One Piece: From Ninja To Pirates

"Ah~"

"What a good sleep."

Meiser walked leisurely out of the cabin with his hands in his pockets, looking quite pleased.

"Yohohoho!"

"Good morning, Mr. Meiser!"

The skeleton grinned at him, baring his teeth.

Against the shadows, the sight was somewhat... eerie.

Meiser: "..."

"Ah, good morning, Brook." Meiser glanced around before addressing Brook. "Don’t tell me you didn’t sleep at all last night."

"Yohohoho! I’m just a skeleton now—I don’t need normal rest to recover my bodily functions," Brook laughed.

Thanks to the power granted by the Underworld Fruit, he could remain active even without resting for long periods. Though sometimes, out of habit, he still sat down to take breaks.

"Is that so? Then Zoro should have an easier time from now on."

"What do you mean?"

"That guy usually lives up there." Meiser pointed at the high lookout platform. "He’s basically the one keeping watch most nights."

"Now that you’re here to help, he can sleep a little longer."

As he spoke, Meiser couldn’t help but feel a sense of admiration.

There was no denying how hardworking Zoro was. Even with only a few hours of sleep each day, he still maintained an intense training regimen. That was probably why he had grown so strong.

"Yohohoho, I’ll do my best!" Brook laughed heartily.

"Ah~"

"Speaking of which, the weather is so nice today—how about I play one of my signature tunes?"

"Signature... tune?"

Meiser glanced at the barely lit sky, his lips twitching. "Now?"

"Are you sure?"

But before he could even turn around, Brook had already started playing.

"Yohohoho~"

"Yohohohoho~"

"Yohohoho~"

"Yohohohoho~"

Meiser: ???

Brook, you’re really asking for a beating.

"Shut up!"

Zoro threw open a window and roared, "What the hell are you doing?!"

"Yeah, can’t you let us sleep a little longer in the morning?!"

"Damn you, Brook!"

Rather than getting upset at their complaints, Brook only laughed even harder—as if being scolded by his crewmates made him happy.

"You really are something..."

Watching Brook’s unrestrained laughter, Meiser sighed in resignation.

Still, he understood. After decades of solitude, suddenly having companions again—it was only natural for Brook to be this excited.

"Yohohoho, what do you think of my performance, Mr. Meiser?"

"Well, it’s great, but..."

Meiser gave Brook a hesitant look as the skeleton continued playing without pause.

The next moment, the cabin door burst open, and two shoes flew out, smacking both of them squarely on the head.

Brook: !!!

Meiser: "..."

"Damn it, let us sleep more!" Nami bellowed with a shark-like snarl.

"Yohohoho, understood... Ms. Nami is quite fierce, isn’t she..."

"None of your business!"

"Nami..." Meiser took off his shoes, looking at Nami with exasperation as he said, "Why do I have to get hit too?"

Beating up Brook was one thing, but he was just standing there—did he really deserve to get caught in the crossfire?

"Hmph, you should’ve stopped him."

Nami snorted, then slammed the cabin door shut and turned back to her room, leaving Meiser standing there in utter bewilderment.

"Seriously...? That’s how it is?"

That girl really acts like a little tyrant sometimes.

"I’m sorry, Mr. Meiser, I—"

"Hm?"

Meiser gave Brook a curious glance before waving it off. "Ah... don’t worry about it. Everyone messes up sometimes. Just be more careful next time."

For some reason, Brook seemed a bit nervous. Maybe he wasn’t used to interacting with people after being alone for so long?

Creak~

The cabin door opened again, and Sanji stepped out with a sigh. "Everyone’s so lively this early in the morning."

"Perhaps it’s because I’m an old man?"

"Old man? Where do you even see that?" Sanji retorted. Old man? More like a walking skeleton.

Rolling his eyes, Sanji lit a cigarette, took a drag, and asked, "Alright, I’m making breakfast. What do you two want?"

"Something light."

"And you?"

"Anything is fine," Brook chuckled. "Though if there’s milk, that would be even better."

"Got it. Wait here."

Sanji waved dismissively and headed down the stairs to the kitchen to begin his usual routine.

"Yohohoho, having meals every day feels wonderful..."

"You didn’t eat before?"

"Hardly had the chance," Brook replied helplessly. "I was drifting at sea for decades."

A pirate ship without sails or a rudder had no way of leaving the Devil’s Triangle.

That meant he couldn’t actively restock supplies—only occasionally scavenging from shipwrecks when he came across them.

That had been his main source of provisions before.

"But... you didn’t starve?"

"Of course I got hungry. It’s just that thanks to the Underworld Fruit, I couldn’t starve to death."

"That Devil Fruit is pretty impressive," Meiser mused.

It wasn’t just about not starving—Brook could still eat and even shed tears... despite being nothing but bones. The fact that he still had so many functions was baffling.

No doubt, Devil Fruits truly were miraculous.

Come to think of it... his power came from the Devil Fruit fused with his soul, right?

If he ran into someone with soul-based abilities, he might be at a disadvantage.

Hmm... or maybe not. The Underworld Fruit might be even stronger, considering... well, it had "Underworld" in its name!

It might be on a whole other level compared to things like the Soul-Soul Fruit, Spirit-Spirit Fruit, or Ghost Fruit.

Thinking this, Meiser asked, "Brook, when you were on Thriller Bark, did you ever meet that Ghost Woman?"

"Ghost... Woman?"

Brook thought for a moment and realized he had indeed never asked anyone about underwear in Moria’s territory, so he shook his head and said, "No, I haven’t encountered that."

"That’s a bit of a shame..."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because I’m quite curious whether your Underworld Fruit is more powerful or her Ghost Fruit is. In a way, you two should belong to the same type."

"The same... type?"

Brook was puzzled. His Devil Fruit had only brought him back to life—how could they be the same type? If he remembered correctly, Usopp had mentioned that the Ghost Woman had the ability to make people feel negative, whereas he had no similar power.

"You yourself said that after regaining consciousness, you were in a soul state before finding your body to revive, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, there you have it." Meiser spread his hands. "Your Devil Fruit ability must be hidden within your soul. This skeletal body of yours is probably just a shell for your soul."

After saying this, Meiser paused, then stroked his chin and added, "To be honest, I don’t think a Devil Fruit called the ’Underworld Fruit’ would only have the ability to revive you. I suspect... there might be something more waiting for you to discover. You could research the soul aspect—you might find something."

Seeing Meiser seriously analyzing his Devil Fruit ability, Brook sighed with admiration. "Mr. Meiser, you really know a lot."

"Ah, I’ve just seen a fair bit."

The fact that Devil Fruit abilities need to be developed is evident from Luffy. An ordinary Gomu-Gomu Fruit, and yet he’s managed to do incredible things with it. Second Gear, Third Gear... the power is truly remarkable when he uses them.

As for Brook, an ability involving the soul shouldn’t just be limited to revival—otherwise, the name "Underworld" would be wasted.

"Alright, I’ll work hard on it in the future!"

"Yohohoho~"

"I’m just giving you a suggestion. The specifics are up to you," Meiser said.

Then, glancing at the rising sun, Meiser asked, "Brook, did anything interesting happen during your era?"

"Interesting things?"

"For example... the rise of some great pirate." Meiser continued, "I remember you saying that even the Pirate King Roger was a small fry in your eyes."

"Not at all... it’s just that in my era, he hadn’t made a name for himself yet."

After a moment of thought, Brook added, "But if I had to name someone, there was one particularly formidable pirate."

"Oh?"

"Do tell."

"His name was... Rocks D. Xebec."

When Brook mentioned this name, his skeletal face visibly darkened. "He was an extremely cruel pirate—countless cities were destroyed by him. But there’s no denying his strength. Even the Marines found him a massive headache."

Recalling the news about that man from back then, Brook still felt a chill.

That is what a true pirate is—burning, killing, looting, committing every evil imaginable!

Compared to them, the Straw Hat Pirates are more like adventurers than pirates!

Just like... how they were back in the day.

"Rocks D. Xebec?"

A trace of confusion flashed in Meiser’s eyes. He had genuinely never heard that name before.

Logically speaking, someone who could even surprise Brook must have been incredibly powerful, yet there was no trace of him left... Had he been killed by Roger on the path to supremacy?

That wasn’t an impossible scenario.

"Well, he’s the only formidable pirate I can recall," Brook nodded. "But what happened to him afterward, I don’t know."

"After entering the Devil’s Triangle, I lost all means of gathering information."

In that godforsaken place, even News Coos rarely visited. You couldn’t buy a newspaper even if you had the money!

So he had no way of getting updates, left to wander the seas alone every day, waiting... for that faint, elusive hope.

But fortunately, he finally did wait for it!

Yohohoho~ "I see..."

Meiser nodded and didn’t press further.

Thinking about it, it made sense. They hadn’t even made it to the New World before being taken down in the Devil’s Triangle, so it was natural they knew very little.

"Why is Mr. Meiser so interested in the past?"

"Just trying to learn more about this world," Meiser replied.

After all, there were still far too many unknowns in this world for him.

Brook didn’t find this odd. With so many islands in the world, it wasn’t unusual for some to have little contact with the outside. Naturally, their knowledge would be limited.

After a moment’s thought, Brook suggested, "In that case, I think you should talk more with Miss Robin."

"She is a woman of vast knowledge."

Even in the short time they’d known each other, Brook could tell just how extensive Robin’s knowledge was—especially in history!

"Yeah, you’re right."

As a historian, Robin must know a great deal. He’d find a chance to talk with her.

Just then, Merry burst out of the cabin and ran over to them, asking, "What are you two doing?"

"Yohohoho~ Mr. Meiser and I were having a delightful chat~"

"Mhm." Meiser nodded, then crouched down to Merry’s level. "Why aren’t you still sleeping?"

"I couldn’t sleep anymore."

At that, Meiser shot Brook a pointed glance—clearly blaming him for playing music so early in the morning and waking the little one.

The look made Brook a little sheepish.

"I’ll be more careful in the future."

"It’s fine, I should be getting up around this time anyway," Merry said cheerfully, not holding it against him.

"Ah...! Truly an angel!" Brook clutched his chest dramatically. "My heart is about to leap out from excitement!"

"Though I don’t have a heart that can leap, yohohoho~"

"Skeleton joke!"

"Oh!"

"Skeleton joke!"

Watching the little one raise her hands in sync with him, Brook laughed even harder.

No wonder everyone adores this little one—she’s truly an angel!

Just then, Nico Robin emerged, standing at the doorway with a smile as she watched their interactions.

"Hmm?"

"Robin, you’re awake too."

"If Merry’s awake, of course I’d be awake."

"Why?"

Meiser looked at Nico Robin in confusion. What did she mean by "if Merry’s awake, she has to be awake too"?

"She fell asleep in my room last night."

"Ah, got it."

Most likely, the little one had pestered Robin into reading her a bedtime story again and ended up dozing off there.

Makes perfect sense.

"Perfect timing, Robin. I wanted to ask you something."

"Go ahead."

Robin walked over and leaned against the wall. "What do you want to know?"

"Hmm?"

Seeing Robin’s confident smile, Meiser was momentarily stunned. That expression radiated such certainty—as if she already knew the answer to whatever he’d ask.

Unconsciously, Meiser began to feel... as though she were a walking encyclopedia.

"What’s wrong?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to ask if you’ve heard of Rocks..."

"I have."

"You actually know about him?!"

Meiser gaped at Robin in shock. She really was a living encyclopedia.

"Only a little." Robin shook her head. "Years ago... Dr. Clover mentioned that pirate crew while discussing history with me."

Perhaps worried Meiser wouldn’t understand, she added, "Studying history is both my passion and the duty of us historians."

"And those legendary pirates from decades ago are naturally part of history, so it’s normal for us to know some details."

If memory served, that crew had been extraordinarily powerful!

Exchanging a glance with Brook, Meiser urged, "Tell us more."

"I don’t know much." Nico Robin admitted. "I only recall Dr. Clover saying they were an overwhelmingly powerful crew—one that could be said to have dominated an entire era."

"Then why didn’t that guy become the Pirate King?"

"Because the crew vanished suddenly."

"Vanished?" Brook exclaimed. "Why?"

"Well..." Robin hesitated. "To be honest, even we don’t know exactly what happened. There seems to have been a major incident, but the World Government covered it up completely. Not even Ohara could uncover the truth."

"But for the World Government to react that way..." Robin paused, then narrowed her eyes. "It might be connected to the Void Century."

Perhaps that so-called great pirate had discovered some truth, leading the World Government to silence him.

At this thought, Nico Robin sighed deeply.

The Straw Hat Pirates still had such a long journey ahead.

Sensing Robin’s mood, Meiser declared, "We’re nothing like that so-called Rocks Pirates."

Hearing this, Robin immediately turned to Meiser, who gave her a thumbs-up and said:

"Don’t forget—Luffy’s the man who’ll become Pirate King. He’ll definitely surpass that Rocks!"

"And we’ll do our best to protect you too, so... go ahead and do what you want to do."

Meiser understood perfectly well what Nico Robin meant by the Void Century history.

Back after the battle at Enies Lobby, Robin had shared her past with them, which naturally included the reason why Ohara was destroyed.

But now... with them by her side, Robin could boldly pursue whatever she wanted!

Seeing the smile on Meiser’s face, Nico Robin also began to smile.

"Mhm!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Though I don’t quite understand what you’re talking about, I’ll use every last bone in my body to protect Miss Robin, yohohoho!"

"Me too, me too!"

"Alright, then let’s all protect Robin together!"

"YEAH!!"

Watching this scene unfold, Robin’s smile grew even brighter.

"Saul... If you could see this now, I’m sure you’d be happy for me too."