Even though it was now practically certain that the butler was Captain Kuro, Kaya was still devastated.
After all, ever since her parents had passed away a year ago, this butler had been the one caring for her so attentively.
So she still clung to a sliver of hope.
"Even if Klahadore is Captain Kuro, what if he's already turned over a new leaf? What if he was only trying to protect me just now?"
Kaya said this through tears.
Usopp could understand how Kaya felt. After her parents died, the butler had always looked after her while she was frail and sickly. Suddenly learning that this butler had once been an evil pirate was indeed hard to accept.
Seeing Kaya's distress, Usopp's eyes shifted. An idea suddenly struck him, and he turned to Can Yue.
"Since you know he'll come back to kill again, that means you know what that guy's after, right?"
Can Yue turned slightly to look at them and thought for a moment.
They really should know the truth. It'll save a lot of explaining.
With that in mind, Can Yue said to Chouchou,
"Chouchou, take Usopp and Kaya and secretly follow that butler from earlier. Don't let him spot you. Zoro, you go protect them too."
Can Yue could have claimed that he had heard about Captain Kuro's scheme from some pirate before, but he did not want to waste effort explaining things through lies.
So he decided to let the others see the truth for themselves.
Just then, Luffy, who could never sit still, came over to join the excitement.
"I wanna go too."
"You stay here. Don't go causing trouble."
"No way! I'm going!"
"Stay here and there'll be meat."
"Okay, then I'm not going."
Can Yue truly did not want Luffy to go. If Luffy went, the risk of exposure would be one hundred percent. This guy would definitely jump out and start something on the spot.
If that happened, it would be difficult to wipe out the Black Cat Pirates in one fell swoop.
When dealing with things, it was best to finish them once and for all. Otherwise, even if they dealt with Kuro and Jango now, what about the rest?
Can Yue had no idea where the other members of the Black Cat Pirates currently were.
Even if the frightened Black Cat Pirates did not dare come here to make trouble in the short term,
given enough time, those pirates who already knew Syrup Village's location would definitely return.
When that happened, if Can Yue and the others were not around, every villager in Syrup Village would surely be slaughtered.
The best approach was naturally to lure all of them here, then wipe them out in one go.
Suddenly, Can Yue thought of something else and called out to Zoro, who had already walked several dozen meters ahead.
"Zoro, stay close to Chouchou. Don't get lost."
Zoro replied with a face full of dark lines, "Got it!"
The facts proved that Captain Kuro had remained under Chouchou's surveillance all along.
Because of Can Yue's essence blood, Chouchou's abilities had undergone earth-shaking changes compared to before.
This included his sense of smell. Within a ten-kilometer radius, as long as it was a scent he had smelled before, he could track it at any time.
At that moment, Chouchou was hiding on a cliff by the sea with Usopp and Kaya.
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 their plan.
Tomorrow morning, the Black Cat Pirates land—kill some of the villagers—force Kaya to make a will leaving her property to Kuro—kill Kaya.
The entire plan made Usopp and Kaya's scalps crawl. If a pirate crew attacked, weak little Syrup Village would inevitably become a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
"What do we do? What do we do?" Usopp paced back and forth anxiously.
After learning the truth, Kaya was upset for a while, but she quickly wiped away her tears.
She forced herself to calm down and began thinking about how to handle tomorrow's crisis.
Just as the two were at a loss, Chouchou, who had long since changed back into a puppy, tugged at Kaya's skirt with his mouth.
Kaya immediately understood. She grabbed Usopp and headed back to find Can Yue, Luffy, and the others.
On the way back, Usopp was still puzzled.
"Where did that green-haired swordsman with three swords go?"
Only then did Kaya realize it too. "Where is Mr. Zoro?"
"Woof..."
Chouchou, leading the way ahead, wore a helpless expression that seemed almost like a sigh.
At dusk, inside Kaya's mansion.
The other butler, Merry, was pouring wine for Can Yue and the others.
Everyone sat around the dining table as Usopp recounted what had happened that day.
Luffy flew into a rage after hearing it, loudly declaring that he would definitely knock Captain Kuro flying tomorrow.
Usopp was puzzled by Luffy's enthusiasm and asked, "Why are you helping us?"
Luffy answered with a cheerful grin, "Because you treated me to a meal!"
Usopp, Kaya, and even Nami were stunned for a moment.
Usopp and Kaya were struck by how different Luffy's pirate crew was from the pirates they had known before.
Nami's situation was somewhat different. Strictly speaking, she had not officially joined the Straw Hat Crew yet. According to their agreement, she would join after Can Yue and the others helped her defeat Fish-Man Arlong.
Although Nami's actions were currently influenced in part by her lustful thoughts, she still hated pirates at heart.
But Luffy's sincere words lessened her rejection of these "pirates" considerably.
These people are more like seafaring adventurers wearing pirate skins.
Thinking that, Nami smiled.
~
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, their plan was complete.
That night, they would set traps on both shores of the island where a landing might be possible, with several people assigned to guard each side.
The next morning, if pirates landed on one side, the people on the other side would immediately rush over to help.
Nami soon finalized the plan. "Step one: everyone works together to set the traps. Step two: divide up the duties. Luffy and Usopp will guard the north side. Zoro and Chouchou will guard the south side. Can Yue will provide support if necessary. As for Miss Kaya and me, we'll stay with Can Yue for now. We'll definitely be safe."
Naturally, Usopp objected to being sent to the front line and asked to remain at the mansion to protect Kaya, but everyone rejected his request.
With the plan settled, everyone intended to rest briefly before beginning their preparations.
Suddenly, Nami asked, "Where's Zoro?"
Luffy suddenly looked as though he had realized something profound.
"Whoa, Zoro's gone missing!"
Everyone fell silent in speechless disbelief.
The eastern sky was beginning to brighten. A new day had begun.
As for Zoro, Chouchou, in his transformed form, had already carried him by the mouth to the southern entrance of the island.
Zoro's face was dark and full of resentment, probably because he had not gotten any of last night's wine.
On the north side, Luffy and Usopp looked at the slope below, which was covered in cooking oil and nails, then gazed confidently at the sea ahead.
Luffy was confident in his own strength, while Usopp was confident in Luffy's strength.
Before long, a pirate ship bearing a black cat figurehead appeared in their field of vision.
Usopp immediately fired a signal flare into the sky.
After seeing it, Zoro and Chouchou rushed toward the northern landing entrance.
Naturally, Zoro was still being carried there in Chouchou's mouth. Chouchou was terrified that he might get lost.
The great battle was about to begin.
Before you continue