Chapter 209 Probe
"That's pretty much it , so you'll be considered a prisoner on our ship for now. But we won't mistreat you. We'll just give you a period of compulsory education, and then we'll let you go after we've assessed you as qualified."
Zhang Da also sat opposite Perona and told her a fact that was a little difficult for her to accept. Now there were only two of them in the small bar.
The flag monsters were driven away by Zhang Da to study how to repair the deck, which was the hole that Absalom had smashed with the anchor before.
Ye Yan went back to his room to take a nap. He still had to keep watch at night and needed to get enough rest during the day.
Brooke planned to bury his former companions here. Their remains had been collected by Brooke long ago and had been drifting on the sea with him for forty years. Now they finally found an "island" where they could be buried.
Chili Shark expressed his appreciation for Brook's actions, so he decided to go and help. Altria also went with him, as she wanted to bury the four knights who were defeated yesterday.
Rui Mengmeng went to her room to find a few sets of clothes for Tom to alter and give to Perona. Although she could also make simple alterations to clothes, she couldn't reduce them in proportion without any traces of modification like Tom could.
Tom went to the kitchen to prepare something to eat for Perona.
"Is Lord Moria dead?" Perona sobbed softly, holding the lollipop that Altria gave her, and curled up on the sofa in the small bar. "You clearly promised to help me build a dream kingdom."
"Dream Kingdom? What is that?" Zhang Da didn't remember having such a setting. Was it the same utopia that Crocodile had described to his men?
Perona explained quietly: "It means capturing the cutest animals in the world and making them into zombies to obey me."
What on earth do you want to do with these cute little animals?
Zhang Da also secretly cursed Moria for being unreliable. He could lead a good child astray if he left her in his care. It seemed that Perona still had a long way to go in solving her education problem.
At this time, Tom brought a plate of fragrant fried rice and a small bowl of hot soup and placed them on the table in front of Perona, and made a gesture of invitation.
With this movement, this expression, and this etiquette, he would definitely be the best among all the waiters in a top hotel.
However, Perona didn't appreciate it. She bent her legs and buried her face in her knees: "I don't want to eat! I want Kumasi, I want to find Master Moria, wuwu..."
Even as she said this, her stomach started to growl. She hadn't eaten anything from yesterday evening until noon today.
Secretly looking up at Zhang Daya's attempt to hold back a smile, Perona blushed and said, "I'm not hungry at all!"
Zhang Da also leaned over to Tom's ear and said something. Tom nodded, took out a small fan, and fanned the fried rice.
The aroma of the fried rice seemed to come alive, gathering into a stream that snaked into Perona's nostrils.
After a few seconds, Zhang Da heard two sounds of swallowing saliva.
Zhang Da also hugged Tom and pulled his cat face: "Why are you greedy too? Didn't you do your part?"
Tom grinned. He didn't feel greedy while cooking, and he had just eaten so he didn't think about it.
"Come on, I'll take you to the kitchen to make another one." Zhang Da also carried Tom out of the bar.
Sometimes children care about their face in strange ways, you can call it tsundere, and at this time you need to give them a little space.
Hearing the footsteps disappear, Perona raised her head and looked around to see if there was anyone around. Then she carefully picked up the spoon and said, "If you only take a bite, you won't be able to tell, right?"
“It’s delicious!”
"Take another bite..."
“Take one last bite!”
A cat's head popped out from the door, and above the cat's head popped out a human head. They looked at Perona wolfing down the food and smiled at each other.
…
On the other side, with the help of Shark Chili and Altria, Brook moved dozens of coffins from his original ship, found a suitable place in the woods, dug a grave, and erected a tombstone.
"Everyone, please forgive me for leaving you here without your permission. I will take Mr. Tatsuya's ship and bring everyone's thoughts back to Cape Gemini."
"In fact, our agreement is to sail around the world and then return to Gemini Cape to meet Lab from the other side of the Red Earth Continent. But I'm afraid I can't do this alone, and I can't ask Mr. Tatsuya and others to change the course for me, and..."
"And Lab has been waiting for us for forty years. I... can't let him wait any longer. It is most important for him to know the news from everyone now. Please forgive me for ordering the Rumbar Pirates to return midway as the acting captain!"
Brooke fell to the ground and cried. It took a long time before he stood up. "Before we part, please listen to our chorus one last time."
Brook opened his skull, took out a sound shell, placed it in front of the tombstone, and pressed the play button.
As the music started, Shark Chili didn't realize what was going to happen next. He looked at the conch-like sound shell and said, "That's the sound shell. It's said to be a specialty from Sky Island. This is the first time I've seen it."
"Yes, I used it to record the last ensemble and chorus with my companions before they died. This is the last thing everyone left for Rab, and it is also the most precious thing that has supported me to live alone for forty years."
"Great ensemble." Shark Chili praised as he listened to the intro to the song "Binx's Wine."
"Shark Chili, is it okay for you to listen like this?" Altria reminded. After the prelude came the chorus part. She remembered that Shark Chili hated singing.
Shark Chili's face changed...well, his face wouldn't change, his eyes changed, and he wanted to leave immediately, but it was too late.
"Yo-ho-ho, yo-ho-ho-ho..."
When the song started, Shark Chili covered his head, closed his eyes, squatted on the ground and shivered: "Don't sing, I hate singing!"
Altria thought about it and decided that she definitely couldn't turn off , so she had to grab the shark's tail and drag Shark Chili away.
When they dragged him to a place where the singing could no longer be heard, Shark Chili suddenly called out to Altria to stop: "Such singing doesn't seem that scary."
Altria asked, "Hmm? You're not afraid of singing anymore?"
"No." Shark Chili shook his head, "I still feel a little scared when it comes to singing, but their chorus seems different."
Shark Chili tried to take a few steps forward: "Listen, there are fewer and fewer instruments being played, and the same goes for the people singing."
Altria nodded. Besides that, if you listen carefully, you can hear the sound of people or musical instruments falling to the ground: "Brooke said that they were all poisoned at that time. The people who stopped singing may have been unable to hold on."
"But there is no despair or sadness in their singing. Hearing such singing seems to show their smiling faces. This is what they want to leave for Lab ." Shark Chili's eyes softened.
The two of them stood not far away and listened to the chorus gradually coming to an end, as if they were witnessing the end of the Rumba Pirates.
Until the end, the chorus turned into a five-person chorus, a four-person chorus... a solo...
The ensemble became a quintet, a quartet... a solo...
The companions fell one after another, leaving only Brooke, shedding tears while trying to keep smiling, completing this gift for Lab.
Brook, who was left with only bones after his death, put away his precious sound shell and stared at the sky with his empty eyes. The thick fog quietly dispersed without knowing when, letting a ray of sunlight sprinkle on Brook and the tombstone where the Rumbar Pirates were buried together.
These are the Rumba Pirates who are always full of laughter, the Rumba Pirates who can make crying children laugh.
