Outside the Restaurant
Three small figures secretly peeked through the gap in the door, observing the situation inside the restaurant.
They were members of the Usopp Pirates, Piiman, Ninjin, and Tamanegi. The three of them had gathered outside the restaurant to rescue their captain.
"Are we sure this is the place?" Piiman asked in a low, nervous voice.
"Yes." Tamanegi adjusted his glasses. "I saw them bring Captain Usopp inside myself."
Ninjin clenched his fists. "Then we have to rescue him right away!"
"But they're real pirates," Tamanegi said nervously.
"So what? We're pirates too!" Piiman raised his voice to boost his own courage. He pulled out a wooden sword, raised it high, then spoke firmly.
"Listen! This will be the most heroic battle since the Usopp Pirates were founded! Charge and rescue Captain Usopp!"
"Yeah!"
Tamanegi and Ninjin were immediately filled with courage. They pulled out their own wooden swords, then looked at each other to reassure one another.
With great enthusiasm, they pushed open the restaurant's front door.
"Crash!"
The door swung open with a loud bang.
"The Usopp Pirates have arrived!"
The three children's shouts echoed throughout the restaurant. However, the fierce battle they had imagined never happened.
At the front counter, the restaurant owner, who was reading a newspaper, merely glanced at them lazily before returning to his reading.
Luffy briefly glanced at them before going back to finishing the food on his plate.
The three children slowly made their way toward Luffy's table. Even though their legs were trembling with fear, they still gathered their courage and confronted the three pirates.
"Hey, pirates! Where did you take our captain?"
Luffy leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach.
"Ahh... I'm stuffed."
He then exchanged a mischievous glance with Zoro.
Zoro immediately understood what Luffy was trying to do. He placed one hand on the table, rested his chin on it, and stared at the three children with a fierce grin.
"Your captain? We just ate him."
"Ah! A witch!"
The three children screamed in terror as they pointed toward Nami, then immediately fainted.
Nami, who had been holding back her laughter the entire time, finally lost her patience.
"Why am I the witch?!"
Luffy and Zoro burst out laughing.
Nami turned toward Luffy, who was sitting beside her, and angrily grabbed his cheek.
"This is all your fault!"
"Hey, why is it only my fault? Zoro joined in too!"
Luffy protested, pointing toward Zoro, who was now laughing at the two of them.
"That's because you started it," Nami said.
...
A little while later, the three children finally regained consciousness.
They looked around in confusion before their eyes settled on Luffy, Zoro, and Nami.
Luffy then explained that everything that had happened earlier had just been a joke.
After realizing that their captain had not actually been eaten, the three children let out a collective sigh of relief.
"So where did our captain go?"
"We don't know either. He just suddenly left," Nami answered.
The three children looked at each other.
It seemed that they had just realized something.
"Ah, he must have gone there."
"What do you mean?" Nami asked curiously.
"Come with us. We'll take you to where Captain Usopp is."
With that, the three children led Luffy's group toward the large villa that Zoro had pointed out earlier at the restaurant.
As soon as they arrived in front of the villa, Luffy looked up in amazement.
"Sugee! That's a huge villa!"
"What is Usopp doing here?" Nami asked.
"Lying."
"Lying?"
The three children began explaining. Their captain came here to cheer up the owner of the house, Kaya, a girl who had fallen into depression after the deaths of both her parents. Her condition had also affected her health. Because of that, Usopp came here every day to tell various lies in order to make Miss Kaya happy.
"So, is Kaya feeling better now?" Nami asked after hearing their explanation.
"Yeah, she's doing a little better now thanks to Captain Usopp," they answered proudly.
They tried to enter through the main gate, but the guard standing there immediately blocked their way.
"I told you, didn't I? There's no way they'll let us in," Tamanegi said.
Ninjin and Piiman nodded in agreement.
Luffy fell silent for a moment as he looked at the villa in front of them. He pressed down on his straw hat, then smiled as though he had just come up with an idea.
"Everyone, hold on to me. I've got an idea."
Although they were confused, they all followed his instructions and grabbed onto Luffy's body.
"What are you going to do?" Nami asked.
Luffy did not answer. He simply stretched both of his arms toward the fence.
Seeing what he was doing, Zoro immediately realized what Luffy was about to do.
"Oi, don't tell me..."
"Gomu Gomu no Rocket!"
Before Zoro could finish his sentence, they shot over the fence like a rocket.
"Hahaha! We made it inside!"
Nami quickly grabbed Luffy by the collar and shook him in annoyance.
"That was incredibly dangerous, idiot!"
"But we made it inside, didn't we?"
Meanwhile, Zoro, whose head had slammed into the ground hard enough to crack it, could only mutter, "That bastard... One of these days, I'm going to kill him."
Their commotion attracted the attention of someone on the second floor.
"Who are you?"
A soft and sweet voice came from above. Luffy's group looked up. At the second-floor window, a blonde-haired girl was looking down at them.
Usopp, who was sitting on a tree branch, was also shocked to see them arrive.
"Y-you guys, what are you doing here?"
Kaya shifted her curious gaze toward Usopp.
"Are they your friends, Usopp-san?"
Usopp hurriedly explained, "...Ah, that's right. They're fans who came all the way here to see me."
"They want to join the Usopp Pirates," he continued with an awkward laugh.
However, Luffy immediately contradicted Usopp and looked toward Kaya.
"No, we didn't come here to join the Usopp Pirates. We came here to ask you for a favor."
Kaya leaned slightly out of the window in surprise.
"A favor? From me?" she asked uncertainly.
"Yeah, that's right," Luffy answered with a wide smile. "We're looking to buy a big ship. Do you have one?"
Kaya blinked and fell silent for a moment.
"A ship... I remember that we do have one that isn't being used."
"Oh, really?" Luffy's eyes immediately lit up with excitement. "Would you sell it to us? And how much would it cost?"
"Um... I'd have to ask my servant first..." Kaya replied hesitantly.
"My servant, Merry, built that ship. So I can't make the decision by myself. I need to ask him first."
At that moment, a cold and angry voice rang out.
"Who are you guys?!"