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East Blue, Syrup Village.
While Bai Ye was flying in with Zoro and Nami, Luffy had—of course—already run into Usopp.
Let's rewind a bit to see what happened.
"That's gotta be the pirate ship, right? Looks like Buggy's ride for sure."
Hidden in a patch of tall grass, Usopp and his three little henchmen—Onion, Carrot, and Pepper—were spying on the pirate crew sailing their way.
"Can't see too clearly, but there are only three of them. And I don't see Buggy anywhere."
Usopp rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful.
"Told you I was right, Captain," Onion nodded proudly beside him.
"So Captain Usopp, should we wait till they land and then charge in and take 'em out?" Carrot asked, getting a little too excited.
Beating a bunch of pirates invading their village—that'd be legendary!
"Ahem…"
Usopp saw the eager spark in his followers' eyes and gave a little cough, straightening up like he had everything under control.
He lifted his head and said, "Of course! I'm Usopp, after all!"
"Wooaahh! Captain Usopp, you're amazing!!!"
Pepper and Carrot clapped and cheered, completely hyped.
"But… but what if they're actually really strong?"
Onion's voice trembled a bit. Not because he didn't believe in Usopp, but because, well, these guys were part of the Buggy Pirates.
Even if Buggy himself wasn't here, his crew members were probably no joke either.
"Uh…"
Usopp clearly thought the same. He knew the truth—he liked to brag, sure, but deep down he was painfully aware: even some of the villagers could probably beat him up.
So… could he really take on actual pirates?
He started to lose a bit of confidence.
But then, Usopp thought about his dream of becoming a brave warrior of the sea. He thought about Kaya. He thought about his three little followers.
No matter what, he couldn't let them get hurt.
So—
"Alright boys, follow me. Let's go set up some traps."
Just to be safe, Usopp decided to prepare a little surprise. Charging in headfirst really wasn't his style anyway.
No sooner said than done—Usopp led the group up the steep slope that anyone landing would have to climb, and they started rigging the path with traps.
"Hey, Onion, what are you staring at?"
Usopp noticed Onion staring at the sky and asked suspiciously.
"Cap—Captain… someone's… someone's flying over!!!"
Onion first looked completely stunned, then suddenly screamed in disbelief.
"Bullcrap! No one can just fly—"
BOOM!!!
Before Usopp could even finish his sentence, a figure dropped from the sky and landed right on top of him.
Dust exploded into the air.
"Captain Usopp!!!"
The three little henchmen gasped in shock, yelling in panic.
As the smoke cleared, a boy in a straw hat came into view.
"Yosh! Nailed the landing!!"
Luffy threw his arms up and cheered, grinning from ear to ear.
Then he noticed the three kids staring at him.
"Huh? Who're you guys?"
"Who the heck are YOU!?!?"
The three kids immediately bared their teeth and shouted at him like angry puppies.
"I'm Monkey D. Luffy. I'm gonna be King of the Pirates! I came here looking for a ship to sail to the Grand Line."
Without a shred of caution, Luffy laid it all out.
"Pirate!?!?"
The kids' eyes went wide with fear.
They were still kids after all—and when they heard this stranger really was a pirate, they couldn't help freaking out.
"We're doomed! He's gonna kill us!"
"Ahhhh! If only Captain Usopp were here, he'd—"
"Captain Usopp!!!"
Just then, they remembered—Usopp was still under Luffy!
"Huh? I'm sitting on someone?"
Luffy blinked and finally realized there was a person beneath him.
Noticing that the guy hadn't moved at all, Luffy leaned down and asked instinctively:
"Is he really sleeping here? Isn't he gonna catch a cold?"
"Who the hell would sleep here?!"
The three kids completely lost it again, yelling at the top of their lungs.
"D-Damn it, was I ambushed?!"
Just then, Usopp slowly came to his senses. He turned his head toward Luffy and blurted out:
"Who the heck are you?!"
But the second Luffy saw Usopp's face, he instinctively let out a shout.
"Nani?!"
"Y-Your nose... did I squish it and stretch it out while I was lying on you?!"
Luffy genuinely thought he was the one who caused Usopp's long nose and immediately grabbed him, bawling his eyes out.
"Eh?"
Usopp was stunned for a moment, then exploded: "You idiot! My nose has always been like this!!!"
And with that, he punched Luffy square in the face.
"What?! He's a pirate?!"
Usopp's eyes widened in shock as he pointed straight at Luffy, completely in disbelief.
Just moments ago, Onion and the other kids had pulled Usopp aside and told him who Luffy really was.
"Yep! I'm a pirate," Luffy said seriously, nodding his head.
You've gotta be kidding.
Usopp still couldn't wrap his head around it. This guy didn't look anything like what he imagined a pirate would be.
But since the guy admitted it himself, Usopp had no choice but to play along—for the sake of the village, and for Kaya.
"Hey, I'll have you know I've got 8,000 men under my command. You'd better leave now while you still can."
Usopp pulled out his signature move: bluffing.
Normally, no sane person would fall for that kind of nonsense.
Luckily, Luffy was anything but normal.
"Nani?! You're that powerful?! Sugoi!!!"
His eyes sparkled with admiration as he stared at Usopp like he was a superhero. Not even a hint of doubt.
"Bwahahaha, scared now, aren't you?"
This was the first time Usopp's bluff went over so smoothly, and he couldn't help but stick his nose in the air and brag even harder:
"Today's your lucky day. Since I'm in a good mood, I'll let you go if you leave right now."
"Nope!"
Luffy just grinned and turned him down flat, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
To Usopp, that smile felt straight-up mocking.
It was like Luffy was saying: I believe you—but I'm not scared!
"I haven't got my pirate ship yet. So I'm not going anywhere," Luffy added.
"Hey, hey, hey—I told you I have eight thousand men! You're not even a little scared of dying?!"
Usopp was starting to sweat nervously.
Is this guy insane?
"Until I reach my goal, I won't back down. Even if it costs me my life."
Luffy held onto his straw hat, his usual grin fading into something more serious as he spoke directly to Usopp.
Damn, this guy's kind of cool...
Usopp didn't know why, but seeing Luffy like that made something stir in his chest.
Wasn't he supposed to be a brave warrior of the sea too?
Thanks to Luffy, for the first time, Usopp started thinking seriously about that dream.
But then Onion's voice rang out again:
"Captain Usopp! Someone else is flying this way...!"
Hearing that, Usopp instinctively looked up—just in time to see a green figure soaring right over his head.
"NANI?!"
"....."