The Man who is Loved by his Ship! Usopp's Tears!

Franky keeps pressing Usopp to accept the truth about the Going Merry's ruined condition. The sniper does grasp the reality, yet he describes strange recent events aboard the ship that left him unwilling to admit defeat. Far away, the Galley-La foremen appear to be on the move, raising the question of whether the Franky Family will be their next victims. The conversation between Franky and Usopp builds toward a tearful confession before the assassins suddenly knock on the door.

Franky asks Usopp his plan for the Merry, and when the boy talks of sailing back to East Blue, the cyborg flatly refuses, confirming Kaku's diagnosis of a snapped keel and ripping off a piece of hull. Usopp fires Kaen Boshi in protest. Franky then throws him into the water bay so he can see the damage himself, but Usopp climbs out and patches the hull back anyway. Finally he collapses in tears, admitting he knew all along the ship could no longer sail, and recounts the night a mysterious figure repaired the Merry in Skypiea.

Franky recognizes the phenomenon at once: Usopp witnessed the Merry's Klabautermann, a spirit said to manifest on deeply cherished vessels and aid sailors in crisis. Franky had heard the legend many times but never met someone who claimed to see one. The doorbell interrupts their dispute, and Mozu and Kiwi answer only to be knocked out by Kalifa, who arrives alongside Kaku, Blueno and Lucci. The episode confirms the keel is beyond repair and identifies the Skypiea visitor as the ship's spirit. It adapts chapters 350 through 352.