Captain Kuro Exposed

Kuro, former captain of the Black Cat Pirates, had been injured and saved by Kaya's parents three years ago. He later repaid their kindness with betrayal and murdered them. Now, in order to seize Kaya's family fortune, he had disguised himself as a kind-hearted butler.

At present, Can Yue and the others, led by the three children, had arrived at Kaya's villa.

They happened to come upon Kaya's butler, Kuro—Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates—mocking and driving Usopp away.

Enraged after the "butler" called his father Yasopp a trash pirate who had abandoned his wife and child, Usopp knocked him to the ground with a punch.

The conflict escalated, and when the "butler" began driving everyone away, the situation started to change.

~

"Every one of you, leave this villa immediately! Pirates are not welcome here!"

The "butler," Kuro, berated everyone present.

Luffy, Zoro, and the others understood the butler's behavior. Ordinary residents did not like pirates.

But Chouchou suddenly began barking at the butler.

Upon seeing Chouchou, the "butler" took several steps back in disgust and shouted.

"What are the guards doing? How did they let such a filthy dog into the garden? Someone, get it out of here at once!"

Several servants had no choice but to come over and drive Chouchou away after hearing the butler's order.

They all knew that this "butler" particularly hated dogs, though no one knew why.

Just as the servants approached Chouchou, Chouchou let out an angry roar. His body instantly expanded into a gigantic white dog, five meters long and three meters tall.

Terrifying Demonic Aura burst from his body, frightening the servants so badly that they fled in panic.

"Monster!"

Even Kaya was so frightened that she hid behind Usopp, whose legs were trembling.

Luffy, Zoro, and Nami had already seen Chouchou's dog demon form, so they were not afraid.

A moment later, only Can Yue's group of four and one dog, the "butler" Captain Kuro, Usopp, and Miss Kaya remained.

Captain Kuro pushed up his glasses with his palm facing upward. After steadying his emotions and forcing down his discomfort around dogs, he continued pretending to be concerned for Kaya.

"Miss, don't be afraid. Come over here."

Zoro suddenly sensed that something was wrong. By all rights, this butler should have been an ordinary person. How could he remain so calm upon seeing Chouchou's enormous dog demon form for the first time?

Moreover, Zoro could sense Captain Kuro's killing intent toward Chouchou.

After all, Zoro was highly skilled at sensing killing intent. It was a battle instinct forged through his long training as a swordsman.

This butler isn't just unafraid. He actually wants to kill Chouchou.

Thinking of this, Zoro turned to Luffy.

"Luffy, there's something wrong with this butler."

"Yeah, he isn't scared at all. He's way too calm." Luffy had also sensed something unnatural. After all, Garp had subjected him to all sorts of inhuman training since childhood, and he had seen many wild beasts.

Even when he had first encountered a giant dog like Chouchou, radiating such a terrifying presence, several years ago, he had never been as calm as the butler standing before them.

The confidence to remain calm came from strength. Yet a butler who could be knocked over by Usopp's punch possessed the confidence to face Chouchou calmly. That was completely abnormal.

Can Yue roughly understood why Chouchou was so hostile toward Captain Kuro. The moment he had seen this guy, who reeked of feline energy from head to toe, he had wanted to kill him too.

Though he did not want to admit it, Can Yue currently possessed the instincts of a dog demon and disliked anything related to cats.

Naturally, Chouchou was the same.

But Chouchou's actions mean I won't need to force this butler to reveal himself.

Then I'll give him another push.

With that thought, Can Yue spoke.

"The way you push up your glasses reminds me of someone. Captain Kuro of the Black Cat Pirates, who was executed by the Marines three years ago."

The moment those words left his mouth, Captain Kuro's entire body tensed, and sweat dripped down his forehead.

The atmosphere became even stranger.

Though Captain Kuro's movements were subtle, Zoro and Usopp still noticed the change in him.

As for Luffy, he could not catch such fine details in someone's movements, but he roughly understood what Can Yue meant.

Luffy and Zoro both realized that this butler was most likely Captain Kuro, who had supposedly "died" three years ago.

After hearing Can Yue's words, Usopp quickly fell into thought. As someone who often followed pirate news, he was very familiar with the name Captain Kuro.

Besides, the timing of Captain Kuro's execution overlapped perfectly with the time "Kuro" had moved into Kaya's home.

Combined with this man's reaction, it was simply too suspicious.

Whether he is or not, I have to protect Kaya.

At that moment, Usopp made up his mind and stepped in front of Kaya. At the same time, his legs still trembled under the influence of Chouchou's terrifying aura.

Time passed briefly, and the "butler" had already regained his composure.

He smiled and told Kaya not to believe Can Yue and the others.

But Kaya fell into hesitation. She was also sensitive and observant, and the "butler's" reaction just now had already made her suspicious.

Knowing there was no point dragging things out, Can Yue spoke directly to Chouchou.

"Do it!"

Without hesitation, Chouchou sprang into the air and charged at the "butler" with a swipe of his claws.

The butler knew that if that claw struck him, he would basically die.

This beast is definitely trying to kill me. I can only expose myself.

With that thought, Captain Kuro, who had still been pretending to be a good man, had his survival instinct explode. He used his high-speed movement and instantly put distance between himself and Can Yue's group.

That terrifying speed, too fast for the naked eye to see clearly, instantly shocked everyone present.

Luffy asked Usopp, "Was this butler always this strong?"

"Of course not. He was pretending."

Usopp immediately confirmed his suspicion. He had punched the butler earlier; if the butler truly possessed that kind of speed, there was no way he could have hit him.

After seeing the butler's skills, even Kaya could no longer comfort herself into trusting this "kind" butler.

"Kuro, can you explain what you just did?" Kaya questioned him.

Captain Kuro realized that he had basically been exposed. But the issue now was not how to explain himself to Kaya—it was how to deal with the current situation.

Even as he thought, he continued dodging Chouchou's attacks.

Based on Kuro's observations, the giant dog was extremely powerful and could easily tear apart boulders, but he was slower than Kuro. Kuro was confident he could defeat this big dog.

But there were still three men behind the dog, and none of them looked simple.

To be safe, I should retreat first. Then I'll find some help and make absolutely sure nothing goes wrong.

Kaya's fortune can only be mine!

Thinking this, Captain Kuro revealed a sinister smile. Then he rapidly moved his feet, used his signature Silent Step, and vanished from the scene.

Zoro looked at Can Yue and asked, "Aren't we going after him?"

Can Yue smiled faintly. "He'll come back. There'll be another fight soon, so I'll leave it to you guys."

Luffy did not think much about it. Since Can Yue said Kuro would come back to cause trouble, then he definitely would.

He then laughed loudly. "Haha, no problem. I've been wanting to test the results of my recent training anyway."

"Good. Have Chouchou keep fighting later too," Can Yue added.

Luffy immediately agreed. He also wanted to learn more about Chouchou.