"Ahh, what a shame! That old man didn't want to join my crew."
Out on the open sea, the ship that once belonged to Buggy the Clown cruised steadily along the waves.
At the bow, Luffy sighed, resting his chin on his arms.
"He's probably lost the courage to sail," Zoro said from nearby, casually curling a massive barbell.
"After chasing a treasure for twenty years, only to find an empty chest… I can't blame him for feeling hopeless," Nami added softly.
Just a day before, they had landed on a deserted island and met a man who had been trapped inside an empty treasure chest for twenty years. His dream had been to climb the great stone peak at the island's center and claim the treasure he believed was hidden there.
By the time Luffy and the others freed him and helped him climb that rock, they found nothing but a pile of empty boxes.
When Luffy invited him to join their crew, the man refused. He said he was done chasing dreams.
"Don't be too down, Luffy," Bai Ye said with a calm smile. "At least that old man told us something useful."
Before they departed, the man had shared what he knew of the Grand Line.
The Grand Line, he'd explained, was a sea unlike any other — where logic itself seemed to twist. Whether in the so-called "Paradise" of the first half or the "New World" beyond, the true danger wasn't the pirates, but nature itself.
Magnetic fields, sea currents, air pressure, even the weather — nothing behaved normally there. Ordinary navigation was useless. Only a Log Pose could be trusted to guide the way.
And to survive in those waters, you needed a ship that could withstand the Grand Line's fury.
"'Syrup Village,' huh?" Luffy asked, tilting his head. "So that's where we can find a shipwright?"
"That's right, Captain," Bai Ye replied with a knowing smile. "And if my information's correct, we might find a little surprise there as well."
"A surprise?! What kind of surprise?!" Luffy's eyes sparkled like a kid's.
"Well," Bai Ye said lightly, "if I told you now, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore, would it?"
He chuckled quietly as Luffy groaned in frustration. "Before that, though," Bai Ye continued, "let me tell you about the place we're heading to."
At Syrup Village…
"Bad news! Bad news!!! Pirates!!! Pirates are coming!!!"
A panicked voice rang through the sleepy seaside village.
"The pirates are invading! Run for your lives!!!"
At this point, the villagers barely looked up from their breakfast.
"Here we go again," one old man muttered, shaking his head with a laugh. "That liar Usopp's at it again. Doesn't miss a morning, does he?"
"Hey, Usopp!" another villager called from his porch. "You're early today!"
Someone less amused threw open a window and shouted, "You little brat! Stop yelling first thing in the morning! If I catch you, I'll tan your hide!!!"
No one believed the cry of "Pirates!" anymore.
The young man sprinting through the streets was none other than Usopp, with his curly black hair, brown bandanna, and trademark long nose — inherited straight from his mother.
Usopp's father was a pirate. Even knowing his wife was pregnant, he had left home, saying, "The pirate flag calls to me!"
His mother never cursed him for it. Even as sickness took her, she kept faith in the man she loved. When she grew too weak to rise, young Usopp began shouting, "Pirates are coming!" each morning — hoping that hearing those words might make her smile and give her strength to live another day.
Ever since then, Syrup Village had woken up each morning to his familiar cry.
And with every lie he told, Usopp's own dream grew — to become a brave warrior of the sea.
That morning, after dodging a few angry villagers, Usopp found himself in front of the village's grandest mansion.
He glanced around, then deftly scaled the wall and climbed a tall tree in the yard.
"Hey, Kaya! I'm here!" he called cheerfully toward the second-floor window.
"Usopp! You came!"
The voice that answered was warm and gentle — Kaya, the young lady of the mansion.
Kaya had once lived happily with her parents, but tragedy had taken them both, and her frail body had never recovered from the grief.
Usopp, who shared a similar loss, came every day to tell her tall tales — to make her laugh, to bring a bit of the world to her window.
"And then," Usopp said dramatically, gesturing from his perch, "I led my crew of eight thousand men straight into their lair! And there we found it — a golden fish bigger than an island itself!"
"Wow! That's amazing!" Kaya clapped, her eyes wide with wonder.
Confined to her room, she cherished every story of adventure, no matter how impossible.
Between the liar and the sickly heiress, a rare friendship had bloomed — born of loneliness, bound by imagination.
But there was a reason Usopp always came by the window instead of the door.
The mansion's butler, Klahadore, forbade Kaya from meeting anyone from the village — especially a "good-for-nothing liar."
"Miss Kaya," Klahadore said as he entered, his tone as smooth as the black suit he wore. "I've told you many times — it's best not to associate with outsiders."
He walked over to the window, pushing his glasses up with two fingers. "And please, keep the window closed. The morning air isn't good for your health."
Turning to Usopp, he added coldly, "If I catch you sneaking in again, I'll have you dragged to the village chief myself."
Usopp ignored him completely, grinning up at Kaya. "See you tomorrow, Kaya!"
He jumped down from the tree and vanished over the wall before the butler could reply.
"Really, Klahadore," Kaya sighed softly. "You don't have to be so harsh with Usopp."
"I don't understand, Miss Kaya," Klahadore replied, closing the window. "Why waste your time on such a liar?"
"Because…" Kaya smiled faintly, staring out through the glass. "Usopp is a kind person."
Klahadore adjusted his glasses again, expression unreadable. "I failed to see it."
He lifted a bowl from the tray he carried and handed it to her. "It's time for your medicine, Miss Kaya."
"Thank you, Klahadore. You've taken such good care of me all these years," she said kindly.
Klahadore watched her drink every drop, his lips curling into a quiet, polite smile.
"Everything I do, Miss Kaya," he murmured, voice soft as silk, "is for your sake."
For your peaceful, quiet death…
Advance Chapters available on Patreon
patreon.com/pikachu614