Chapter 199: Tears Spanning Half a Century! The Overlapping Shadows of Oars and Laboon the Whale
A moment later.
On the deck of the thousand sunny.
A grand banquet to celebrate the victory and the joining of a new companion was in full swing.
Sanji continuously brought out mouth-watering, top-tier delicacies from the kitchen.
Huge roasts sizzled with oil, emitting an enticing aroma.
The sumptuous seafood risotto was stuffed with shrimp and scallops larger than fists.
Beside them were exquisite desserts specially prepared for the ladies.
"Delicious! Delicious! Meat! More meat!"
Luffy's eyes sparkled with a light like searchlights.
His hands turned into afterimages, frantically sweeping through the food before him like a wind through fallen leaves; his mouth was so stuffed he couldn't even speak clearly.
Chopper, who was already getting a bit tipsy after drinking some special juice, completely let himself go.
He stuck two chopsticks into each of his nostrils.
With his arms around Usopp, who was equally disheveled, they danced a hilarious 'chopstick dance' in the middle of the deck, causing the whole crowd to erupt in laughter.
Lassoo was currently lying on the turf.
Its two short front paws were death-gripping a piece of meat on the bone that was larger than its entire body.
Its tail wagged like a small propeller, and its face was covered in oil.
When the newly joined Brook leaned in curiously, wanting to reach out and touch this miraculous dog...
Lassoo immediately looked up alertly and let out a 'Woof-woo' warning growl at the skeleton to protect its food.
That fierce look made Brook let out a 'Yo-ho-ho-ho' laugh.
And in mid-air, Clay was circling, looking for a target.
With its agile speed...
It was like a bolt of black lightning, accurately snatching a piece of high-quality appetizer from beside Zoro's wine glass.
"You bastard! You smelly bird! Give me back my appetizer!"
Zoro was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged, and he cursed at the sky.
Meanwhile, Clay leisurely perched on the highest mast.
While chewing on the delicious appetizer, it let out an arrogant, mocking cry.
In a corner of the revelry, the atmosphere seemed completely different.
Tatsuya leaned lazily against the base of the main mast, holding a wine glass in his hand.
He gently swirled the deep red liquid inside, watching the rowdy group of companions with a smile.
Nami, who had just finished a life-and-death battle and had drunk some strong red wine...
Her cheeks were flushed now, like ripe apples, and her beautiful large eyes held a hint of hazy intoxication.
She swayed unsteadily over to Tatsuya's side.
Without any hesitation, she sat down right next to him.
She leaned most of the weight of her soft, delicate body unreservedly against his chest.
Nami reached out her fair arms and naturally wrapped them around Tatsuya's neck.
She leaned close to Tatsuya's ear.
Her warm breath, carrying the sweet scent of tangerine wine, murmured in a soft, coquettish voice that only the two of them could hear:
"Tatsuya... thank you for risking your life to protect me today.
"Your eyes... are they really okay now?"
Feeling the warm and fragrant beauty in his arms, Tatsuya reached out and firmly grasped Nami's slender waist.
He lowered his head slightly, his nose intimately rubbing against Nami's perky nose, a doting curve appearing at the corner of his mouth:
"As long as you're good and don't make me worry, it's fine."
After speaking, before Nami could react, Tatsuya naturally turned his head.
He planted a deep kiss, heavy with the scent of wine, on those two enticingly soft red lips.
"Mmm..."
Nami let out an enticing, soft moan.
She didn't push Tatsuya away; instead, she obediently closed her eyes.
Her hands involuntarily gripped the lapels of Tatsuya's clothes, responding passionately.
After a long time, their lips parted.
Nami gasped, the blush on her face spreading all the way to her ears.
She leaned close to Tatsuya's ear, her voice as light as a feather brushing past:
"Tonight... I'll reward you."
Their intimate interaction, as if no one else was around, was seen entirely by Robin, who was sitting in a lounge chair not far away.
Robin held a cup of steaming coffee, her long, straight legs elegantly crossed.
Resting her chin on one hand, she watched the couple under the mast who seemed as if they were about to merge into one:
"Hehe... the Vice Captain's method of 'treatment' is truly special and efficient."
Robin took a sip of her coffee, her eyes shimmering:
"Look like our Miss Navigator is destined to be very tired tonight."
Hearing Robin's blunt and suggestive teasing...
Nami, already shy from the alcohol, was instantly mortified.
She let out a cry and buried her bright red face deep into Tatsuya's broad chest.
Facing Robin's teasing, Tatsuya appeared calm and unruffled.
The corners of his mouth curled up.
Without any hesitation, he raised his wine glass toward Robin from a distance.
His deep black eyes were full of the smoldering intensity and mutual understanding unique to adults.
Faced with Tatsuya's aggressive counter-stare...
Even the always composed Robin felt a rare flush creep onto her pale cheeks.
She turned her head away somewhat unnaturally, pretending to look at the scenery on the sea.
After the brief ambiguous exchange, Tatsuya put away his playful expression.
His gaze moved past the crowd.
Finally, it landed on the skeleton musician who was messing around with Luffy and the others.
Tatsuya knew the plot's direction very well.
He knew it was time, at this joyful moment, to completely untie the knot in this lonely skeleton's heart that had been locked for half a century.
Tatsuya put down his wine glass and intentionally raised his voice.
He spoke loudly to Zoro and Sanji, who were drinking on the other side, in a conversational tone:
"Speaking of which, the size of that Ancient Giant Oars was truly ridiculously exaggerated."
Tatsuya paused, his eyes glancing meaningfully toward Brook:
"But thinking about it...
"That guy's mountain-like size..."
"Is about the same as that island whale, 'Laboon,' we met at Twin Cape on Reverse Mountain when we first entered the Grand Line."
The moment the name "Laboon" was clearly uttered from Tatsuya's mouth...
Brook was holding a cup of freshly poured hot black tea, ready to continue his skeleton jokes.
But the moment he heard that name, his movements froze in mid-air, like a real skeleton.
"Clatter!"
Brook's fingers loosened, and the exquisite porcelain cup fell onto the hard deck.
The teacup shattered instantly, and scalding black tea spilled everywhere.
Every fleshless bone in Brook's body trembled violently at this moment, making a 'clack-clack' clashing sound.
He snapped his head around, his originally empty eye sockets now staring fixedly at Tatsuya:
"V-Vice Captain... what did you just say... La-Laboon?!"
Luffy, who was devouring meat, instantly stopped chewing.
Usopp, who was dancing, also widened his eyes and stopped in his tracks.
Usopp pointed at Brook in shock, as if struck by lightning, and stammered loudly:
"Wait! Wait!"
"That look of yours..."
"Old man Crocus at Twin Cape said it!"
"Laboon keeps hitting his head against the Red Line because he's waiting for a group of pirates from the West Blue!"
"That group of pirates loved to sing the most..."
Usopp swallowed: "Hey, skeleton, could it be that you are..."
Zoro also put down his wine glass:
"Huh? Are you kidding me..."
"You're that group of pirates that whale has been waiting for at Twin Cape for fifty years?!"
In the midst of this suffocating shock, Luffy stood up.
He strode over to the trembling Brook.
Luffy pressed down on his Straw Hat and looked at the new musician, grinning very seriously:
"Ah! Is that so! That's great!"
Luffy declared loudly: "Brook! Laboon is doing very well right now! He's very energetic!
"And, I even made a man's promise for a duel with him using this Straw Hat!
"He's waiting obediently for us to go back and find him right now!"
Hearing this news.
Hearing that the companion he regarded as a child, yet felt deeply guilty toward because he was unable to keep their promise, was not only alive...
But was also healthy and waiting for them with hope at Twin Cape.
Brook's battered soul could no longer hold on.
"Thud."
He fell heavily to his knees on the deck.
Brook reached out his skeletal hands and covered his face, which could never shed tears.
Fifty whole years of loneliness.
In the sunless Florian Triangle, wandering in despair alongside the bones of his companions.
That deep-seated loneliness and guilt, more terrifying than death itself.
At this moment, it all turned into a tearless wail.
"Waaaaaahhhhhh—"
"That's great... it's really great... Laboon is still alive..."
Brook knelt on the ground, crying like a child who had finally found a home.
His voice was hoarse and trembling:
"These long and painful fifty years... I'm really... really glad to be alive!!!"
Under everyone's silent gaze.
Brook tremblingly reached out and opened his skull, which once had a crack.
From deep within his empty cranial cavity, he carefully took out a perfectly preserved Tone Dial.
That was his most precious treasure, and their promise to Laboon.
As Brook's trembling finger pressed the switch...
A slightly static-filled but heroic, tragic, and infinitely joyful song slowly drifted out of the Tone Dial.
That was fifty years ago, when all the members of the Rumbar Pirates were facing total annihilation.
For the distant Laboon, they used the last ounce of their life's strength to sing their final song together.
Brook stood up and set the Tone Dial aside.
He picked up his somewhat worn-out violin, took a deep breath, and then drew the bow across the strings.
Accompanied by the long-gone voices of his former companions in the Tone Dial...
Brook, with his weathered but hopeful voice, played that great anthem belonging to all pirates on this brand-new pirate ship.
"Yo-ho-ho-ho Yo-ho-ho-ho"
"Bringing Bink's Sake to you..."
"Riding the wind and waves, I roam as I please, with the waves and the setting sun..."
The beautiful violin music and choral singing drifted across the deck of the thousand sunny.
Luffy, Usopp, Chopper, and the others also clapped their hands to the rhythm.
"Yo-ho-ho-ho Yo-ho-ho-ho"
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