Chapter 3: Syrup Village

[Third Person Point of View]

Leo left the sailboat and walked onto the sandy beach where he saw Luffy and Zoro facing a kneeling guy. He is a slim tan-skinned teenager with medium-length black curly hair, prominent lips, and a long nose, which is apparently an allusion to Pinocchio.

He wears an olive-green plaid bandanna, a blue and white striped armband on his left arm, brown overalls with a white sash, and no shirt underneath. He also carries with him a yellow satchel. Leo walked over there followed by Nami who had returned to her sailboat to wake him up.

"Who is he?"

Leo said pointing at the kneeling teenager. This caught the attention of Luffy, Zoro, and the teenager who looked at him.

"Oh, Leo you woke up! This is Usopp and he is the guy who going to buy us lunch."

Luffy said grinning at the thought of food. Leo looked at Usopp who nodded at the statement.

"Aight, say less."

Leo said as he walks and followed Usopp along with Luffy, Zoro, and Nami. They walked at a slow pace for about ten minutes until they arrived at a village. Its name was called the Syrup Village is a typical sleepy community, surrounded by grasslands, dirt trails, hills, and forests.

The villagers seem to live in simplistic houses, with a luxurious mansion sticking out among them. Usopp brought them to a restaurant which was called Meshi. Luffy immediately orders after stepping one foot at the front door.

They sat in a booth and waited for the food as Luffy and Usopp spoke to each other. It seems that Usopp's father, a man named Yasopp, is part of Shank's pirate crew which Luffy idolizes while Usopp admires his father for being a pirate much to the bewilderment of Leo.

'The guy went and left his child and wife to get some milk, never came back only for his son to idolize him… I think Yassop just became the idol of every Deadbeat Dad in the omniverse.'

Leo silently thought.

"So, you knew my father?"

Usopp asked looking at Luffy.

"Yeah, he used to stay at my village with Shanks and the others. I remember the times when he would put an apple on my head and shoot it from far away without hurting me. He also used to talk about you and whenever I did not listen, he would grab me and force me to listen to his story. He and Shanks taught me that being a pirate is about being free and sailing through the sea without any restraint."

Luffy said before munching on some meat. Usopp's face brightened up with each word Luffy spoke until he could no longer hold it in and spoke.

"That's so cool! I also want to be a cool warrior of the sea like my father! One day, I will sail through the sea as a pirate and be someone as great as him-"

"Okay, I can't hold it in anymore, I have to ask. If you want to be a warrior of the sea then why not become an adventurer instead of a pirate?"

Leo interrupted Usopp as he could no longer take in what the duo was saying. One was saying that pirates were great due to sailing freely but that was essentially being an adventure. Leo had only been with Luffy for a few days, but he knew that his personality was that of an adventurer with how he talked about exciting adventures.

The only reason he did not dissuade Luffy was that the latter wanted to find the "One Piece" something that most now thought to be a myth even though the actions of the Navy and the World Government clearly showed that something was there to be found.

Leo concluded this when he heard that some World Government workers and marines arrested people for only saying that they would find the One Piece. It had been almost Twenty-Two years since Gold Roger's death, yet the Navy had yet to show any signs of searching for it only preventing people from finding it.

Leo had yet to see more concrete evidence, but he had seen enough from East Blue to back up the existence of the "One Piece". From his perspective, if he was the World Government then he would search for the treasure and hoard it for himself, but they did not which meant that they either could not, did not want to, or a bit of both. This mystery had piqued Leo's curiosity which was part of the reason why he was after the "One Piece"... in the case that it was not worth any money.

"Hm… Because Pirates are the warriors of the sea."

Usopp responded with Luffy nodding. Leo ate a piece of meat before speaking.

"You both talk about sailing through the seas, having an adventure, and freedom being the core of what makes a pirate but that is actually what makes someone an Adventurer, especially the second reason. From my point of view, being an adventure lets you be all those things without being wanted but that's your life and your decision to make, just thought I'd say my two-piece that's all."

Usopp looked at Leo and noticed that he was a tall muscular guy who had a body that most would be envious. This made him ask himself.

'Why would a guy, that seems so strong, warn me about being a pirate? Is it that dangerous? M-M-maybe I should stay here- NO! You can't! You can't coward like that, or they will think that you are nothing but a lying coward!

You are Captain Usopp, the man leading a whooping eighty-thousand-man-strong pirate crew! Okay, calm down he must be testing you…Yeah, that's what is going on! He must have been impressed by my splendor and wants to be my subordinate-'

*Crack!*

Usopp came out of his delusion as everyone sitting in the booth noticed that Leo had shattered his cup and was glaring at Usopp with a murderous light in his eyes. Luffy, Zoro, and Nami were confused as they had never seen Leo like this.

"I am going to make myself perfectly clear. I am and will work under NO ONE, the next time you think about becoming my boss will then be shortly followed by an introduction between your face and my fist."

Leo finished his sentence by cracking his right hand while maintaining eye contact with Usopp who looked like he could cut a diamond with his sphincter. The eye contact was broken by Luffy who brought his face near Leo's and spoke.

"Wait! Leo, you can read minds. Quick guess what I'm thinking!"

'Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop! Poop!'

"Would you stop thinking about poop when we're eating!"

Leo yelled before realizing his mistake. He had now told them that he could read minds while thinking that Luffy's stupidity might have affected him. Nami was the most visibly distraught while Zoro seemed mildly shocked and Luffy had stars in the place of his eyes. He sighed before clearing something.

"I can't really read minds... per say, I passively detect malice pointed at me but if I focus hard enough, I can hear someone's thoughts in that moment like 'I wanna eat ice cream' or 'I wanna sail'. If it makes you guys feel any better, I do not plan on using it on teammates although if one of you guys blabs about this I will personally make you pay."

"What? Why are you looking at me for?"

Leo finished his sentence while looking at Luffy who asked him the reason why. Zoro and Nami seemed at ease with Leo's answer and even agreed with his look toward Luffy. If one of them was dumb enough to reveal a crewmate's secret, then it was none other than Luffy.

"S-So why do you want to become a pirate if being an adventurer is safer?"

Usopp said trying to change the conversation.

"Well for starters, I figured that with all the corrupted marines I have encountered, I would one day be victim to their petty scheme, end up killing them, and get a bounty on my head so why not become a criminal out of my free will plus I need to collect a hundred million Beli.

I spent nearly three years as a bounty hunter and due to cheap marine officers, I could not reach that goal.

His head is too damaged they said, we need the whole body they say, we need them alive they say, we can't show such horrified expressions they say. *Tsk* They deducted my bounty rewards for such reasons. I'd rather not steal from civilians, so I stayed a bounty hunter but now I'm going to steal from the Marines as well as other pirates."

Leo said as Nami went from nervous to deep in her own thoughts to scared. She had thought that Leo had read her mind but after thinking she remembered that the [Battle Beast] was rumored to love money which reassured her that her past was safe but after hearing how Leo caught the pirates first hand, her body trembled while imagining it.

"You are ruthless!"

Usopp said as he backed away in fear.

"*Scoff* The criminals I killed savagely were always rapists, mass murderers, slave traders, or any other type of scum that did not see others as people. Most of them begged for their lives while saying that they would change... but all they thought of was killing me and going back to what they loved doing the moment I would drop my guard which... I did not."

Leo added which made Zoro nod and speak.

"He is right, during my pirate hunting days, I have met with a lot of scums that would kill anything that move for no other reason than that they could and would repeat what their victims said to them in hopes of getting away when they were beaten by me."

The atmosphere became a bit gloomy, and Leo decided to change the subject.

"So did I miss anything while I was asleep?"

"Yeah, we decided to get a bigger ship to sail through the Grandline."

Nami answered with a smile as what Leo said had earned points in her book. She had stolen from many dumb but cruel pirates who had ruined the lives of many people. She was not a violent person, but she would not mind watching them all die.

She also knew that Marines were not the paragon of justice that they proclaimed to be since if they were then she would not need to gather a hundred million Beli for the last eight years. She had already gone past caring for stealing from the Marines, but she would only do so for those who are corrupt or tyrannical.

"We still need to gather enough money to buy a ship which is why I was planning to go to Loguetown where we can gather more information on potential targets as well as recruits. For now, we have yet to be labeled so we should use it to our advantage."

Leo said earning the smile of Zoro and Nami as it made sense, it was more logical than Luffy's plan to ask someone to give them a ship. While they were thinking about the logic of Leo's plan they failed to noticed that his facial expression changed several times.

'And I'll have more time to prepare the Dying Will Pills, I could probably sell it for cash but the idea of the World Government gaining the recipe via reverse engineering doesn't sit too fucking well with me.

In fact, selling stuff that could make your enemies stronger is just plain stupid. I should at least make sure that no one can recreate it before I even try to sell it... at a high price of course. If things go well meaning that I manage to make sure that no one can replicate it and that it works on Logia use-

Hold on, entering Dying Will Mode doesn't necessarily require Dying Will Pill, from what I remember there were some characters in the series that did not require Dying Will Pill to enter that mode... That means that by selling them I might just be giving humans a power-up...

On one side there is the potential money I could make but on the other my past not letting me give humans a power-up... FUCK THIS IS GETTING COMPLICATED! I'm just going to use it on myself and let future me find a way to deal with this mess if he decides to sell it.'

[AN: I'm saying 'past' because I want to reveal it later on and not here.]

"That's-"

"No! I am not going to hide the fact that I am a pirate!"

Luffy interrupted Nami. Zoro sighed as he understood why Luffy said so and already figured something like this would happen.

"Then how do you plan to acquire a ship?"

Leo yelled.

"By asking! I saw a big white mansion; we can ask the one there if they have a ship they can give us! Hey Usopp, do you know who lives there?"

He turned to Usopp while addressing him which made Usopp almost choke on his drink.

"*Cough* *Cough* NO ONE LIVES THERE! Oh, what's this, it looks like I have to go somewhere, you guys can eat as much as you want but never go there! Bye!"

He ran out of the restaurant leaving them there. As soon as Usopp left, Luffy started to eat again until three kids entered the restaurant, ran towards them, and each pointed a small non-threatening wooden sword at them while they shouted simultaneously.

"We are the Usopp pirates, and we demand that you release our captain!"

The one on the left is a freckled boy with short spiky purple hair that covers his eyes, a red hat with a frill at the top and the Usopp Pirates Jolly Roger on the front, and a face that ends in a pointed chin; these three features make his head resemble a carrot. He also wears a black sweater, a reddish-brown sash, light orange pants, and dark brown shoes, with light brown on the bottom. His name is Ninjin.

The one in the middle is a boy with dark hair wearing a pepper-shaped hat. He wears a light green short sleeves shirt with the Usopp Pirates Jolly Roger on the front. He also wears a light blue sash, dark blue pants, and black shoes with grey laces, and grey on the bottom and very top. His name is Piiman.

The one on the right is a boy with straight brown hair with a tuft sticking up at the top, making his head reminiscent of an onion in appearance, and tiny eyes. He wears square glasses and a yellow shirt with a blue vest jacket over it. He also wears a dark yellow sash, dark brown pants, and black shoes, with grey on the very top and bottom, with tan buckles. His name is Tamanegi.

Leo, Zoro, and Nami looked at the trio with an amusing look, the kids were visibly shaking but still tried to look intimidating. Leo was about to clear their fears when Luffy sighed while rubbing his inflated and full belly which scared the trio.

"We can't give your captain back since…"

Zoro stopped to add a more menacing aura to the conversation as he looked at the trio.

"…he was so delicious."

"NO! THEY ATE CAPTAIN USOPP!"

The trio screamed.

"WHY ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME FOR!"

*Bonk!*

Nami yelled while hitting Tamanegi as the trio looked at her for some reason as if accusing her of eating their captain.

"HAHAHA!"

Leo and Zoro laughed at the comedic scene while Nami spoke to the kids.

"Your Captain left in a hurry after we mentioned the big mansion. We are not bad guys in fact he paid for our meals before leaving. Do you know why he left?"

The trio looked at each other with relief in their eyes before nodding to each other.

"Captain Usopp went to the mansion to do an important task."

"An important task and what would that be?"

Leo asked intrigued at what the trio had said in unison.

"Lie!"

They replied in unison once more. This made Zoro, Leo, and Nami fall on the table due to the absurdness of the reply. Luffy laughed as Nami yelled.

"How is that an important task?"

The trio huddled up in fear. They trembled and were incapable of answering Nami's question when Luffy suddenly got up and spoke.

"All right, let's go to that mansion and ask for a ship!"

They stood up and walked to the mansion along with the trio who had overcome their fear of Nami. As they walked to the mansion Luffy could not hold in his curiosity and asked.

"By the way, why does he go there to lie?"

"Captain Usopp goes there every day to lie to Miss Kaya to cheer her up. She lost her parent and her sickness became more serious until one day our brave Captain Usopp went there to lie about his adventures. Ever since then, she has become more joyous, so he goes there every day to meet her and lie about his adventures."

The words of Piiman, elevated Usopp's character in the mind of the four pirates. Zoro thought that he was a weak coward but now Usopp was a weak coward with a good heart, the same went for Nami. Luffy thought he was interesting while Leo remained indifferent, unlike his thoughts.

'Seriously that's an even better reason to choose becoming an adventurer instead of a pirate. I am sure that he must have some feelings for the girl else he would not be doing this every day. If he becomes a pirate, he will never be able to return to his hometown and settle down in peace since the Navy can always catch him when he least suspects it.'

They arrived at the mansion but were stopped by the guard from entering. They walked around the main entrance where Luffy and the bright idea of rocketing above the fence. Leo knew this was a bad idea along with the rest thus he voiced his opinion.

"You go your way; I'll just jump over it."

Nami looked at Luffy's stretching arms then looked at Leo who was squatting and ready to jump. She made her decision and chose the safest option. She went behind Leo and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Room for one more?"

Nami cheekily asked as Leo stood up and carried her in his arms in a princess carry. He looked into her eyes and spoke with a smile.

"For you, always."

He jumped and landed on the other side of the fence with Nami in his arms just in time to see the rest of fell from the sky along with Luffy. Nami looked at them with a relieved expression as she sighed and thought.

'Yeah, I chose the right way to get over the fence.'

"Guys?! What are you doing here?"

Everyone looked up to see Usopp who was sitting on a tree branch next to a blonde girl who was leaning on the window. Everything about her screamed the word, fragile, from her skin tone to her shoulder-length blonde hair. Kaya was a pretty girl with a sweet disposition.

Usopp introduced them to Kaya and a conversation began and just as Luffy was about to ask for a big boat, a shout came from behind the group.

"What are you doing here?! You can't simply trespass on the mansion grounds like this! Leave at once!"

A tall thin man wearing a black butler suit came into the scene with round-framed glasses and slicked-back black hair. He looked dignified if one overlooked his shoes and the poop pattern on his suit.

"Klahadore, these people were just-"

"Please young miss Kaya, If there is a reason I will hear it later."

Kaya looked over at the butler before he cut her off as he raised a hand and as well as his voice. His gaze turned to the large group of people.

"Now leave, all of you. Or is there something you want to say?"

Luffy chimed in as if Klahadore had not told them to leave.

"We want a boat."

Klahadore sighed before shaking his head while smirking.

"Of course, you miscreants are after Miss Kaya's fortune, I should have known better."

He shifted his gaze to Usopp.

"After all they are with you, Usopp. For too long have I turned a blind eye to your secret meeting with Miss Kaya but I can no longer do such a thing as a Butler of Miss Kaya. After all, I've heard a lot about you from the townsfolk. You have quite the 'reputation'-"

Usopp puffed out his chest with pride as he interpreted this has him being seen as a notorious pirate. He spoke before Klahadore finished his sentence.

"Oh? Why thank you! You can call me Captain Usopp if you want! You must be a fan, right? I may be a great pirate but I mean no harm-" 

"As I was saying before you rudely interrupted me, the reputation for your exaggerated FANTASIES!"

Klahadore just shook his head and continued on with a self-righteous speech condemning Usopp as a liar and his father as a filthy pirate. Usopp lost himself in rage and rushed to deck Klahadore right across the face but before he could hit him a hand grabbed his arm and stopped Usopp.

"I think we overstayed our welcome, we should go, sorry for troubling you."

Leo said as he grabbed Usopp while covering his mouth and walked away.

"Hmph! It seems at least one of you miscreants has some common sense. I believe you should follow his example and leave this establishment."

Zoro was forced to restrain and drag Luffy out, to keep him from starting a fight. Tears formed in Kaya's eyes as she spoke trying to explain things.

"Klahadore isn't a bad person. He's just worried about me."

As soon as they were far enough, Leo released Usopp.

"Why did you stop me from punching Klahadore?!"

Usopp demanded.

"Yeah, why?!"

Luffy added.

"You idiots, that's because that butler was egging Usopp into hitting him in front of Kaya! Leo just stopped Usopp from falling into a trap."

Nami defended Leo. At first, she had been too caught up to notice but after Leo prevented Usopp from hitting Klahadore, she noticed that the latter kept provoking till the very end even if it was subtle. On their way out, she pieced things together and understood the butler's plan.

"How strong is Klahadore?"

Leo asked Usopp which caused confusion to spread to everyone that heard his question.

"How strong is Klahadore? I mean he's just a regular butler so I think-"

Usopp tried to answer while still in confusion but Enryu interrupted him.

"Then you would have lost if he fought seriously. I don't think you would like to lose in front of the girl you like."

Leo's words confused everyone even more except for Zoro who did not miss a beat.

"What makes you think that Klahadore would win?"

Leo took a few steps away from the group and turned to face them all and speak.

"Can anyone tell me how many steps I took just now?"

Everyone tilted their heads which caused Leo to sigh and just get straight to the point.

"When that butler came towards us, his steps were quieter than a normal person's."

"That's it? What does that have to do with his strength?"

Luffy asked.

"Normally, people who naturally walk without making too much noise are professional assassins since they are trained to make as little noise as possible. he's either an assassin or something else but either way, he is not a normal person and with the way he was taunting Usopp, he had something in mind."

Leo explained as Usopp started to tremble a bit before he spoke.

"T-Thanks for the heads up b-but I would have won either way."

'No, you wouldn't have.'

Nami and Zoro thought in unison. Usopp took off followed by Luffy. Leo rejoined the others as they hung around a fence in the middle of the road. Zoro, Nami, and two of the three kids were still with him, the third kid had vanished at some point but he suddenly came running down the street while screaming about some weird backward walking guy.

"Hey! I'm not weird! I don't look weird at all!" 

Said the man in question who overheard the conversation between the kids and came to a stop in front of everyone. 

"Any way I look at you, you look weird!"

Nami chimed commenting on the weird heart-shaped sunglasses and striped goatee.

"I'm not weird! I'm Jango, a friendly hypnotist passing by!" 

Jango defended himself. The kids immediately showed interest and asked for a demonstration. 

"You don't even understand what a hypnotist is! There's no way I'm showing people I just met my hypnotism."

Jango scoffed but still pulled a metal ring attached to a string from his jacket and held it out.

"... Okay, stare at this!"

"You're showing them anyway!"

Zoro snapped.

"When I say 'one, two, Jango' you will all fall asleep. Ready? One. Two. JANGO!" 

Jango continued to gently swing the metal ring back and forth. As soon as he said 'Jango', he and the three kids fell on their backs and started snoring. Nami woke them up with a few shakes before the Hypnotist went on his way and the kids went to look for Usopp.

"By the way, I lied."

Leo's words confused Nami and Zoro until he lifted his hand and a rolled-up bounty poster appeared out of nowhere. Zoro and Nami's expressions turned into shock when Leo unrolled the bounty poster as he spoke.

"The reason why I stopped Usopp was because I recognized Klahadore or should I say Captain Kuro."

"H-how?"

Nami asked, she was shocked that the man they had just seen looked identical to the man in the wanted poster. However, what shocked her the most was the fact that Captain Kuro was supposed to be dead, he was executed by the Navy which meant that if Klahadore was Captain Kuro then he had outsmarted the Marine.

"Forget the how, why didn't you say it before? If that man is a pirate then we just left that girl at the mercy-"

Zoro spoke but Leo interrupted him.

"You just met him and you barely believe it even with this bounty I just showed you. How could those that have lived with him, for I don't know how long, would believe my claim plus he faked his death before becoming a butler which means he wants to keep a low profile and-"

"He is aiming for Kaya's fortune."

Nami concluded.

"Exactly so if we play our cards right, learn what his plan is, and save Kaya then we will get our ship and even a reward money. Hahaha!"

Leo smirked which caused Nami and Zoro to step back.

"You look like a villain right now."

Zoro commented.

"Still, we should at least tell Luffy and Usopp about this-"

Nami said before Leo interrupted her.

"This is going to require stealth and patience... Do you think Luffy can refrain from going straight to Klahadore and deck him in the face?"

"... Nah, he can't."

Zoro and Nami spoke in unison as they shook their heads. Just an hour later, Usopp came back running to warn them that Klahadore was Captain Kuro. They were shocked that he figured it out and learned that Captain Kuro had planned to have his old crew attack the village before killing Kaya.

The hypnotist was part of the crew and he was going to hypnotize Kaya into writing a fake will that allowed Klahadore to inherit all of her fortune. 

"Damn... that's a genius move to becoming rich. I might owe him an apology for all the nasty things I said about him dying before being caught by me... I was not familiar with his game."

*Smack*

Leo said before Nami smacked the back of his head as she yelled.

"NO YOU SHOULDN'T!"

The group split as Nami and Zoro went to look for Luffy while Usopp went to warn Kaya. Leo went to the place where the Pirates were going to start their attack the next day and he slept peacefully on the cliff until he was awoken by the cheering and roaring of the pirates. He sat up and stretched his arms for a bit.

After a bit of stretching, he looked down from the cliff and saw the cheering pirates. He walked over to where the path led between the cliffs. To his knowledge, it was the only way to get to the village, which is where the others happened to be unbeknownst to Leo.

Leo stood at the top of the path looking down at the pirates. They did not come to this Island for peaceful reasons even if he did not know their reasons, he would have been able to guess this much. It did not take long before the pirates noticed him. As the pirates looked at him, his nonchalant look pissed them off.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?!" 

One of them shouted.

"Who he is doesn't matter so just kill him and go raid the village! If we're late Captain Kuro will be pissed!" 

Jango instructed. The crew turned pale for a moment before they all started smiling and laughing. Mutters along the lines of 'Let's not make Captain Kuro wait' and 'I can't wait to have some fun with the ladies' went through the crowd.

They charged at him as he took a fighting stance. Leo took out a sword from his inventory and took a drawing stance. The pirates came close to him and were about to attack him when Leo muttered something.

「Shiden Issen!」

*Fwip*

With a rapid and powerful sword-drawing technique, Leo slashes multiple opponents several times with his sword in a single instant. To Jango and those who had remained at the back, it looked like their crewmates had just stopped out of nowhere.

*Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud*

*Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud*

*Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud*

*Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud**Thud*

With a horrified look, they watched as their crewmate's bodies fell onto the ground. They failed to notice that Leo's sword had crumbled into pieces before falling along with the dead pirates.

"Ah, I guess that, using this technique on you guys, was bit of an overkill. Guess I will just have to use my fist and bash your skull into the ground."

*Crack* *Crack*

"So... Who wants to be the first?"

Leo smiled as he cracked his fist which scared most of the pirate crew. After a while, Usopp finally showed up and right behind him Nami appeared with her staff in hand. Nami and Usopp were shocked at what they saw.

Pirates or accurately pirates that had their heads caved into the ground, forcefully might they add if the cracks on the ground that surrounded each pirate's neck were any indication. After a while Luffy and Zoro arrive to find Nami laughing with Leo while saying how fun it was to loot the incapacitated pirates.

Luffy and Zoro complained to Leo after learning that he had beaten all the pirates. they said that he had stolen all the fun to himself. Leo asked the question that was on everyone's mind.

"So who's gonna deal with Kuro? Cuz he's probably on his way here."

"I will!"

Luffy said.

"No, you won't"

Luffy, Zoro, and Leo looked behind themselves and saw Klahadore, also known as Captain Kuro, standing behind them. Kuro adjusted his glasses as he stared down at the defeated pirates. He glared at the one responsible for this mess as he spoke in a calm tone before he increased his volume by shouting in sheer rage.

"It's long past dawn. I was wondering why the plan hadn't been carried out. It seems that you guys defeated my old crew. DO YOU IMBECILES KNOW HOW LONG I WAS PLANNING FOR THIS?! I'M GOING TO TEAR ALL OF YOU LIMB FROM LIMB!"

With great speed, he pulled two gloves from the bag he was carrying and 'vanished' from sight. The gloves had long katana-like blades sticking off of the end of each finger and thumb. He reappeared behind Leo as he muttered something.

"I'll start with you."

Leo was not worried at all as he stood there or so it looked.

"Sorry Luffy, he attacked me and I reacted on instinct."

*BA-DUMB**BA-DUMB**BA-DUMB**BA-DUMB**BA-DUMB*

Leo apologized to Luffy much to the confusion of Kuro who was sure to have dealt a fatal wound. He turned to face Leo and saw that the latter had something in his right hand, some sort of black pouch that kept moving in a strange rhythm almost as if it was a beating heart.

*BA-DUMB**BA-DUMB**BA-DUMB*

"Wha-Argh!"

*BA-DUMB**BA-DUMB*

Kuro said as he felt pain in his chest, suddenly the world felt colder than usual almost as if it was winter. Strength was leaving his body. He clenched his chest or at least tried to with his weird gloves as he slowly walked toward Leo.

"G-Give i-it... "

He tried to say.

*BA-DUMB*

"...ba-"

*Thud*

Kuro fell to the ground, he was dead before his head even touched the ground. Leo walked up to Kuro and placed the latter still heart in his extended right hand that he used to reach toward Leo. Leo turned to face Luffy before speaking.

"Sorry, next time, I won't fight and you can have all the fun. I promise!"

"*Huff* Yeah, you better!"

Luffed huffed.

"You know, you are quite scary sometimes."

Zoro commented as he looked at Leo as he remembered Kuro's powerless expression.

"What can I say, I reacted on instinct."

"What kind of instinct pushes someone to rip someone else's heart out?!"

"Trained instincts, you would not believe the amount of Pirates I had to go through to get this trick right."

"HOW IS THAT A TRICK?!"

Zoro snapped at Leo who just offered him and Luffy some Cream Puff that came out of his inventory to shut them up. It worked on Luffy while Zoro remembered Leo's reputation and started to feel like it was not all that exaggerated... regarding the brutality against criminals. Shortly after Usopp regained consciousness a young woman's voice shouted out from behind him.

"Klahadore! Stop-Hm?" 

Kaya stood there in an overcoat and her nightgown shivering in fear and fright which turned into confusion upon seeing the pirate's head into the ground like an ostrich. Usopp immediately ran towards her.

"Kaya! What are you doing here?!" 

He positioned himself in a way that prevented her from seeing the corpse of Kuro holding his own heart. Kaya looked around, still a bit terrified but also guilty.

"Meri told me everything. I'm so sorry Usopp, you tried to warn us, you tried to warn me but I didn't listen-" 

"it's okay, Klahadore is dea- has been defeated. There is nothing left to worry about."

Usopp interrupted her.

"Really?"

She asked.

"Yeah, but let's get you back home, staying here is bad for your health after all."

Usopp said as he brought her back to her mansion hoping to avoid her seeing Klahadore's dead body. The rest waited for the pirate crew to wake up before they told them to scram which they did immediately.

Nami and Zoro noted that they were terrified of Leo and wondered if the beating he gave them was that bad.

"Damn! I wanted to fight!"

Luffy pouted, he then rubbed his stomach and quickly changed topics.

"I'm hungry."

Zoro laughed as he spoke.

"Let's go get some food!" 

They went to the restaurant Usopp brought them to previously, Meshi. They partied and enjoyed their food. Nami and Zoro wondered where the cream puffs that Leo ate came from since no one had ordered them.

As they were enjoying their breakfast, Kaya approached them with a smile. 

"Hey!"

Luffy waved at her as she approached.

"I've been looking for you guys."

Kaya smiled. 

"Don't you need to stay in bed?"

Asked Nami in a concerned tone. Kaya shook her head as she spoke. 

"No, I've been sick for a year, ever since I lost my parents. Usopp cheered me up and encouraged me so I can't be weak anymore. Besides,"

She then adds on.

"I hear you guys need a ship!"

"You're gonna give us a ship?! Really?!" 

Luffy says with food in his mouth.

"Don't speak with food in your mouth!"

Nami yells at him on which causes Kaya to laugh. Kaya led the four of them to the shore where a ship waited along with Meri. Zoro looks impressed, Luffy is excited, Leo remains calm, and Nami notes.

"A caravel!"

Meri smiled at everyone as he gestured to the ship.

"I've been waiting for all of you. It's a slightly old style but I designed it myself. It uses a staysail and the controls are in the back. It's called 'Going Merry'." 

He says with pride. Meri , Leo and Nami started talking about the details of the ship. As they continued to talk, the sound of yelling could be heard coming down the ramp leading to the shore. Everyone turned to look in time to see Usopp, wearing a massively overstuffed backpack, rolling down the hill while screaming.

"STOP ME PLEASE!"

Zoro and Luffy comply with his wish, using their feet and Usopp's face. 

"Th... thank you."

Usopp groans.

"No problem."

Zoro and Luffy say in unison. Usopp and Kaya had their farewell, while everyone else boarded the Going Merry and looked around the ship. Luffy made his way to the stern of the ship and looked down at the pair as they talked.

"Have a safe voyage! I hope to see you guys on the sea sometime in the future!" 

After saying his goodbye to Kaya, Usopp turns to the ship and waves at Luffy.

"Why?" 

Luffy asks in confusion.

"Hurry up and get on board."

Zoro adds and Luffy finishes.

"You're already one of us aren't you?"

Usopp froze for a moment before being overcome with joy and shouts.

"I get to be the Captain right?!"

"I'm the Captain!"

Luffy yells. Everyone waved goodbye to Kaya and with Nami giving orders, they set sail. As they got further out to sea, they filled up some mugs and clanked them all together.

"To our newest crew member! CHEERS!" 

Leo took a picture and placed it in his book, the [Album memory].

[AN: Want more? Like Thanos, I want those STONES!!!]