While correcting Meowna’s form of address, Darkrai released a Dark Pulse at the few figures in front of him.
These shadows had emerged completely unscathed under Zeraora’s lightning strikes, yet when faced with Darkrai’s Dark Pulse they collapsed at the slightest touch. As the foremost shadows dispersed, the remaining shadows immediately fled toward the distance.
“Dark-type?”
“Yeah.”
“You know what kind of place this is, don’t you?”
“Ahem. You know my mission, I’ve been tracking the underworld for a while now. I finally managed to find its trail.
This time it didn’t get away. I uncovered the entrance, but, well… something unexpected happened. That thing expanded the influence of its power and pulled the entirety of Whole Cake Island into the underworld.
After sensing your positions, I came looking for you. These things aren’t normal creatures to begin with, so ordinary attacks obviously wouldn’t work.”
Darkrai explained what had happened to Zeraora, helping him understand the current situation.
“So you’re saying we’re inside the underworld right now?”
“That’s right. But don’t worry, we’re here as living beings. After dealing with this problem, we should be able to return intact. These are just ordinary ghosts drawn to the living. Dark-type moves can take them out. You do know some, right?”
“I do know a few, but how do we get out of here?”
“That thing in the underworld detonated the exit’s location, causing fluctuations throughout the entire underworld. It’s impossible to leave in the short term.
But I contacted Lord earlier. Once the Lord arrives, this will naturally be resolved. It’ll just take some time.
I also have an item Lord lent me. If we can find that thing, we should be able to leave early.”
“So until then, all we can do is fight?”
“Exactly.”
An underworld that could actively escape possessed a certain level of self-awareness. Sensing a crisis just now, it had detonated the entrance, temporarily losing its ability to be freely entered or exited.
Dark-type moves being effective against these ghosts was good news for Zeraora.
Aside from him, Beedrill had a solid grasp of Dark-type moves, while Kojiro’s Kingambit, Meowna’s Meowscarada, and Wolff’s Incineroar were Dark-type by nature.
With the intelligence Darkrai had brought, they were more than capable of dealing with things here.
Wanda, Bepo, and Carrot, on the other hand, had little they could do about this.
“I need to go look for that thing and try to deal with it before Lord arrives.”
Seeing Zeraora’s gaze on him, Darkrai explained his next plan.
Notifying Arceus was a mission requirement, but trying to resolve it himself was an employee’s “ambition.”
“It’s not convenient for me to take you along. Let’s split up. I’ll leave you something.”
Darkrai then turned toward Wanda and the other two, who were helpless against souls. A mass of black energy formed in his palm.
“Put your hands in.”
After Zeraora signaled that it was fine, Wanda and Carrot extended their hands into the energy. Darkrai’s power quickly flowed into their bodies, temporarily granting them a buff.
“Alright. Now you can handle things here. See you later. If you find the plate first, crush this. I’ll be able to sense it.”
He handed a small black bead to Zeraora and explained the details. Darkrai then vanished from their sight once more.
“Is anyone feeling lucky? The lucky one can lead the way.”
Looking around at the others, Zeraora posed an oddly mystical question.
According to Darkrai, Arceus had previously confirmed that there should be a plate here. What they needed to do was try to find it before Arceus arrived, or locate and eliminate the life-form controlling the underworld.
However, even Darkrai didn’t know how to track it. They could only gamble on luck.
“Well… how about we use dice to decide the direction?”
Tesoro created a simple die from the gold ornaments on his body, and their journey of betting on luck began.
Zeraora’s group still had the ability to deal with these ghostly things, but the others did not necessarily share that advantage. Charlotte Linlin herself could injure them thanks to the power of the Soul-Soul Fruit.
Zeus and Prometheus at Katakuri’s side possessed the same capability. Homies, these special beings likewise formed from souls and lifespan, ironically became the very means the Big Mom Pirates relied upon.
As for those without the ability to command Homies, their only option at this moment was to flee.
Of course, not all ghosts attack people. Humans have good and bad, and ghosts were no exception. Some ghosts even protect those who had wandered in by mistake.
They were the relatives of these living people, and because of their blood ties, the two sides shared an extremely mysterious connection.
Beyond blood relations, there was also the lingering attachment that had been impossible to let go of in life. When neither side had forgotten the other and both retained vivid impressions, a kind of resonance could occur, producing strange, unseen guidance.
As for what exactly was happening, no one could explain it clearly. Not even the dead spirits within the underworld dared claim they truly understood this place; after all, time and space in the underworld were completely different from the outside world.
Meanwhile, as Zeraora and Darkrai began their actions, the Straw Hats also fell into a state of confusion. They had just burst out from Bege’s body when they arrived here.
Some members even passed out on the spot, only regaining consciousness after a long while.
However, they did have one advantage: among the Straw Hats was Brook, a rather special individual. Although he too had passed out at first, the moment he woke up, he immediately felt a bit more confident.
“Everyone, don’t panic. This seems to be the land of the dead. If we get lost here, it’ll be troublesome.”
His Revive-Revive Fruit had only ever allowed him to reach the outskirts of the underworld, never truly entering its interior, but sensing the familiar aura around them, Brook had already confirmed where they were.
“The underworld?! Does that mean we’re already dead?! Is Big Mom really that terrifying?”
“No way! I clearly caught a disease that makes me unable to die. How could this happen?!”
Chopper and Usopp were both badly startled, their thinking becoming exaggerated as they blurted out some utterly ridiculous remarks.
“No, no, everyone. Our bodies are still here. We must have wandered into this place by accident due to some unforeseen factor. But don’t worry, I’ll protect you all and do my best to find an exit.
As payment, Miss Nami, may I have a look at your panties?”
“Drop dead!”
Nami answered with her iron fist, ruthlessly punching Brook with her exclusive internal Haki.
“Wanna see my panties instead? I can turn into Nami-chan’s appearance.”
Thud!
With another punch from Nami, Bon Kurei and Brook both collapsed to the ground at the same time.
“Come to think of it, aren’t we missing someone?”
“Are we? I don’t feel anything off. Where’s that damn Moss Head?!”
Sanji rubbed his head. Even he didn’t know why, just opening and closing his eyes had sent him from Pudding’s side back to his companions.
“Zoro said he was going to scout the area earlier. I couldn’t stop him.
Oh right, Kin’emon and Kanjuro are missing too.”
Chopper raised his hand to explain Zoro’s whereabouts, causing the expression of everyone present to turn dark. Before they could say anything more, a beast’s roar suddenly rang out from nearby. A ferocious-looking monster was charging straight toward them.
“Watch out! Gum-Gum Pistol!”
Luffy shoved Usopp out of the way just in time and threw a punch at the creature, but his fist passed straight through it, leaving only a crater in the ground.
“Soul Solid: Weapon Breaker!”
The target Luffy failed to hit was instead pinned to the ground by Brook’s sword. The blade carried the chill unique to the underworld, causing the beast to freeze.
This was the result of Brook’s training. He hadn’t simply been singing. He had gradually learned how to let his soul leave his body and gained the ability to imbue his weapon with the underworld’s cold.
“Your attacks might not work. Leave it to me.”
♪ Going to deliver Binks’ Sake ♪
Just as Brook was about to take the lead in searching for Zoro and the others, a song drifted into everyone’s ears. In the midair not far away, a ghost ship was sailing toward them. That pirate ship floating in the air was unmistakably a genuine ghost ship.
♪ Waves of gold and silver dissolve to salty spray
As we all set sail to the ends of the sea ♪
As the singing grew closer and the ghost ship approached, Brook’s body froze in place like a pillar.
Because someone standing at the bow of the ship was waving at him.
“Yo! Long time no see, Brook!”
“Captain Yorki!!”
A far clearer ghost appeared before the Straw Hats. They could even clearly see the inverted F-shaped tattoo beneath his right eye and the reversed F-shaped beard on his chin.
Calico Yorki—a pirate from decades ago, the former captain of the Rumbar Pirates.
After confirming he had contracted a deadly illness, he entrusted the future entirely to Brook, then led the infected crew aboard their old ship in an attempt to leave the Grand Line through the Calm Belt.
For him to appear here meant only one thing. They had failed back then.
“Captain Yorki, I’m sorry. I failed your trust. I couldn’t lead everyone away…”
“What are you saying, Brook? We never blamed you!”
“Yeah! Your music eased so much of our pain. It’s just a shame, we haven’t heard your music in so long. Without you, our performances were never complete.”
“You idiot, what kind of stupid thing are you saying? Are you wishing he’d died sooner?! Hey, Brook, you’ve lived all these years, you must’ve seen Laboon, right? How’s he been doing?”
Before Yorki could even speak, the other members of the Rumbar Pirates rushed forward, clamoring to ask questions one after another.
Here, they no longer differentiated others by appearance, but by their souls. Brook shared an exceptionally deep bond with them, which was why they had followed that feeling to find him.
“All of you shut up! I’m the captain, let me ask first!”
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