Once the farce was over, Luffy and the others did not kill Kuro. Instead, they took all the Black Cat Pirates into the village and tied them up, then had the villagers notify the Marines to come collect them.
Elsewhere...
Inside Kaya's mansion, everyone was enjoying a feast, eating with great delight. Once Luffy and the others had finished, Kaya said, "I heard from Merry, my butler, that you want a ship that can sail freely across the sea. You've done me a huge favor, so I can give you a ship. But I have one more request: I hope you'll take Usopp out to sea with you."
Hearing that Kaya wanted to help him, Usopp felt a rush of warmth and was almost too moved to speak. He hurriedly waved his hands. "Kaya, you really don't have to go to all that trouble. I can head out to sea later on my own. That way, I won't be a burden to them."
Just then, however, Luffy suddenly said to Usopp, "Hey! Your dad's Yasopp, right? I saw him on Shanks's ship when I was little. He was always telling us he had an amazing son named Usopp!"
Pride immediately spread across Usopp's face. He puffed out his chest and said, "Haha, that's right! Yasopp is my father! I've always looked up to him, too. I hope I can become a brave warrior of the sea, just like him!"
Seeing this, Luffy grinned and extended an enthusiastic invitation. "In that case, do you want to join our pirate crew? Come adventure out at sea with us!"
Kaya chimed in beside him. "That's right, Usopp. I've always known how much you long for the sea. Luffy and his friends are a wonderful pirate crew. I'm sure you'll have plenty of exciting experiences with them. Besides, knowing you, if you give up this chance, you might never get another opportunity to sail away. Do you really want to spend your whole life on this little island?"
Liu Qing slapped Usopp on the shoulder. "How are you going to become a man if you keep hemming and hawing? Listen to me. You're setting sail with us tomorrow."
Then he turned to Kaya. "Miss Kaya, we accept your request. So when can we have our ship?"
Kaya looked at Merry, and the butler said, "We can hand it over tomorrow morning."
Now that they knew when, Luffy and the others found an inn in the village and stayed there. The night passed without incident.
The next day.
Merry, Miss Kaya, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Liu Qing all arrived at the shore of Syrup Village. Originally, there had only been a Black Cat Pirates ship along the shore. Now a medium-sized sailing ship sat beside it.
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Merry said, "Allow me to introduce this ship. I built her with great care and poured all my heart and soul into her, blah, blah, blah... Finally, this ship's name is the Going Merry. Did you understand all that?"
Luffy, Zoro, and Liu Qing looked utterly baffled. "??? We didn't understand."
One look at their expressions told Nami they had understood nothing, and she pressed a hand to her forehead. As the Straw Hat Pirates' navigator, however, she had easily remembered everything Merry had said.
Nami replied, "Merry, I understood. Don't worry about those three. It's enough that I understand."
After a flurry of activity, Merry and Kaya left ahead of them and returned to the mansion.
Luffy and the others excitedly ran aboard their very own Going Merry.
As soon as he boarded, Luffy rushed eagerly toward the bow, as though it were his own exclusive territory.
Standing at the bow, Luffy spread his arms excitedly and shouted into the sea breeze, "Wahahaha! This is great! I've decided! From now on, this is my special seat!" His laughter echoed across the water, as though the entire ocean could feel his joy.
Zoro stood nearby with his arms folded, looking at the new ship. The corners of his mouth lifted slightly in an approving smile. "Not bad. Now I can train to my heart's content aboard the ship."
Nami walked over as well. Looking at the Going Merry before her, she nodded in satisfaction. "With this ship, we can head into the Grand Line without worrying. We won't have to worry about some random wave swamping us anymore."
Just then, Usopp came over and said to everyone, "I need two rooms. One to live in, and another I'd like to use as a workshop. What do you think?"
Liu Qing answered with a smile, "No problem, Usopp. There are plenty of rooms aboard, enough for dozens of people. Besides, Luffy plans to keep the crew small and elite. We'll only have ten or so crewmates at most, so there'll definitely be plenty of spare rooms. Feel free to pick one for your workshop."
Liu Qing looked seriously at Luffy. "Luffy, now that we have a pirate ship of our own, it's time we had our own pirate flag."
"Let's split up the work. Two people can stay aboard and paint the pirate flag, while the others buy supplies. Once that's done, we'll set off for the next island. Don't forget, we still need to help Nami defeat the Fish-Man Pirates. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can put her worries to rest," Liu Qing said to Luffy and Zoro.
Nami's eyes filled with gratitude at Liu Qing's words. "All right, I'll buy supplies. Luffy and Usopp will stay aboard and paint the pirate flag. Liu Qing and Zoro will come with me to carry everything. That's settled. Let's get moving."
When Nami and the others returned with the supplies, they were speechless to find the pair still painting the pirate flag aboard the ship. "After all this time, you still haven't finished?"
The three went over to see how the painting was coming along. But when Nami saw the pirate flag covered in what looked like meaningless scribbles, she was truly at a loss for words.
"How could you even paint a pirate flag like this? A pirate flag represents the crew's dignity! If you dare fly that thing you painted, everyone will be laughing at us tomorrow," Nami said through gritted teeth.
Zoro looked completely bewildered. "What the hell is this thing?"
Liu Qing burst out laughing. "Hahahaha! Are you trying to become the laughingstock of the pirate world? If we fly that thing, I can't even imagine what it'll be like when we meet other pirate crews! Hahaha!"
Usopp said, "I told you this wouldn't work, Luffy, but you wouldn't believe me. Let me paint it."
With that, Usopp took a piece of white cloth and some paint and began painting.
Before long, Usopp finished, and everyone gathered around to take a look.
Nami nodded in satisfaction. "Mm, this one's pretty good. Don't forget to paint one on the sail, too. Paint a few smaller flags as well, so we can fly them in the other spots."
Usopp nodded. "Don't worry. I will."
After everyone's efforts, a skull wearing a straw hat appeared on the sail as well. Smaller pirate flags also flew elsewhere around the ship.
Then Luffy stepped forward excitedly and shouted, "To celebrate the founding of our Straw Hat Pirates and our new crewmate Usopp joining us, let's have a feast!"
"Woohoo!" everyone responded.
During the feast, Luffy gnawed on the huge piece of meat on the bone in his hands without the slightest concern for appearances. His arms reached everywhere to grab meat or steal food from Zoro's, Liu Qing's, Nami's, and Usopp's plates. For a while, the scene was chaotic yet cheerful.
Once the feast was over, everyone lay in their chairs with bulging bellies, unwilling to move.
"We have to find a cook first! I really don't want to keep doing all the cooking! You guys eat so much. Making this meal today wore me out!" Nami grumbled, her face full of complaints. Clearly, she had handled the entire feast by herself.
Hearing Nami's words, Luffy immediately struck his palm with his fist in excitement and shouted, "That's right! A cook! And a musician! How could a pirate feast be complete without music?"
Just then, Liu Qing suddenly cut in. "Actually, a ship's doctor is the most important! Without a doctor, we won't get very far on this vast sea! I've heard plenty of people have died at sea because they got sick."
At Liu Qing's words, Luffy took on a serious expression and nodded thoughtfully before saying, "So that's how it is. All right, then we'll make finding a cook and a doctor our priority!"
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