Kuro

"Stop it, Usopp!"

Kaya, watching from the window, let out a terrified cry. "No more violence!"

To Usopp, Kaya's voice was more effective than any attempt to stop him.

His body suddenly stiffened, and his raised fist froze in midair.

His hand clutching Kuro's collar slowly loosened as well.

Seizing the chance, Kuro slapped Usopp's hand away and coldly straightened his rumpled suit.

"Leave this place. You are not to come near this mansion again."

Ronan looked at Usopp, whose face was filled with grief and indignation as his whole body trembled, and sighed heavily.

Though Ronan also despised Yasopp for abandoning his wife and child, Usopp should not have been subjected to such malicious distortion.

He looked at Luffy and Zoro beside him, whose expressions were equally grim, and knew that the anger in their hearts had reached its peak as well.

Ronan decided he had seen enough.

He knew Kuro's true nature—he was merely a hypocritical pirate who had lost his ambition and sought to steal wealth by disguising himself as a butler. He had no right to say such things to Usopp.

All of Kuro's righteous words were nothing more than a scheme to seize Kaya's family fortune.

Ronan stepped forward and calmly looked at Kuro.

"Hey, Kuro. Aren't you a pirate too? Showing up here as a butler... have you washed your hands of it?"

The moment Ronan finished speaking, Kuro's pupils abruptly contracted. The calm on his face was instantly replaced by gravity and panic.

He adjusted his glasses and glared at Ronan. "What nonsense are you talking about? I'm no pirate!"

Luffy and the others also looked at Ronan in confusion.

Luffy asked, "Ronan, do you know this guy?"

"If I remember correctly," Ronan said calmly, though his words rang like a hammer blow.

"Three years ago, there was a pirate named Kuro with a bounty of sixteen million Belly who looked exactly like you.

Although the Marines unilaterally declared him dead, I never expected him to fake his death and escape, then become a butler here."

"The captain of the Black Cat Pirates, Kuro of a Hundred Schemes!"

Nami suddenly cried out. She instantly recalled the infamous pirate who had once been renowned throughout the East Blue.

"I remember now! Back in the East Blue, he really was a notorious pirate! Come to think of it, you really do look exactly like him!"

Kaya, standing by the second-floor window, went deathly pale. Still unable to believe it, she trembled as she defended him. "How could that be... You must have misunderstood something!"

However, with confirmation from Ronan and Nami, the doubt on Luffy and Zoro's faces had vanished.

It was replaced by grave expressions brimming with Fighting Spirit as they fixed their eyes on Kuro.

Kuro knew he could no longer maintain his disguise.

He took a deep breath. Every trace of gentleness and composure on his face shattered completely, revealing a gloomy, vicious gaze.

"I never expected... after three years, there would still be someone who remembered my face."

He lowered his voice, his tone filled with extreme resentment and fury over his ruined plan.

"I was so close! My plan was about to succeed! Why... why did you have to force me to kill you all?!"

As his words fell, Kuro's previously restrained presence erupted in an instant. Chilling killing intent poured from him as he completely transformed from a mild-mannered butler back into that treacherous pirate captain!

Yet Kuro did not take Ronan and the others seriously. In his eyes, none of the brats before him could possibly be his match.

Beside them, Usopp was dumbfounded by the cruel truth. He muttered to himself, "Kuro... a great pirate with a bounty of sixteen million Belly?"

Kuro stepped forward, his eyes fixed only on Kaya at the window, whose face was pale with disbelief.

"So much has happened over these three years."

Kuro's voice was full of twisted self-pity.

"Ever since your parents died and you became bedridden, we spent a long time together, didn't we? I often think of those days when we shared hardship and comfort..."

His voice suddenly became venomous and warped.

"I often stayed by your bedside and cared for you. You happily listened to me speak, while I devoted all my thoughts to you...

I kept enduring it, enduring it all this time! That's right, everything was to kill you and inherit your property legally!"

"I, who once called myself captain Kuro, had to smile apologetically at a little girl with snot running from her nose, and think of ways to please you while saying things I didn't mean... Can you understand those humiliating years?"

Every word of Kuro's mockery cut like a blade. "Can you understand how I felt, once known as Captain Kuro?!"

He lifted his head and revealed an utterly cold smile. "And Kaya, do you know? Your parents... I was the one who killed them."

Those final words completely shattered Kaya's sanity.

Unable to endure it any longer, she let out a pained whimper. Then her body went limp, and she fainted in agony.

Watching Kaya suffer, Usopp was completely enraged by Kuro's cruelty.

With a roar, he swung a fist full of hatred at Kuro!

Kuro sneered and did not move.

Amid Nami's cry of alarm, he merely raised a foot and ruthlessly kicked Usopp several meters away with perfect precision!

Usopp crashed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Kuro's eyes were icy, his killing intent sharp.

"You brat, do you think you're my opponent? You ruined my plan and prevented me from taking everything here smoothly, so you can all die!"

He raised a hand and lightly wiped the cheek Usopp had struck earlier, his voice returning to a chilling calm.

"Speaking of which, Kid. That punch of yours hurt quite a bit."

Just as Kuro was about to attack the fallen Usopp again, Luffy moved.

As a Rubber-Rubber Fruit user, Luffy's arm suddenly stretched back, accompanied by a short cry of "Rubber—"

A heavy, powerful punch slammed Kuro viciously to the ground!

Kuro quickly got back to his feet, his eyes full of surprise and wariness. "A Devil Fruit user..."

At the same time, Zoro drew Wado Ichimonji.

The sharp blade glinted with a cold sheen in the sunlight.

In an instant, an icy, razor-sharp presence locked firmly onto Kuro.

Ronan gripped the half-broken wooden stick in his hand, his eyes focused on Kuro's every move.

Though it was only a wooden stick, his presence was restrained and solid, like a lurking fierce tiger.

Kuro's eyes flickered as he propped up his glasses with his wrist.

He could clearly sense that although the people before him were young, none of them could be dealt with quickly through hand-to-hand combat alone.

With his favored weapons not at hand, he chose not to clash head-on with Ronan and the others. Instead, he pushed off the ground and shot into the mansion at incredible speed.

Kuro's move left both Luffy and Zoro stunned.

Luffy asked in confusion, "Did that guy run away?"

Ronan said gravely, "He probably went to get his weapon. After hiding here for three years, with us ruining his plan, I doubt he can just swallow it."

The moment Ronan finished speaking, Kuro had already returned.

Wearing gloves fitted with sharp Cat Claws on both hands, their long blades gleaming with a fierce cold light beneath the sun, he appeared before them once more.

He stared darkly at Luffy, his voice sinister.

"That punch hurt quite a bit. I never expected to encounter a Devil Fruit user here."

Luffy did not shrink back and faced him openly. "I'm a rubber man who ate the Rubber-Rubber Fruit!"

Kuro's ten sharp claws flashed with cold light as his killing intent burst forth.

"Since the plan has failed, I'll kill every last one of you, then force Kaya to write her will!"