We (royal We, myself) got through syrup village. Rails gone as of today (idk if saying this counts as a spoiler but you'd hope that a story isn't put on rails to begin with so, yeah). Everything that I wanted awaits me in the next update and for that reason I might do a double update again. (First, however, there will be an update to the Luvia x Shirou story for patrons so it'll be a few days extra).

All in all I'm enjoying my new system and it's letting me update more quickly. Though it may seem as though it took over a week for me to update anything, I was working on other stuff in the background so in the grand scheme of things I still got this one out pretty speedily.

Thanks to Sherlock and Hect for beta reading, and thanks to all of y'all for reading reading.

X

"Lookin' fer the bottle early, are ye?" the peg-legged chef remarked amusedly as he slid a mug of ale toward the marine captain seated at his bar.

Smoker looked pretty tired. It made sense: It was barely morning yet. The sun wouldn't rise for another hour or so. Rest hadn't been on the forefront of his, or any of his crew's minds, until they stepped foot on the Restaurant Baratie and filled their empty stomachs.

It was good that the day started early in the kitchen, else there wouldn't have been anyone to let them in. Even then, it was pure luck that the owner was willing to feed them.

They were fed, though. The restaurant, closed as it was, was big enough to seat every marine on his ship. They chattered merrily amongst themselves while their leader sulked on his own.

"I'm hoping the alcohol will make the bill hurt a little less."

The owner laughed, though it really wasn't a joke.

"I won' ask."

"Thanks."

Smoker took a swig.

"Chef. There's an archipelago a few hours north of here, right? Have you seen any pirates passing through your place?"

The owner scoffed.

"On a hunt, eh? Can't say I'm surprised. Sorry. I'm no the sort ta be payin' attention ta all that."

A bounty poster was slapped down on the bar and spun around. The head chef hummed curiously, then chortled.

"Ah! Tha' one. 'Straw Hat Luffy', eh?"

"You recognize him, then."

"I recognize the poster! I'm sure most people would. What a ridiculous bounty."

Smoker tapped the side of his mug as he lost himself in thought for a second.

"Is it really so ridiculous?" he asked the older man. "Wouldn't it be familiar territory for someone like you?"

The chef crossed his arms and grimaced.

"Someone like me?"

"I'm sure you've been around the block.. Come to think of it… I heard a story about this one pirate—he was from the Grand Line—who was a pretty good chef. They say his legs were strong enough to turn a grown man's skull to mush. Wasn't his name 'Zeff' too? I heard he died in a shipwreck."

"A coincidence," the chef explained easily before grabbing an empty glass and pouring himself a good few shots of whiskey.

Smoker observed how he waddled, knowing that his peg leg gave him a limp.

"A coincidence, then," Smoker agreed.

"I really haven' seen the lad, Cap'n," the chef insisted. "Unless there's anything else ye wan from me, shut it and eat ye food 'fore it gets cold."

Smoker snorted. He grabbed his fork, then paused.

"Actually, there's a dog on our ship. Could you spare it a few scraps? I know this is a respected establishment, but…"

"Sanji!" the chef shouted. "I need ya te bring somethin' outside!"

X

"Hey. Luffy! Come on. We need to hurry!"

I pouted at Usopp. He was distracting me again.

We were standing near the mansion. I couldn't see much, so it was kind of tough to figure out where all of the pirate guys would be. I didn't want to start looking for them… it felt like they were all over the place, so it wouldn't be as simple as just going to Kaya. Wasn't there an easier way to—

「[Quick-Time Event!]
The pirates are about to assassinate the lady of the hill! Move quickly and rescue her from (%&$) and the rest of her dastardly assailants.

[Rew— —]: ($!$?)」

「Time Limit: 29S:」

Oi. What gives? The mystery square's all weird now. Why—oh, hold on.

"Hey, Usopp. Come on, we need to hurry."

"I just said that, Jerk!"

I ran toward the entrance. There wasn't enough time to worry about all that other stuff.

There were pirates guarding the door. They frowned at us.

"Hey!" one of them growled. They started stalking closer with their weapons raised.

「Time Limit: 23S:」

Pellets of something or other nailed them all in the foreheads before I could do anything. I looked over my shoulder in surprise.

Usopp had his slingshot thingie raised in front of him. His eyes were wide and his legs were shaky. He looked totally freaked out and unprepared.

"Go!" he yelled at me. "I—I'll deal with these guys! Save Kaya."

I blinked, not really understanding what he was thinking at first. He knew that they wouldn't hold me up much, right?

I scrunched my brow as the weird cat guys picked themselves back up.

"Don't you wanna come with me? She's your friend, right? I woulda thought that you wanna do it yourself."

He looked super frustrated.

"Of course I do!" he shouted. His outburst even caught the pirate guys off guard; they weren't attacking yet, at least. "But I'm… I'm not as strong as you! I know that you can save Kaya and I can't. Even if—" he cut himself off. He was blushing a little. "It doesn't matter what she thinks. As long as she's safe, I'll do anything!"

My mouth formed an "o" shape, then I grinned. After he said all that, it would hurt his pride if I took care of everything on my own, right?

「Time Limit: 13S:」

I laughed.

"I'll leave it to you, Usopp! Let me handle Kaya."

The pirate guys tried to stop me, but I totally ignored them and let Usopp take care of things. Even though he was scared, he was still trying to fight these guys, huh? He must like Kaya a lot, then!

I walked through her home and beelined straight toward where I could feel her. There were more pirate guys around everywhere, but they all got knocked unconscious as I passed them by.

「Time Limit: 7S:」

The floorboards creaked with every step that I took. More pirates were coming at me, but they looked scared. They could tell that something was wrong since none of the other ones could get close to me.

「Time Limit: 1S:」

I kicked the door open.

It was just the butler guy and Kaya inside. He froze when I entered; he was holding some sort of paper in front of her and had his hand wrapped around hers, making her keep a grip on a pen.

「Enemy Pirate Crew
[Black Cat Pirates]」

「Enemies: 0/14 (119)
Captain: 1/1」

「Captain [Thousand Plans] Kuro (LV35)

HP:1 993/2 111」

Eh? Butler Guy was the boss?

I was staring at him blankly. There was a look of surprise on his face for a split second but it was gone pretty quickly. He adjusted his glasses with the palm of his hand.

"Straw Hat Luffy," he introduced me for some reason. "Are you the pirate in charge of this raid?"

I stopped, not moving any closer for a moment.

Kaya looked like she needed a few seconds to understand what the butler guy was saying. I did too, actually. He was the guy doing all this, wasn't he? Not me. Did he forget? Was he dumb?

Oh. Was I supposed to name him, too? Maybe it was polite to do if you were a pirate. Pirate Manners.

"Oil Hair Butler Guy," I tried.

"..."

Kaya went from looking confused to super shocked.

"That's—surely not!" she insisted. "He and Miss Nami are kind people! I can feel it."

"Denial won't help us here!" he snapped at her. Her breath hitched. "That man is dangerous. I only found out recently, but he has a bounty that sits well over a hundred million beri! That's no ordinary boy playing pirate… he must have committed atrocities beyond even the worst of what we could imagine."

Huh? A hundred million? That wasn't my bounty. He had the wrong guy, probably. Either that or he had trouble reading big numbers.

Kaya turned her head toward me. Her eyes were wide and her whole body was trembling.

"No… no… was I…. Is this my fault? The village will be in danger because I—" she choked on her own words.

I didn't do anything as she begged me. They both had it all wrong, but correcting them wouldn't change anything.

I was here to beat this bad guy up. I would save Kaya because Usopp asked me to and whatever she thought of me after that didn't really matter. After all, I was a pirate and I did break into her house.

Ah. I was gonna take her boat, too. That was pretty bad too, wasn't it? She wouldn't be happy when she found out.

I took a step toward them

The guy that I had to beat up narrowed his eyes at me.

"It's impossible to predict the actions of such a vile individual, Lady Kaya'" he told her, not making any moves to attack me yet. "Truly, we were all fooled. Please don't take the entirety of the blame onto yourself.

"I'm sorry!" she cried, tears swelling in her eyes. She looked like she was too scared to look away from me, like I would do something the moment that she did. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! It's because of the ship, right? Take it! Just—-please! Don't hurt Klahadore…"

He growled at me.

"Vile pirate! I should have known that you'd be so shameless."

I really wasn't listening to either one of them anymore. I was focused on the fact that this guy was hiding something behind his back.

"Klahadore, no!" she wailed. "Get away! Please get away!"

It was like he flipped a switch. He went from telling me that I was being bad to throwing his hand forward at me. Were those claws? He was smiling all confident-like.

I grabbed his hand by the wrist and he gasped.

"How did you—there's no way you'd be able to react quickly enough!"

"...Oh! These look like cat paws. Is that why you're all called the Black Cat Pirates?"

He was silent for a moment. We all were.

Kaya was the first one to break that silence.

"Klahadore? What did you just—"

"That name…? What makes you think I'm involved with such a group?" he asked me calmly.

I pointed to the spot where his mystery box was: over his head.

"It says it," I told him. "Right there."

His free hand shakily rose and touched his temple.

"Right… here?" he parroted. A bead of sweat trickled down his brow. "What…? Are you making fun of me, boy? Are you saying you knew this whole time!?" His voice rising.

He got really angry for some reason, but then he switched around again and started laughing uncontrollably. I was still holding his wrist, so I could feel his shoulders shake.

"You think you have the upper hand, then, do you?" he muttered. "Congratulations! You've outed me as the infamous captain 'Kuro'. Are you proud of yourself?"

I really didn't have much to say to that. He was infamous? I never heard of him.

Kaya did, apparently. She cried out in shock.

"K—Klahadore? You aren't really—"

"Shut up!" he yelled at her. Kaya curled in on herself trying to make herself look smaller, while he turned back to me. "What do you think you'll accomplish, exactly? She already signed everything. I own this! This property. This wealth. This village! Even if your little friends managed to take care of the pirates inside the mansion, the town itself will have been overrun by now! Now if you'd be so kind—"

He finally tried to pull away from me but visibly panicked in a funny way when it was clear that he wasn't strong enough to get my grip off.

"You're surprisingly strong for such a little boy," he spat.

"Nah, you're just weak," I told him honestly.

"You—"

I backhanded him and he fell to the ground in a heap.

「Captain [Thousand Plans] Kuro (LV35)

HP:0/2 111」

「Congratulations!

!

****#####」

Kaya started screaming at me but I tuned her out. That was it? What gives? The mystery squares haven't been doing anything when I beat up bad guys lately.

Over the sound of Kaya's crying, I heard someone coming into the room. I turned around.

"Kaya!" Usopp shouted. He looked out of breath. A little beat up, too. More or less fine other than that, though. As much of a scaredy cat as he was, it didn't seem like he had too much trouble with those other guys. "Are you okay?"

Her eyes widened once she saw him. She quickly turned her head toward me, then back at him.

"Get away, Usopp!" she begged him. "This man is dangerous! He—"

"Luffy? He came to save you."

Her words died in her throat.

"Huh?"

Before saying anything else, Usopp looked at us both, then at the unconscious Butler Guy, trying to figure out if he was missing anything.

He did a double take when he realised that he was looking at Butler Guy.

"Klahadore!?" he shrieked.

I nodded calmly.

"Uhuh. He was a pirate too."

"Seriously?"

Kaya and Usopp started talking to each other about something or other. I walked toward her window and looked outside.

It wasn't as dark anymore. It would be morning soon.

…I was definitely forgetting something. There was a reason to hurry, right? Other than the whole assassination thing just now.

…Ah.

「[Set Sail!]

The ship you took from Buggy the Clown is in no condition to challenge the seas. Find a way to repair it or, alternatively, find a new ship.

[Event!]
The villagers have been set against you! Steal Lady Kaya's caravel and make your escape before the marines arrive.

[Bonus]: (?)」

「Time Limit: 7H:44M:09S:」

The marines were going to be here soon-ish. It was fine, though, wasn't it? That meant that as long as we got the ship, packed everything up and left before then, the marines would miss us. We had time.

I hoped Zoro, Nami and Koby were able to figure everything out.

X

The green-haired swordsman's diaphragm expanded and contracted in a controlled fashion as he tried to catch his breath. His body was littered with cuts, though none seemed to be particularly deep. The worst that he had suffered, in fact, was likely the rock that had been thrown at the back of his head.

Not that it hurt. It wasn't a wound from battle, after all.

The decimated pirate crew was laid flat before him. He didn't give them a second glance, instead choosing to stare straight ahead into the distance, noticing how the sun was starting to peer over the horizon.

Hah. What timing. The night ended just as he finished up. He could have used the extra light.

He turned around.

The villagers were still, though he didn't know why. If they were scared, they should have left when they had the chance. They were all looking at him like he was some sort of wild animal rather than a monster. More nervous than fearful, now.

"All of this… was done by one man?" one of the villagers uttered incredulously.

Zoro scoffed.

The annoying navigator girl walked forward and patted him on the shoulder as she passed him by.

"We've got things to do and not much time to do it. You coming?" she asked over her shoulder, not for a moment addressing the momentous and superhuman feat that had just taken place.

He clicked his tongue, but didn't argue. She was showing initiative, at least. Even if she wasn't going to be of much help beyond that, that much was appreciated.

Anticlimactically, they walked away from the scene, uncaring of the fallout of their own actions.

The villagers watched them silently, either not daring to speak or not knowing what need be said in the first place.

"...Are they really pirates?" one of them mused eventually.

"I don't understand…" another whispered.

"I did something so awful, and he didn't retaliate…" the man who chucked the stone at Zoro repented.

"Mister was scary… but nice! Mommy, is he a saint?" a child asked his mother innocently

"How could anyone show such kindness and call themselves a pirate!?"

"Don't you get it?" interjected a younger voice. The villagers all looked at Koby, who had not yet left to follow his companions. He was smiling, though it was more so to himself than at anyone else. "No one person on this earth is born just good or evil. Is there really such a thing as someone who's a pirate and nothing else?"

"Is that why you follow them, boy?" an older man asked. "More than anyone, you don't look the part."

Koby nodded, for once not keeping his eyes at his feet as contemplation overpowered his shy disposition.

"Zoro didn't help you because he's a pirate. He did it because that's just the man who Roronoa Zoro is. I'm not a pirate. Right now, I'm following them because…"

Because he had to.

Because he wanted to be a marine, and they said that they could help.

Because…

Koby's smile grew wider as he faced them all properly.

"I'll be able to learn a little more about what being a good man means to me, I think."

He mentally wished them all the best of luck and took off with a parting wave. He chased after Nami and Zoro.

Like Nami said, they had things to do and not much time to do it.

X

Lieutenant Fullbody groaned as the Den Den Mushi screeching on his night table forced him to wake up. He grumbled and leaned over to grab it, uncaring that his silk sheets fell off his naked body.

Ka-cha.

"Do you—" he yawned. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Sir! You asked me to wake you at the crack of dawn!" the jittery voice of a Marine recruit answered through the snail's lips.

Fullbody frowned. He did, didn't he?

That was right. They had received a distress call from a nearby island the night before, claiming that it was being ransacked by pirates. Only, it was really late at the time, and well…

He looked over his shoulder and glanced at the back of the naked woman sleeping in his bed along with the leftover bowl of tortilla chips and cheese on the opposite bedside table.

I just had sex; I'm about to eat nachos! was his thought process back when the call came in.

They could wait a few hours. He knew how these things went: the pirates would have been in and out by the time they arrived anyway. Even if they left right then, all they'd have been able to do was write the paperwork for insurance claims. At least this way he had a good night's sleep.

He sighed.

"Set course for Syrup village."

X

When my crewmates arrived at the mansion, Kaya and Usopp stared at them with wide eyes. Some sheep guy was here too but I didn't know who he was or where he came from so I ignored him.

"Incredible," Usopp muttered under his breath. "Did they really fight an entire pirate crew by themselves and win?"

Eh? Did they not believe me when I told them earlier? I thought it was strange that they didn't look any less worried when I said that the village would be fine.

Suddenly, Kaya fell to her knees.

Usopp's immediate thought was that her poor health made her collapse; he and the sheep guy hovered over her worriedly for a moment before realising what it was that she was doing.

She was bowing.

"Thank you!" she sobbed. The three standing in front of her seemed caught off guard. "For saving the village… thank you."

Nami immediately knelt next to her and pulled the girl back to her feet. Her eyebrows were knitted together.

"You don't have to do that!"

"No. I must show how much this means to me somehow, Miss Nami. How can I express my appreciation properly?"

"D-don't mention it?" Koby stuttered out unsurely, then looked at Zoro. "Not that I did much…"

"Really, don't mention it," Zoro insisted gruffly. "We're happy for you and all, but we gotta get out of here. Who knows when the marines will get here."

I did!

She gasped.

"Are they coming? I'm sorry! I didn't—I don't mean to hold you…"

I grinned.

"Don't worry! We're gonna steal your ship so we won't have any problems getting away."

Koby's jaw dropped. Nami and Zoro turned to stone. Usopp looked pretty angry, actually. He grabbed me by the collar of my vest.

"Bastard! After everything…? What are you—"

"Pft! Hahahaha!"

Kaya broke into a giggling fit, cutting right through Usopp's anger and replacing it with confusion.

「Persuasion check success!」

Once she got a hold of herself, she smiled at us kindly.

"Of course you can take my ship."

Sheep Guy started babbling.

"My Lady, you can't just—"

"Great!" I cheered, then looked at my crew. "See? That wasn't so hard."

"..."

"Huhuhuhuhu…"

Koby and Zoro weren't saying anything. All that I heard was the sound of Nami crying against Kaya's shoulder.

Usopp made a pouty face but he let me go.

"Jerk… didn't I tell you not to mess with Kaya?" he mumbled.

Shishishi…

I bumped my fist against his chest.

"It's fine, isn't it?" I told him. "You're pretty strong. I thought you were just a scaredy cat at first, but you fought those pirates from earlier without any help! If anyone from around here tried anything—not me, I can totally kick your ass—you'll be able to protect her no problem. This won't happen again."

The two of them blushed.

"Ah. I still think you're a scaredy cat, though," I added.

His blush faded a bit. His brow scrunched up.

"You're right. I'm not very brave, am I?" Kaya touched his arm worriedly as she heard his words, but he continued. "Back then, the only reason I was able to fight those pirates was because I was angry. Because they were trying to hurt Kaya, and… and it felt like they were an insult. To what being a pirate means to me. To what I want to be."

…So he really wanted to be a pirate, huh? How funny.

I laughed. He looked offended right away.

"Wha—hey! Stop making fun of me."

"You are a scaredy cat, but I never said you weren't brave."

He blushed again and turned his head away.

"Tche. Asshole."

I laughed harder.

"Hey, were you serious?" I asked him.

"Hm?

"About wanting to be a pirate."

Everyone was giving me a look now. They didn't matter, though. Only Usopp did.

"W-why do you ask?" he asked unsurely.

I blinked. He didn't get it?

"If you're serious about being a pirate, then just join my crew."

I heard someone coughing behind me, but I didn't know who. Kaya and Sheep Guy looked pretty shocked.

So did Usopp, of course.

"Wha—where is this coming from? This is so sudden!"

I didn't get this guy at all.

"Who cares if it's sudden? Do you wanna or not?"

"I—" I thought he was just going to say no for a second, but he cut himself off. "...Why would you even want me on your crew?" he asked me in a small voice.

I felt eyes drilling holes into the back of my head.

Another stupid question. Usopp wasn't very smart, it seemed.

"Because I thought it might be fun, obviously!"

Kaya had another laughing fit before Usopp could answer. She hugged him from behind. He froze up right away.

"Kaya!? Wha—"

"Go!" she insisted. "If you have an opportunity to follow your dreams, take advantage of that."

The guy was stiff as a board, still. Kaya couldn't see it, but I could: he was getting all emotional and trying to swallow his tears.

I had my answer, then. I spun around, grabbed Koby and Nami, and walked off. I knew Zoro would follow because he was the responsible one.

"Usopp! We'll wait for you at the ship."

I heard Sheep Guy calling out to us about going somewhere merry and asking if we knew where the merry place was but I kind of just ignored him. I'll just keep my ears open for music from the merry place, and I still wasn't sure who he was so it would be strange to ask now since we were leaving.

X

Nami tapped her foot impatiently. It was really loud against the wooden floorboards of our new ship.

"That Long Nose… he's sure taking his sweet time, isn't he!?"

I didn't look her way since I was busy playing with the sheep head at the front of the ship, but I still shared my thoughts.

"Maybe the lady's giving him something special to remember her by." Zoro muttered.

I brightened. "Like meat?"

"Maybe he got lost?" Koby offered, looking red.

"We got lost!" she snapped back. "We had to look for this stupid thing because we didn't ask where it was, and we still got here before he did!"

I pouted and shuffled my way back onto the ship.

"Geez, Nami. You sure are antsy."

"Of course I'm antsy!" Nami snapped. "Marines are coming!"

I scoffed.

「[Set Sail!]

The ship you took from Buggy the Clown is in no condition to challenge the seas. Find a way to repair it or, alternatively, find a new ship.

[Event!]
The villagers have been set against you! Steal Lady Kaya's caravel and make your escape before the marines arrive.

[Bonus]: (?)」

「Time Limit: 3H:57M:56S:」

"It's fine! They won't arrive at the village for another four hours."

Nami sighed and pinched her brow.

"If it were true that the marines would take four more hours to get there, that still wouldn't be enough time for us to make a safe exit. We have to circle the island, grab our stuff, then turn back in the opposite direction to sail toward the Conomi archipelago. Plus, depending on which base the marine dispatch is coming from, our ship would be visible at least a few good hours away from shore."

"...Oh."

That was pretty bad, then, huh?

I laughed. Nami was looking at me suspiciously, and Koby, who was a little further away doing something else, looked over to us nervously.

"L-Luffy-san," he called out softly. "How sure are you that they'll be here in four hours?"

"Super duper sure!"

Nami buried her head in her hands.

"Ahhhh… this is another one of your stupid superpowers, isn't it?"

"Probably."

She clicked her tongue.

"Hey!" a voice called out to us from the shore. We looked over the railing to see Usopp waving up at us. Kaya and Sheep guy were standing behind him.

He took a deep breath.

"I'm… ready to go. Everyone, thank you—"

"Shut the hell up and get your ass on board, dumbass! We're leaving right now!" Nami screeched.

"Right! Sorry!" he whimpered. "Let me just—kya!"

I stretched out my arm and wrapped it around Usopp and his stuff, then I pulled him on board. He and Kaya and Sheep Guy looked super scared, but that didn't matter right now. We had to get away, after all.

I smiled super wide.

"Set sail!" I shouted.

Nami bit her nail.

"What do we do?" she asked. "If we try to get our stuff, there's no way that we'll get away before the marines come."

I frowned.

"We have to go!" I insisted. "Yamato's club's there."

"We can't risk our lives for just that!" Nami countered.

"All the money's there, too!" Zoro shouted down to us from the crow's nest.

"We're getting our stuff," Nami decided. "Luffy, do you think you'll be able to keep the marines off our back if you have to?"

I smirked.

"Of course!"

"Good!" Nami stormed off toward the helm. "Everyone, get ready! You're going to have to find your way around this ship as we go along, because we're leaving now."

Koby sighed.

"Ah, good. It would be bad if we left Buggy's head there, too, right? I mean I can just imagine—"

"Let's get Yamato's club then go to Fish Guy!" I cheered.

「Notice: this side quest cannot be accepted until the main story quest [Arlong Park] has commenced.」

My stomach dropped.