The sun had dipped low, painting Syrup Village in amber gold. Usopp walked ahead, glancing over his shoulder more often than usual.
"Step where I step," Usopp said sharply, one arm stretched out to stop Luffy from bounding ahead like a hyperactive goat.
"But it's just a forest path—"
"Step. Where. I. Step."
Luffy blinked, then grinned and nodded like he was being let in on a secret game. Zoro and Nami exchanged a look and followed behind, their curiosity piqued.
The four of them made their way down a barely visible trail that twisted between tall reeds, sloped hills, and tightly packed thickets. Usopp's feet danced over seemingly random rocks, skipped a section of moss, and at one point, he held his hand up to wave away an invisible wire.
"...Did you rig this whole path?" Zoro asked, ducking under something suspiciously thin and shimmering.
Usopp didn't even glance back. "Yes."
Luffy nearly stepped on a strange wooden pressure plate, but Usopp yanked him back just in time.
"Tripwire. Sends a cloud of itching powder strong enough to make you wish you never had skin."
"Ohhhh, cool!" Luffy beamed.
"You're not supposed to think it's cool!"
"You really don't want people visiting, huh?" Nami said, brushing leaves from her shoulder.
"Let's just say I don't trust folks who ask too many questions," Usopp muttered.
After one last hair-raising hop over what Usopp referred to as a "delayed-drop bamboo pit," the trees finally cleared—and there she was.
The ship.
"Welcome," Usopp declared, arms outstretched, "to the Merry Go! Also known as... the Going Merry! Trademarked."
There she sat, in a small private dock hidden between dense cliffs, her white figurehead smiling out proudly over the calm blue water. The hull gleamed in the afternoon sun, as if it had just been scrubbed that morning (it had). Golden trim lined the windows, and the rounded sails, folded now, fluttered faintly in the breeze.
"She's..." Nami trailed off, genuinely impressed. "She's beautiful."
"Not bad," Zoro said, nodding slightly. His eyes lifted to the modest crow's nest above. "Could sleep up there."
Luffy was gone.
"LUFFY, NO—!"
Too late. Luffy had launched himself onboard like a cannonball, bouncing off the railings, swinging from the mast like a jungle monkey, and running up and down the deck with his arms flailing in excitement.
"THIS IS SO COOL!! LOOK AT THIS! WHAT'S THIS DO?!"
"THAT'S A PULLEY SYSTEM FOR THE MAINSAIL DON'T TOUCH THA—"
Usopp chased after him in circles, waving his arms and yelling technical terms that Luffy ignored entirely.
"LUFFY! THE ROPE'S NOT FOR YOU TO EAT!"
Zoro and Nami stepped on board more carefully. Nami ran her hand along the polished railing.
"Feels expensive."
"It's not," Usopp grumbled as he dragged Luffy away from the anchor controls. "It just looks like it is."
"It's clean," she said, tapping the wood lightly. "Too clean."
Usopp puffed out his chest. "I maintain her every day. Every. Day."
"That's no joke," Zoro said, running his fingers along the mast. "Takes discipline."
"You wouldn't believe how many parts I've replaced, re-oiled, reinforced... do you know how much mildew this ocean air tries to cause? I have custom blend anti-mold waxes!"
Nami blinked. "You made custom wax?"
"I distilled it from local herbs and tree sap!" Usopp snapped, then caught himself. "...I mean, yes. Totally normal ship stuff."
Luffy was already halfway inside.
"HEY! Let's check the inside!" he called.
"Wait! Wait-wait-wait-wait—!" Usopp suddenly panicked. "Hold on, just—wait—!"
But Luffy didn't wait.
With one big shove, he pushed open the hatch to the interior, and like a line of dominoes, Nami and Zoro followed behind him.
"No-no-no-nononono—wait, you guys—!" Usopp stumbled after them.
Inside the ship's main interior, the wood was polished to a golden sheen. The small kitchen gleamed with brass fittings. There were hanging lanterns, a cozy table, and a tiny but efficient galley.
But it was the conference room that made everyone stop dead in their tracks.
"...Whoa," Luffy muttered.
On the wall opposite the table was an enormous, ridiculously well-organized array of diagrams, clippings, strings, maps, and notes—a full-on crazy wall, the kind you'd expect from a detective five months deep into a caffeine-fueled conspiracy case.
A large, crossed-out bounty poster sat at the center.
"Kuro of the Thousand Plans – Wanted: Dead or Alive – 16,000,000 Berri"
Zoro narrowed his eyes.
"What the hell is this?" Nami asked, folding her arms.
Usopp stood in the doorway, frozen. "…Oops."
Zoro stepped closer to the wall, eyes scanning the connecting threads. Photos, some taken from a distance, some old, some with burned edges. Diagrams of ships. Blueprints. Letters. One section even had a collection of headlines, each one stamped with red ink and tiny labels.
And there—off to the left—was a picture of Captain Morgan.
Zoro's brow furrowed. "I know that face."
Nami looked at Usopp. "Alright. What are you hiding exactly?"
Luffy just tilted his head, finger scratching his cheek.
"Is this a game?"
Usopp sighed and rubbed his forehead.
"This… is gonna take a lot of explaining," Usopp muttered, staring up at the bounty board as if it were judging him.
He didn't wait for a response before stepping forward and pointing at the mess of strings and notes. "Alright, let's start simple. Y'all see a peaceful island, right? Small village, happy folks, quiet mornings, smiling faces."
Luffy was already distracted by one of the red strings and was trying to use it like a slingshot.
Usopp slapped his hand down. "PAY ATTENTION."
Luffy blinked innocently.
"Thing is—" Usopp continued, "—behind the sunny smiles and fresh bread, this island's weird. For example: no Marine presence. None. Zip."
Zoro leaned back against the table. "So what?"
"It's not supposed to be like that!" Usopp snapped. "We're part of the World Government just like everywhere else in East Blue. Marines should be passing through, doing check-ups, recruitment drives, dock inspections. But for the last four years?"
He held up four fingers.
"Not one single Marine ship has docked here."
Nami frowned, crossing her arms. "Four years? That's... highly unusual. Marine patrol routes are scheduled, even in minor trade towns."
Usopp nodded grimly. "Now here's where it gets juicy."
He pointed to a photo—an image of a young woman with blonde hair and kind eyes, maybe their age, dressed in a pale gown, sitting on a garden bench.
Luffy squinted. "Oooh, Usopp, you got girl pictures?"
BONK!
Usopp dropped a fist squarely on Luffy's head, making the Straw Hat captain crouch and pout like a scolded puppy.
"She's not a 'girl picture,' you idiot. That's Kaya. She's my friend. Probably the best one I've got."
The room grew quiet, the tone shifting.
"I lied to you guys earlier," Usopp admitted. "This island? It does have resources for shipbuilding. Kaya's family owns multiple shipyards. Not on this island exactly—but nearby. She's the sole inheritor."
Zoro's brow raised. "Rich girl. Big whoop. Still not seeing the threat."
Usopp's finger drifted across the board, tapping another photo—this one, a man in glasses with slicked-back hair, dressed in a crisp butler's uniform.
"Klahadore. Kaya's head butler."
He leaned in, voice quiet now.
"He's been on the payroll for... four years."
The timeline clicked into place in everyone's minds.
"Same time Kuro supposedly got taken down," Zoro muttered.
Usopp nodded grimly. "Exactly. Klahadore showed up just a couple months before Kaya's parents died. Sick. Both of them. At the same time. And now Kaya's got the same mysterious illness—but no one else in the village ever caught it."
Nami's eyes sharpened. "So you're saying someone targeted her family?"
Usopp's jaw tightened. "No. I'm saying someone's been slowly poisoning them. I'm saying... Klahadore is Kuro. Captain Kuro of the Thousand Plans."
He pointed at the bounty poster again, the one with the smug smirk and the thick-framed glasses—identical to the butler's.
Zoro stepped closer to the board, arms folded. "You sure?"
"Dead sure. I've been watching him. Listening. Documenting. And I'm not the only one. I got confirmation from one of his own crew. Kuro's men are still around. His old crew—the Black Cat Pirates—they make pit stops on the rocky coast every few months. Quiet. Hidden."
"How'd you even find that out?" Nami asked, skeptical but clearly intrigued.
Usopp smirked faintly. "It's amazing what you hear when you know how to sneak around. His guys are dumb as rocks. It's like Kuro's genius plan came with a curse: the dumber the henchmen, the more they blab. They're like parrots with swords."
Luffy giggled. "Sword parrots!"
Usopp ignored him.
"I almost pitied Kuro... if he wasn't actively poisoning my friend to steal her fortune."
The humor drained out of the room.
He turned back to the board and pointed to two Marine photos. The first one was unmistakable—Zoro and Luffy straightened at the sight of that squared jaw and iron jawplate.
"'Axe Hand' Morgan," Zoro muttered. "We know him."
"I really know him," Luffy added with a grin.
Usopp nodded. "He's one of the key pieces in Kuro's 'fake death' deal. The second Marine is this guy—"
He tapped the photo beside Morgan's.
A rat-faced man with narrow eyes and a conniving smirk.
"Captain Nezumi," Usopp said. "Same rank. Same filth."
Nami stiffened.
Her expression didn't change, but her knuckles whitened around her crossed arms.
"Never trust a man named after a rat," Zoro muttered.
"Here's how it worked," Usopp went on, grabbing a pointer stick he clearly used often. "Kuro makes a deal with both of them. He wants out—no more pirate fame, just a clean slate. But to vanish, he needs the Marines to lie."
He pointed to the forged reports pinned under Morgan's face.
"So Morgan gets to 'defeat' Captain Kuro. Instant glory. Gets promoted. Meanwhile, Nezumi wants money, so Kuro gives up his treasure in exchange for silence."
"Filthy," Nami said through her teeth.
"And effective," Usopp agreed bitterly. "Four years later, Klahadore becomes a respected head butler for a rich, vulnerable girl. Nobody remembers Kuro anymore. He poisons her parents slowly, isolates Kaya, fires the maids she loves, keeps her weak. Prepares her medicine personally. Medicine. More like liquid suffering."
Luffy's fists clenched. "...He sounds like a jerk."
"He's not a jerk," Usopp said. "He's a snake. And I'll be damned before I let him wrap around Kaya and squeeze the life out of her."
Silence stretched for a long beat.
Then Zoro looked at him. "So what's the plan?"
Usopp's eyes narrowed.
"I don't have one other than beat the shit out of him and kicking him off my home."
Both Zoro and Luffy grinned like the dawn of a storm.
"I like that plan." Both of them said.
Men. Nami Deadpanned.