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  --xLOVEx--

  Suddenly, a massive, dark silhouette appeared through the thick fog. The crew squirying to make out the eerie figure ahead. It idated ship, battered with scars and holes, its sails barely hanging on—ghastly remnants of what was once a proud vessel. As it drifted closer, a soft, haunting hum floated over the water.

  "Yohohoho~~ Yoho-hoho~~" the voice sang, eg across the fog.

  The entire crew froze.

  "A-a-a-a ghost ship!" Usopp screamed, his face going pale. Chopper, trembling, immediately tched onto his leg.

  "Y-Y-Yep, that’s definitely a ghost ship!" Chopper stammered, his voice quivering with fear.

  Luffy’s eyes lit up with excitement, pletely ign the terrripping his crewmates. "Coby! Turn the ship over! It’s a talking skeleton!" he shouted, practically boung with enthusiasm as he poi the other ship.

  Coby chuckled, shaking his head but steering the Thousand Sunny toward the eerie ship. "Alright, alright. Let’s go meet the skeleton," he said, adjusting the helm.

  As the crew he ghostly vessel, the song grew louder. The voice hummed cheerfully despite the grim surroundings. "Yohohoho~~ Bink’s Sake..."

  Through the thick mist, they finally spotted the source of the voice: a skeleton in a tattered suit, sitting on the deck of the ghost ship with a cup of tea in hand, swaying to his own tune. His empty eye sockets seemed to be looking right at them.

  "Yohohoho!" the skeleton ughed, notig the approag Sunny. "A ship full of lively humans! How wonderful!"

  Usopp and Chopper nearly passed out on the spot, trembling behind the mast. "T-T-Talking skeleton!" Usopp stammered, his teeth chattering.

  Climbing aboard the eerie ghost ship, Coby, Nami, and Luffy found themselves face to face with the singing skeleton. The figure, dressed in a tattered suit, stood tall and lean, his empty eye sockets giving them a peculiar yet weling look. With a bow, he removed his top hat and spoke, his voice carrying a strange, hollow echo.

  “Yohohoho, pardon my earlier rudeness. I met eyes with you but failed to give a prreeting! Though I don’t have any eyes! Yohohoho, skeleton joke!” he ughed, clearly enjoying his own humor.

  Luffy's jaw dropped in pure amazement, his eyes practically sparkling. “A talking skeleton with an afro! Nami, look!” he yelled, boung up and down like a kid seeing something incredible for the first time.

  Nami groaned, rubbiemple. “I see him, idiot!” she shough even she had to admit, seeing a living skeleton was definitely strange.

  The skeleton straightened up, pg his hat ba his head. “It’s been decades—perhaps even longer—since I had the pleasure of meeting a living person,” he said. “You only see ghost ships around these parts. Now, please, do e in.” His manners were surprisingly formal despite his strange appearance.

  The skeletoy eye sockets sed the crew, but then his gaze lingered on Nami. “What a lovely young dy,” he said with a grin, stepping closer to her. Just as he opened his mouth to ask to see her pants, oved in front of Nami, casually blog Brook’s path.

  “Gotta warn you, this lovely dy is my woman,” Coby said ftly, his tone leaving no room fument.

  Brook stopped immediately, his tone suddenly more respectful. “Ah, my apologies! As a gentleman, I should steer clear,” he said, bag off gracefully.

  Coby nodded in approval, happy that, unlike a certain perverted cook, Brook knew how to act like a gentleman. “Good choice,” he said, gng over his shoulder at Nami, who gave him a subtle, appreciative smirk.

  Meanwhile, Luffy was already fixated on something else. “Hey, skeleton!” Luffy shouted, his eyes gleaming with curiosity. “Do you poop?”

  Brook turo Luffy, his bony fiapping his ihought. “Indeed, I do poop,” he said with plete seriousness.

  Luffy burst into ughter, clutg his stomach. “Hahaha! Yreat!” Then, without skipping a beat, Luffy asked the question on his mind, his tone eager. “Hey, before anything else, do you wanna join my crew?”

  Brook’s smile widened, and without a sed thought, he bowed theatrically. “Yes! Very well then. I accept your kind offer!”

  And that was how the crew found themselves sitting i with Brook. Usopp and Chopper, now dressed in ridiculous anti-ghost suits covered in garlic, crosses, and whatever other nonsehey could find, huddled in one er, trembling as they kept an eye on the skeleton. Meanwhile, Luffy, Coby, Robin, Nami, and the others sat around the table with Brook, trying to make sense of their strange new guest.

  Luffy, as usual, didn’t waste time getting fortable. “Dinner, dinner!” he ted, banging his fists oable. Brook joined in, his voice eg the same t. “Dinner, dinner! I haven’t had a proper meal in such a long time!” The two of them were practically singing in synpletely in their own world.

  Sanji, standing by the stove, shot an irritated g them. “Yeah, yeah. It’s ing, you damn gluttons. Give me a sed,” he grumbled, already busy preparing somethiy to feed the new crewmember.

  Brook, despite being a literal skeleton, seemed pletely at ease with the crew, which Luffy liked a lot. He fit right in, ughing and joking as if they’d known each other for years. The skeleton’s bony fiapped rhythmically oable, his energy iious.

  “Ah, I still don’t know your names,” Brook suddenly realized, looking around the room.

  Luffy, grinnio ear, introduced himself first. “I’m Monkey D. Luffy, the captain of this crew! And I already told you, you’re joining us!”

  Brook bowed his head respectfully. “Captain Luffy-san, a pleasure.”

  One by ohe rest of the crew introduced themselves.

  “I’m Nami, the navigator,” Nami said with a small smile, though she was still eyeing Brook with a bit of suspi.

  Robin spoke , her voice calm as ever. “Nico Robin, the archaeologist.”

  As Robin finished, Brook stood and bowed deeply. “Ah, my eyes may be gone, but I must say, you are truly beautiful!” He started to walk closer to her, but as soon as he caught Coby’s eyes, he stopped, bowing again. “Two out of two—both stunningly beautiful. I give my deepest respect.”

  Coby, who had been leaning casually in his chair, chuckled and reached over to pat Brook’s shoulder. “Don’t be so serious, Brook.”

  Nami, gnashieeth in mild frustration, gred at Coby but didn’t say anything else. Robin chuckled softly, clearly amused. “Fufufu,” she giggled, her eyes glinting with amusement.

  Sanji, watg from the stove, was fuming internally but held it in for now, knowing Coby’s dominan these matters. He flipped a sizzling pieeat on the pan, fog on the food instead.

  After finishing their meal, Brook settled in to expin his story to the crew. He adjusted his top hat, his bony fingers clig against the rim, and began speaking with his usual light-hearted tone.

  “I ate the Yomi Yomi no Mi,” Brook expined, “a Devil Fruit that granted me a sed life. Unfortunately, when I died decades ago, my soul was given another ce to return to my body, but due to the mist in the sea, it took too long for me to find it. By the time I found my body, it had already decayed and turned into nothing but bones. And thus, here I am!” He stood and gave a small bow, trying to keep his mood up. “A living skeleton, at your service. Yohohoho!”

  Usopp, wide-eyed, stared at Brook in disbelief. “So, wait, you’re not a ghost or something? You don’t even look like a human anymore!”

  Brook shivered at the mention of ghosts, his bones rattling dramatically. “I am human, of course! I’m quite scared of ghosts, actually! Yohohoho!”

  Nami, unimpressed, poio a mirror nearby. “Maybe you should take a look at yourself before saying that.”

  The crew turheir heads to the mirror, expeg to see Brook’s refle. But there was nothing.

  Brook froze, his hollow eye sockets widening. “Oh, dear,” he muttered. “I don’t have a refle… I fot!” His mood shifted, the atmosphere around him growing more somber as he expined further.

  “I lost my shadow, you see. That’s why you ’t see me in the mirror,” Brook said, his voice dropping. “I ot step into sunlight anymore, or else… I’ll melt. I’m rejected by the light.”

  --

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