Chapter 26

Eavesdropping from a cliff, Usopp and Luffy overhear Jango and Klahadore plotting, and Usopp suddenly recalls the name Captain Kuro, a dreaded pirate said to have been executed three years earlier after his capture by the Marines. Jango finds it absurd that his old captain grew tired of piracy, handed over command, and buried himself in a quiet village, but he is content to obey for the reward. Kuro lays out the plan: Jango will hypnotize Kaya into signing a will, since the butler cannot legally inherit otherwise, and then kill her in a way that hides the murder.

Jango ridicules Kuro for craving a peaceful life while scheming mass murder, and Kuro admits even Kaya's parents' deaths were an unplanned accident. Before Usopp fully absorbs the horror, Luffy stands and shouts down at the pair, exposing them. Jango raises his ring and hypnotizes both; Usopp looks away in time, but Luffy succumbs, tips forward, and tumbles off the cliff as if to his death. Kuro waves off any threat from Usopp, certain the boy's reputation as a liar means no one will believe his report.

Usopp races into the village to sound the alarm, passing Nami, Zoro, and his young Usopp Pirates, but the villagers treat it as another tall tale and scold him for crying wolf twice in one day. Kuro reunites with his old crew at the coast to confirm the dawn strike, while at the mansion Kaya is told Klahadore has gone to the next town. At the cliff base, Luffy lies fast asleep, unharmed. The cover gag shows woodpeckers wrecking the Straw Hats' ship as Luffy ignores the chaos.