I was doing grown-up things!

As the glowing doorway faded away.

Before long, the room returned to a deathly silence.

The Kaya formed from water lay quietly on the rocking chair, her chest rising and falling slightly with her "breathing."

Usopp slowly straightened up as well.

The anger, the killing intent, and even the tenderness he had shown his family all vanished from his face at that moment.

His expression returned to its usual calm.

He turned his head and gazed out the window at the shimmering sea.

Deep gratitude toward the World Government welled up in his heart.

Without the World Government, without the mercy of His Excellency Ross...

What would he, Usopp, amount to now?

He would never have possessed any power to defy his fate.

Had he not joined the World Government, not only would his beloved mother have died a miserable death from illness on that stormy night...

Even Kaya, whom he now loved so deeply, would have been cruelly robbed of her fortune and her life through Kuro and Yasopp's scheming.

He would have had nothing.

He would only have been able to weep in despair over an irreversible tragedy, like a truly useless piece of trash.

But now, everything was different.

The World Government stood behind him, backing him up and catching him if he fell.

At last, he could cast aside every last worry.

In this game of chess called revenge, he could cut loose and take on the man who had abandoned his wife and child.

Usopp raised a hand and firmly pulled down the sniper goggles on his head, hiding the dangerously red gleam in his eyes.

Yasopp.

You old bastard who belongs in hell.

Wash your neck and wait for me!

An hour later.

The heavy solid-wood door of Kaya's home opened once again.