One Piece : Noble Phantasm Maker

Chapter 254: Chapter 254: Usopp’s Inferiority Complex, Leaving the Straw Hat Crew!

After saying this, Usopp took a deep breath and continued:

”Someone on our ship is trying to abandon a crewmate. Is that something we can forgive?”

”Just like abandoning a weak crewmate, right, Raynor!”

Usopp’s words successfully enraged Raynor, and a serious look appeared in his eyes.

Forcing down his anger, Raynor spoke directly:

”I’ll explain this to you one more time. Everything I said is true. If you don’t believe me, you can wait until tomorrow night, after the new ship is finished...”

Before Raynor could finish, Usopp shouted loudly:

”I don’t want to hear any more of your excuses! To you, are crewmates who are no longer useful meant to be abandoned?”

”The Going Merry fought through countless dangers for us and is covered in scars. And now you want to build a new ship. Have you ever thought about how the Merry feels?”

”And besides, are you the captain? You built a ship without the captain’s permission, and you still claim you’re not trying to abandon the Going Merry!”

Those words sent Raynor’s emotions surging, but he forced down his anger.

Then he let out a heavy breath and looked coldly at Usopp.

It seemed that he had been too naive all along.

He had thought that as long as he protected the Going Merry and avoided replacing it, he could prevent conflict among the crew.

But now it seemed that some things simply could not be avoided.

And they could not be left unresolved, either. Otherwise, the problem would remain forever.

With that thought, Raynor stopped giving in to Usopp. He grabbed Usopp by the collar and said:

”Then tell me this: have you ever followed the captain’s orders from beginning to end?”

”Luffy trusts me. As a crewmate, what gives you the right not to trust me? Are you the captain?!”

As soon as he heard this, Usopp froze in place.

Then he gritted his teeth, slapped Raynor’s hand away, and said angrily:

”So you finally said what you really think! In your eyes, only the strong matter. Someone weak like me should have been abandoned by you long ago, just like you’re trying to abandon the Going Merry!”

Usopp’s words grew more and more outrageous. Sanji kicked him hard.

Usopp was sent flying.

”Hey, Usopp! That was way out of line. Raynor is right. Luffy is willing to trust him, so why can’t you? Aren’t we all crewmates?!”

”Besides, once tomorrow night comes, we’ll have our answer, won’t we?”

Usopp struggled to get up from the ground and gasped:

”See? I’m this weak and fragile. You’ve all looked down on me for a long time, haven’t you?”

”I’m not as strong as Luffy. I don’t have Zoro’s determination, and I certainly don’t have your cooking skills, Sanji. I’m not even as good at sailing as Nami. When you get right down to it, I’m just a weakling, aren’t I?”

”You’ve actually been hoping that I would get off the ship...”

Before Usopp could finish, Raynor punched him in the left cheek and sent him flying.

”Can a crewmate just casually talk about leaving the ship?!”

After saying this, Raynor’s face turned cold. He then sat down on the ship and said:

”Hey, Luffy. Make your decision!”

At those words, a shaken look appeared in Luffy’s eyes.

Incredibly, he understood Raynor’s meaning right away.

He gritted his teeth and said:

”No! Aren’t we crewmates? It’s normal for crewmates to joke around with each other!”

Before Luffy could finish, Raynor struck the Going Merry with his palm.

The deck of the Going Merry split apart.

”Either he leaves the ship, or I do. That shouldn’t be a difficult choice, should it, Luffy?”

At those words, the entire Straw Hat crew grew serious.

Sanji’s right leg began to tremble slightly.

”Hey, Raynor, that’s going too far. If there’s a misunderstanding between crewmates, can’t we just clear it up? A ship doesn’t only need strong people!”

Before Sanji could finish, Usopp forced himself to stand.

”That’s enough, Sanji. Don’t say any more. The answer was decided before this question was even asked.”

”How could you possibly be willing to let such a powerful crewmate leave? Of course, the one who has to leave is me...”

As soon as Usopp said this, Luffy clenched his teeth and punched him.

He sent Usopp flying once again.

Usopp spat out blood and collapsed onto the deck.

Luffy breathed heavily and glared at Usopp in anger.

”What kind of nonsense are you talking about? You’re the one causing trouble from the very beginning! If you really considered Raynor your crewmate, how could you not trust him?!”

”This is so frustrating! What choice? I’m not making any choice! You’re all my crewmates. If even one of you is missing, then this group can’t be called a crew anymore!”

The moment Luffy finished speaking, Raynor opened his eyes wide in shock and said:

”Sometimes you have to let go in order to gain something better. If we keep going like this, our crew will fall apart sooner or later.”

As he spoke, Raynor looked directly at Usopp.

”I don’t want to tear away the mask covering your inferiority complex. But feeling inferior is not an excuse for hurting others, and it is no basis for your arrogance.”

”If you can’t understand that, then I’m sorry. You and I are walking different paths, so we have nothing more to say to each other.”

After hearing this, Usopp stood silently in place for a long time without saying a word.

More than ten minutes passed before Usopp finally began walking toward the edge of the ship.

Luffy and the others watched, their hearts pounding.

Then Usopp turned around and looked at Raynor.

”For someone as strong as you, the words ’inferiority complex’ will never be written into your DNA, will they?”

”Tonight, I’ll come back here and take the ship back. I will never abandon a single crewmate, including the Going Merry.”

With that, Usopp climbed down from the ship with firm determination.

Chopper’s eyes filled with tears.

Two streams of tears ran down Nami’s face as well.

They never thought the thing they had feared would really happen.

Sanji was the first to react. He immediately jumped off the ship and chased after Usopp.

”Hey, Usopp! Don’t make this any harder to fix than it already is. Come back right now! The captain hasn’t even approved you leaving the crew!”

Chopper and Nami quickly followed.

”Exactly, Usopp! You can’t just act on impulse over something like this. Come back and admit you were wrong. Then it’ll all be over.”

”Aren’t you always so brave about admitting your mistakes?”

By this point, Chopper was crying so hard that he could barely speak clearly.

”Hey, Usopp, come back! No matter what kind of injury you have, I’ll be here to treat you!”

Hearing this, Usopp slowly stopped walking and turned around.

Nami, Sanji, and Chopper all showed relieved smiles, thinking Usopp had changed his mind.

But then Usopp slowly began to speak.

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