Pre-Battle Preparations, A Lost Zoro

Even though it was now basically confirmed that the butler was Captain Kuro, Kaya still felt terrible.

After all, when her parents had died a year ago, this butler had been the one carefully looking after her.

So she still clung to a sliver of hope.

"Even if Klahadore is Captain Kuro, what if he's already reformed? What if he was just trying to protect me earlier?"

Kaya said this through tears.

Usopp could understand Kaya's feelings. After her parents passed, the butler had taken care of her in her frail state. Suddenly discovering that this butler had once been a vicious pirate was indeed hard to accept.

Seeing Kaya's distress, Usopp's eyes darted around. A sudden idea struck him, and he turned to ask Can Yue.

"Since you know he'll come back to kill, that means you know what this guy's after, right?"

Can Yue glanced sideways at the two of them and thought for a moment.

They really should know the truth. It'll save a lot of explanations.

With that in mind, he spoke to Chouchou.

"Chouchou, take Usopp and Kaya and secretly follow that butler. Don't get caught. Zoro, you go protect them too."

In truth, Can Yue could have said he'd heard about Captain Kuro's scheme from some pirate in the past, but he didn't want to waste energy lying to explain things.

So he decided to let the others see the truth with their own eyes.

Just then, unable to stay still, Luffy chimed in to join the fun.

"I'm going too."

"You stay. Don't cause trouble."

"No way, I'm going!"

"Stay, and there's meat."

"Fine, I'll stay."

Can Yue really didn't want Luffy to go. If Luffy went, the risk of exposure was 100%. That guy would definitely step out and stir things up on the spot.

If that happened, it would be hard to catch the Black Cat Pirates in one fell swoop.

Things had to be handled once and for all. Even if Kuro and Jango were dealt with now, what about the rest?

Can Yue had no idea where the other members of the Black Cat Pirates were right now.

Even if the frightened Black Cat Pirates didn't dare cause trouble here in the short term.

Given enough time, for pirates who already knew the location of Syrup Village, they'd definitely come back.

And then, without Can Yue and the others around, every villager in Syrup Village would surely be slaughtered.

The best method was naturally to lure them all in and wipe them out in one go.

Suddenly, Can Yue thought of something else and called out to Zoro, who was already several dozen meters ahead.

"Zoro, stay close to Chouchou. Don't get lost."

Zoro replied with a face full of dark lines: "Got it!"

As it turned out, Captain Kuro was always under Chouchou's surveillance.

Thanks to the effects of Can Yue's blood essence, Chouchou's abilities had undergone earth-shattering changes compared to before.

Including his sense of smell. Within a ten-kilometer radius, as long as he had smelled a scent once, he could track it anytime.

At that moment, Chouchou was leading Usopp and Kaya, hiding on a cliff by the seaside.

Below them, Captain Kuro and the hypnotist Jango were openly discussing their plan to murder Kaya and seize her family fortune.

Kaya and Usopp clearly heard the entire scheme.

Tomorrow morning—Black Cat Pirates land—kill some villagers—force Kaya to write a will leaving her property to Kuro—kill Kaya.

The whole thing sent chills down Usopp and Kaya's spines. If a pirate crew attacked, the weak Syrup Village would surely become a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

"What do we do? What do we do?" Usopp paced back and forth in panic.

After learning the truth, Kaya was upset for a while, but quickly wiped away her tears.

Now she forced herself to calm down and think about how to handle tomorrow's crisis.

Just as the two were at a loss, Chouchou, who had long since turned back into a small dog, tugged at Kaya's skirt with his mouth.

Kaya snapped to attention, grabbed Usopp, and headed back to find Can Yue, Luffy, and the others.

On the way back, Usopp was still puzzled.

"Hey, where'd that green-haired swordsman with three swords go?"

Kaya only then realized. "Where did Mr. Zoro go?"

"Woof... (sigh)"

Chouchou, leading the way ahead, showed a helpless dog face, as if letting out a sigh.

Dusk settled over Kaya's villa.

Another butler, Merry, was pouring wine for Can Yue and the others.

Everyone sat around the dining table as Usopp recounted the day's events.

After hearing this, Luffy flew into a rage and declared he would definitely punch Captain Kuro flying tomorrow.

Usopp was puzzled by Luffy's enthusiasm and asked, "Why are you helping us?"

Luffy grinned and replied, "Because you treated me to a meal!"

Usopp, Kaya, and even Nami were stunned for a moment.

Usopp and Kaya marveled at how different Luffy's pirate crew was from the pirates they'd known before.

Nami's case was a bit special. Strictly speaking, she hadn't officially joined the Straw Hat Crew yet. According to the agreement, she would join only after Can Yue and the others helped her defeat Fish-Man Arlong.

At this point, though lust had swayed some of her actions, Nami still fundamentally despised pirates.

But Luffy's sincere words greatly lessened her aversion to this group of 'pirates.'

These guys are more like seafaring adventurers wearing pirate skins,

Thinking this, Nami broke into a smile.

~

With full bellies, their plan was already set.

Tonight, they would set traps on both sides of the island where pirates might land, with a few people guarding each side.

Tomorrow morning, if pirates landed on one side, the others would rush over to help.

Soon, Nami finalized the plan: "Step one: everyone works together to set the traps.

Step two: divide the work. The north side will be guarded by Luffy and Usopp. The south side by Zoro and Chouchou. Can Yue will provide backup as needed.

As for Miss Kaya and myself, we'll stay with Can Yue for now—definitely safe."

Usopp naturally objected to being sent to the front lines and demanded to stay at the villa to protect Kaya, but everyone rejected him.

With the plan settled, they intended to rest a bit before starting the operation.

Suddenly, Nami asked, "Where's Zoro?"

Luffy's face lit up with sudden realization.

"Whoa, Zoro's missing!"

Everyone fell into speechless silence.

The east had already turned white—a new day had begun.

As for Zoro, he had already been carried in Chouchou's mouth after the dog's transformation to the intersection on the south side of the island.

Zoro's face was dark with resentment, probably because he hadn't gotten any of last night's wine.

On the north side, Luffy and Usopp looked down at the slope slick with cooking oil and studded with nails, then gazed confidently at the sea ahead.

Luffy was confident in his own strength; Usopp was confident in Luffy's strength.

Before long, a pirate ship with a black cat figurehead appeared in their sight.

Usopp immediately fired a signal flare into the sky.

Seeing it, Zoro and Chouchou charged toward the northern landing point.

Zoro was, of course, still being carried in Chouchou's mouth—the dog was terrified of losing him again.

The great battle was about to begin.