【One Piece】Dawn in the Darkness

Chapter 302 Paranoia

"Luffy!" Usopp asked in a low voice, holding a hint of fantasy, "You are saying this to comfort me, right?"

"What?" Luffy looked at Usopp in confusion.

"Because I didn't protect the 100 million Beli, we don't have enough money to repair the Merry, so you said something like giving up on the Merry, right!?" Usopp said in a hoarse voice.

"What are you talking about! How could I do this for this reason!?" Luffy shouted angrily.

"Then why can you say so easily that you want to give up on Merry! Don't you believe in its strength?" Usopp said angrily.

"It has endured so many hardships along the way, but it has successfully brought us to the island every time. It is our companion!"

Usopp shouted unwillingly, especially since he knew that Merry had the ship spirit. If he just abandoned it, how sad would Merry be? "How could you abandon it just because it's injured!?"

"Usopp!" Sanji interrupted Usopp, "Calm down!!"

"How can I stay calm! Luffy, the captain, is talking nonsense!!" Usopp shouted angrily, "How can he make such a decision so easily!"

"Usopp! Luffy also started..." Nami tried to stop him but Luffy interrupted her.

"Shut up! Nami! This matter is decided by me!" Luffy looked at Usopp angrily. "Now that things have come to this, no matter what you say, I will not change my mind!!"

"We need to change ships! We need to say goodbye to the Merry here!!"

"Are you kidding me? I will never allow this!" Usopp grabbed Luffy's collar and shouted angrily, "I will never abandon this ship!!"

"Hey! Have you guys had enough of the noise? You're so excited that you can't discuss anything!!" Sanji stopped them.

"Listen, Luffy! Not everyone can just look ahead like you!" Usopp completely lost his mind and started to speak without restraint. "Abandoning a wounded companion and going on the road, I can't do such a thing!!"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Luffy yelled angrily with red eyes, "Even if we are companions, ships are different from people! We can't do anything! I can't let everyone sink to the bottom of the sea with the Merry!!"

"Luffy……"

"You don't believe in Merry's strength at all. How could Merry let us sink to the bottom of the sea!!" Usopp's eyes were red, and he completely lost his mind. "It's obvious that you are only interested in the new ship now, but on the surface you pretend to be reluctant to part with Merry!!"

"Is this what you think of me!?" Luffy angrily pushed Usopp down, not believing what he heard. What does it mean to pretend to be reluctant to leave? Luffy pressed Usopp's shoulders and yelled at him, "Don't go too far!! Don't think you're the only one suffering!! Everyone is the same!!"

"Then why did you decide to change ships!?" Usopp turned his head to the side and shouted paranoidly.

"Okay!! If you are not satisfied with my approach... start from here right now..."

"Asshole!" Sanji rushed out and kicked Luffy in an instant, trying to interrupt what Luffy was about to say. Some words cannot be taken back once they are spoken!

"boom!"

"clang!"

Zoro noticed it earlier than Sanji, and before Sanji could kick, he grabbed Luffy's collar and pulled him away from Usopp, blocking Sanji's kick at the same time "Calm down, both of you!!"

"Luffy! What did you want to say just now? Wake up! Stop talking nonsense!" Sanji put down his legs, turned around and yelled at Luffy angrily.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realize it just now..." Luffy immediately realized his problem and apologized.

"No, don't say it, Luffy!" Usopp sat up and lowered his head. "That's what you really think!"

"What did you say!?" Luffy looked up at Usopp angrily.

"Luffy..." Chopper looked at Luffy and Usopp worriedly. "Usopp!"

"Just abandon your useless companions and keep moving forward! Luffy, if you want to abandon this ship, then abandon me too!" Usopp stared at the deck and said firmly, "I've been thinking about this for a long time... To be honest, I can't keep up with your strength!"

The others looked at Usopp in silence.

"Just today, I can't even keep the money! I will only cause trouble to you in the future! You don't need a companion who will only hold you back!!" Usopp stood up, looked at Luffy and said seriously, "Luffy, one day you will become the king of the sea! But I don't need to go that high!"

"Come to think of it, when I first went out to sea... you invited me on board! Our fate ends here... We have different ideals, so we cannot work together!"

After saying that, Usopp left straight away, completely ignoring Chopper and Nami's worried shouts, and just walked off the ship stubbornly, "I want to leave this pirate group!!"

"Hey, come back!" Nami shouted anxiously at Usopp's back, "Stop talking nonsense!"

"Wait!!" Sanji shouted in disbelief. He didn't expect them to get to this point.

"Don't go! Usopp..." Chopper shouted sadly as he watched Usopp leave.

Zoro frowned and watched Usopp's leaving back, with the corner of his mouth turned down. Rather than being sad, he was more angry. He was angry at Usopp's attitude towards Luffy and his companions all night, and he was even more angry that he made up his mind to leave so easily.

"I can't stay with you any longer! I'm sorry for always causing you trouble!" Usopp stood on the shore, facing Luffy. "This ship does belong to you, Captain... so... please duel with me! If I win, the Merry will be mine!!"

Luffy silently looked at Usopp who was asking for a duel under the ship.

"Monkey D. Luffy! Fight me!!"

"I'll be back here tonight at ten o'clock! Then, we'll duel with Merry at stake!!"

……

"What are you doing? Don't do anything stupid!"

"Why are you fighting among yourselves?!"

"Give each other some time, Usopp was just angry for a moment!"

Listening to Nami's words, Luffy pulled his straw hat down to cover his entire face. "There's no turning back now!"

"No way! As long as you apologize to him and have a good talk, everything will be fine!" Nami persuaded. She really didn't want them to get to this point.

Luffy closed his eyes and spoke in a low voice again, "I've already said it... it's irreversible! Usopp is not stupid enough... to gamble his life for a moment of anger..."

"If talking can solve the problem, he won't do it! Do you understand? Go away now!"

"Luffy..." Nami looked at Luffy lying in the hammock worriedly. This was the first time he asked her to go away...

Before leaving, Nami looked back at Luffy lying in the hammock, not understanding why things had developed to this point, as they were apparently fine in the morning.