Luffy stretched his arms over his head. "Finally! Land! I want meat!"
"You always want meat," Zoro muttered, stepping onto the dock.
"Luffy wasn't you just eaten the meat earlier?" questioned Jack.
"It is not enough, you only gave me this much," replied Luffy with a sad look.
"Like I said earlier, eating raw meat is not really good. Let's recruit chef," said Jack.
"Ok," Luffy agreed.
Jack hopped off after him, his boots crunching against the wooden pier. "It looks quiet. That's good. After fighting with Buggy pirates, I could take a break."
But peace never lasted long for the Straw Hats.
"PIRATES!!!"
The shout came from the hill above, everyone looked up to see a flag behind the bush.
"You filthy sea scum!" the long-nosed boy yelled. "This village is protected by eighty million warriors! Leave now or face our wrath!"
Luffy gasped, eyes wide. "Eighty million?!"
Zoro smacked him in the back of the head. "Idiot. There's no way there are that many warriors here."
"They know we are lying," The voice suddenly stopped intimidate them. Instead they are arguing with each other.
Suddenly a lanky young man with a long nose rolling toward them, it looks like he might be slipped and fall down from the small cliff. Behind him, three small kids followed, holding slingshots.
Nami crossed her arms. "He's clearly lying. He looks like he couldn't fight a crab."
But Luffy didn't look convinced. "What if he's telling the truth? Eighty million is a lot…"
Jack tried and failed to hold back a laugh. He knew exactly who this was. Usopp, the boy who lied so much that half of his lies would suddenly become reality.
"Hey, long-nose!" Jack called out, grinning. "If you've got eighty million warriors, where are they?"
The boy froze mid-run, sweat forming on his forehead. "Uh... uh they're, um, resting right now!" he said, scrambling for an excuse. "Yeah! They're waiting for my signal! So you'd better leave before I call them!"
Jack chuckled under his breath. "Classic."
Luffy stepped forward, completely unfazed. "You're funny. I like you."
Usopp blinked. "Huh?"
"You should join my crew!" Luffy said with his usual wide grin.
Usopp jaw dropped. "What? Join pirates?!"
It is not just Usopp who was shocked, even Jack are surprised because in a series Usop was being invited to become luffy crew after they solved the crisis in this village. So does this mean he remember a wrong thing again?
'Did he change because I told him, my other ability will return if he recruit more people?' thought Jack and it is true, Usop are eager to hire more people part of it because of Jack.
"Yeah! You're strong, right?" Luffy asked.
"No! I mean.... yes! Of course I'm strong! I'm the bravest warrior of the sea!" Usopp declared, puffing out his chest. "But… wait, you're not here to pillage this village?"
Luffy tilted his head. "Nope, we just want a ship."
Usopp let out a sigh of relief, wiping sweat off his brow. "Oh. Well… I guess that's okay. You scared me for a second."
The three kids behind him, Pepper, Carrot and Onion peeked nervously at the Straw Hats. "Captain Usopp, are they really pirates?"
"Yes!" Usopp said, trying to sound brave. "But I'm protecting you, so don't worry!"
Nami whispered to Jack, "Are you agree with luffy decision to recruit him? He looks like someone who always lie."
Jack smirked. "Pretty much. I wanted to see a combination of a coward and reckless idiot."
After a bit more banter, Usopp decided they weren't dangerous at least not to the village and finally led them uphill toward a large mansion where Kaya house located.
"This is Kaya's house," Usopp explained proudly, gesturing toward the gates. "She's my friend and she is super rich. If you want a ship, maybe she can help."
Nami eyes immediately lit up. "Rich, you say?"
Jack gave her a look. "Don't even think about it."
They found Kaya in the garden, sitting in a wheelchair with a book in her lap. She smiled gently when she saw Usopp.
"Usopp, back again with your pirate stories?" she asked softly.
Usopp grinned sheepishly. "Well… actually, this time it's true." He pointed dramatically at Luffy. "These are real pirates!"
Kaya blinked, surprised, but then smiled warmly at the Straw Hats. "Well, if Usopp says so, I believe him."
"See?" Usopp said, looking smug.
Zoro crossed his arms. "She probably just humors you."
Usopp ignored him. "Anyway, Kaya, they need a ship. Maybe you could..."
Before he could finish, a tall man in a butler suit stepped out from the mansion. His glasses gleamed in the sunlight as he adjusted them with a calm, calculated motion.
"Klahadore," Kaya greeted him politely.
The man asked Kaya question. "My lady, who are these people?"
"They're friends of Usopp," Kaya explained.
Klahadore gaze swept over the Straw Hats and lingered a moment too long on Luffy straw hat, his polite smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Friends, you say? Hm. I see."
Jack felt a chill run down his spine, he knows the identity of this man.
"If I remember right," Jack thought, "this guy is Kuro, former pirate captain. Which means this village is in danger. "
"My Lady, please don't associate yourself with pirates," said Klahadore sound cold towards Strawhat Pirates.
They almost fight but still respecting Usopp and just one look they know Usopp liked this woman named Kaya.
So after being kicked out by Klahadore they followed Usopp towards Village
As they walked toward the village, Jack pulled Luffy aside.
"That butler was bad news," he said quietly.
Luffy tilted his head. "You think so?"
"Yeah," Jack said. "Trust me, I know his type."
"As long as we get a ship out of this, I don't care who we fight," Zoro overheard and grinned.
Usopp suddenly stopped in the middle of the path, looking back at them.
"Hey," he said, sounding uncharacteristically serious. "You're really not here to hurt Kaya, right?"
Luffy looked him dead in the eye. "Of course not, She's your friend, right? Then she's safe."
Usopp blinked, then grinned, clearly relieved. "Good, Because if you hurt her, I'd fight you myself!"
Jack chuckled. 'Bravest warrior of the sea, huh?'
"I think we need to return back," said Jack which shocked the group.
Everyone stopped and was looking at him.
"Jack," said Zoro.
"Luffy, I know that butler he was one of the vicious pirates named Kuro and that means the woman named Kaya is in danger," Jack decided to reveal to them.
"Really?" Usopp voice stutter a bit.
"Yeah, did anything happen for the past few years after the butler come to this village?" asked Jack.
"Kaya parents... they are died," replied Usopp who looked horrified.
Luffy, Zoro and Nami face changed.
"Jack, let's go back," said Luffy who had decide to deal with Klahadore.
So the group return to the mansion, the one who open the door this time is another man.
"Do you want to meet Ms Kaya?" asked the man.
"Yes please," answered Jack.
After about 3 minutes Kaya appear again and she apologizes to them but before they could say anything Klahadore come to kick them out again.
"Ms Kaya they are pirates and we...."
Before Klahadore could say more, Jack shoot him using cosmic energy projection
Phewsh! Phewsh!
And the attack hit it on his hand.
Everyone was shocked didn't expect that Jack would suddenly attack Klahadore.
"Now I remember who you are, the former pirate captain Kuro," revealed Jack.