McKenzie, Zoro, Sanji, and Usopp were taken to the 4kids factory. Once they got there, Django shoved McKenzie against the wall and frisked her. McKenzie didn't seem the least bit frightened (as opposed to Usopp, who would not stop whimpering), but even so, she couldn't stop herself from trembling.

"We searched Valiant, Boss," Django called over to Kuro. "The will ain't on her."

"Then search the others!" Kuro called back.

But as Django headed toward the three boys, a demonic growl emitted from Zoro, and Sanji glared with his visible eye. Usopp was shaking like crazy behind them. Django was an air head, but he wasn't that stupid. He wisely backed off.

However, this didn't seem to please Kuro. When he saw his right man back away from the boys, he ran over and struck Django across the face. Django toppled over backwards and knocked over a crate full of marbles, spilling them all over the floor.

"Do they have the will or not?" asked Kuro.

"N-no . . . " sputtered Django. "Just this stupid love letter." He threw the piece of paper back at McKenzie.

"No matter," said Kuro, adjusting his glasses. "I doubt that will is going to appear in the next fifteen minutes anyway."

"What happens in fifteen minutes?" asked McKenzie.

Kuro glanced at the detective. "The pirate village will be mine. Lock, stock, and barrel."

Meanwhile, back where Chopper had crashed, a certain rubber pirate was riding out of the tunnel that led to the pirate village in a semi-crushed car belonging to a certain detective's boyfriend. But when he saw the chaos in front of him, he drove up, turned off the car, and jumped out.

"Chopper!" Luffy called to his reindeer crew mate, who was just now coming to. "Is that you?"

"No, it's Johnny Messner," grumbled Chopper, slowly standing up on his wobbly legs.

"Luffy!" exclaimed Nami as she and Robin walked out of the same bushes they had been flung into. They hadn't moved from that spot, worried that they would be caught.

Chopper slowly limped over to Luffy, emitting little cries of pain with each step. "Woah!" exclaimed Luffy, looking at his three battered crew mates. "What the heck happened?"

"It was that judge," said Nami. "He's really Kuro."

"He grabbed Valiant-san and the boys and took them to the 4kids factory," said Robin.

"The 4kids factory?" asked Luffy. "I know where that is!" He ran back to the beat-up car. "Get in!" he called to his three friends.

"Move over Luffy," said Nami, getting into the driver's seat. "You've done enough driving for tonight."

Robin, who was now carrying Chopper, got into what was left of the back seat, while Luffy took shotgun. Then the four pirates slowly made their way down the road.

Meanwhile, back at the 4kids factory, a few of the Black Cat goons were banging away at one of the walls. Finally, one of them was able to break a small hole into the wall. On the other side, faint sounds of people talking and singing could be heard. Rays of light shone through the wall into the factory.

"The pirate village is just on the other side, Boss," one of the goons called to Kuro.

Kuro stared at his captives. "You see, Miss Valiant?" he asked the detective. "The successful conclusion of this case draws the curtain on my career as a jurist in the pirate village. I'm retiring. To take a new role in the private sector."

McKenzie tried to ignore the sharp ring Django was holding at her throat. "That wouldn't be Shamrock Industries by any chance, would it?" she asked.

Kuro smiled. "You're looking at the sole stockholder."

Just outside, Nami, Chopper, Robin, and Luffy were pulling up to the factory. Luffy got out of the car, holding the gun McKenzie had thrown in there a while back.

"You guys go for the cops," said Luffy, his hands shaking as he held the gun. "I'm going to save the others."

"Luffy, watch where you're pointing that thing!" yelled Nami, turning the gun away from her. "This isn't some made-up story on some website, you know!" Then she began to drive away as Luffy made his way toward the factory.

"This is no way to make a living," mumbled the young navigator as she headed for the nearest police station. In the back seat, Robin smiled.

Luffy walked up to one of the windows and tried to push it open. Unfortunately, the window was jammed.

"Darn. Locked," said Luffy, leaning up against the window. Suddenly, the window swung open, and Luffy fell right into the room. "WHOA!" the rubber pirate exclaimed as he fell in. However, right below the window was an uncovered manhole. And poor Luffy tumbled straight in, gun and all.

Not too far away, Kuro was walking up to a large object covered by a huge tarp. He dropped a silver dish onto the floor and pulled some of the tarp away, revealing a valve. He then opened the valve, causing a very familiar green liquid to be released onto the dish. In seconds, the dish began to corrode.

"Can you guess what this is?" Kuro asked, turning to the young detective and the three pirates.

Usopp peeked out from between Sanji and Zoro. His eyes widened. "Oh . . . my . . . God, it's DIP!" he shrieked, ducking back between his two friends.

"That's right, my boy!" exclaimed Kuro. "Enough to Dip the pirate village off the face of the earth!" Just then, all of the tarp was removed, revealing a huge machine filled with the green stuff. "A machine of my own design," said the judge. "5000 gallons of heated Dip, pumped at an enormous velocity through a pressurized water cannon. The pirate village will be erased in a matter of minutes!"

"But don't you think people will find it strange when they discover that the pirate village has disappeared?" asked Zoro.

"Who's got time to think about such ridiculous thoughts when you're driving past at seventy-five miles per hour?" answered Kuro.

"What the heck are you talking about?" asked Sanji. "There's no road past the pirate village."

"Not yet!" said Kuro. As he walked toward the others, he began to slip on the fallen marbles. "Several months ago, I had the luck to stumble upon a plan of the city councils. A construction plan of epic proportions. I believe you call it a freeway."

"A freeway?" asked McKenzie. "Why the hell would they want another freeway?"

Kuro ignored McKenzie. "It fascinated me," he continued. "Eight lanes of shimmering cement running from here to Tallahassee. Smooth, straight, fast. Traffic jams will once again be a thing of the past."

"So that's why you killed Kahn and Oda?" asked McKenzie. "For another freeway? I don't get it."

Kuro glared at McKenzie. "Of course you don't," he sneered. "You lack vision. I, however, see a place where people will get on and off this freeway. Off and on. On and off. All day, all night. Soon where the pirate village once stood, there will be a string of gas stations. Inexpensive motels. Restaurants that serve rapidly prepared food. Tire salons. Automobile dealerships. And wonderful, wonderful billboards reaching as far as the eye can see." He paused while Sanji silently made the cuckoo sign at him. "My god, it will be beautiful."

"Please," said McKenzie. "We've already got a lousy freeway. People will drive on that one. And for the people that don't have cars, they can just go to the Miami Red Car and get one. They'll never drive on your dang freeway."

"Oh, they'll drive," said Kuro. "They'll have to. I'm tearing down the old freeway. And why do you think I bought the Red Car? Overpricing those cars will mean instant riches for me."

Suddenly, everyone began to feel the room shake, and a gurgling sound was slowly making itself louder. Just then, a manhole cover in the middle of the room was shot into the air by a geyser of water. The cover was sent flying, and everyone else just stared in shock. With the stream of water, out shot a certain rubber pirate clutching a gun.