With the farce over, Luffy and the others didn't kill Kuro. Instead, they took all of the Black Cat Pirates to the village, tied them up, and had the villagers notify the Marines to come and pick them up.
Meanwhile…
At Kaya's mansion, everyone was celebrating with a feast, eating to their hearts' content. After Luffy and the others finished their meal, Kaya said, "Butler Merry told me that you want a ship that can sail freely on the sea. You've helped me a great deal, so I can give you a ship. However, I have one request: I hope you can take Usopp with you on your journey."
Usopp felt a surge of warmth in his heart when he heard Kaya wanted to help him—so moved that he could barely speak. He quickly waved his hands and said, "Kaya, you really don't need to trouble yourself. I'll go out to sea later by myself, so I won't cause them any trouble."
However, at that moment, Luffy suddenly spoke to Usopp. "Hey! Your dad is Yasopp, right? I saw him on Shanks' ship when I was a kid. He always told us he had an amazing son named Usopp!"
Upon hearing this, Usopp's face immediately lit up with pride. He puffed out his chest and said, "Haha, that's right, Yasopp is my father! I've always looked up to him as a role model, hoping to become a brave warrior of the sea just like him!"
Seeing this, Luffy grinned and enthusiastically invited him, "If that's the case, then why don't you join our pirate crew? Let's go on an adventure together!"
Kaya also chimed in, "That's right, Usopp, I've always known you yearn for the sea. Luffy and his crew are a fantastic pirate crew, and I believe you'll have many exciting experiences with them. And with your personality, if you give up this opportunity, you might never get another chance to go out to sea. Do you really want to stay on this small island your whole life?"
Shin'ya slapped Usopp on the shoulder. "Stop being so wishy-washy. How are you going to become a man? Listen to me, you're coming with us tomorrow."
Then he looked at Kaya and said, "Miss Kaya, we accept your request. So, when can we get our ship?"
Kaya looked at Butler Merry, who then said, "You can have it tomorrow morning."
Knowing the time, Luffy and the others went to find a hotel in the village and settled down for the night.
---
The next day.
On the coast of Syrup Village, Butler Merry, Miss Kaya, Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Shin'ya all gathered. Originally, there was only the Black Cat Pirates' ship on the coast, but now a medium-sized sailboat had appeared next to it.
Looking at the assembled group, Butler Merry began, "Now, let me introduce this ship. It is a vessel meticulously crafted by me, with all my heart and soul poured into it. Blah, blah, blah… Finally, this ship is named the Going Merry. Did you understand?"
Luffy, Zoro, and Shin'ya were full of question marks: "???, We don't understand."
Nami saw their expressions and knew they hadn't understood anything. She couldn't help but rub her forehead, but as the navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates, she easily remembered everything Merry had said.
Nami replied, "Butler Merry, I understood. You don't need to worry about those three; it's enough that I understood."
After a flurry of activity, Merry and Kaya left first, returning to the mansion.
Luffy and the others excitedly boarded their Going Merry.
As soon as he stepped onto the ship, Luffy eagerly rushed to the bow, as if it were his exclusive territory.
Standing at the bow, Luffy excitedly spread his arms, facing the sea breeze, and shouted loudly, "Wahahahaha~! This is great! I've decided, this will be my special seat from now on!" His laughter echoed over the sea, as if the entire ocean could feel his joy.
Zoro stood to the side, arms crossed, looking at the new ship. A faint smile touched his lips, showing a hint of approval. "Not bad. Now I can train to my heart's content on the ship."
Nami also walked over. She looked at the Going Merry before her and nodded with satisfaction. "With this ship, we can confidently head into the Grand Line. We no longer have to worry about a single wave drowning us."
Just then, Usopp walked over and said to everyone, "I need two rooms. One for living, and the other I'd like to use as a research lab. What do you think?"
Shin'ya replied with a smile, "No problem, Usopp. There are many rooms on the ship, enough for dozens of people. And Luffy plans to take the elite route, so we'll only have about ten or so crewmates at most. There will definitely be plenty of empty rooms. You can pick any one you want for your research lab."
Shin'ya looked at Luffy seriously. "Luffy, now that we have our own pirate ship, it's time to have our own pirate flag."
"Let's split up and work. Two people will draw the pirate flag on the ship, and the others will go procure supplies. Once that's done, we'll head to the next island. Don't forget, we still need to help Nami defeat the Fish-Man Pirates. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can resolve Nami's worries," Shin'ya said to Luffy and Zoro.
Nami's eyes filled with emotion when she heard Shin'ya's words. "Okay, I'll go procure supplies. Luffy and Usopp will draw the pirate flag on the ship. Shin'ya and Zoro will come with me to move the supplies. It's settled, let's get to it."
When Nami and the others returned with the supplies, they were speechless to see the two still drawing the pirate flag on the ship. "It's been so long, haven't you finished drawing yet?"
Nami and the other two walked over to see how their drawing was coming along. Who knew—seeing that pirate flag that looked like a ghost's scrawl, Nami was truly speechless.
"You guys can actually draw a pirate flag like this? A pirate flag is the face of a pirate crew. If you dare to hang this up, we'll be ridiculed by everyone tomorrow," Nami said through gritted teeth.
Zoro looked confused. "What in the world is this?"
Shin'ya burst out laughing. "Hahahaha~ Do you want to become the laughingstock of the pirate world? If this thing gets hung up, I can't even imagine what we'll look like when we meet other pirate crews, hahaha~~."
Usopp said, "I told you this wouldn't work, but Luffy, you didn't believe me. I'll draw it instead."
With that, Usopp took a white cloth and paints and began to draw.
Before long, as Usopp finished drawing, everyone came over to take a look.
Nami nodded in satisfaction. "Hmm, this time it's not bad. Don't forget to draw one on the sail too, and draw a few smaller ones to hang in other places."
Usopp nodded. "Don't worry, I will."
After everyone's efforts, a skull wearing a straw hat appeared on the sail. There were also small pirate flags in other places.
At this moment, Luffy excitedly stepped forward and shouted, "To celebrate the formation of our Straw Hat Pirates and the addition of our new crewmate Usopp, let's have a feast!"
"Oh yeah~" everyone responded.
At the feast, Luffy was ungracefully gnawing on a large bone, grabbing meat everywhere, or snatching food from Zoro, Shin'ya, Nami, and Usopp's plates. The scene was chaotic yet filled with a joyful atmosphere.
After the feast, everyone lay on chairs with full bellies, not wanting to move.
"We absolutely have to find a cook first! I really don't want to keep cooking all the time! You guys eat so much, this meal today really tired me out!" Nami grumbled, full of complaints. It was clear that today's feast had been entirely her doing.
Upon hearing Nami's words, Luffy immediately clapped his fist into his palm with excitement and shouted, "That's right! Find a cook! And a musician! How can a pirate feast be without music!"
Just then, Shin'ya interjected, "Actually, the most important thing is a ship doctor! If we don't have a doctor, we won't get very far on this vast sea. I've heard that many people have died at sea because of illness."
Luffy listened to Shin'ya's words, a serious expression on his face. He nodded thoughtfully, then said, "So that's how it is. Alright then, let's prioritize finding a cook and a doctor!"
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