Luffy and Zoro immediately straightened up, both of them focused and ready to listen.
After all, what had just happened truly gave them quite a scare.
But beneath that tension and concern…
there was also a faint glimmer of excitement!
A mysterious power… an unknown world…!
As once said: "Curiosity is the driving force of human progress."
For Luffy, anything that defied his expectations wasn't a danger, it was a thrill!
If it hadn't been for that mysterious power nearly pushing Sanji to the brink of death,
Luffy and Zoro probably wouldn't have felt any fear at all.
In fact, they might've been excited!
The more complicated the world became the stronger the desire to explore it grew.
Especially for someone like Luffy who already understood the broad flow of this world's fate, this event had stirred a curiosity even greater than the secret of the Will of D.
The pirate world wasn't too big, nor too small…
Luffy had no interest in controlling everything but when it came to discovering the unknown, he was endlessly intrigued.
He had just found another reason, to grow stronger.
Brook, unaware of the shift in Luffy and Zoro's mood, continued with a somber expression.
To him, this power was supposed to be a blessing.
But because he had failed to control it properly, he had nearly caused Sanji's death.
That guilt weighed heavily on him as he began to explain:
"Ever since Luffy-sama bestowed upon me the power of the Hōgyoku, granting me its baptism and evolution…
I have been constantly trying to explore its abilities."
The Hōgyoku embedded in his chest still emitted a dim, flickering light.
"But after a long time, I realized all my efforts were in vain.
Aside from its initial transformation, the Hōgyoku never again granted me strength without reason.
So, after realizing that, I began joining Luffy-sama and the others in normal physical training."
Brook's empty gaze shifted toward Luffy.
Luffy smiled softly and nodded, his tone light and nostalgic.
"Yeah… now that I think about it, that was already years ago."
"Heheh~ I truly was lucky to have met you, Luffy-sama~ Yohohoho~"
Luffy's warmth seemed to ease the gloom in Brook's heart, allowing him to continue.
"Then one day, by chance, I discovered something…
When I composed music, I could faintly communicate with the Hōgyoku.
It was… strange. Hard to describe."
He paused, as if trying to put the feeling into words.
"Looking back, perhaps it's because every note I write, every emotion in my music,
comes from the deepest, most genuine part of my soul."
"I began to realize, the Hōgyoku doesn't directly grant me combat power. Instead, through my emotions and effort, it subtly alters reality, sometimes even creating things that never existed!"
His own words left him stunned, disbelief flashing across his skeletal face.
"That's right," Luffy confirmed firmly, in stark contrast to Brook's hesitation.
"The Hōgyoku absorbs the will and thoughts around it, and can materialize, or transform, them.
In short, it turns impossible into possible.
It turns imagination… into reality."
He glanced at the dim orb in Brook's chest.
"However, your Hōgyoku seems a bit different from a normal one."
"Normal Hōgyoku?"
Zoro frowned, catching the odd phrasing immediately.
"What do you mean by normal, Luffy?"
"Uh…"
Luffy froze for a moment, clearly unsure how to explain, and coughed awkwardly.
"I'll tell you more about that later…"
Zoro didn't press the issue, simply folded his arms and waited for him to continue.
"Ahem…" Luffy cleared his throat and went on.
"The one Brook uses differs slightly from the standard Hōgyoku.
Normally, a Hōgyoku is a special, let's just call it, artifact with its own consciousness.
It actively absorbs surrounding willpower and thoughts to manifest them into reality."
"Because of that, there's almost no limit to its potential, which is what makes it so powerful."
Brook lowered his gaze to the orb glowing faintly blue within his ribcage.
"But the Hōgyoku you possess lacks that self-awareness. It can't act on its own."
"In other words, as you said earlier, it can't unleash its power unless you find a way to draw it out."
Luffy's eyes met Brook's again.
"But judging by what's happening now… it seems you have found your own way, haven't you?"
Brook nodded slightly, his skeletal hand covering the dim orb as he replied:
"Yes. As my musical understanding deepened, the mysterious feedback from the Hōgyoku grew stronger.
But instead of strengthening my body or combat ability, it began to… shape something else.
It's as if it's been helping me form a new power, a unique ability of my own."
Brook drew his bone sword from his side, the green ghostly flames rippling faintly across its edge.
"At first, all I wanted was to grow stronger, so that I could better help you, Luffy-sama."
"So, I created The Symphony of the Four Sacred Beasts. It's a musical composition that embodies my image of the legendary divine beasts, combined with a fragment of power I sensed from the Yomi Yomi no Mi.
It became a magnificent, music-based fighting style."
The bone sword reflected Brook's deep eye sockets, where faint green flames danced like restless spirits.
"But as I continued refining the symphony, I realized something… strange. The Four Beasts began to feel real."
"Whenever I played the symphony, I could hear their roars and cries echoing in my ears!"
Luffy and Zoro both frowned slightly, as though already guessing what would come next.
Brook continued, his tone trembling slightly.
"It was as if they truly existed, but lived in a dimension I couldn't see or touch…"
"During battle, when I play The Symphony of the Four Sacred Beasts, they come forth from that alternate dimension to fight alongside me!"
"And lately, through their connection, I've begun to feel glimpses of that other dimension myself.
There, I even… sensed some familiar presences…"
Brook fell silent. His hollow eye sockets seemed to tremble,
as if the next words were too heavy to speak.
"Were they… your old crewmates?"
Luffy's quiet question struck directly at Brook's heart.
Tears began to fall from his pale cheekbones, dripping one by one onto the floor.
"Yes…" he whispered.
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