"Do you know what 'pirate' means?" Roy's tone changed, becoming low, his voice carrying a hint of sharpness.
Usopp was taken aback for a moment, as if he had been caught off guard.
"Killing, plundering, betraying, destroying order," Roy's gaze gradually sharpened. "The 'warrior of the sea' you speak of, is he also that kind of existence?"
The air was as if it had suddenly solidified, pressing down heavily on everyone's heart. Usopp subconsciously took half a step back, his fingertips trembling slightly, a hint of panic in his eyes. It was not the first time he had heard someone criticize his father, nor was it the first time he had been accused of being a "habitual liar." But this moment was different.
Standing before him was a Marine Vice Admiral who truly stood at the pinnacle of order, representing "justice"—Roy. That pressure, which came from the depths of belief, was like an invisible heavy hammer, striking his chest again and again.
Piiman, Tamanegi, and Ninjin were so scared they were squatting behind a tree, not even daring to breathe. Luffy and Ace had also stopped their teasing and were standing to the side, quietly observing.
Usopp opened his mouth, and after a long while, he finally managed to speak. "I... I don't know."
Usopp's small, dirt-streaked face was now filled with shock and confusion. He gritted his teeth and said in a low voice, "I don't want to hurt anyone... I just want to be like my dad... to do something different on the sea... even if it's just... bragging..." His speech gradually slowed down, his voice becoming faint, and the light that had been hidden behind his bravado seemed to be wavering.
Under the shade of the tree, Roy slowly approached him, his shadow stretched long by the sun. The Marine cape, which symbolized justice, fluttered slightly in the breeze. His voice was not loud but was more oppressive than any angry reprimand. "You want to be like your father?"
"The man who didn't even come back to see your mother when she was on her deathbed?"
"The pirate who abandoned his family, abandoned his son, just to chase after so-called 'freedom' and 'adventure'?"
Usopp's lips trembled slightly, his nose turning red, his eyes quickly becoming bloodshot, as if he were trying hard to suppress some emotion that was about to burst out. "No... it's not like that..." he murmured, but his voice was so soft even he couldn't hear it.
Roy's voice was still as calm as ever, but each word was like a sharp blade. "He did not stand vigil for your mother, he did not turn back even once for your crying childhood."
"He holds the 'freedom' of a pirate as his belief, but with this belief, he tore apart a mother's hope, a child's support."
"You tell me—is this your ideal 'warrior of the sea'?!"
Usopp trembled violently, as if he had been forced into a dark abyss by a strong light. "Mom... she never blamed Dad..." he gritted his teeth, his voice hoarse. "She... she was still smiling at me when she was dying and said, 'Your dad is very brave. He will definitely come back...'"
"Her eyes... were waiting..."
Usopp's tears finally couldn't be held back and streamed down his cheeks, dripping into the dust. "I don't blame her... she... she just wanted to believe him too much..."
"But in the end... he didn't come back."
That day, he had stood by her bed, watching his mother's eyes slowly lose their light, still looking at the sea horizon outside the window, as if she were waiting for something. After that, Usopp had started to lie.
"The pirates are coming!"
"I am a brave warrior of the sea!"
"I will lead a fleet of thousands!"
—once a day, every day without fail. He would be boisterous in front of people, shouting at the village entrance. But only he knew that those cries of "the pirates are coming" were not warnings but summons. They were a hope for his father, a resistance against his missing childhood.
Usopp knelt on the ground, his head down, his fists clenched so tight. "I thought that as long as I said it, I wouldn't be so lonely, and I could pretend that he had never really left." His voice grew lower and lower, as if he were afraid of disturbing something, and as if he had finally cut open the secret that had been weighing on his heart for the longest time.
"But I don't want to be like that person," he suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with tears but also a fiery heat. "I don't want to be like him, leaving the important people behind."
"I want to protect the people I care about—whether on land or at sea."
"If being a pirate means betraying, killing, and abandoning—"
"Then I'd rather be a little brat who tells lies at the village entrance forever!!!"
He shouted the last sentence, his chest heaving violently, as if he had just struggled to the surface from the bottom of the sea.
—A change appeared in Luffy's eyes. His smile slowly faded, replaced by a new admiration.
—Ace looked at Usopp's expression and couldn't help but nod.
Roy stood up straight and quietly looked at Usopp, who was kneeling on the ground. Those eyes, which had once been as cold as a blade, now held less sharpness and more contemplation and calmness. The sun slanted down, and the word "Justice" on his Marine Vice Admiral's cape seemed to be coated in a layer of gold, solemn and dignified.
"That's enough," he said in a low voice, his tone no longer咄咄逼人.
As he spoke, he slowly turned around, his cape swishing, his back like a solitary peak, stretched infinitely long in the afterglow. "Remember what you said today."
"If one day you really decide to go out to sea—"
"Don't be a pirate. Come be a Marine."
Usopp stared blankly at the gradually receding figure, his throat as if it were blocked by a stone. He couldn't speak, only feeling a bitter tremor in his breath. "A Marine...?"
"Not plundering, not lying... but protecting, being responsible..." He had never so realistically imagined that a "brave warrior of the sea" could also be like that—wearing a military insignia, draped in the flag of justice, not by shouting slogans of "freedom," but by using his actions to maintain the balance of a world.
Just as he was stunned, Roy suddenly stopped and looked back. His gaze was deep, his tone calm but with a sharpness that could not be avoided. "Usopp."
"If that day really comes—and you are on the side of the Marines, facing your father, Yasopp,"
"what will you do?"
As his words fell, the world seemed to stand still. Usopp was struck as if by lightning. He froze on the spot, his eyes filled with a struggle, anger, confusion, and pain—a chaotic mix that could not be answered.
"He is your father."
"But he is also... a pirate who tramples on responsibility and rules."
"Will you lower your gun, or..." Roy's voice held no emotion, but each word was as heavy as a mountain. Each word was as if it were not a question but a wedge being driven into his soul.
Usopp opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound. His mind was a blank, but his heart was in turmoil. That man, wearing the headband of the Red-Haired Pirates, had once been the most distant yet most longed-for figure of his childhood—but it was that very person who had torn apart his complete family with his own hands. If he really did become a Marine one day... and really stood on the side of "justice," and met that man on a narrow path... would he shoot? Would his hand... tremble?
He didn't know. He really didn't know. He just felt a hot lump of blood in his chest, which he had to spit out but couldn't.
Roy did not press him but just quietly watched his struggling appearance, then turned and walked away without looking back.
On the distant hill, at the Kaya estate.
The sun was pouring in through the long French windows. A girl in a white dress, her blond hair falling smoothly over her shoulders, a snow-white scarf at her chest, was standing by the window, looking in the direction of the village entrance, her gaze on the boy who was enveloped in the sunlight. She saw him kneeling, his shoulders trembling slightly, as if he were suppressing some emotion.
The three strangers gradually walked away. The tall, black-haired man who had been standing in front of him seemed to have left a great impact on him. The girl gently pressed the window frame and murmured softly, "Young man... are you crying?"
"You... why are you crying?"
The wind outside the window blew tighter, lifting her skirt and also messing up the scarf at her chest. Her hand slowly clenched, a hint of worry in her eyes.
Under the shade of the tree, Usopp was still kneeling, his tears having already smudged his face. He looked at the gradually reddening sky, his throat trembling slightly, his voice so low only he could hear it. "If... that day really comes..."
"Will I... pull the trigger?"
That question was like a stone falling into the sea, creating a series of silent ripples.
....
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