Chapter 3

A group of teenagers sat around a table in a small restaurant. A long-nosed kid with frizzy hair stared into the void, eyes wide as dinnerplates.

"No way, my old man is actually part of such an amazing crew…?!"

Luffy rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Now that I think about it, I haven't seen them in a long time. But I'm sure your dad is still part of the Red-Hair Pirates, Usopp. He was a great sharpshooter, you know?"

Usopp had stars in his eyes.

"Yeah, huh? I'm proud of my old man, leaping onto the endless seas, living every day with his life on the line-…!"

Their conversation continued for another half-an-hour, Nami and Zoro chipping in occasionally. During that time, the former managed to drag some information out of Usopp. There was someone capable of supplying a bigger ship—their purpose for visiting the island in the first place.

"So about that mansion on the hill-…"

Usopp suddenly leapt to his feet before Nami could deliver her request, bolting out the door.

"U-Uh, I just remembered I have something to do. See you guys later!"

Zoro lowered his glass, having drained the last of his milk.

"What's with him?"

"Beats me. Anyway, we might as well check that place out. It's our only lead."

Getting up, Nami headed to the counter, paying the old man behind it.

Jack, who'd remained quiet the entire time, let out a long yawn.

"You guys go on ahead. I think I'll find somewhere to take a nap."

Her hand still outstretched, Nami's head suddenly whipped around.

"You eat our food, use our money but don't contribute anything! Don't tell me you plan to laze around while we do all the hard work!"

Jack shrugged.

"If you need me, just whistle. I'll show up as soon as I can…"

Luffy's eyebrows rose.

"Do you have good ears, Jack?"

"…as long as you're within hearing distance, of course."

"Oh."

"If it's long distance, no. It wouldn't work. Did you mean long distance?"

"…"

"Well, in that case, you'd have to ask around. Maybe, you know. If someone had seen me, you could ask them 'Which way did that handsome guy go?'-…"

"We get it already."

Resting a hand on his swords, Zoro got up, heading for the doorway. Nami followed after him, huffing when she passed Jack.

Luffy gestured a thumbs-up.

"See ya later, Jack!"

Soon, they were out, walking along the little town's narrow dirt roads.

Jack waved casually.

"By the way, be careful! Don't get tricked by some fancily-dressed guy!"

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An hour-or-so later, after being chased off by the mansion's butler, Nami and Zoro ended up near a grassy field, sitting on a wooden fence. A pair of kids were nearby, chatting among themselves.

Nami spoke dissatisfiedly.

"Cocky guys like him are the worst!"

Zoro glanced in her direction.

"Yeah. That butler was pretty annoying."

"Huh? Oh, him too."

"…you mean Jack?"

Nami gritted her teeth.

"You can't stand him either, right? Seriously, who calls themselves 'handsome' in the first place?"

Zoro shrugged indifferently.

"He's pretty weird."

"Why aren't you mad? He doesn't care about you guys! After hearing how you and Luffy were almost killed by Buggy and his gang, he wasn't upset at all!"

"He's a pirate."

The answer seemed to take the wind out of Nami's sails. She slumped, looking down at her feet, mumbling to herself.

"But I thought this crew was different. Silly me-…"

"Bad news! A Backwards guy! A weird guy is walking backwards this way!"

Before she could finish, a childish shout interrupted her, the sound growing closer by the moment.

Turning their heads, they saw a third kid with hair like an onion running at full speed.

Nami glanced at Zoro. Her thoughts were written all over her face.

Zoro shrugged.

"It's probably not him. But let's check it out, just in case."

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Dozing off in a hammock strung between two trees, Jack was far too busy sleeping to pull any strange stunts. He was eventually woken up by a cacophony of noise.

Blearily opening his eyes, he looked in that direction, shielding his face against the sun's rays.

"Did someone just whistle? That couldn't be, right? This should be pretty easy for them."

Yawning, he cupped one hand, bringing it to his ear. Waiting for a bit and confirming he wasn't hearing things, he grumbled to himself, clambering down from his makeshift bed. He headed toward the shore.

It wasn't long before he arrived. At the bottom of a long groove carved through the shoreline boulders, a bunch of pirates lay dead or bleeding out. A familiar straw hat protruded from underneath a pile of rubble, rising and falling with the rhythm of its owner's snores.

Jack's attention was drawn toward the top of the ramp. Nami stood across from a vaguely familiar dark-haired butler, looming threateningly with his long, bloodied claws. She wasn't in good shape, bleeding from the crown of her head.

Kuro was blocking her way, preventing her from waking Luffy. And since Usopp and Zoro were missing, probably tied-up by that hypnotist and his two side-kicks, she was entirely helpless.

Jack rubbed his chin. He didn't remember things turning out like this. Hopefully, he was just being forgetful, but he didn't think that was the case.

Shelving his thoughts for the time being, he called out to the two of them.

"I was asleep somewhere nearby when I heard a whistle. Was it you, Nami?"

Nami and Kuro both swiveled their heads, eyes widening when they spotted him.

"Jack… you actually-…!"

Clutching her wound, looked at him furiously.

"…only showed up now? What the hell is your problem, you BASTARD?!"

Jack scratched his head.

"I told you, didn't I? I was taking a nap. The journey really tired me out."

Nami looked like she wanted to eat him alive. She gritted her teeth, shaking her head in frustration.

"Forget it! You need to wake Luffy up right now!"

Jack looked from Luffy's unconscious form back to her.

"Wouldn't that be hypocritical of me?"

Nami's knuckles turned white.

"Idiot! This isn't the time to be making stupid jokes!"

Kuro idly scraping his blades against each other, putting his back to Nami. He flicked droplets of blood onto the ground.

"This is the help you were waiting for? If you want to die kid, you definitely came to the right place."

Seeing him ignore her, Jack raised his eyebrows. Not that he couldn't deal with such a situation, but he'd expected Nami to be taken hostage or something. It seemed Kuro didn't have much regard for either of them.

Closing the distance, they were soon standing face to face. Jack was a little shorter than Kuro—6'5 to the other pirate's 6'9. In a different world, the two would've practically been giants.

Kuro's lips twisted into a sneer.

"I don't know whether you're brave or stupid. Not that it matters. Either way, this is the end for you and your crew-…"

He was still speaking when Jack suddenly moved, his fist shooting toward Kuro's face.

His pupils narrowing, the butler dodged backward on instinct, retaliating with a swipe of his claws. Before he could get very far, Jack's other fist caught up with him, the previous having been a fake-out. The attacks were very fast, and with his guard having been down, Kuro wasn't able to stop it time.

A fist smashed into his gut, sending him flying toward a nearby rock. He collided with it head-on, hard enough for cracks to spread across the surface.

Jack waited a moment before relaxing his stance.

"Since you didn't resort to underhanded tactics, I won't take things any further than this. I'll let the captain decide what to do with you once he wakes up."

Her eyes on Jack, Nami's expression was like looking at a moron.

"There's no way a single punch would be enough to deal with Captain Kuro! And what do you mean 'underhanded tactics'? Weren't you the one who launched a surprise attack-…?"

"So what? You have a problem with that?"

"…that's not the point! Anyway, pay attention! He's already getting up."

While she was talking, Kuro let out a long-suffering sigh. Straightening himself while patting the dust off his suit, he looked at Jack with condescension.

"Your little friend is correct. Did you really think your measly punch was enough to deal with me? You are far too arrogant-…"

Still speaking, he took a step forward. However, when his foot touched the ground, Kuro suddenly froze, his eyes gradually losing their clarity. A gasp exiting his lips, he lost his balance, toppling face-first onto the ground.

He didn't move.

"…!"

Nami looked on, eyes wide, as Jack went and stood next to his body, nudging Kuro with his foot.

"Told you so."

When she continued to stare in stunned silence, Jack sighed. Finding somewhere to sit, he raised his hands helplessly.

"By the way, didn't I tell you guys that the butler working at that mansion was actually the infamous captain Kuro of the Black-Cat Pirates? How did you still manage to end up in this situation?"

Jolted out of her reverie, Nami looked angrily at Jack.

"What? You never said that! And how did you know anyway? Don't tell me you weren't actually asleep, watching everything from nearby. And why are you just sitting there? Go help Zoro and Usopp! They're probably still fighting against that weird hypnotist guy-…"

Jack shook his head.

"I'm tired after all that fighting. Do you think it's easy, beating an infamous pirate like him? I'm going to rest here for a while. Since you don't have anything to do, you might as well keep me company-…"

"Don't joke around! I'm going to wake Luffy."

"Come on. Aren't we friends?"

"Who's your friend? Not me!"

"Hey, don't be so rude…"

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Under the warm sun, ocean-blue waves lapped gently at the white sand—the very picture of an idyllic beach. A group of figures stood near a medium-sized boat, crowned with a ram's head at the prow. A sheep-haired individual wearing a suit gestured between it and them, explaining its various features.

"It's a slightly older model, but I designed it myself. A caravel with lateen sails and a central stern rudder… the Going Merry!"

Holding the rim of his hat, Luffy admired the ship, scanning it from back to front.

"What a good ship. Especially the front—it's so cool!"

"We loaded it with everything you might need for your voyage."

Her hands clasped under her chest, a pretty, blond-haired girl smiled at him—Kaya, the mansion's owner.

Standing nearby, Jack looked her up and down.

"It's a shame. For some reason, I feel wouldn't have minded spending more time on this island..."

Kaya was about to reply, her pale cheeks tinting pink,, when Usopp suddenly leapt between them.

"D-Don't get any ideas! Kaya hates h-handsome guys like you the most!"

Quibbling ensued, the atmosphere becoming energetic before Kaya laughed, the sound like tinkling bells. Though her expression was amused, there was a faint melancholy in her eyes.

"So you're taking to the ocean, Usopp?"

In the middle of aiming his slingshot at Jack, Usopp looked over at her.

"Huh? Yeah. I decided to get going before I change my mind. Don't stop me now."

Kaya looked down at her feet, her shoulders sagging a little.

"I won't. I just knew somehow."

Sighing, Usopp turned to face her.

"That's kind of sad too. But the next time I come back to the village, I'll tell you stories that are more lie-like than real lies!"

"I look forward to it-…"

By the time the two of them had said their farewells, the crew were already onboard the Going Merry, looking out over the ocean.

Usopp waved at them.

"You guys take care too. Let's meet again sometime."

Luffy looked at him with confusion.

"How come?"

"What do you mean 'how come'? Don't be so antisocial. I'm gonna be a pirate too, so we'll meet again someday-…"

Zoro scoffed.

"What are you talking about? Get on the ship already. The tide is almost going out."

Luffy nodded.

"We're friends now, aren't we?"

His face frozen, Usopp stared at them for a long moment before grinning wildly, shoving his fist in the air.

"I… get to be the captain, right?!"

"Don't be stupid. I'm the captain!"

"I ran a pirate crew for years. I'm more experienced than you-…"

"Stop kidding around. I'm the captain and my say is final."

"But I don't acknowledge your authority as captain-…"

Growling, Zoro smacked Luffy's head, sending him sprawling onto the deck.

"So noisy. I'm pulling up the anchor. Usopp, get on board or get left behind."

A burst of laughter followed as Usopp scrambled up the deck-plank, almost losing his balance due to his over-stuffed backpack. Soon, the Going Merry was drifting away from shore, its sails billowing from an inland wind.

Kaya looked on, her eyes red from unshed tears. However, that didn't stop her from waving vigorously.

"Everyone! Be safe! I know we'll meet again one day!"

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