Pirate: I, Ace, am the King of Eclipse!

The roar of engines echoed through the thick clouds. A colossal, pure black ship pierced through the sea of ​​clouds, gradually descending before Twin Capes, finally coming to rest on the sea. The shadow cast by the Eclipse almost completely enveloped Laboon. The appearance of that ship also made Crocus understand why Laboon had suddenly made that unusual cry.

"So it was that group of unruly brats. They've only been at sea for half a year, and they've already turned the ocean upside down."

Crocus gazed at Ace, who stood at the bow of the ship, clad in a dark red trench coat. Compared to six months ago, this young man was clearly much stronger. That kingly aura even reminded Crocus of Roger in his prime.

Before he could even speak, a trembling sound came from the deck of the Eclipse.

"Yo ho ho ho... Lab, is that really you...?"

A lanky skeleton dressed in an English suit stumbled to the ship's railing. Brooke gripped the railing tightly, his entire skeleton trembling, his empty eye sockets seemingly filled with some burning emotion.

"Waaaaah—!"

Labb jolted, his house-sized eyes fixed on the skeleton on the ship.

Half a century has passed, and the world has changed. Everything that was once familiar has changed. The companion standing before it has lost its flesh and blood, leaving only a skeleton. But the familiar slender figure, the iconic afro, and the soul that cannot be changed by time—Laboo would never mistake it.

The island whale, which had waited for fifty years, let out a long, mournful cry.

"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting so long..."

Brooke took out the violin that had been in use for fifty years from his pocket, rested it on his shoulder, and began to draw the bow.

He took a deep breath before placing the bow on the strings. A cheerful and melodious tune drifted over Twin Points, across the sea between the Eclipse and Laboon. It was a melody from Laboon's memory, containing within it the bitterness of Brooke's fifty years of hardship, and the relief of finally fulfilling his promise.

"Yohohoho, yohohoho..."

"Bring Binks's wine to your side..."

"Riding the winds and waves, I roam freely, the sea waves soaking my clothes..."

The song that the Rumbar Pirates had sung countless times in the Calm Belt rang out once more. Laboon could no longer hold back its tears, which cascaded into the sea like a waterfall. It repeatedly slapped the water's surface with its massive body, letting out joyful cries, before circling the Eclipse and churning up towering waves.

On deck, Ace, Sabo, Leona, and the others listened to this song that transcended life and death, watching Brook stand in the wind playing it, and for a moment, they remained silent. They knew that Brook had drifted alone in the Devil's Triangle for fifty years, and what had sustained him was his promise to Laboon. Now, that wait had finally come to an end.

"What a reunion of crybabies."

For Brook and Laboon, fifty years of separation finally came to an end at Twin Capes, and the promise they made back then was finally fulfilled.

As the music ended, Laboon remained reluctant to leave, nuzzling the Eclipse's hull with his massive head. Brooke could no longer maintain his usual composure and sat down on the deck, bursting into tears. Although he no longer had eyes capable of shedding tears, the emotions suppressed for fifty years surged forth at that moment.

Ace, along with Chopper and Indigo, disembarked and came to the lighthouse. He casually tossed a bottle of South Sea wine at Crocus: "Old man Crocus."

"You little rascal, you've caused quite a stir in the Sabaody Archipelago."

Crocus caught the bottle, bit off the cork, took a swig, and scrutinized Ace from head to toe: "You've gotten stronger again. In such a short time, you've already reached the threshold of a top-tier powerhouse."

“Thanks to its guidance.” Ace patted the Supreme Grade Sword [Ace] at his waist. “But I’m not here to catch up with you today. I brought someone to see you.”

He stepped aside, revealing Chopper hiding behind him.

"Chopper, this is Crocus, Gol D. Roger's personal ship doctor. He accompanied the Pirate King on the final leg of the Grand Line. His clinical experience regarding various incurable diseases and rare climate-related illnesses in the New World is so vast that even the ancient library of the Kingdom of Trino cannot be found in it."

"The Pirate King's ship's doctor?!"

"The Pirate King's ship's doctor?!" Chopper never expected to meet such a doctor here, and he was so excited that he even stopped breathing for a moment. After regaining his senses, he quickly stood up straight and bowed at a very respectful ninety-degree angle: "Dr. Crocus, hello! My name is Tony Tony Chopper, and I am the ship's doctor of the Eclipse Pirates. Please take care of me!"

Crocus stared at the reindeer, whose eyes were brimming with curiosity, for a moment, then burst into laughter: "Hahaha! Not only a reindeer, but also a rare Human-Human Fruit user? Ace, the doctor you found is quite a monster."

He put down the bottle and turned to walk toward the lighthouse: "Come in with me, little guy. It's time to find a reliable person to pass on my life's worth of nautical medical notes. They record the diseases I've encountered and the treatments I've learned during my voyages. If you can learn all of these, there will be almost no disease on the Grand Line that you can't cure."

"Thank you, Dr. Crocus!" Chopper immediately followed him inside.

Chopper followed Crocus into the lighthouse and began accessing the extremely valuable medical records. The crew of the Eclipse remained at Twin Capes to rest, and Brook continued to stay with Laboon. Just then, Carina arrived at Ace's side with a newly deciphered coded telegram.

“Ace, one of my eavesdropping coins, which I placed in the black market of the Grand Line, just intercepted a conversation between several pirates involved in underground arms dealing. They mentioned Asuka Island.”

"Ascáthach Island?"

"Intelligence says it's a cursed island. Every hundred years, on the night of a rare red full moon, a demonic sword on the island will be unsealed."

Karina flipped through the intelligence reports and continued, "It's called the Seven Star Sword, said to be formed from resentment and blood. Any swordsman who wields it will have their mind forcibly controlled, eventually turning into a monster that only knows how to kill. In return, the wielder gains demonic fire and the power to cut through everything."

"The news that the Seven Star Sword is about to awaken has spread. Because it can grant its wielder demonic fire and powerful strikes, a large number of greedy pirates have gathered in the nearby seas. Even though they know that the demonic sword can control minds, they still want to rush to Aska Island and steal that cursed power."

Upon hearing the name Seven Star Sword, Ace immediately thought of the demonic sword from the movie.

The sword's power comes from the pure fire of a soul's resentment. An ordinary swordsman who wields it may have his mind corrupted by the resentment, making it a deadly poison. But on the Eclipse, there happens to be a skeletal swordsman who has lost all his flesh and blood, leaving only his soul.

This sword is practically a weapon made for Brook.

Ace looked into the distance. Brook was playing the violin, continuing his duet with Laboon, whom he hadn't seen for fifty years.

"A cursed demon sword?"

Ace immediately made a decision: "Karina, notify everyone to prepare for departure. Next stop, Aska Island!"

"Let's go and get Brook a Shura Blade that truly deserves the title of 'King of Souls'!"

Chapter 139 Memory Weapons and Mechanical Spiders

In the first half of the Grand Line, the Eclipse flew smoothly through the clouds, heading towards Asca Island.

The deck was still noisy. The long-awaited new weaponry had finally reached the point of completion and testing, and all the weapons were now on the deck.

Enel floated cross-legged in mid-air, blue arcs of electricity crackling at his fingertips: "Zeno, is the weapon ready yet? I'm getting impatient!"

Below, Geno, shirtless, opened his mouth wide and swallowed the rare alloy he had brought back from the moon and a pile of unknown ores. His abdomen heaved with the roar of a heavy forging machine.

"What's the rush! This contains the shape memory metal I just developed, and I still need to adjust the conductivity and heat resistance according to your individual abilities. Even if I were a furnace inside my stomach, I can't mess with the heat!"

Geno patted his belly, opened his mouth and spat out several new weapons with a dark luster, which landed on the deck one after another.

"The Eclipse Pirates' exclusive weaponry has been upgraded!"

He wiped the metal shavings from the corner of his mouth and gestured for everyone to inspect the goods.

Sabo first picked up a dark red alloy rod and weighed it in his hand: "It's considerably heavier than before. Is it heat-resistant?"

“Of course. I added the top-of-the-line heat-insulating coating, and I also carved out miniature air ducts inside the long stick.” Geno snapped his fingers. “The Flame-Flame Fruit can’t raise the temperature of a flame out of thin air. Try injecting some flame into it now.”

Flames ignited in Sabo's palm and flowed into the shaft of the staff.

boom!

The dark red staff instantly turned a bright red, like a branding iron. The flames were continuously compressed after entering the internal air passages, and then spewed out from the tiny exhaust holes at both ends of the staff. The original flames had transformed into two ghostly blue tails, exhibiting a high-temperature plasma form.

“I used an internal physical compression structure to forcibly increase the flame’s ejection temperature. The moment the staff hits an enemy, the blue flame compressed to its limit will directly cause an explosion.” Geno pointed to the staff. “It also contains memory metal, so even if it bends, it can recover on its own within a few seconds.”

Sabo's eyes lit up, and he swung his staff towards the sea. The blue flames compressed by the staff formed a spiraling column of air that instantly flew hundreds of meters. The moment the column of fire hit the sea, an explosion echoed back to the deck, and a towering column of water shot into the sky.

“The explosive power is just right.” Sabo sheathed the staff behind his back. “With it, my combat strength can be improved even further.”

Enel, who had been waiting impatiently, immediately used lightning to pull the ornate golden mace into his hand as soon as Sabo finished the test. He turned the weapon around and looked at it for a few moments, then asked, "And what about this golden staff of mine? What's its purpose?"

"The Thunder God's Pestle was specially formulated according to the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Its hardness and conductivity far exceed those of gold. Most importantly, I deliberately lowered its melting point under the influence of lightning," Geno explained. "Normally, it can be used as a hard, blunt weapon. As long as the voltage is increased, it will melt like your old golden rod and be reshaped into a trident or other weapons."

Enel immediately increased the voltage. A dazzling burst of lightning enveloped the entire pestle, softening the originally hard metal and stretching and shaping it according to his will, instantly transforming it into a sharp lightning spear. After he stopped increasing the voltage, the weapon returned to its original form as a golden pestle.

"Hahaha! This is more like a divine weapon worthy of being my personal artifact. Well done, cyborg!" Enel brandished his weapon, performing several gunfights in the air.

Geno patted the astonishingly thick hexagonal black pillar next to him: "Urouge's Vajra is much simpler. Its only characteristics are its weight and hardness, and it's specifically designed to smash people. It also contains memory metal, so it can revert to its original shape after deformation." This weapon doesn't have any additional abilities; its design is specifically to work with Urouge's strength to smash enemies head-on.

Seeing that several key members had received their new weapons, Bucky couldn't hold back any longer and rushed up to grab Geno: "Hey! What about mine? You didn't just upgrade these monsters, did you?"

"How could I forget you, you cowardly king?"

Geno chuckled, then took out an exquisitely crafted black box from his person and shoved it into Bucky's arms. Bucky immediately opened the box, revealing several strangely shaped miniature capsules neatly arranged inside, along with two bottles of indistinguishable transparent liquid.

"The two liquids are stable when separated, but once they come into contact, they will explode violently in less than three seconds. You can use the Chop-Chop Fruit to design tactics."

Geno lowered his voice and pointed at the capsule again: "This contains volatile nerve gas. You can have your split body fly around the enemy with the capsule, and then tear the capsule open. The gas is colorless and odorless; just one breath will paralyze even a giant beast for half an hour."

"Poison gas, and liquid bombs?"

Bucky's eyes lit up immediately: "Hahahaha! This is brilliant! I love it! With these things in hand, I'll be the most dangerous assassin on the high seas!"

The deck was still noisy, and the sound of mechanical feet stepping on wooden planks came from the direction of the lower deck.

"Click...click..."

A two-meter-tall, dark-colored mechanical spider emerged from the shadows. Its back was fitted with a completely sealed spherical cockpit, surrounded by cameras, and several screens lit up inside.

Bonnie, with pink hair, sat in the driver's seat, gripping the control sticks with both hands, piloting the mechanical spider as it scurried around the deck.

"Charge, Spider One! Crush that red-nosed uncle in front of you!" Her voice came from the external loudspeaker.

"Whoa! Don't bump into me!" Bucky quickly split his upper body to dodge.

Bonnie drove up to Chopper again: "Chopper, look how fast I am!"

Because Bonnie cannot be exposed to natural light, she cannot normally go directly onto the open deck. Therefore, Geno worked through the night to build her this "fully enclosed life support mech" with artificial intelligence assistance. The sealed spherical cockpit can block out external natural light, while the surrounding cameras and internal displays provide vision, allowing her to finally move freely on the deck without any worries.

"That's so cool, Bonnie!"

Chopper's eyes lit up, and he transformed into his bouncy ball form and gave chase. The two little guys, one piloting a mechanical spider and the other a bouncy ball, quickly began their chase on the deck.

After taking the Limit Breaker serum, Chopper's control over his Devil Fruit abilities was enhanced. Forms that previously required the use of Rumble Balls to adjust can now be switched on his own. Even without Rumble Balls, he can freely control all seven transformation wavelengths.

Big Bear sat quietly on the edge of the deck, still holding the Bible. He didn't participate in the discussion about the new weapon, only watching his daughter pilot the mechanical spider around the deck. Bonney no longer had to worry about natural light and could finally play with Chopper. Seeing her so happy, a smile appeared on Big Bear's usually unchanging face.

Suddenly, a metallic clanging sound rang out from the wide area at the bow of the deck.

Clang!

A dark red aura spread outwards. Ace, shirtless and wielding [Ace], faced Leona and Brook's combined slash head-on.

He swung his sword backhand, deflecting Brook's stabbing Soul-Slaying Sword, then twisted his waist and swung his longsword in a half-circle through the air, smashing it towards Leona's descending heavy sword.

boom!

The two forces collided head-on. Leona felt a sharp pain in her hand and was thrown back several meters by the impact.

“Not yet, Leona,” Ace grinned. “Your Float-Float Fruit switching was 0.5 seconds too slow. The trajectory of the greatsword’s fall was too obvious; you didn’t need to foresee the future, you could have blocked it with just your intuition.”

"The captain's swordsmanship is still as reckless as ever." Leona rubbed her numb wrist, her vertical pupils filled with excitement.

Leona knew that Ace truly didn't understand sophisticated swordsmanship. He didn't have a fixed method for wielding and swinging his sword, nor did he pursue unnecessary variations in his moves. What supported this style of fighting was his dynamic vision, explosive muscle power, and the intuition he developed in battle. He could overwhelm meticulously crafted sword techniques with just raw strength and reflexes. At this moment, he hadn't even used his Devil Fruit power or Haki.

"Brook, you swung the knife too hard!"

Ace turned to the other side, his longsword blocking the approaching blue afterimage: "The Yellow Spring Frost Aura isn't for you to fight head-on. Use your speed to attack my blind spots!"

"Ho ho ho, the captain is really strict. My bones are about to be shaken to pieces."

Brook complained, but the ghostly fire in his eyes burned even brighter, and his sword moved faster and faster. Frost from the underworld clung to the tip of his sword, forming a thin layer of frost on the planks with each thrust. He no longer engaged Ace in direct combat, but instead constantly changed position and sword direction, searching for a blind spot within that ruthless defensive perimeter.