"You actually have eighty million men under you? You're that amazing?"
Xia Chen put on an astonished expression.
Hearing his words, Nami turned to look at him in confusion.
You actually believe something that's so obviously bullshit?
But when she noticed the hint of amusement at the corner of Xia Chen's mouth, she vaguely sensed there might be some fun to watch.
Xia Chen continued, "Hello, my name is Gol D. Xia Chen. I'm Pirate King Gol D. Roger's nephew. I don't have as many men as you, though-only a few tens of thousands or so!"
"Of course, that's nothing compared to the number of men you have, Captain Usopp, but there are some really powerful people among mine!"
"Several of them have bounties over a billion!"
Xia Chen paused, then spoke to Usopp in a slightly teasing tone:
"By the way, Captain Usopp, may I ask how many of your eighty million men have bounties over a billion? There must be plenty, right?"
"A... a billion?"
Usopp hadn't heard anything Xia Chen said afterward. All that echoed in his mind was the word "billion."
In an instant, cold sweat soaked his back. Sweat kept dripping from his forehead, and his legs began trembling involuntarily.
"Y-you're lying, right?"
"How could anyone have a bounty of a billion?"
Usopp spoke shakily.
He had considered whether Xia Chen might be lying to him, but then he suddenly remembered that Pirate King Roger really had come from the East Blue.
Perhaps Xia Chen really could be his nephew.
At that moment, even though Xia Chen looked nothing like Roger, Usopp somehow began to feel that they actually looked quite alike.
Then his men...
Wasn't there a good chance some of the Pirate King's followers were among them?
At that thought, Usopp felt utterly unwell.
He had only come here to bluff! Why did they have to hit him with something this heavy?
Didn't they know he suffered from a disease that gave him a heart attack whenever he heard about the Pirate King?
"Awesome! Xia Chen, you're the Pirate King's nephew? How come you never mentioned it before?"
Luffy stared at Xia Chen with shining eyes, full of excitement.
"Idiot, it's obviously fake!" Zoro said contemptuously as he looked at Luffy.
After spending this time together, he understood perfectly well what kind of guy Xia Chen was.
In Zoro's eyes, Xia Chen was mysterious, always knowing things he had never even heard of. He was also incredibly strong, and of course, his ability to fool people was pretty impressive too!
One look at the current situation was enough to tell that Xia Chen was bluffing. Even his swords could see that, and only an idiot like Luffy would believe it so easily.
"Hey, hey, hey, Zoro, don't go saying things like that!"
"I admit my name isn't actually Gol D. Xia Chen, but me being Pirate King Roger's nephew is an ironclad fact, okay?"
Xia Chen looked at Zoro and spoke indignantly.
Ace was Roger's son, and Luffy was Ace's younger brother, so that made Luffy Roger's nephew, right?
And he was Luffy's first mate, and could also be considered his older brother, which made him Ace's brother too.
Therefore, given... it followed that... the deduction held!
So he was Roger's nephew! There was absolutely nothing wrong with that!
Even if Roger himself were here today, he couldn't deny that Xia Chen was his nephew.
"Y-you're Roger's nephew?"
Beside him, Nami looked at Xia Chen with her face drained of color and shock filling her eyes.
She had boarded some ship at random, and the Pirate King's nephew was on it?
What kind of fantastical plot was this?
Seeing how certain Xia Chen was, even Zoro began to doubt himself. Could he really not be bluffing?
After hearing those words from farther away, Usopp panicked even more. He dropped straight onto his backside.
There was no getting around it now. That man really was Roger's nephew.
He was done for! How was he supposed to stop such a vicious, notorious pirate?
But after only a few moments of thought, Usopp's gaze gradually grew resolute.
Even though he knew the people before him were terrifying pirates, and he was scared to death right now.
But...
No matter what, he couldn't let these people destroy the village he treasured!
Not unless they stepped over his corpse first!
At that thought, Usopp slowly stood up. His legs were still shaking, but his eyes were firmer than ever.
He drew back his slingshot, aimed at Xia Chen and the others, and shouted:
"My slingshot is even more powerful than a bullet! If you don't want to die here, leave right now!"
"Hm?"
Hearing that, the smiles slowly disappeared from Xia Chen's, Luffy's, and Zoro's faces. Then all three looked toward Usopp on the cliff.
Luffy pressed down on the straw hat on his head, then said calmly:
"Once you've decided to fight, you have to be prepared to die!"
Luffy's voice kept echoing in Usopp's ears, repeatedly battering the psychological defenses he had only just built.
After a long while, Usopp finally couldn't hold on any longer. The slingshot fell from his hands, and he collapsed to the ground again.
A layer of cold sweat had already formed on his forehead as he said helplessly:
"So this is a real pirate? Even the things they say are on another level!"
"Pfft!"
"Hahahaha..."
Seeing Usopp like that, Xia Chen, Luffy, and Zoro all burst out laughing.
Luffy said, "That's just something I heard from a pirate I respect. I didn't come up with it myself!"
"By the way, your name's Usopp, right?"
"Huh?" Usopp froze, then asked blankly:
"You know me?"
"Sort of! Your dad talked about you in front of me all the time!" Luffy said with a casual smile.
"My dad? You know my dad?"
Usopp sprang to his feet in delighted surprise and asked Luffy.
"If your dad is Yasopp, then yes, I do!"
"That's right, that's right! My dad's Yasopp! How did you meet him? Can you tell me about it?"
"Sure, but I need to get some meat first..."
Inside a tavern in Syrup Village.
"So... my dad was on Red-Haired Shanks's ship?"
"Yeah! Unless something happened, he should still be there now. From what I know of Yasopp, he's a brave pirate!"
Luffy spoke while eating meat.
Hearing Luffy praise his dad, Usopp grinned so widely his mouth nearly split.
"Of course! My dad's the bravest! What I admire most is that brave spirit of his, setting out to sea!"
"Hahahaha... me too!" Luffy laughed.
With Yasopp as their connection, Usopp soon hit it off with Xia Chen and the others.
They looked like friends who had known each other for years.