Merry, Usopp Joins the Crew, and the Grateful Pirate's Marine Colonel.

The battle ended with 30 dead from the Black Cat Pirates, 10 severely wounded, and 20 barely able to move.

95% of those casualties were caused by their former captain—Kuro.

The remaining damage was inflicted by Luffy.

Can Yue's side's losses were as follows: one person lightly injured by nails, named Luffy, currently still in a dormant state.

One dog scratched to superficial wounds by Captain Kuro, whose injuries had basically healed due to its constitution.

One person injured from falling due to lust, named Nami, still babbling complaints.

It looked like a fierce fight, but in reality, the entire battle from start to finish took less than 15 minutes.

So now it was still the time of the vibrant sunrise.

Bright sunlight poured down over the land of Syrup Village.

To the unaware villagers, today's morning sun was as gentle and full of life as ever.

To the Black Cat Pirates, today's sun seemed especially harsh—and dark.

Every surviving pirate was tied together in a circle with rope by Usopp and Zoro.

In the center sat Captain Kuro, already dazed and speechless, and the hypnotist Jango, laughing to himself in despair.

Of the Cat-man Brothers, the fat one had survived Kuro's indiscriminate killing spree thanks to his blubber; the skinny one had already breathed his last.

Now, the entire Black Cat Pirates faced judgment.

This judgment would decide their life or death.

They waited. Five minutes passed. The whole scene was dead quiet, broken only by Luffy's snoring. It was extremely awkward.

"Is the man in charge not planning to wake up yet?" Zoro muttered with a twitching mouth, clenching his fist as he walked toward where Luffy was sleeping.

Nami, unable to take it anymore, swung her fist and punched the slumbering Luffy.

After a clattering barrage of iron-rod blows, Luffy woke up with a face swollen like a pig's head.

"Huh? It's morning?"

Luffy said groggily. The result, of course, was another heavy punch from Nami.

Pulling himself together, Luffy looked at the scene, combined with Zoro's explanation, and finally understood what had happened.

Now it was time for him to make the decision.

Luffy turned to Can Yue and asked, "Can Yue, what do you think?"

Can Yue replied calmly, "You're the captain."

At this critical moment, neither Can Yue, Zoro, nor Nami took it upon themselves to decide.

Because the captain of the Straw Hat Pirates was Luffy. Even if the guy wasn't exactly reliable, at important times, the decision had to be his.

Luffy adjusted his straw hat, looked seriously at Kuro, Jango, and the others, and spoke.

"After we leave, let Kaya hand them over to the Marines."

So everyone hid the Black Cat Pirates in a corner by the cliff, and the group headed back to Kaya's house.

Inside Kaya's villa.

After Kaya and Usopp thanked Can Yue and the others, everyone sat around a table, eating the breakfast prepared by the butler, Merry.

Luffy brought up the idea of finding a ship.

As expected, Kaya and Merry, to express their gratitude, directly gifted the sailboat Merry had built to Can Yue, Luffy, and the others.

Everyone decided to set off before noon to avoid running into the arriving Marines and causing unnecessary trouble.

On the shore of Syrup Village, a light sailboat with a sheep's head design at the bow was docked.

Below the ship stood Can Yue, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Chouchou—four people and one dog—along with Kaya and her butler, Merry.

Merry was explaining the ship's usage and functions to Can Yue and the others.

This ship was called the Going Merry, a light tiller-type sailboat. Its hull was 13 meters long, and its main mast was 11 meters tall.

The ship had gun deck cabins at both the bow and stern, serving as weapon rooms. It was equipped with four cannons in total.

Below the mast was the men's quarters; the women's quarters were beneath the stern gun deck cabin.

The stern had a bathroom and a toilet.

The Merry also had a water-pumping device, which not only supplied daily bathing water but also had a power generation function.

Above the deck was a dining room, which could be used for cooking, meetings, and the like.

You could say it was small but had everything.

Perhaps because they had grown used to riding small boats that could only carry people, even Can Yue was satisfied with the Merry.

However, the thought of so many men cramming into one room still made Can Yue somewhat resistant.

Just as everyone was about to board the ship and leave, they saw a thin figure carrying a huge bundle rolling toward them like a snowball.

Taking a closer look, it was naturally Usopp, who had already decided to set sail as a pirate.

Because Usopp had worked with Can Yue and the others and personally experienced the charm of pirates, he decided to go to sea himself to follow in his father's footsteps.

So his original intention in coming here was to say goodbye to Can Yue, Luffy, and the others, then set sail alone.

Just as Usopp stood on the beach, preparing to wave farewell to the people on the ship, Luffy suddenly spoke.

"What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and get on board, you're already our comrade!"

Zoro also leaned to the side, smiling as he invited Usopp.

Usopp was startled by this sudden turn of events, overjoyed.

Naturally, the Straw Hat Pirates increased from four people and one dog to five people and one dog.

After Can Yue and the others sailed the Merry far away from Syrup Village, the Marines arrived at the scene shortly after.

When the Marines saw the Black Cat Pirates tied up into a ball, especially Captain Kuro with his vacant eyes, they all widened their eyes in shock.

They clearly remembered that Captain Kuro had been executed by Captain Morgan three years ago.

The captain in charge of this mission asked Kaya, "Who defeated them?"

Kaya steadied herself and said, "A very peculiar group of pirates."

"Pirates? They didn't do anything bad to you?"

"No, they defeated the pirates who were about to attack our village and then left. I don't know the exact reason either."

"Please tell me their names or what they looked like." The captain inquired according to regulations.

Kaya thought for a moment before replying, "I don't know them. From a distance, I only remember their features: silver hair, a straw hat, and three swords."

Hearing this, the captain suddenly recalled the images of three pirates he had seen in Shells Town.

Then he said to Kaya, "I think I know who it is."

"If it's them, they really would do something like helping civilians."

The captain smiled slightly, then ordered his subordinates to bring the entire Black Cat Pirates onto the warship and sail off into the distance.

On the way back, a subordinate asked the captain, "How should we report this?"

The captain replied, "The Black Cat Pirates suffered a shipwreck and happened to be captured by us."

"Yes!"

After giving his conclusion, the captain looked at the sky and fell into recollection.

"Straw Hat Pirates, you helped us end Morgan's tyranny, then defeated the East Blue's overlord Buggy, and now you've crushed that cunning, treacherous Captain Kuro until he's lost all confidence."

"You really are a strange bunch of pirates."

The captain muttered to himself while recalling the three people he had met in Shells Town a week ago—Can Yue and the others.

This captain was one of the Marines Can Yue had encountered in Shells Town.

He had been the Lieutenant Colonel under Morgan, promoted after Morgan's downfall and the townspeople's acclaim.

"I sincerely thank you, Straw Hat Pirates!

For the sake of your smooth departure, I'll help hide your information this time. Next time we meet, we'll be enemies.

But speaking for myself, I look forward to seeing what legendary stories you'll create next."

With that, the captain turned and walked toward the cabin.