"And you pirates!"
Brook's distorted skull twisted into a terrifying grin. Black curse patterns spread across his bones as a long, thin tongue formed from dark aura slid out from his mouth. He slowly licked his teeth like a demon and stared at the pirates trembling on the ground.
"You too will pay for Little Labu's death with your lives. No, not punishment. This is the price for daring to offend a great existence like me."
His voice became more ferocious as he laughed madly. Then his gaze shifted to the souls of the villagers. The bloodthirsty red light in his eye sockets intensified.
"And you, all of you must die. Die! Die!"
The gigantic Skeleton Ghost King in the sky became even more terrifying. Its crimson eyes glowed as it stared at the souls kneeling below, ready to harvest every single one of them.
Among them was even the soul of Little Labu, the girl Brook once loved deeply, yet in this moment it felt like he had completely forgotten her.
"Hey, Brook, wake up."
Slap!
A gentle flick landed on Brook's skull.
"Tch, it's you again. Ruining my fun…"
Brook slowly raised his head and glared coldly at the young man standing in front of him.
"Hmm? What, have you already forgotten what your own companion looks like?"
The black haired young man smiled casually, completely unfazed by the terrifying scene in front of him.
"Shi… Shirogai…"
Brook suddenly froze as if waking from a nightmare.
"What… what happened to me?"
He collapsed to the ground and rolled in pain. His entire body felt like it was filled with foreign souls that did not belong to him.
"Roar!"
Brook painfully raised his head and let out a distorted roar. Thick black liquid suddenly poured out from his mouth like something being forcefully expelled.
Shirogai calmly raised his right hand. A flame even darker than the black liquid burned in his palm. The moment the liquid sprayed into the air, it was instantly burned into nothing.
"Sizzle…"
Shirogai watched it disappear and smiled faintly.
"So even a Devil Fruit can produce something this disgusting. Truly a fruit cursed by demons."
The black liquid was completely burned away, turning into nothing but ash.
The crimson ghost flames that had once burned inside Brook's skull began to weaken under Shirogai's gaze. It was as if they had encountered their natural enemy.
Slowly, the crimson flames faded and turned into thin smoke that scattered into the Yellow Springs and disappeared completely.
"Shirogai!!!"
A distorted and furious roar echoed through the entire underworld space before finally fading away.
"Shirogai… this isn't an illusion, right…"
After regaining his senses, Brook suddenly grabbed Shirogai's arm tightly with his bony hands. Tears flowed out from his empty eye sockets as his voice trembled.
"Shirogai, please help me. Help me bring Little Labu back. You must have a way, right?"
"Relax."
Shirogai gently patted his shoulder with a calm smile.
"You have already experienced resurrection once before. Haven't you?"
…
Malt Village.
"Ah!"
The little girl suddenly opened her eyes and sat up in panic. She quickly crawled toward the corner of the room and looked around nervously.
"Pirates! There were pirates!"
Little Labu's small body trembled as she looked around in fear, afraid that when she opened her eyes she would still be trapped inside that horrifying cage in the sky.
But everything around her was quiet.
She was inside her small wooden house.
"…Did I have a nightmare?"
She slowly stood up and carefully pushed open the door.
Outside, there were no terrifying pirates. No iron cages. No crying children.
"Papa Brook came to save me… I remember it clearly…"
She looked around, hoping to see that familiar skeleton figure standing outside the door.
But he was not there.
"Oink! Oink!"
A small pink pig suddenly ran out from the haystack nearby and happily rushed toward her.
"Fatty!"
Little Labu quickly hugged the pig tightly as tears filled her eyes.
"I dreamed that bad pirates bullied you. I was so scared…"
The little pig rubbed against her happily while she held it tightly, refusing to let go.
"Was everything just a dream…"
Still confused, Little Labu quickly ran toward the farmland that Brook had cultivated.
When she finally arrived, she froze in place.
The land that Brook had carefully cultivated was gone.
All that remained was a field full of weeds.
"This… this can't be right…"
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
She came here every day. There was no way she could have mistaken the path.
But if that was true, then where did everything go?
An uneasy feeling slowly spread in her heart.
"Papa Brook! Where are you?"
She ran around in panic, searching every place they had visited together. But no matter how hard she searched, she could not find the skeleton who had always protected her.
In desperation, she ran into the village and asked the children who often bullied Brook.
But their response was only confusion.
"Skeleton papa? What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Are you dreaming again? Didn't your real father leave long ago?"
"Did you make up a papa because you wanted one so badly?"
Their laughter felt like knives stabbing into her heart.
Could it be…
Was Papa Brook really just someone she imagined?
"You're lying!"
Little Labu clenched her fists tightly and glared at them with red eyes.
"I won't believe you! I will find Papa myself!"
She turned around and ran away, but after only a few steps she suddenly stopped, turned back, and shouted loudly.
"And I am not nobody! My name is Little Labu! Papa gave me that name!"
The children looked at her in surprise as she ran away stubbornly.
…
Papa, where are you…
Little Labu ran through the strong wind with tears streaming down her face. She refused to believe that the loving papa who protected her was just an illusion.
After all, she had never even imagined that someone like that would appear in her life.
Especially not a skeleton.
Who said skeletons were scary? Papa Brook was handsome. He could sing, play music, and even teach her songs every day.
"Yo ho ho ho… Yo ho ho ho…"
While running through the wind, she wiped her tears and began to sing with a trembling voice.
"Bink's Sake, I will deliver to you…"
Papa Brook, where are you… I don't want to become someone with no family again…
…
"Little Laboon…"
In the sky, Brook floated among the clouds while watching the little girl below sing and cry.
His entire body trembled as tears flowed endlessly from his empty eye sockets.
"Hey, Brook, calm down a little."
Shirogai stood beside him with a faint smile.
"You are not someone who brings misfortune to others."
He looked down at the crying girl below and spoke calmly.
"Maybe meeting you was already the greatest fortune in her life."