-----
-----
After one-shotting Kuro, Bai Ye didn't let his guard down.
Instead, he pulled out a talisman and launched it into a nearby bush—
[Lightning Talisman — BOOM!]
Crackle! Boom!
"Aaaaahhh!!!"
After the flash of lightning, a terrible scream echoed from the bushes.
A man with a blue hat and heart-shaped fan glasses stumbled out, charred black from the explosion.
"Eh?!"
Luffy's eyes widened. "Isn't that the guy who was playing hide-and-seek earlier?!"
"Are you stupid?!" Nami smacked Luffy hard on the head.
"That guy was clearly eavesdropping just now."
Zoro quickly pieced it together and turned to Bai Ye.
So he could sense someone hiding that far away? These Taoist guys really are something.
"That's Jango, the hypnotist. Current captain of the Black Cat Pirates."
Bai Ye let the golden glow fade and brushed off invisible dust from his hands.
"Looks like he was here to meet up with his captain, but ran into us instead."
"And since he's here, the rest of the Black Cat Pirates are probably nearby on the island too."
After thinking it over for a bit, Bai Ye continued:
"Even though Kuro didn't spell it out, it's pretty obvious—the plan was to have the Black Cat Pirates attack the village, kill Miss Kaya, and make it look like an accident."
As for how he planned to inherit her fortune, it was probably with a fake will or something."
On the surface, Bai Ye sounded like he was deducing things from clues. But in truth, he was just recalling the story.
"WHAT?!"
Usopp, who had been down, struggled to his feet. "He's willing to sacrifice the whole village... just for money?!"
"Unforgivable!"
He stood up and started heading for the door.
"Usopp! Where are you going?" Nami called after him, clearly worried.
"We just need to warn the villagers. If everyone works together—" Nami began, but Usopp cut her off.
"Every day I run around yelling that pirates are coming." he said, his voice dropping.
"And every time, I end up telling them it was a false alarm."
"Even if they call me a liar... this is still the village I grew up in."
"That's why I have to stop those pirates!"
"That's what a great liar like me should do!!!"
His legs were shaky, snot was ran down his face—But his eyes were firm and full of resolve.
Bai Ye watched Usopp from the side, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
In the original story, Usopp only made this decision after everyone in the village refused to believe him.
But now, he was stepping up right away—probably because Kuro's plan to kill Kaya had truly pissed him off.
"Alright then—let's help him out!" Luffy's voice rang out cheerfully.
He pulled his hat low over his eyes and grinned at Usopp. "A pirate crew with a bounty that big sounds like we'll finally get some good opponents!"
Zoro stepped forward, arms crossed, and said coolly, "About time."
"You guys…" Usopp's voice trembled. He couldn't believe these strangers were actually offering to help him.
"Just one thing before we go," Nami said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "All the treasure on that ship? It's ours."
Usopp burst into laughter through his tears.
"Hah! Well then, I guess I'll let you guys help me out—just this once!"
"Let's move!"
Shouting that, the group headed out of the house and toward the village outskirts.
"Excuse me, sir, your friends…"
Kaya had walked over to Bai Ye, who still hadn't moved. She looked nervous.
"With just those few and Usopp... will they really be okay?"
Bai Ye had just finished tying up Kuro and Jango, ready to cash in those bounties. He stood up and looked at Kaya.
"Just call me Bai Ye," he said, smiling. "And don't worry. For enemies like this—my friends won't have any trouble at all."
So… so cool~
Looking at Bai Ye, Kaya couldn't help but think to herself:
But she quickly snapped out of it. "Mr. Bai Ye… you guys don't seem like the pirates you hear about in stories."
"Well…"
Bai Ye turned his head in the direction Luffy had gone and muttered,
"Maybe that's because we've got a different kind of captain."
"Alright, Miss Kaya," Bai Ye didn't delve deeper into that topic. Instead, he continued, "While we've got a bit of time, let's talk about that unfinished deal between us."
"Huh? A deal…?"
——
Next, Bai Ye explained the agreement he and the others had made with Usopp.
After finding out that Usopp had brought them over just to treat her illness—without even asking for anything in return—Kaya was overwhelmed with guilt.
Luckily, with Bai Ye's gentle words, she quickly calmed down.
Deep down, though, she gave Usopp an even more special place in her heart.
After that, Kaya agreed without hesitation to the shipbuilding deal.
In fact, even if there hadn't been a deal, just the fact that they defeated Kuro was more than enough for Kaya's family to agree to whatever Bai Ye asked.
So when Merry rushed back from the neighboring village, Kaya filled him in on everything.
She told him to use all their resources to build a pirate ship.
Ironically, the reason Merry had left in the first place… was to help Kaya buy a gift.
A brand-new pair of glasses.
A gift to celebrate Kuro's third year of working in the household.
Too bad that gift wouldn't be needed anymore.
When Merry heard that Kuro had planned to kill Kaya, he almost shot the bastard on the spot.
After that, he gave Bai Ye and the others a very serious thank-you.
That's right—now that Bai Ye had already taken down Kuro and Jango, those characters who had once been major threats to Luffy and Zoro in the original story were out of the picture.
So, the crew had no trouble beating the Black Cat Pirates. During the battle, Luffy, Zoro, and Usopp also became much closer.
Of course, Nami handled checking the loot on the enemy ship. While it wasn't as much as what the Buggy Pirates had, there was still about 9 million berries' worth of treasure.
Also, knowing Bai Ye's habits, Nami told Luffy and Zoro to bring back the two Cat Brothers who had bounties on their heads. Each of them had a 7 million bounty.
With that, the Straw Hats had their biggest payday yet.
They already had 29 million berries onboard.
Now, just from the Black Cat Pirates alone, they picked up:
9 million in treasure,
Kuro's 16 million bounty,
Jango's 9 million bounty,
and 14 million from the Cat Brothers.
That's a total of 48 million berries.
Add that to what they had before, and the Straw Hats' fortune had reached 77 million berries.
Even Bai Ye couldn't help sighing after adding it all up. No wonder so many people want to set sail—it's a fast way to make money, huh?
And with that, Bai Ye's small-time plan had finally reached its final step.
"What?! 50 million berries!!!"
Merry couldn't help but cry out in shock when he heard Bai Ye's words.
The man standing in front of him had just said he wanted to spend 50 million berries on building a ship.
"And not just the money. You'll also get to use three pirate ships however you want, Mr. Merry."
Bai Ye smiled. From defeating Alvida, to working with the Marines to rake in bounties, to ambushing and robbing pirate ships—
It was all for this moment.
"....."