Syrup Village

The next day dawned bright and clear, a cloudless morning.

Their group, now temporarily joined by Nami, finally arrived at Syrup Village, the four of them together.

As for Jango, he'd been thrown into the sea to feed the fish; if he survived, it meant his time wasn't up yet.

The island where Syrup Village was located had a unique topography, with cliffs surrounding the entire island where it met the sea.

There was only one port on the east side of the island, due to a long, gentle slope that led directly inland.

The group disembarked, and Luffy was the first to excitedly dash up the slope.

Reiner tied the boat's rope to a wooden stake on the shore, secured it, and then followed.

"Honestly, I can't stand this captain."

Nami watched Luffy, who was acting like an impatient monkey and going off on his own, feeling a bit helpless.

Although she'd been quite frightened by the two Devils Reiner summoned yesterday, she had gradually changed her opinion of the group afterward.

Initially, their act of saving her had already made a good impression.

Moreover, after hearing the secret Jango spoke of, Luffy's reaction made Nami feel even more incredulous.

He'd spent the entire day clamoring about wanting to beat Kuro.

Were there really pirates who enjoyed righting wrongs these days?

The pirates she'd known since childhood were Arlong's crew, and their brutal methods had made her utterly despise pirates.

To buy Cocoyasi Village from Arlong, Nami had become a thief, but she only targeted pirates.

In her eyes, pirate money was ill-gotten gains; even though she never claimed to be a good person, she felt perfectly at ease stealing from pirates.

She still had no intention of becoming a pirate, but temporarily accompanying them was acceptable.

"Stop!"

A shout drew their attention.

A person with a long nose and an afro jumped out from the side, blocking their path. He had bronze skin and a fanny pack tied around his waist.

Reiner recognized the person instantly.

God Usopp, a man who constantly wavered between bravery and cowardice.

Speaking of which, Reiner quite admired Usopp. Compared to Zoro's impossibly cool and perfect image, Usopp was more like a reflection of all ordinary people.

Yet, this timid and cowardly person could always face his inner fears at crucial moments, step forward, and fight to the death for his comrades with unwavering determination.

Allowing a miracle to bloom on this unassuming individual.

It seems the weakling trio can be formed early, Reiner couldn't help but think.

As for who the third person was, besides Nami and Usopp...

Yes, it's him!

He's a support personnel.

His undead are strong, what does that have to do with him?

Besides, his undead currently only have two effective fighters: the Sword Devil, molded after Zoro, and the Chainsaw Devil, molded after Luffy.

Although Luffy doesn't use Three Sword Style, his fighting talent is excellent, and his movements are agile, with unpredictable attack patterns in combat.

Paired with those three menacing large chainsaws, they look painful enough to make anyone flinch just by engaging in a fight.

Pulling his thoughts back, Reiner slowly followed.

"How do you know I'm Yasopp's son?"

"Hahaha, you two look so alike! At first glance, I thought, 'Why is Yasopp here?'"

Usopp and Luffy, who was leading the way, were already chatting. Luffy had recognized him instantly, after all, the father and son did look quite similar, especially the afro and thick lips.

"You know my dad!?"

Usopp was both surprised and delighted, quickly chasing after Luffy to inquire about Yasopp.

"He should still be on Shanks's ship, right?"

"You mean Red-Haired Shanks?"

"How do you know?"

"Nani!? He's a great pirate!"

"Eh, is he?", Luffy scratched his head and chuckled.

"Our captain never reads the news."

Reiner felt speechless about Luffy; despite Red-Haired Shanks being the person he admired most, he had never bothered to inquire about him.

The group chatted as they walked, with Luffy constantly telling Usopp about Yasopp along the way.

When Luffy was a child, Red-Haired Shanks's crew stayed in Foosha Village, and Luffy had often heard Lucky Roux and Yasopp boast.

He hadn't expected that today, the stories Yasopp had exaggerated would be retold to his son.

Soon, the five of them arrived in the village and found a random restaurant to enter.

"You seem to really admire Yasopp, don't you?"

"Of course I do!"

Usopp stood on his chair, then stepped onto the table, declaring grandly, "My dream is to be a brave warrior of the sea, just like him!"

"That's great! Then why don't you join our crew?"

Luffy grinned, showing off his bright white teeth as he invited Usopp.

"Since that's the case, I can be your captain."

"No thanks" x4, the others lowered their heads and continued eating in silence.

"Hey, wait a minute, don't reject me so decisively! Think about it again," Usopp tried to argue.

"Speaking of which, we're actually looking for a ship."

Reiner put down his cutlery and brought up the topic, "Usopp, do you know where we can find one?"

"...A ship?"

Usopp stroked his chin, looking up in thought. "I guess there's only one place around here that would have a ship."

"Eh! That's wonderful! Usopp, take us there!" Luffy excitedly looked up.

Usopp suddenly thought of something and quickly changed his mind. "No, no, you can't go there."

The others were a bit surprised. Then, as Usopp explained, they learned about the village's mansion and the past of its mistress, Kaya.

"Wait a minute, the Kaya Usopp is talking about, isn't that what Jango mentioned yesterday? Kuro's scheme."

Reiner already knew about this, and Nami was the first to react besides him.

He planned to just lay it all out for Usopp and then directly expose Kuro with the others by force.

"Jango? You know Kaya and Kuro?"

Usopp was a bit confused. He had only talked about Kaya, so how would they know about Kuro?

Reiner slowly explained that they had encountered the Black Cat Pirates yesterday and learned about Kuro's scheme from Jango.

"Hey! You're not kidding, are you?"

Usopp found it hard to believe, slapping his hands on the table. "You're not just making this up to get a ship, are you?"

Reiner directly pulled out the bounty poster he had gotten from Jango and handed it to Usopp.

It showed Kuro's bounty information from three years ago; it was likely only Jango and his crew still had it now.

After all, Kuro was supposedly captured, and the Black Cat Pirates had rarely appeared in public since.

"This, this is!" Usopp looked alarmed.

He recognized Kuro at a glance. After all, he often snuck into Kaya's mansion to meet her and was chased away by Kuro every time.

"Damn it!" Usopp tucked the bounty poster into his waist pouch and turned to rush out the door.

He had to tell Kaya this news immediately! A pirate with a 16,000,000 Beli bounty had been lurking beside Kaya for three years!

"Wait for me! I'm going to punch that bastard too!"

Luffy sprang up, grabbing the food off the table, plate and all.

Reiner and the others followed. Kuro was not to be underestimated; at their current level, no one could keep up with the speed of his Shatter Dead.

This was also why Reiner coveted Kuro—his extremely high burst speed was simply too —too cool for sneak attacks!