclining chair, holding a morning paper delivered by the News Coo that morning.
The headline on the front page of the morning paper: Holy Land Mary Geoise Suffers Terrorist Attack!!!
"Could he be Nika…? Regardless, the seas are about to get lively!"
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