Thriller Bark Arc

The Thriller Bark Arc is the eighteenth story arc in the series, and the first and only in the Thriller Bark Saga. The Straw Hats, during their journey into the Florian Triangle arrive at a haunted island/ship called Thriller Bark, in which their shadows are stolen by the Shichibukai Gekko Moriah and must hurry to get them back before the sun rises. After defeating Moriah, another Shichibukai shows up to make the Straw Hats' situation worse. The Straw Hats also gain a new crewmate, a living skeleton named Brook who becomes their musician. Three days after the Post-Enies Lobby Arc, the Straw Hats enjoy the features of their new ship; Usopp and Luffy go fishing together and toss everything they catch into the aquarium, while Robin, Franky and Sanji relax in the dining room, Nami takes a bath in the bath hut, Chopper enjoys his expanded room/infirmary and Zoro takes a nap in the observation tower. When Zoro wakes up, he notices a barrel floating in the ocean and alerts the rest of the crew over the built-in speaker system. When they fish the barrel out of the sea, they notice that it is an offering to the sea god. After a short discussion, they open the barrel, but instead of finding food and sake, a red light shoots out of the barrel and into the sky. Fearing that someone may spot them and knowing that a big storm is heading in their direction, Nami orders the crew to head southwest. Unfortunately, the High-wind catches them, prompting Franky to unveil the Soldier Dock Channel 0; a set of paddle wheels.

Using the paddle wheels, they avoid the storm and finally enter the Florian Triangle. At first, Usopp thinks they might already have arrived at Fishman Island, but he is quickly corrected by the others who explain to him (in a teasing manner) that they are in fact in the Florian Triangle (he did not know this, since he was not around when Kokoro told the others about it). Upset that he was not notified about this and scared about the ghosts, he quickly grabs his exorcism set to rebuke any evil spirits. Suddenly, he and the rest of the crew hear an ominous song resounding throughout the fog, and discover a ghost ship that has suddenly appeared behind them with a skeleton singing Binks' Sake. "Dead Bones" BrookEdit. Excited and filled with overwhelming curiosity, Luffy starts to board the ship, with Nami and Sanji behind him, who want to stop him "in case he does something impulsive and stupid". When they arrive on board of the ship they are greeted by the self-proclaimed "Gentleman Skeleton" Brook, whose first action is to question Nami as to whether or not he may see her panties. She, of course, denies this and knocks Brook to the floor. Luffy, finding all this hilarious, asks Brook if the skeleton can poop, to which Brook replies yes only for Sanji to berate them both for their choice of questions. Opting for his own take on things, he then starts to shout questions at Brook about what happened to him and the ship, only to be interrupted by Luffy, who much to the shock of everybody else, asks Brook to join his crew. Brook casually agrees to, much to the horror of everyone else present. Leaving the ghost ship with them, Brook goes back with them to the ship and ends up having dinner with the crew. Brook is explaining his Devil Fruit ability when Usopp (in exorcist attire) notices that he has no shadow and no reflection. Brook explains how his shadow was stolen, and sadly he cannot leave the foggy Florian Triangle with the Straw Hats for the sun would disintegrate him. Not wanting his new friends to get hurt, Brook refuses to reveal the culprit. Nonetheless, meeting the crew has brightened his dreary existence, and Brook is about to play the violin when a ghost appears. Just then, the gates of Thriller Bark capture the Thousand Sunny. Brook warns the Straw Hats to escape and runs across the water to Thriller Bark.