After five days of traveling, they finally arrived at Gecko Island. As it happened, the extra food supplies they had gotten from Gaimon ran out on that very day.
"Hooray! We finally made it!"
Luffy shouted happily when he saw the land ahead of them. The terrain along the coast looked quite unique, with steep cliffs stretching along almost the entire coastline, where the land met the sea.
Their ship finally reached the shore. Luffy immediately jumped off with a happy expression, then turned toward Nami, who had just gotten off the ship.
"We got pretty lucky, didn't we? We arrived just as our food ran out."
Hearing that, Nami immediately grabbed his cheek in annoyance.
"Whose fault do you think that is?"
With Luffy's enormous appetite, which was enough to make him eat ten times as much as an ordinary person in a single meal, the food supplies that should have lasted for two weeks had quickly run out.
Luffy, whose cheek was still being pulled by Nami, immediately apologized.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault."
"Hmph."
Nami snorted before finally letting go of Luffy's cheek. At the same time, Zoro got off the ship and stretched his body until the sound of his joints cracking could be heard.
Luffy rubbed his cheek before speaking excitedly again.
"Hey, Nami, do you think there's any meat around here?"
After spending five days sailing across the sea, he was already tired of eating fruit and was craving some meat.
Nami thought for a moment before answering.
"Hmm, I don't know. But there should be a village nearby, so there's probably some."
Hearing that, Luffy's eyes immediately lit up.
"Meat!"
Without wasting another second, he ran toward the steep slope in front of them.
"Hey, Luffy! Wait!"
Nami and Zoro immediately followed him. However, just as Luffy was about to climb the slope, an iron bullet suddenly shot toward his feet.
The bullet struck the sand right in front of his feet, making Luffy stop immediately. Nami and Zoro finally caught up with him.
"Stop right there!"
The shout immediately caught their attention. A man with an afro, a long nose, and a slingshot in his hand stepped out from behind the bushes.
Luffy's eyes immediately lit up when he recognized the man who had stopped them.
It was Usopp.
Usopp puffed out his chest proudly. Although both of his legs were still trembling slightly from fear, he tried his best to put on a fierce expression to intimidate them.
"You guys! Get out of here right now! This place belongs to the Usopp Pirates!"
He raised his slingshot.
"And I've got one million men under my command! Everyone calls me Captain Usopp!"
As if to prove his claim, numerous pirate flags suddenly appeared from behind the bushes.
From a distance, it really looked as though they were surrounded by a huge army hiding behind the bushes.
Nami immediately saw through his lie.
"That's all a lie, isn't it?"
"Nani?!"
Usopp was stunned.
"Damn it! She saw right through me!"
Realizing that he had been exposed, Usopp quickly changed his attitude. He cleared his throat and puffed out his chest again.
"Okay, having one million men was a lie. But I really do have some men!"
Six flags then moved behind the bushes.
Nami stared sharply at the bushes.
"Three people. You've only got three men, don't you?"
"We've been found out!"
"Run!"
The three children who had been following Usopp immediately panicked. They ran out from behind the bushes and into the village, leaving Usopp all alone.
Usopp stared after his three fleeing subordinates.
"Hey! That's not fair! You can't just leave me here by myself!"
Nami crossed her arms and gave Usopp a mischievous look.
"So? Still think you can take us on?"
Zoro, who knew exactly what Nami was doing, merely gave a fierce grin as he pushed his sword's hilt slightly with his thumb.
Seeing that, Usopp nervously swallowed.
His body trembled slightly.
It was at that moment that Luffy spoke, sounding strangely excited.
"You're Usopp, aren't you?"
Usopp froze.
He stared at Luffy in confusion.
"H-how do you know my name?"
"You're Yasopp's son, aren't you?"
Luffy looked at Usopp's face more carefully.
"Hmm... now that I look at you more closely, your hair and your mouth really do look like Yasopp's."
Those words left Usopp stunned.
His legs suddenly gave out.
He slipped down the slope and fell until he finally stopped right in front of Luffy.
Usopp quickly got back up and approached Luffy.
"Y-you... you know my father?"
"Yeah. He stayed in the village where I lived for quite a while when I was little."
Usopp's eyes immediately lit up.
"Can you tell me more about my father?"
"Sure."
Hearing that answer, Usopp immediately led Luffy's group toward the village.
Along the way, Luffy told Usopp about the various stories and boasts Yasopp and Lucky Roux had told him when he was still a child.
Nami and Zoro looked at each other in confusion.
They simply shrugged before following Luffy and Usopp into the village.
...
The group eventually stopped at a restaurant in the village.
Luffy sat beside Nami, holding a huge piece of meat that was still attached to the bone. He devoured it greedily until both of his cheeks puffed up like a squirrel.
Nami merely glanced at him before going back to enjoying her own meal.
Meanwhile, Usopp sat beside Luffy and asked excitedly.
"Seriously?! My dad really sails with Shanks?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Luffy swallowed the meat in his mouth before continuing to eat.
Hearing that confirmation, Usopp immediately puffed out his chest proudly. He stood up from his chair and climbed onto the table, looking as courageous as possible.
"My dream is to become just like him! A brave warrior of the sea!"
"That's awesome! You should join us!"
Luffy grinned widely, showing off his rows of teeth.
"Then I can be your captain!"
"No. I'm the captain."
Luffy answered bluntly.
Usopp fell silent.
Nami held back a small smile as she watched the two of them.
"By the way, we're actually looking for a ship."
Nami brought up the subject after finishing the food on her plate.
She turned toward Usopp.
"Do you know anywhere around here where we could get a ship?"
Usopp thought for a moment before answering.
"I don't think so. Like you can see, this village is pretty small."
Zoro, who was sitting near the window, took a sip of his beer while looking outside.
"What about that villa over there?"
Zoro pointed toward a large villa standing on top of a hill.
As soon as he heard that, Usopp immediately stood up.
"No! You can't go there!"
Luffy, Nami, and Zoro all turned toward him curiously.
Realizing his mistake, Usopp quickly sat back down.
"What's wrong, Usopp?"
Nami narrowed her eyes.
"Do you know who owns that place?"
Nami's tone became slightly sharper.
"If you do, can you introduce us to the owner?"
"No! You can't go there! It's off-limits!"
Usopp hurriedly tried to change the subject.
His eyes then landed on the clock hanging on the wall.
"Oh, that's right! I just remembered. I've got somewhere I need to be..."
He stood up from his chair, laughing awkwardly.
"That's right! I've got a meeting with my one million men."
Usopp then hurried toward the door.
"Anyway, I've gotta go. You guys eat as much as you want. Captain Usopp's paying!"
Usopp quickly left the restaurant.
Nami stared after him in confusion.
"What's gotten into him?"
"I don't know."
Luffy went back to eating.
Then he raised his hand.
"More!"