One Piece: Hell Pirates

Looking at the two crying kids, Brook's patience wore thin. Just because you're Nico Robin's parents, doesn't mean I won't slap the hell out of you!

"That's enough. Quiet down."

He released a small wave of his Hades (equivalent of Conqueror's Haki) energy, instantly silencing the crying children like someone had pinched their throats. They stared at him, wide-eyed with fear.

Tch. Wukong was right—when a fly buzzes in your ear, you don't swat it. You rip its guts out and let those guts choke it to death.

"All of you, listen up," Brook announced coldly. "The Island of Scholars—O'Hara—is moving to the New World. If you behave, your lives won't change. Study what needs studying, do what you're good at, and don't make trouble."

He paused, his tone sharp, "I don't want to use one of you as an example to scare the rest."

With a wave of his hand, Brook unfroze Nico Barroby and Perrault, tossing the forbidden ancient text back to Barroby like it was nothing. Then he turned and casually led the Hell Pirates crew into the Tree of Knowledge.

Meanwhile, Golden Lion Shiki was grinding hard outside, using his Float-Float Fruit powers to lift and stabilize the entire island of O'Hara into the sky.

Classic example of: "Why the hell am I the only one working here?"

Brook figured he should give Shiki some credit. After all, Shiki's fruit was the linchpin of almost every major part of Brook's current plan. More useful than Big Mom's crew or Whitebeard's raw power. The Tremor-Tremor Fruit? Great for blowing things up. But Shiki's Float-Float? Tactical gold.

Maybe it was time to stroke that lion's ego.

Brook started brainstorming honorary titles for Shiki:

"Outstanding Cadre," "Top Performer," "Core Team Player," "Sales Champion," "Elite Backbone," "Model Pirate," "Technical Wizard," "Star of the Month"—hell, he was ready to ask Vegapunk to whip up a few engraved trophies and banners. Let Shiki show off in front of everyone.

This wasn't just flattery—it was strategy.

Brook understood: pirates are chaotic by nature. But give them a system, a sense of honor and glory, and they'll act like knights. The Hell Pirates would be a fortress—tight-knit and loyal.

Of course, none of this would matter if Brook wasn't strong enough to crush everyone beneath his heel. Power was king. But if you had power, then you could play the honor game.

With his growing influence and connections—like Moore Thomas and the World Economic News Agency—Brook was already planning to create a pirate ranking system. Just like Bai Xiaosheng's martial world rankings in ancient tales, but for the seas.

His future system might go something like:

Beat an Admiral? You're a Pirate Emperor.

Defeat with a multiple Admiral? Pirate King status.

Just strong and chaotic? Then you sit lower on the list.

This could shake up the entire Navy and World Government structure. But it had to be planned long-term—only to be launched when the full global crackdown on the Hell Pirates began.

Right now, the title of Pirate King wasn't even in circulation. Gol D. Roger hadn't found Laugh Tale yet. But Brook already knew—the title of Pirate King held more weight than Emperor ever could.

From now on, the Hell Pirates' internal rankings would be based purely on strength. Let the Navy's bounty system focus on collateral damage and danger level. Brook's list would become the real metric of power.

His mind buzzing with possibilities, Brook stepped inside the Tree of Knowledge.

It was massive. The walls of the tree had all been carved into towering bookshelves, each jam-packed with texts across every imaginable subject. This was just the first floor—and it was already overflowing.

In the center, a massive planetarium caught his eye. Brook's jaw dropped.

"…You've got to be kidding me."

A large blue planet stood at the center, orbited by seven planets. Two small moons also revolved around the blue one.

Was the One Piece world… geocentric?

He hadn't expected O'Hara's scholars to be this advanced. The tech tree in this world was so messed up. On one hand, you had wooden sailing ships; on the other—laser robots and cyborgs!

But considering Brook had inherited some of the moon folk's tech and built a golden ship, he guessed it wasn't that far-fetched.

Whitebeard, not the reading type, had already slipped outside. But Redfield was loving it—especially the ancient texts. He had his own grudge against the Celestial Dragons and wanted to dig into their dirty secrets.

Brook grabbed a nearby scholar.

"Hey, any books in here on training martial arts or mastering Haki?"

The scholar hesitated. "We have some general fitness and strength-enhancing texts, but… advanced techniques like Armament or Observation Haki? That's... not something we collect."

Brook sighed. "Figures. Like the Government would let them print that crap and store it here."

He remembered a fanfiction he'd read in his past life, where the main character reincarnated into O'Hara and found a step-by-step manual on Haki in the Tree of Knowledge.

Yeah, right. If these scholars had that, why didn't they all become martial monsters like Hanma Yujiro? Maybe then they wouldn't get wiped out every time they sailed.

Take their last expedition: thirty-three archaeologists, and only Olivia survived. She made it back thanks to a Vice Admiral and became known as the "God of Death—Olivia."

Still, Brook thought it was unfair. Scholars from other fields died too—people who had nothing to do with the forbidden archaeology stuff.

It was like shutting down an entire university just because one major made a mistake. Dozens of students from other departments losing their degrees and identities over someone else's mess.

Most of O'Hara's experts probably didn't even know the archaeologists were messing with banned Poneglyphs. Some may have just been visiting professors or researchers—and got erased like bugs.

Sure, some people would blame the brutality of the World Government and the Navy. But at the same time, Brook thought, you poke a lion in the eye, don't be surprised when it eats you.

----------------------

Inside the massive mechanical library, Brook spotted Vegapunk flipping through books with great interest. With his powerful brain and photographic memory, Vegapunk didn't read—he just flipped pages at lightning speed, absorbing information instantly.

The nearby scholars looked at him like he was a madman. To them, this young guy skimming books without "reading" seemed like a clown just wasting time.

Elsewhere, Hiruba stumbled upon a section filled with gun manuals and weapon blueprints, completely captivated. Tom had already lost himself in the shipbuilding archives.

Shakky was browsing books on meteorology and finance. Antonio dove into intelligence and espionage resources. Kureha was neck-deep in medical texts. And Streusen? Naturally, he found the cookbooks.

At this moment, the Hell Pirates weren't pirates—they looked more like eager students, diving headfirst into the sea of knowledge. Even Charlotte Linlin found herself flipping through a rare animal encyclopedia.

But not everyone could sit still.

Newgate took Scaredo, Tiger, and Kaido to visit Shiki, who was tinkering with something mechanical. Brook also asked them to inform the O'Hara scholars and families on the island to prepare for relocation—whether they agreed or not.

Director Kutu and a few others followed along. The ice sealing his hands had been thawed by Brook earlier, and under Redfield's threats, he was forced to guide them to the high-level archives that stored ancient texts.

Now, only Stussy followed closely behind Brook, not looking particularly interested.

"You don't have any hobbies?" Brook asked, glancing at her.

Stussy, raised and trained by CP from childhood, gave a deadpan answer. "Killing. Infiltrating."

But under Brook's unblinking stare, she shifted slightly and added in a quieter voice, "...and fashionable clothes."

Brook chuckled. Ever since he stopped hiding his identity with the Hell Pirates, things like this made him feel alive again. Her words even reminded him of the future Pleasure Street queen, stylish and deadly.

"Then go check out the fashion section. No need to stick with me," Brook said casually.

But to his surprise, Stussy replied with a blush, "But... I want to stay with you, Captain~"

Brook froze for a second. He had always found Stussy attractive, but he didn't expect her to be this bold. Was she actually into him?

At 2.7 meters tall, Brook still towered over the 1.8-meter-tall Stussy—but thankfully, it wasn't a ridiculous height gap like with Charlotte Linlin.

"Then come along," he said, a little flustered.

Brook might not be handsome in the conventional sense, but his aura and presence were undeniable—this was the charisma of the Underworld's king.

"Okay, Brother Brook~" Stussy smiled sweetly, taking his hand like a lovestruck schoolgirl. She didn't even mind the chill of his palm—in fact, she liked it. If Shakky had seen this, she'd definitely call Stussy a manipulative flirt.

But what women often call 'green tea' behavior? Men just see as adorable. What guy doesn't melt a little when a girl calls him 'brother' like that?

Brook didn't shake her off. He led her through the Tree of Knowledge, floor by floor. Any administrator who dared to block his path backed off with a single look.

Locked door? What locked door? If they didn't open it, he'd just kick it down. The terrified library director eventually sent someone to personally escort them through the facility, giving Brook full access to any book he wanted.

Eventually, on the top floor in a quiet corner of the library, Brook finally found them—two clean and preserved Poneglyphs. He had clearly underestimated these scholars.

In the original story, the library's former director, Dr. Clover, had claimed that they'd successfully translated some Poneglyphs that detailed the Great Kingdom. Before he could reveal the name of that kingdom, CP silenced him with a bullet. And soon after, the World Government launched a Buster Call to erase O'Hara from history—for knowing too much.

"The Poneglyphs of the Great Kingdom... After the Buster Call, these indestructible stones should've been seized by the government, right?" Brook murmured as he gently touched the ancient texts, clean and smooth—nothing like the moss-covered ones scattered across the world.

These two, plus the ones from Fishman Island and Skypiea… should I go get the one from Alabasta too? Wano holds not just a red Poneglyph but also the ancient weapon Pluton.

The Skypiea Poneglyph, at the base of the Golden Bell, reveals that Poseidon is on Fishman Island. The one in Alabasta points to Pluton being in Wano.

As for the four red Poneglyphs… one is in Fishman Island, one in Wano, another on Zou with Zunesha, and the last is eventually taken by Big Mom. Maybe she inherited it from Rocks?

Even Roger didn't get anything material from reaching Laugh Tale. Seems like we really need Poseidon and Uranus to appear at the right time for the island to unlock.

Isn't that just plot armor? A "fated" story arc that only Luffy—Sun God Nika—can access?

Damn it. I bought a watch last year!!!

If Brook takes the Hell Pirates all the way to the final island, and it turns out there's nothing there? He swore he'd let Shiki yank the treasure and the island off the sea.

If Shiki's Float-Float Fruit doesn't work, he'll just have Newgate sink the whole thing with his Tremor-Tremor Fruit. To hell with this Nika prophecy! And to hell with waiting for that blind elephant to 'pick a worthy one'! If they don't want to play with him, he won't play either!

...Of course, if the island is locked behind some "only special people may enter" requirement, and his whole crew's made up of Devil Fruit users? Then fine. He'll accept it.

"Brother Brook, these symbols match the ones on the Golden Bell~" Stussy said, clinging to his arm and snapping him out of his furious train of thought.

That soft, seductive tone, laced with the magic of her Siren Fruit, pulled Brook right back in.

And damn, she was fine.

Maybe he should pull an Angel and just go for it. After all, Stussy was the one who started this. He was just playing along!

Brook turned, gazing at her in a daze, mesmerized. Stussy blushed and looked away. What was this man's willpower? Was he really falling under her spell?

Neither said a word, but both understood.

Stussy slowly closed her eyes, waiting for him. Her pink cheeks were practically glowing.

Damn... What a girl.

You act, I act—we both pretend it just happened.

Brook leaned in and kissed her.

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