Usopp

Do you know what 'Pirate' means?

Roy abruptly changed the subject, his tone low and his voice carrying a hint of sharpness.

Usopp was taken aback, as if he had been suddenly stumped by the question.

"Murder, plunder, betrayal, disruption of order." Roy's gaze sharpened. "Are these the 'sea warriors' you speak of?"

The air seemed to freeze, pressing heavily on everyone's hearts.

Usopp instinctively took a half step back, his fingertips trembling slightly, a hint of panic flashing in his eyes.

This wasn't the first time he'd heard criticism of his father, nor was it the first time he'd been accused of being a "habitual liar."

But today's moment is different.

Standing before him was a true Marine Vice Admiral, Roy, who stood at the pinnacle of order and represented "Justice."

The oppressive feeling emanating from the depths of his beliefs was like an invisible hammer, striking his chest again and again.

The Chinjao Head, Carrot Top, and Onion Head were already so frightened that they squatted behind the tree, not daring to breathe loudly, while Luffy and Ace also stopped joking and stood aside quietly observing.

Usopp opened his mouth, but after a long while, he managed to speak with difficulty.

"I... I don't know."

Usopp's dusty little face was now filled with shock and bewilderment.

He gritted his teeth and whispered, "I don't want to hurt anyone... I just want to be like my dad... to do something different at sea... even if it's just... bragging..."

His speech gradually slowed, his voice became weak, and the light in his eyes, which had been hidden beneath his bluster, seemed to waver.

Under the shade of the tree, Roy slowly approached him, his shadow stretched long by the sunlight, his naval cloak, a symbol of Justice, fluttering slightly in the breeze.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was more forceful than any angry rebuke. "You want to be like your father?"

"The man who didn't even come back to see your mother when she was critically ill?"

"That Pirate who abandoned his family and son, all in pursuit of so-called 'freedom' and 'adventure'?"

Usopp's lips trembled slightly, the tip of his nose turned red, and his eyes quickly filled with blood, as if he was trying to suppress some emotion that was about to burst forth.

"No... that's not how it is..." he murmured, but his voice was barely audible even to himself.

Roy's voice remained calm, yet every word was like Razor: "He never kept vigil for your mother, never looked back even once on your tearful childhood."

He worshipped the Pirates ' 'freedom' as his faith, yet with that faith, he shattered a mother's hope and a child's support.

"You're telling me—this is your ideal 'sea warrior'?!"

Usopp trembled violently, as if he had been forced into a dark abyss by a bright light.

"Mom... she never blamed Dad..." he said through gritted teeth, his voice hoarse, "She... smiled at me on her deathbed and said, 'Your father is very brave, he will definitely come back...'"

Her eyes... were waiting...

Usopp's tears finally flowed uncontrollably, trickling down his cheeks and dripping into the dust.

"I don't blame her... she... she just trusted him too much..."

But he never came back.

That day, he stayed by his mother's bedside, watching her eyes slowly lose their light, still gazing at the horizon outside the window, as if waiting for something.

After that, Usopp started lying.

"Pirates are coming!" "I am a brave sea warrior!" "I will command a fleet of millions!"

--Once a day, without fail.

He acted aggressively in front of others and shouted loudly at the village entrance.

But only he knew that those cries of "Pirates are coming!" were not warnings, but summons.

It is an expectation of a father, and a resistance to the absence of a father in childhood.

Usopp knelt on the ground, head bowed, fists clenched tightly. "I thought that as long as I said it, I wouldn't feel so lonely, and I could pretend he had never really left."

His voice grew softer and softer, as if afraid of disturbing something, or as if he was finally revealing the secret that had been buried deep in his heart for the longest time.

"But I don't want to become that kind of person!"

He suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with tears yet burning with passion. "I don't want to be like him, abandoning the people who are important to me!"

"I want to protect the people I care about—whether on land or at sea!"

"If being Pirate means betrayal, killing, and abandonment—"

"Then I'd rather be a liar little devil hiding at the village entrance forever!!"

He shouted his last words, his chest heaving violently, as if he had just struggled ashore from the bottom of the sea.

--Luffy's expression changed slightly, his smile slowly faded, and a hint of admiration appeared in his eyes.

--Ace looked at Usopp's expression and couldn't help but nod.

Roy straightened up and quietly looked at Usopp was kneeling on the ground.

His eyes, once as cold as a blade, now have less of their sharpness and more of a thoughtful and calm quality.

The sunlight slanted down, illuminating the Marine Vice Admiral's cape on his shoulders, making the word "Justice" appear as if it were gilded with gold, solemn and dignified.

"That's enough." He spoke softly, his tone low but no longer aggressive.

After speaking, he slowly turned around, his cloak billowing, his back like a solitary peak, stretched infinitely long in the afterglow.

Remember what you said today.

"If one day you really decide to go to sea--"

"Don't be Pirate, be a marine instead."

Usopp stared blankly at the receding figure, a stone lodged in his throat, unable to speak, his breath trembling with bitterness.

"The Navy...?"

"It's not plunder, it's not lies... it's protection, it's responsibility..."

He had never imagined so vividly that a "brave sea warrior" could be like that.

Wearing military insignia and draped in the banner of Justice, they do not rely on shouting slogans of "freedom," but on taking action to safeguard the balance of the world.

Just as he was lost in thought, Roy suddenly stopped and turned around to look back.

His gaze was deep, his tone calm, yet carried an undeniable sharpness. "Usopp."

"If that day ever comes—you'll be standing on the Navy's side, facing your own father, Yasopp."

"What will you do?"

As soon as the words were spoken, the world seemed to stand still.

Usopp was struck dumb, frozen in place, his eyes flashing with struggle, anger, confusion, and pain—a chaotic mess that defied explanation.

He is your father.

"But he is also a Pirate who tramples responsibility and rules underfoot."

"Will you put down your gun, or...?"

Roy's voice was emotionless, but every word was as heavy as a mountain.

Each word seemed not to be a question, but a wedge driven deep into the soul.

Usopp opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

His mind went blank, but his heart was in turmoil.

That man wearing the Red Hair Pirates bandana was the most distant yet most longed-to-be-close figure from his childhood.

But it was that person who personally tore his once-intact family apart.

If he ever truly becomes a naval officer... and truly stands on the side of "Justice," and unexpectedly encounters that man...

Will he shoot?

Will your hands... shake?

He didn't know.

He really didn't know.

I felt a lump of hot blood stuck in my chest, something I desperately wanted to spit out, but I couldn't release it.

Roy didn't press him for answers; he simply watched him struggle silently, then turned and walked away without looking back.

The Kaya Manor on the distant hillside.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the young woman in a white dress, her Blond Hair flowing smoothly over her shoulders, a snow-white silk scarf gently swaying at her chest.

She stood by the window, gazing towards the village entrance, her eyes fixed on the boy bathed in sunlight.

She saw him kneeling, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if he were suppressing some emotion.

The three strangers gradually walked away, but the tall, black-haired man standing in front of him seemed to have left a great Impact on him.

The girl gently pressed against the window frame and whispered, "Young man... are you crying?"

Why are you crying?

The wind outside the window blew harder and harder, stirring her skirt and ruffling the silk scarf on her chest.

Her hands slowly clenched, and a hint of worry appeared in her eyes.

Under the shade of the tree, Usopp remained kneeling, tears already streaming down his face.

He gazed at the sky gradually turning red, his throat trembling slightly, his voice so low only he could hear. "If... that day really comes..."

"Do I... know how to shoot?"

This sentence, like a stone thrown into the sea, spread out in circles of silent ripples.

(The novel's plummeting sales left me staring at the screen in silence for a long time. Kuina's choice caused many readers to abandon the book. Every time I saw "Warning: Toxic Points" comments in the comment section, I would reflect on whether the pacing was too abrupt, whether the buildup was insufficient, and whether my persistence had disappointed readers.)

But in the end, I decided to stick with this direction.

This is not me feigning superiority.

It's simply because, from the very beginning, this novel was written to fulfill a "reasonable" dream.

If, in order to please readers, the protagonist were to exude an overwhelming aura of dominance, recruiting anyone he encounters and taking on any strong individual, with everyone incorporated into the naval system—it might be more exciting, have better stats, and be more "satisfying."

But this is not the story I wanted to write.

In the upcoming storyline, I will continue to adhere to this principle: respect the core essence and experiences of the original characters, and give them "reasonable and realistic possibilities" at the crossroads of fate.

The pacing might be slow, and it might also lose readers who seek a fast-paced, exciting experience.

But those foreshadowing moments will eventually come to fruition at the right time.

Thank you to everyone who is still following the story. I will read every single comment you leave.

I will continue to write this story in my own way.