Brook tapped into the power of the Revive-Revive Fruit once more, his body chilling as the ghostly aura and spectral energy buried within his flesh stirred back to life. This time, though, he wielded them with newfound precision, like a maestro conducting a symphony.
"Yohoho, I wonder if my heart and soul have finally earned the Revive-Revive Fruit's approval?"
Brook felt his soul's ghostly essence and spectral aura—brought straight from the Revive-Revive underworld—merge seamlessly with his body. Soul and flesh were now one, with no hint of awkwardness.
Before, his techniques relied solely on his soul's power, channeled through his body like a conduit. Now, his flesh itself brimmed with soul energy, letting him wield ghostly aura and spectral energy freely!
In the past, all his strength stemmed from his soul, its overflow granting his body abilities. But now, Brook's soul and body were indistinguishable, fused into a perfect whole.
In the original story, Brook lost his flesh, so the Revive-Revive Fruit's power resided only in his soul. But this Brook—his soul and body were infused with the fruit's energy, vastly expanding his capacity to store ghostly aura and spectral energy!
He realized that, over the past couple of years, the energy from the food he ate had been stored in his body. All this time, he'd been recklessly using the soul power he'd carried from the Revive-Revive underworld.
What a waste of all that pure ghostly aura and spectral energy!
When Brook tried converting his stamina into spectral energy through the Revive-Revive Fruit just now, the quality seemed… inferior. Was his mastery of the fruit still lacking?
Or was the spectral energy he'd brought from the Revive-Revive inherently superior to what he could produce with stamina?
If that was true, had he been squandering his underworld stash like a spendthrift for two whole years? Throwing away Belly like confetti?
No way, no way! It couldn't be that bad, right?!
Brook tested it out. His left hand conjured spectral energy from the Revive-Revive underworld, while his right hand summoned the spectral energy he'd just converted from stamina. He aimed at two crates on either side!
Holy smokes, the difference was night and day!
The left crate was encased in a foot-thick layer of deep blue ice, solid as steel. The right crate? A measly inch or two of pale, flimsy frost that looked ready to crack.
"It's gotta be because I'm not skilled enough yet! Yeah, that's it! No way the gap's that huge!"
Brook reassured himself, quickly halting the use of his precious underworld ghostly aura and spectral energy to preserve his stockpile. Thankfully, he still had plenty left—enough to last a good while!
If he could boost his mastery of the Revive-Revive Fruit and start producing high-purity ghostly aura and spectral energy himself, wouldn't that mean he'd truly awakened his powers?
Come to think of it, he'd never really trained to generate his own ghostly aura or spectral energy!
All this time, he'd been burning through the "inheritance" he'd hauled out of the Revive-Revive underworld. Good thing he'd gone on a devouring spree back there, or he wouldn't be where he was today!
Without that stockpile, he might've never kept up with his crew's breakneck growth—or had the strength to rein in this rowdy bunch!
To max out his ability to generate ghostly aura and spectral energy, he needed to keep his body in a Revive-Revive state, constantly expending and refining his converted spectral energy to produce purer, higher-quality ghostly aura over time.
Brook shifted to using his self-converted spectral energy to maintain his Revive-Revive state. His once-deep-blue pupils faded to a pale white, giving him a bit of a "rolled-back eyes" vibe.
Today's revelation was a wake-up call: the high-purity ghostly aura and spectral energy from the Revive-Revive would run dry someday, maybe in N+1 years. He had to learn to generate his own!
But the bigger discovery? He wasn't just a walking corpse! He could use all three types of Haki! Words couldn't capture how thrilled Brook was.
The cold, icy Brook was dead. A warm, lively Brook was ready to take his place!
Brook felt it—the vibrant, colorful life he'd always dreamed of was closer than ever!
...\
Aboard the Golden Ark.
The ship's heavy hitters scrambled to the cabin, spotting Brook—his aura noticeably weaker—standing there with a goofy grin on his face!
"Brook! Did some monster rough you up? Why's your presence so faint? And whose Conqueror's Haki was that? It was terrifying!"
Redfield materialized from a bolt of lightning, landing in front of Brook. He scanned the surroundings warily, hunting for the powerhouse who'd unleashed that earth-shaking Conqueror's Haki.
It had cracked the Golden Ark's hull! Even Tiger, Streusen, and the others had been knocked out cold in an instant!
"Brook!"
Charlotte Linlin scooped up the "weakened" Brook in a bear hug, her eyes blazing as she scoured the area for whoever dared harm him.
Whitebeard Newgate and Golden Lion Shiki were on high alert, sweeping the cabin for enemies. That Conqueror's Haki was staggering—far stronger than anything they could muster!
Who was this intruder? To sneak into the Golden Ark's inner cabin, "beat" Brook to a pulp, and leave him so weak he was spacing out and grinning like a fool—had the Haki scrambled his skull?
Linlin's smothering embrace left Brook gasping for air. His "weakness" was just from using his low-grade converted spectral energy, which made his aura seem puny to his crew's Observation Haki.
Injured? Hardly!
Still, seeing his crew so worked up warmed his heart (or lack thereof). All his efforts to boost their strength hadn't been in vain!
Brook toyed with the idea of milking the moment to shake them up a bit.
Why not play the wounded captain, jolt them out of their recent lazy days, and spur them to train harder?
"No worries, everyone! Stand down. It was just a peace-loving master passing through. He's off chasing his rival now, but he dropped by to give me a quick pointer!"
Brook wriggled free from Linlin's grip, steadily converting more spectral energy to bolster his aura. It grew slightly stronger, but to the crew, he still seemed frail. Surely Brook was hurt and hiding it!
He didn't look injured, though. He must be putting on a brave face to keep them from worrying!
"Brook, was this master that strong? To crack the hull with just Conqueror's Haki?"
Shiki traced a deep gash on a Seastone crate. His own Conqueror's Haki couldn't come close to that kind of damage!
"Oh, he's a beast. This master's from another era—a legend who once ruled his time. Now, he's leading his nation to dominate the Earth seas!"
A powerhouse Brook revered so highly? He had to be an honorable, unrivaled legend!
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+240 chapters on p@treon/tambeerg