Liu Qing looked at the villagers still gathered around, whispering among themselves, and thought, It really is the same in every world. The older women at the village entrance always have endless gossip.
"All right, we're going to defeat Kuro. Come watch if you're interested. Otherwise, go home and get on with your work." Liu Qing told everyone to disperse. What was the point of hanging around here all the time?
Watching the villagers slowly leave, Liu Qing turned to Usopp. "Want to come along and take a look?"
Usopp hurriedly nodded. "Yes, absolutely! Kaya is my best friend!"
"Then lead the way. Once we've beaten Kuro, we can even mooch a meal at Miss Kaya's house."
Before long, the group arrived en masse at the gates of Miss Kaya's villa.
Seeing the group arrive, with Usopp among them, Merry hurriedly pulled Usopp aside to ask what was going on.
After hearing Usopp's explanation, Merry breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, they had come to help. If they had come to rob them, they would really have been done for.
Without hesitating, Merry asked Usopp for Kuro's letter and wanted poster, then hurried to Kaya's room. He explained what had happened downstairs to Miss Kaya, then took her out of the villa to a safe spot, intending to watch how this group defeated Kuro.
Merry also learned that all they wanted in return for fighting Kuro was a sailing ship fit to take to sea, and he readily agreed. As long as they could resolve this crisis, it was only a ship. They could have it.
Over with Luffy.
After watching Merry take Kaya away, Jango's clone stepped forward and shouted, "Kuro, you dumbass! Get out here and pay your respects to your Vice Captain!"
The Nyaban Brothers' clones also shouted, "That's right, dumbass Kuro! We can't stand your evil deeds! We're going to eliminate you on behalf of the Marines! Get out here, now!"
Kuro, who had been in his room thinking about how to spend the family fortune once he obtained it, heard the racket outside and opened the window to look. Well, well. Every member of his pirate crew was here, and from the looks of it, they no longer respected him as their captain.
Kuro hurriedly put on his claw-blade weapons, then headed downstairs to see what had happened. Hadn't they agreed to wait for the signal tomorrow before making their move? Why had they come today, and so fucking openly at that?
"What are you doing? Trying to mutiny? You dare speak to me like that? Have you forgotten how ruthless I am?" Kuro opened the front door and walked out.
A Nyaban Brothers clone said, "What, got a problem with it? We've been sick of you for ages. You'd give up your identity and name for some lousy inheritance. You don't deserve to be our captain anymore. We're turning over a new leaf. Today, we'll beat you. Tomorrow, we'll join the Marines."
Veins bulged on Kuro's forehead, and he laughed in fury. "Heh, it seems three years without seeing me fight has made you forget how terrifying I am. In that case, I'll give you a proper reminder today."
Before Kuro could make a move, the Nyaban Brothers clone walked up and delivered a vicious slap across his face.
The blow sent Kuro spinning through the air several times before he landed, teeth falling out and blood streaming from his nose. The Nyaban Brothers clone planted a foot on his face and said, "You little punk, still talking big? You think you can beat us now? Any one of the hundred or so of us here could beat you to death, and you're talking about reminding us of fear?"
Just then, Jango's clone stepped forward and helped Kuro up.
"Oh dear~ Captain Kuro, how could you be so careless? Getting yourself this battered just from walking! It looks like three years as a butler has made you forget how to fight. How about this? We'll help Captain Kuro properly remember what fighting feels like."
At that moment, the ship's doctor clone stepped forward and said, "Wait. I hate ganging up on people. At least give him a fair fight. Look how badly he's hurt. Let me treat him first, then you can fight."
A Wood Clone instantly understood what was needed and used "Wood Release: Temporary Hospital."
A small wooden hospital appeared nearby, with a sign reading "Dawn Castration Clinic."
Seeing this, the other clones clearly understood what the doctor clone intended and promptly nodded their agreement.
The ship's doctor clone said, "Two of you, carry the captain into the hospital. Someone else, help me bring the castration tools. I'll treat Captain Kuro first."
Hearing that they were going to castrate him, Kuro, who was held by two Wood Clones, immediately began struggling violently. He was so terrified that his whole body shook uncontrollably, and he began struggling fiercely, but no matter how hard he struggled, he couldn't break free.
Seeing Kuro still thrashing around, a Wood Clone slapped him again. "Behave. This is our ship's doctor's new treatment-the castration healing method."
The Wood Clones carried Kuro into the Dawn Castration Wooden Mini-Hospital. Inside was a wooden operating table. They pinned Kuro onto it, and wooden restraints emerged, binding his limbs, head, and waist tightly so that he couldn't move an inch.
Outside, Luffy, Zoro, Merry, and the other men trembled in fear at the sight, while the women stood there laughing.
Zoro and Luffy thought, We must never provoke Liu Qing. We couldn't beat him or escape him. If he caught us and castrated us, we'd be better off just dying.
Just then, Luffy and the others heard Kuro shouting from inside the Temporary Hospital, "No... no... I don't want to be castrated! Let me go! I don't want to be castrated... no!"
"Don't be scared. Don't be scared. I'm not any kind of professional doctor, and I don't know how to perform painless castration. We don't have any anesthetic here either, so you'll just have to put up with it. Bear with this little bit of pain, and it'll be over. Hehehe~" the ship's doctor Wood Clone said.
"Why waste so many words on him? Just get on with it. I'll use healing techniques to stabilize the wound, so cut away. I absolutely won't let him die," the lackey Wood Clone said.
The ship's doctor clone said, "Then let's begin the operation. I don't want to touch that thing with my hands, so I'll hold it with pliers. For the blade, I'll just use the claws he's wearing."
After a rustling from inside, the operation officially began.
Then came a cry of "Aaaah~~~!"
The healer clone said, "Holy shit! Why did you squeeze so hard with the pliers? His balls burst!"
The ship's doctor clone said, "It's hard to control the force with my left hand! Sorry, sorry. Heal him first, and I'll try again."
Kuro cried, "Aaaah~~~! It hurts~~!"
The pirate lackey clone said, "Holy shit, what are you doing now? We're castrating him! Why did you cut off his dick? Without anesthetic, I'm worried he'll die of pain. Weren't we not going to kill him?"
The ship's doctor clone said, "Sorry, sorry. It's my first time, so I have no experience. My hand was shaking badly, and I accidentally cut in the wrong place. How about we reattach it and cut it again? With your healing ability, we should be able to reattach it directly since it was only just cut off, right?"
"Shall we try?" the healer clone asked.
The ship's doctor clone said, "Then reattach it."
A rustling accompanied the treatment.
The healer clone said, "Holy shit, it really can be reattached! Pay attention this time. Don't cut the wrong part."
The ship's doctor clone said, "I figure, since we're cutting anyway, we might as well cut it all off. How about both of you use your healing abilities to keep him alive while I cut out his whole dick, inside and out?"
Hearing the conversation inside, everyone outside clamped their legs together and frantically backed away, as though afraid the clones inside would drag them in to be castrated too.
The pirate lackey clone said, "Just give him a quick snip and be done with it. He looks almost brain-dead already."
"Fine, fine. I'll leave him a little, then." The ship's doctor clone immediately got to work.
Then came a series of swishes and snips, accompanied by another agonized scream from Kuro.
The ship's doctor clone said, "All right, all right, stop screaming. The operation was a great success. From now on, you're the Eunuch King of the Seas. No one will fight you for that throne, don't worry."
Outside, seeing that things were more or less finished, Liu Qing dismissed all the clones along with the hospital.
The moment the hospital vanished, everyone looked at the pirate Kuro.
Luffy and Zoro said, "Tsk, tsk. That's really brutal."
Usopp and Merry said, "Yeah, it really is."
Nami and Kaya covered their eyes with both hands, but kept their fingers spread.
Just then, Kuro slowly regained consciousness. Looking at the people gathered around him, he unconsciously formed Orchid Fingers with his hand. His voice had turned shrill, with a hint of a Cutesy Voice, as he said, "You hateful lot~ Hmph~ How did little old me ever let you off~ Boo-hoo~"
Before you continue