Chapter 9: The Overseer With a Crab-Fist

Okay, I guess Nami was somewhat out of character in the last chapter. Very sorry.

I still don't own One Piece. Please review.

As Usopp stood in line to get his lunch, he continued creating an escape plan in his head.

Okay, so first, I'll find Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. Then, we'll gather the slaves, and together all of us will beat up Kraken and all of his soldiers. Or maybe I'll have to gather the slaves and beat up the overseers before I can find Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji. If I find Nami and get all the slaves to follow me, that should work.

He glanced towards the overseers at one table, talking to eachother and laughing in their red uniforms. A pouch, holding a sword, was slung over their shoulder, and they each wore a thickly metal-plated glove on one hand.

The slaves will have to get weapons, and me as well, since all my stuff were confiscated when I first got captured, Usopp realized. Now, at the assembly line where I worked, each of the slaves have pieces in front of them to make weapons and other pirate equipment. Those pieces are given to them by the overseers. If I try to smuggle all the pieces they give me, they'll definitely notice. I could take just a couple small pieces and get away with it, but what can I do with those? I need to make to make real weapons with the stuff I steal, weapons that will get me and the rest of the crew out of here.

Usopp got to the front of the line and received his food. If he wasn't thinking so hard, he would have seen a red-haired girl passing by on the other side of the counter with a tray of biscuits, and if the girl wasn't occupied, she would have noticed Usopp.

But wait, the overseers don't keep track of the tools that the slaves use, like the hammers and the screwdrivers on their desks.

Usopp looked around for somewhere he can sit. When he found an unoccupied table, he started walking towards it.

I could hide a hammer in my pocket, then tell one of the overseers, "Oh, I lost my hammer. Can I get a new one?" and if every slave did that, we could actually be strong enough to defeat Kraken! Well, actually, the overseers would get suspicious.

Then Usopp heard laughter from the overseers again. As he stopped walking and turned his head towards their table, he thought,

Laughing at a labor camp just because you're better than the suffering slaves! Well, you won't be laughing when I put my plan into action! That'll prove that I'm a brave warrior of the sea! Of course, I have to finish my plan first, but right now, I can start smuggling tools and storing them-- wait, storing... I have to think of that too.

Then when Usopp turned his head back around, he noticed the wall facing his side. He passed out.

"Hey! Get up!"

Usopp woke up startled. He was on the floor and an overseer was standing before him, authoritative-looking as all guards were supposed to be. But no matter how authoritative he was, it didn't matter to Usopp's unsuppressed anger.

"Evil! Kraken is evil! All his officials are evil! You wicked people!"

A red metal-plated glove swung down on Usopp's face. By this time, everybody in the room was looking at them.

Nami watched with the other kitchen workers. "Is that... Usopp?"

The side of Usopp's face was swelling.

"You don't insult Master Kraken. And you don't insult me either" said the overseer in a stern voice. "You don't insult any of your superiors. Now, what is this about, anyway?"

Usopp stuck out his finger. The overseer looked towards where he was pointing and he saw it. A section of the wall marked with red streaks all over.

"You and the other guards did this."

The overseer chuckled, then started laughing hysterically. Then, shockingly, everyone seemed to be laughing. Not just the overseers, but everyone, including the slaves. The only two who weren't laughing were Usopp and Nami.

What's going on! Usopp thought.

The overseer in front of Usopp yelled at another overseer, "Hey Konzu! You said that was from a food fight yesterday, right?"

WHA-!

"Yeah, it was!" replied the other overseer.

"Well, there you go" and the overseer picked Usopp up with his two hands. "Now, get another tray of food so you have energy to do more work later. I'll get the janitor to clean up the food you dropped."

The laughing witnesses started calming down.

As Usopp walked away, the overseer spoke behind him, "You're new here, eh? Me too. I just enlisted this morning, as a matter of fact. My name's Leith."

Usopp just kept walking.

Zoro woke up. He heard another person snoring.

"Anyone awake here?" Zoro asked.

"That would be you and I" a voice spoke. Sanji.

"So you've been awake since we got here" said Zoro.

"I'll admit it wasn't easy."

"Any idea how long we've been here?"

"Well, based on the nunber of times I saw the sun set - oh yeah, we're in a dungeon. Let me check my watch - oh yeah, I'm stuck in a god-forsaken straitjacket."

"And you never had a watch to begin with" Zoro added.

"Hmph."

"You sound grumpy. Now I know how a guy is like when he's missing his cigars. I can't stand this either."

"So what are we gonna do about this?"

"...There's nothing to do for now. Let's just wait." Zoro replied.

"I was afraid you'd say that."

A food fight in a slave camp, huh?

Usopp was eating his lunch when a boy who seemed to be a teenager came to his table and sat facing towards him. Usopp just kept eating. The gravy tasted very good.

"Did it hurt?" the boy asked.

"Huh?" Usopp replied.

"Did it hurt? That crab-fist?" The boy asked again.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"The crab-fist. You know, that red metal-plated glove the overseer punched you with."

Usopp wanted to eat in peace right now. "Heck yeah, it hurt."

"Did it really hurt?"

"Yes, it was painful."

"COOL! I've always wanted to try using one of those before! Those gloves have built-in shotguns as well, don't they sound awesome?"

What the fuck is the matter with this guy?