The moment the skeleton appeared, Zoro and Sanji immediately took a fighting stance.
"Tsk~ So there really are walking skeletons!" Zoro muttered, slowly unsheathing his sword.
"It's fine. If he tries anything funny, I'll kick him to pieces!" Sanji added, his leg raised and ready.
The skeleton, unfazed by their reactions, chuckled and said, "Welcome aboard my ship! I must apologize for the lack of proper hospitality—it's quite rude of me!"
"Huh?" Zoro and Sanji paused in surprise. The skeleton seemed quite polite. But...
"Why can you talk?!" they both shouted in unison.
"Now, now, no need to get excited, my guests! As you can see, I'm a skeleton, and it's perfectly normal for a skeleton to speak!" the skeleton replied casually.
"Then why are you a skeleton... with an afro?!" Luffy asked excitedly, stars in his eyes.
The skeleton took a slow sip of the coffee he was holding and answered, "As I said, I'm a skeleton. Having thick hair is perfectly normal, right?"
"You're just an idiot!" Zoro and Sanji snapped in frustration.
"Ahahaha! You're hilarious!" Luffy laughed heartily.
"No way!" The skeleton raised his hands in mock exasperation. "After all these years, I've only ever seen ghost ships. It's been ages since I've encountered a living person—I got a bit excited!"
He then feigned fear, patting his chest. "It's terrifying dealing with spooky things every day!"
But as soon as he did, he realized his mistake. "Oh, right... I forgot I don't have a chest, hohoho!"
"Stop with the lame jokes already!" Zoro and Sanji scolded again.
"Haha, he's quite amusing," Robin said with a soft chuckle, which caught the skeleton's attention.
In two steps, the skeleton moved closer to her, stopping about three meters away.
Seeing this, Zoro and Sanji immediately stepped in, glaring at the skeleton. "What do you want?" they asked in unison.
"Haha, don't be so hostile. It's just that I haven't seen such a beautiful lady in so long—I was a bit taken aback!"
With a flourish, the skeleton adjusted his clothes, bent slightly like a gentleman, and said, "Beautiful lady, may I... see your panties?"
(•́へ•́╬)!
"LIKE HELL YOU CAN, YOU PERVERT!" Sanji exploded with fury and launched a powerful kick, sending the skeleton flying several meters away.
The skeleton slowly stood up and, brushing himself off, calmly said, "My friend, you seem a bit angry!"
"Oh, he even managed to hold onto his hat!" Luffy said in awe, pointing at the skeleton's hat that had stayed on despite the kick.
"Hehehe... you're all very interesting!" the skeleton chuckled.
Luffy grinned and asked excitedly, "Hey, skeleton, how about you join my crew?"
"Sure! Sounds good," the skeleton said, sipping his coffee again as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Everyone: !!!
"No way! Absolutely not!" Sanji shouted, nearly bursting a blood vessel.
The crew stood in silence for a moment, not echoing Sanji's objection. Seeing this, he grew desperate and turned to Kai.
"Kai, say something!"
Kai shrugged. "What do you expect me to say? You know once Luffy decides, there's no changing his mind."
Sanji: (⊙o⊙)...
"Ugh!" Sanji groaned, finally giving in. "Fine, do what you want!" He then turned his attention back to the skeleton. "But wait a minute... why haven't I heard of any skeletons walking around before?"
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, then his eyes widened in realization. "Wait, you're not Brook, are you?!"
"Hm? You know me?" The skeleton, now identified as Brook, tilted his head in confusion. It made no sense to him—after being dead for fifty years, how could anyone still remember him?
"Yeah, we know who you are," Sanji said, taking a puff of his cigarette.
At that moment, Zoro and Luffy also remembered something Kai had told them before, and Luffy quickly asked, "Are you from the crew that Laboon's been waiting for?"
"Laboon? You mean Laboon?!" Brook's entire demeanor changed, and he eagerly turned to Luffy.
"Yes! We heard about your story from Crocus, the lighthouse keeper! Laboon's been waiting for your crew all this time, headbutting the Red Line..."
...
Some time later~
"Wooooooo! Laboon!!!" Brook sobbed loudly, though, being a skeleton, no tears fell from his eye sockets—it was just the sound of his sorrow.
It was indeed a bit strange.
After a while, Brook calmed down and looked at Luffy with deep gratitude in his eyes. "Thank you for stopping Laboon from hitting the Red Line. If it weren't for you, I might never get the chance to see him again."
"Haha, don't thank me! I didn't do it for you—it was an agreement between Laboon and me!" Luffy grinned widely.
After a hearty laugh, Luffy looked back at Brook. "So, will you join our crew? Let's travel the world and then go back to see Laboon together!"
Brook beamed, but then his expression dimmed. "I'd love to, but... I can't leave this sea."
"Huh? But you said you'd join earlier! Why can't you now?" Luffy asked, growing anxious at the thought of losing such an intriguing new crewmate.
"This is... a long story. The reason I can't leave is..." Brook began, but before he could finish, Kai interrupted.
"If it's a long story, let's discuss it back on the Merry. It's more comfortable there than here."
"Oh, right! Let's eat while we talk!" Luffy added enthusiastically. "Wait... can you even eat as a skeleton?"
Brook chuckled, touched by the warm invitation. "Thank you! Even though I don't have a stomach, I can still eat!"
"Yohohohoho~"
"Hahahaha..."
-------------------------------
Power Stones would be appreciated if you liked the story.