Volume 4 Chapter 19 (II)

"The Florian Triangle is a perilous stretch of sea that must be sailed through when travelling from Water 7 to Fish-man Island. It is masked in an incredibly thick fog that covers the entire sea. The fog is so dense it completely blocks out sunlight, making it impossible to tell whether it is day or night. Over the years man people have ventured through these parts of the sea, but only a handful make it out alive to tell the tales of the horrors of the Ghost ships." Nami read an extract about the mission location out of a book she found in the library.

"Do we really have to go there?" Ussop asked

"Yes, the mission this time is to explore that part of the sea we are looking for the broken part of the Adam tree. Franky will b able to identify it when we find it." Robin said as she sat on the deck drinking a cocktail prepared by Sanji

"But you mentioned something about Gh...Gho…Ghosts" Chopper said shaking in his boots.

"What are you worried about, Ghosts do not exist," Luffy said with a laugh. "Sanji, im hungry!" he added.

Slowly the newly appointed marines accompanied by the 3 Altantenas made their way into the fog of the Florian Triangle.

"It sure is dark in here" Nami stated as she steered the ship in a random direction.

"Leave that to me…" Franky announced time to turn on the lights

"Eye Beam"

A beam of light shot out of Franky's eyes illuminating the sea in front of the ship.

"That is very handy Franky" Nami could not hold back her excitement.

"EYE BEAM!" so could Ussop, Chopper and Luffy who were crawling over Franky excitedly

After an hour of sailing, the group could hear singing from far away. It first sounded like a whisper but with time, the voice got closer and closer

Yo ho hoho

Yo ho hoho

Yo ho hoho

Yo ho hoho

"EVERYONE! LOOK! IT IS A GHOST SHIP!" at this point Chopper had already lost his cool. Tears ran down his eyes as his legs gave up their strength sending him crashing on his butt on the deck.

"Oh no!" Ussop said "This must be the demonic takeover song. It is said that whoever listens to this song will lose their mind and their bodies will be possessed by the evil ghost"

Chopper upon hearing Ussops blabber lost his remaining will and fainted.

Not far from the ship old abandoned wreckage of a ship drifted along. With it, the singing got louder and louder.

All the members of the marine party were now standing on the deck armed ready for a potential battle.

Distracted by fear, no one noticed a shadow leap from the Ghost ship into the marine vessel until the singing restarted, just this time it didn't come from the Ghost ship it came from behind the group who were watching the Ghost ship drift past.

Yo ho hoho

Chopper who had just woken up noticed the silence on the ship. The shock on everyone's faces as they looked at him. He quickly realised they were not looking at him but at something next to him.

"SKELETON!!" Chopper yelled and passed out again in shock.

"Yohohoho, where are my manners." The intruder said as he got up, straightened out his tie, shined his shoes and puffed up his hair. He walked towards nami and courtesied.

"My lady, can I see your panties?" he asked politely

Nami kicked him to the head, sending him crashing into the deck head first.

"My lady you have just broken my heart," he said seriously as he got himself off the ground. "But then again Skeleton dont have hearts, Yohohoho"

"Hahahahahaha, I like this guy. Can we keep him?" Luffy laughed at the undead intruder's antics

"Forgive me, it has been so long since I saw another living person. My name is Brooks. I was initially a member of the Rumbar Pirates but that was 50-something years ago." the tall skeleton dressed in a complete formal attire including his hat and cane. Despite having no skin, he still had an impressive afro.

"Brooks, How come you ended up like this" Law could not believe there was a way to cheat death that he was not aware of.

"I ate the Yomi Yomi no Mi (Revive Revive Fruit) which enhances the user's soul allowing me to return after death. The only catch is you have no control over your body. I died at sea, by the time my soul made it back to my body all that was left was bones." Brooks replied

"But why haven't you left?" Robin asked

"It's not that I dont want to leave. I can't leave! 12 years ago a Warlord moved to this part of the sea. I had seen some ships go into this large island and wanted to ask for a small vessel to leave this dreadful place. Making my way over there, I got captured and stripped of my shadow." Brooks said with a plain face. The group found it odd talking to Brooks about something so emotional as he had no facial features to read his emotions, but the heaviness in his voice could not be hidden. "Coming in contact with direct sunlight without your shadow, your body will burn until nothing is left."

"Where is this island? Why dont we start our search from there? Atlant will not stand by and watch people suffer. Hearing what Brooks had just said, we know whoever is the mastermind behind his had a devil fruit power which allows them to affect peoples shadows and I dont believe Brooks is the only victim" Luffy said, clearly agitated by Brooks experience

"Luffy something you say some deep things. But you have a point! We can't let this go on. If I recall correctly I read something about a devil fruit that has this type of power, it should be the Kage Kage no Mi (Shadow Shadow Fruit) at work here and the last known person with this fruit is Gecko Moria, one of the seven warlords of the sea. He just happens to fit this scenario." Nami added

"If you guys want to take on this side mission, you are free to do it. Just remember teamwork is very important and lastly, we will only protect your lives once" Law reminded the marines of the agreement made before leaving the academy.

"Understood, SIR!" they replied. It was finally time to put all they have learnt in this past year to use.

Although Brooks did not know what all the excitement was about. He knew he had found helpers to resolve the issue with Thriller Bark.

***

Following the direction from Brooks, Nami quickly navigated the vessel towards the island with its huge outer walls. The crew sailed around the walls until they found the open gates. Entering the island was easy, but the place sure was creepy. The ship was anchored outside the place Brooks called The Dead Forest, everyone could see the people known as shadowless hiding amongst the trees.

As everyone investigated their surrounding, Robin called everyone's attention to the structures above them. There were four separate chains connecting the walls to the tree-like structure in the middle of the island. Having a closer look at the chains, Nami came to the conclusion that this was not an island, or it previously was an island but now it was a ship.

"GUYS! This is not an island. We just entered the enemy's ship!" Nami alerted the group.

"Scanning complete. The mission has been accomplished. The centre mast of this ship is the Treasure tree adam" Frank said in a robotic tone.

"So why dont we just get Adam and leave," Ussop said not wanting to stay a second longer on this island.

"No, we will be getting Brooks shadow too," Luffy replied

Zoro who had been quiet all this time open his eyes unsheathing his sword. I guess you must be a devil fruit user to sneak in our midst unnoticed. Too bad you woke me up from my sleep, my blades have been hungry for a while now."

Everyone turned around only to see Zoro's serious look, his blade extended and hovering in the air.

"Hahahah, Marines walked into our trap! The boss will be pleased. Oh, they have 4 beauties. Excuse me can you show me your panties" the invisible man said

Brook could only think 'This guy has taste'

"Tell us about everything happening on this island. You better start talking or my blade will start cutting." Zoro said.

"I suggest you pack up and leave. The boss is a warlord and has the protection of the World government. This is not a place for kids like you to do as you wish. My name is Absalom, I am the battle commander of the Moria army, you must not do anything to me if you all want to leave thriller bark alive."

"So this place is called Thriller Bark. Summon the Army so we know what we are facing." Zoro said.

"You asked for it! Behold the undead army of Thriller Bark!" Absalom shouted

***

"Gecko Moria! You are under arrest. For multiple accounts of kidnapping and desecrating the dead." No. 13 announced over the speakers.

"Kishishishi, Absalom see to this pest!" a voice echoed from the central tower. When there was no reply "Absalom?, Hogabark?, Persona?"

"You dont need to look for anyone, all your subordinates have been arrested and your zombie army has been dealt with. Surrender Gecko Moria" No. 13 added

"Kishishishi, it has been many years since I used my full power. I take it you are not regular marines. The fact that all this happened under my watchful eye means you at least have some skill. I will have to crush you with my strongest attack!" an abnormally large humanoid creature with very distinct devil-like features slowly walked out of the tower. He had two horns protruding from the sides of his forehead, pointy ears, a long thick neck and lastly stitches running vertically from his face to his neck.

"Kage Kage no Mi: Shadow Asgard"

Activating this technique. Moria empowered himself with the shadows he had stolen. The shadows from all the Zombies slowly made their way to Moria. A vacuum was created in his mouth as he began absorbing the shadows causing the warlord to grow in size.

In this form, Moria's neck bloated to extreme proportions, similar to how a gecko puffs up its throat when threatened. His horns also became longer, and his hair became spiky. His arms also became very huge. while his legs became longer compared to their original stubby appearance. Because of his body proportions in this form, Moria was forced to walk on all fours.

"Come and get me! Marine!" he yelled.

***

At Ryugu Palace

"Shirahoshi, you have finally opened the doors to your gift. With the acknowledgement of the Sea Kings. It's time to bring out Noah." King Neptune said "Noah is the ship of promise, a vessel big enough to house all humans in this world. I know it is ironic that we have been given this mission and how much we have suffered at their hands but we will have to look above that."

"Do you know why all this feels like fate, the only way to sail Noah a ship that big is using the combined effort of 6 Sea Kings! Until you were born we had no way of realising this dream and now that you are here with us, the awaited battle is almost on us. My daughter, We dont have much time, Noah must be fixed as soon as possible!"