"So you are the pirate like Rab and others."
"Have you seen Rab? How is he doing now?" Brooke asked hurriedly.
"It's very good. It's still waiting for you at Twin Points."
Brooke took a sip of coffee, raised his head and sighed: "It's so nostalgic..."
Zoro asked: "By the way, when do you plan to see Rab?"
"...I also have my own ambitions. I have to travel around the world for a week before I can meet Rab." Brooke shook his head and refused.
"That's it."
Xia Qi held her chin, tilted her head and said, "But, Brooke, you have been staying in the Shampoo Islands for several years."
"Why?" The Straw Hats were a little confused.
"I'm ashamed to say it." Brooke put down the coffee cup in his hand and said: "There are seven routes in the Grand Line. I think you all chose one of them and sailed according to the records to arrive here, right?"
Luffy said directly without hesitation: "No, we were defeated by a Shichibukai in the Devil's Triangle and were captured by him."
"Eh?" Brooke was stunned.
"He was then imprisoned in Impel Prison. In order to save Ace, he escaped and went to the Navy Headquarters, and then he came here."
"...Is that so?" Brooke said with shame: "To accomplish so many great things in such a short period of time, he deserves to be a super newcomer with a reward of over 100 million yuan..."
Nami said unceremoniously: "No, it should be said that this troublemaker can cause trouble."
"That's right." Zoro, Sanji and others nodded in agreement.
"If Usopp were here too..." Chopper imagined: "He would definitely say, 'Luffy will never be able to live without me'..."
The atmosphere became a lot more solemn again.
Nami suddenly said: "Hey, tell me, can Usopp..."
Zoro interrupted: "Nami!"
"..." Nami stopped immediately.
"...Miss Nami." Sanji exhaled a puff of smoke: "Don't weave those meaningless fantasies. Once these bubbles are burst, it will make people even more desperate."
Zoro continued: "We are not playing a child's pirate game. You should be very clear about the arduous adventures and arduous battles that narrowly escaped death along the way."
"To be honest, it is very rare that we have lost one member so far at the midpoint of the Grand Line."
"How many teams were wiped out in the middle? Countless!"
"Please abandon those useless fantasies!"
Zoro said at the end, his tone gradually becoming stern.
"Luffy, cheer up! What will we do if you lose your fighting spirit?"
Luffy clenched his fists: "...ah."
Bartolomeo kept shrinking his shoulders. His idol killed his companion, and he knew to keep his mouth shut despite his negative emotional intelligence.
Already deviating from the topic, a question mark appeared on Luffy's head: "By the way, where did you talk about before?"
Brooke took the initiative and said: "Seven different routes will eventually converge on the Chambord Islands."
"Why?" Nami was stunned.
"The record pointer will point to Fish-Man Island."
Nami subconsciously raised her left wrist, but her focus was empty. Her skin was smooth and fair. She slapped her forehead:
"Oops, I forgot, the record pointer was taken away by the Navy!"
"Record pointer?" Xia Qi rummaged under the bar twice and tossed it casually: "Catch it."
Nami stretched out her hands to catch it, and a record pointer fell on her palm: "Record pointer?"
"Well, before there were pirates who dared to eat at my place, I stripped them all naked and threw them outside. This record pointer is one of the collaterals, and I gave it to you."
"...Thank you." What Xia Qi said before made Nami's cheeks twitch.
Nami put on the record pointer and said in surprise: "The pointer... points to the ground?"
"Yes, the next destination of the seven routes is Fish-Man Island." Brooke explained: "So, the pirate groups who want to go to the New World will come to the Shampoo Islands, so the number of pirate groups in the Shampoo Islands is very large. many."
"I originally wanted to find a pirate group to join in the Shampoo Islands, but..."
Having said this, Brooke lowered his head: "Because of my current appearance, many pirate groups directly rejected me..."
"It's no wonder." Zoro and Sanji nodded thoughtfully.
"There were still many people shouting and taking out weapons to drive me away..."
"...I can imagine it."
"Occasionally, I will meet a few slave traders, who will capture me as a rare animal and send me to the human trafficking shop here..."
"..."
"But they were all rejected by human trafficking shops. They didn't want to ruin their own sign."
"So, I have become a guy that pirates don't like and human traffickers hate..." At the end of the sentence, Brook couldn't help but burst into tears.
"I said." Luffy took a few steps forward and suggested, "You can be my partner."
"Eh!?"
"Luffy!" Several people said in surprise.
"Not bad~" Xia Qi smiled: "Brooke has a new place to go, and Luffy has a new companion."
"Wait, Xia Qi." Nami waved her hands repeatedly.
"Sure enough... I look like this... no one will like it..." Even though he had no eyes, Brooke's empty orbital bones squeezed out a few tears. He raised his pale hand bones and blocked them in front of him.
Nami hesitated. She was a kind girl who stole other people's money at most. Seeing Brooke crying, she was a little flustered: "You, don't cry!"
Luffy said: "Look, Nami bullied Brooke to tears."
"Shut up!" Nami yelled at Luffy fiercely, then turned to Brooke and said, "Sorry, that's not what I meant..."
"..." Brooke's shoulders were still shaking up and down.
Nami had no choice but to comfort her softly.
After a while, Brooke removed the hand bones covering his face and asked, "Can I make a small request?"
"As long as it's not too much..." Nami nodded helplessly and agreed.
"Show me your insides..."
"Bang!"
Nami kicked Brook angrily: "You're dreaming!"
Nami turned around angrily: "This sexually harassing skeleton!"
Brooke turned to look at Xia Qi and asked, "But, Xia Qi-sang, do you dislike me a little?"
Xia Qi smiled and said: "Not really? Although you did affect a lot of my business."
"..."
'It's better not to say this...' This sentence came to several people's minds at the same time.
Brooke said solemnly: "If possible, I would like to be your companion."
"Eh? Really?" Luffy raised his hands happily: "Great!"
"Today is such a good day..." Brooke sighed with emotion: "I have spent decades alone in a sea shrouded in thick fog that I don't know the time..."
"In the few years since I came to the Shampoo Islands, no one except Mr. Reilly and Miss Shaqi regarded me as a human being..."
"Until a few days ago, I was wearing a puppet costume and working at an amusement park to save money."
"Then why did you come to the bar again?"
"Well..." Brooke explained sheepishly: "I felt the situation was tense a few days ago, so I quit my job and came here to take refuge."
"..." Everyone was speechless for a while.
"Please allow me to introduce myself again." Brooke adjusted his clothes and took a picture of the wanted poster: "I am Brooke who died with only bones left. I am wanted, commonly known as Brooke the Nose Song, with a bounty of 33 million Baileys. . He used to serve as a guard captain in a certain kingdom, and later served as the acting captain of the Lombard Pirates, a musician and a swordsman."
"From today on, I will entrust my life to Captain Straw Hat. In order not to drag everyone down, I will work hard and work hard."
"Oh!" Luffy put his hands on his hips: "Please give me some advice!"
Xia Qi smiled and said, "Congratulations, little Luffy."
Ivankov nodded and said: "As expected of Dolag's son, his charm in attracting people is unparalleled."
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, but..." Rayleigh, who had been looking at this side with a smile, took the initiative: "Luffy-kun, do you want to go to sea now?"
"..." Luffy was stunned and nodded slowly: "That's what I planned."
"Is this really good?" Rayleigh lowered his gaze and stared at the wine in the glass: "If you go directly to the new world like this, the enemy you will face is Kui Long."
"..." Not only Luffy, everyone was silent.
"You have no chance of winning when you meet the Dawn Pirates."
"To put it bluntly, any member of the Dawn Pirates can kill you all."
"..." Luffy pursed his lips.
"What did you experience in Malinfando? What did you see?"
Rayleigh's questions were thrown to Luffy one by one. Luffy thought of Usopp's decisive back, his own powerlessness, and the powerful strength shown by Whitebeard, Marine Headquarters, and Kuilong. 33
"Reilly is right. If you go to the New World now, you are looking for death." Ivankov nodded in approval.
Luffy recalled the experience of the entire army being wiped out on the terrifying three-masted sailboat, and the opponent was not even a Shichibukai.
"It won't be long before Eric will announce to the whole world that the new world is his territory. This can be considered a good thing, as it will reduce a lot of unnecessary bloodshed."
"But on the other hand, those pirates who are seeking freedom are in bad luck, like you."
"However, little Eric has rules for doing things." Xia Qi wiped the bar with a rag: "Pirates who commit major crimes will be punished with death, while pirates who are harmless to ordinary civilians will be lenient. However, , most pirates would be worse off than dead if they fell into his hands."
"Little Luffy, your pirate group is the second type, right?"
Rayleigh's glasses reflected the straw hat: "But, Luffy-kun's target is One Piece, right?"
"...Yeah!" Despite hesitation, Luffy still nodded firmly.
"The conflict with Eric is inevitable." Reilly shook his head:
"Eric may already have one foot in Rafdel, so you might as well give up and choose to travel around the world."
"I will never give up!" Luffy clenched his fists.
"Mr. Reilly, why did you say that?" Nami first asked her own question.
"That's right." Zoro agreed.
"This..." Reilly explained: "To go to Lovedrew and find One Piece, you need to collect four road signs and historical texts."
"Historical text? It's the one on Sky Island, right...the text is completely unreadable."
"You also went to Sky Island?" Rayleigh smiled and continued: "Yes, the text is the same as that above, and the historical text of the road sign is in red. Not only do you need to collect the road signs, you also need to decipher them."
"And Eric should have collected 3 pieces, and there is only one left."
"How do you know so well? This must be a secret, right?" Franky asked.
"BigMom got a historical text more than 20 years ago. We spent a lot of effort to secretly print a historical text."
"There's one at Kaido's place, plus..."
"I see, that's why Eric went to destroy the BigMom Pirates."
Nami asked in surprise: "Even the original Roger Pirates couldn't do anything to Big Mom?"
"..." Rayleigh was silent for a moment and nodded: "Indeed, BigMom is very difficult to deal with and difficult to defeat. If we start a full-scale war with the BigMom Pirates, it is impossible for our people to escape unscathed, so we choose the one with the least sacrifice. way to obtain the historical text.”
"In other words, the opponent you have to face is far more powerful than the Roger Pirates, and even the other Yonko Pirates combined."
"Even so, do you still choose to find OnePiece?"
"Ah..." Luffy closed his eyes and said emphatically: "It doesn't matter even if I die for this, because there are many companions who trust me and are willing to give their lives to me."
"Hehe" Franky and the others grinned.
"With your current strength, can you fight against that huge force?"
"Are you setting sail again to make the same mistakes again?"
Lei Li's words were like a basin of cold water, pouring cold water on everyone's heart.
Reilly said, "I have a proposal here. Of course, it's up to you to decide whether to accept it or not."
"..."
…
"Sorry to trouble you, Pluto." Ivankov thanked him proactively.
"Where." Rayleigh waved his hand.
In less than a day, Ivankov learned about Luffy's persistence and recklessness. In order to save Ace, regardless of his own life, he was really careless.
"No, if it weren't for you, he might have gone directly to the New World."
"It's nothing. We can't watch them die so easily. I also want to take a look..." Rayleigh changed the topic and looked at Sabo: "Are you leaving?"
"Yes, I sneaked away by myself, and the people at the headquarters must be very anxious." Sabo sighed, as if thinking of how Kerra would scold him.
"Won't you tell Luffy?"
"No need, he has a group of reliable companions and a reliable teacher." Sabo said with a smile: "He has his own adventures, so I won't cause trouble."
"We walked!"
Ivankov and Sabo led the new mermaids to board the stolen pirate ship and leave.
Luffy asked curiously: "Sabo is gone?"
"Um."
Ace, Marco and other captains of the Whitebeards also came over.
"You want to leave too?"
Marco said jokingly: "Yeah, you can't stay in the Shampoo Islands for too long, it will be bad if Akainu catches up."
"Then I won't keep you."
Luffy looked at Marco: "Thank you very much, Pineapple Head, for saving my life on the battlefield."
Marco glanced at his companion who was covering his mouth and snickering, and said helplessly: "...My name is Marco."
"Oh, Malju!"
"..." Marco was silent for a while.
"Hahahaha!" Many Whitebeard members couldn't help but laughed heartily, diluting some of the sadness in their hearts.
"Forget it~" Marco said from the back of his head, "Don't die easily."
"Um!"
More than a dozen pirate ships came to the sea, and they were all robbed by members of the Whitebeard Pirates.
"The materials and workmanship on these boats are not very good."
"Did you think we were in the new world? It would be great if we could grab a ship!"
Several people complained.
"Although the occasion and opportunity to meet again are wrong..." Ace sighed and said seriously: "Luffy, you have become a lot stronger."
Luffy raised his arms and said, "I will become stronger next."
"I believe it." Ace grinned, "Of course, so do I."
The two brothers held each other's hands.
After all the Whitebeard Pirates were gone, Island 13 became a lot quieter.
"We're the only ones left." Zoro stood next to Luffy.
"Um."
"By the way, let me show you something." Lei Li said.
"What is it?" Everyone was curious.
Lei Li did not answer and led everyone to a hidden tree root. Three sides and the top of the head were blocked by tree roots. Even locals who were familiar with the local area might not be able to find it.
A brig is docked here, with its iconic orange lion head and numbered sides...
"Sonny!" Everyone's eyes widened in surprise.
"Why is the Sonny here?"
"Well, Eric sent someone here." Reilly shrugged: "He felt that although the Sonny was good, it was a useless wooden sailboat for him."
"Even if Eric is my benefactor, he can't insult the Sonny like this!" Franky was furious.
"By the way, the money inside——!" Nami took three steps at a time, faster than the others, and rushed into the room where the money was stored.
"Nothing... nothing..." Nami collapsed on the floor.
"As long as the ship is still there, it doesn't matter what the things are."
"What do you know!?" Nami poked Luffy's face with her fingers.
"Food and daily necessities all require money to buy! What's more, it is my personal property that I have worked hard to save!!"
Rayleigh clapped his hands: "Okay, we have the boat. I will take you to a place suitable for your practice."
"W-are you going now?"
"certainly."
"Should I go too?" Nami asked tentatively.
"You just have to survive."
"Stay alive? How does this sound..." Something bad flashed through Nami's mind.
"I will go find the permanent record pointer. In the meantime, you first prepare the supplies needed for navigation."
"Okay!" Luffy and the others responded vigorously.
Nami shouted: "Wait a minute, we don't have money to buy supplies!"
"What are you talking about?" Zoro curled his lips.
"Huh?" Nami was confused.
Brooke took the initiative and said: "Miss Nami, there are many pirate groups and many lawless elements in the Shampoo Islands... you understand, right?"
"Well……"
"Robbing them! Brooke, you have lived here for several years, do you know their dens?"
"I know more than a dozen groups of human traffickers, and I have been kidnapped by them!"
"Very well, lead the way!"
Some people died, but not completely...
