The Rat Dropping in a Nest of Rats

The conflict in Syrup Village ended with the Red Hair Pirates and Kuro withdrawing at the same time.

Before leaving, Shanks finally gritted his teeth and reached a humiliating agreement with Kuro.

Both sides would take a step back, leave Syrup Village together, and refrain from pursuing each other.

Apart from his encounters with the World Government, this was the most humiliating truce he had ever signed in his pirate career.

But he had no choice.

Though the Divine Eye overhead had slowly closed, its invisible pressure still weighed on everyone's hearts.

If they kept fighting, Kuro would not even need to act. A single thought from Ross would be enough to obliterate Shanks and his crew.

When the first rays of dawn fell over Syrup Village, the villagers timidly peeked through their doors and looked toward Kaya's home, where the fragrance of roses had still lingered the night before.

All that remained was an enormous crater of churned, scorched earth.

Wisps of smoke still rose from its depths, silently bearing witness to the turmoil of the previous night.

Usopp cried beside the crater all night.

He cried until his voice grew hoarse, until his eyes dried out, until no more tears would come and only hollow sobs remained.

He clutched that bloodstained nightdress as though holding the last warmth left in the world. His whole body seemed to have wasted away, his eyes sinking deep into their sockets, as if he had aged ten years overnight.

Kaya and Banchina sat in the Science Department. Even after everyone else left, they silently watched Usopp, staying with him throughout the night.

It was all an act, but they could feel that Usopp's feelings were real.

If they had truly been killed, perhaps Usopp would have gone even further over the edge.