Chapter 139

Franky said in disbelief, "Fifty years! Are you sure she's still waiting for you?"

"What right do I have to decide that Laboon has already stopped waiting?" Brook said softly. "What if she believed in our promise and has been waiting all this time—how lonely must she be now?"

"Believing we betrayed her, yet still waiting for us—what a heartbreaking feeling that must be?"

"She......"

"Must be in even more pain than me, nine hundred times over!"

"I think she must have grown very big by now. If I could see her...... that would be wonderful......"

Brook's voice was soft, but everyone could hear the heavy longing in it.

"Crocus, so...... did Laboon ask you to come find us?" Brook looked at Crocus.

Crocus nodded, then shook his head.

Brook was completely baffled.

Laboon, who had been weeping silently all this time, finally said in a trembling voice, "Brook, I...... I am Laboon!"

Brook:???

Brook:? っQ?;)っ

"Huh???"

Brook stared at Laboon in astonishment, unable to believe Laboon's words, and instinctively shot Crocus a look seeking confirmation.

Before Crocus could speak,

the emotionally overwhelmed Laboon suddenly ran toward the ship's railing and leaped straight off the ship!

The Straw Hat Pirates' faces all changed!

"Quick!"

"Laboon can't swim!"

"Pull her up before she transforms!"

Crocus, Usopp, Sanji, and the other non-powered individuals rushed frantically toward the railing, but before they could jump into the sea, the hull suddenly rose sharply. Even through the black fog, a colossal shadow could be seen, lifting the entire ship onto its head.

"Oooong—"

This familiar cry......

Brook clung to the railing in disbelief and peered down, but there was only pitch darkness.

【Light!】

A gentle radiance lit up in the sky, and it struck Brook, whose shadow had been sheared away, illuminating the outline of Laboon.

Brook stared in awe at Laboon, whose body exceeded ten thousand meters. Though the size was seriously off, it was unmistakably the Laboon he knew!

In that instant,

tears gushed once more from Brook's skull-eyes as he shouted at Laboon—

"Laboon!!!"

Brook never could have imagined that Laboon would come looking for them on her own!

"Oooong—"

Watching the man and the whale before them, the entire Straw Hat Pirates burst into tears.

Franky wailed even louder!

"Ooooh—this is just too moving!"

"Fifty years of lonely waiting—this is a man's promise!"

"Ooooh—"

Sima Di was the only one smiling.

Brook and Laboon's regret could be fulfilled by his own hands......

Could there be anything more rewarding than this?

After the reunion was complete,

Laboon also reverted to her true form and returned to the deck.

Brook was so excited he could barely string his words together.

"Laboon!"

"You've actually become human? Is it a Devil Fruit power?"

"It's wonderful to see you again!"

"I'm not dreaming, am I?"

"I......"

Watching Brook, who was now utterly unlike the polite man from moments ago, Laboon beamed radiantly.

Being able to meet again really is wonderful!

"Can you tell me what happened to you all?"

Even after fifty years apart, Brook's emotions flared with anger the moment he brought it up.

"When we sailed into this Devil's Triangle, we fought a group of pirates we encountered, but they shamelessly smeared poison on their arrows and blades, and in the end, all of us......"

"Then Brook, you......"

"I ate the Huang Quan fruit, and my soul could return from the Underworld to gain a second life."

"If you revived, why are you a skeleton?" Crocus asked curiously.

At this question, Brook awkwardly scratched his head.

"Ah, well...... with all that black fog everywhere, the ship had drifted who knows where, and by the time I found my own corpse...... I scared myself half to death too."

Good grief!

Turns out he'd gotten lost.

The Straw Hat crew instinctively looked at Zoro—if he ate that Devil Fruit, whether or not they could find the corpse would be one and the same.

"Bastards! Believe it or not, I'll cut you all down!" Zoro raged.

Clearly he wasn't directionally challenged! — at any rate, he wouldn't admit it.

"Oh, right!" Brook slapped his own head. "Laboon, we have a gift for you."

Saying so,

Brook directly flipped his own skull open with one hand—this ferocious move startled everyone so badly their hearts skipped a beat!

It was Sima Di who, upon catching sight of the shell inside Brook's head, fell into thought.

This is......

"Looks like a Tone Dial?" Usopp said in surprise. "You've been to Skypiea too?"

"Skypiea? Does it really exist?" Brook said, equally astonished. "This Tone Dial is an antique we bought, used for recording music... Right now it holds the song the Rumbar Pirates sang together for Laboon at the very end."

Laboon's eyes went wide!

What the Rumbar Pirates did in the end......

Was actually recording a choral song for themselves?

The Straw Hat crew were also so moved that sand got into their eyes—turns out every single member of the Rumbar Pirates remembered their promise with Laboon!

Just as Brook was about to press the button, Sima Di suddenly spoke up.

"Wait!"

Everyone looked over in confusion.

【Telepathy!】

Sima Di directly paired it with his Mantra, flipping out the memory he wanted to find inside Brook's mind, and through the mind link pulled everyone into an Illusionary Realm he himself had constructed.

Everyone saw the battered ship before them restored to wholeness, with pirates sitting or lying about on the deck one by one.

Both Brook and Laboon stared wide-eyed at everything before them!

"Banki!"

"Yanki!"

This is......

That day, fifty years ago!

"Poisoning the arrowheads—truly a despicable man!"

"Although as pirates we long ago made our peace with death, still... it's just hard to swallow! There's something I want to do!"

"Laboon......"

"Brook, your Huang Quan Fruit... can let you live once more, can't it?"