[26] : Courage is Humanity's Anthem!

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"Shishishi! Delicious!" Luffy, invited over by Usopp, took a huge bite out of a piece of meat and exclaimed happily.

Beside him, Rowen was also eating at an incredible speed.

Having already equipped Superhuman Physique (Deep Purple), Rowen's appetite now rivaled Luffy's.

Like Luffy, Rowen was thoroughly sick of eating apples.

Moreover, the nutrients from all this meat were being rapidly absorbed through his Superhuman Physique (Deep Purple), strengthening Rowen's body.

"Pretty good, right? I can't believe you know my old man, Luffy!" Usopp grinned happily. Hearing news about his father, Yasopp, made him incredibly happy.

"I met him when I was little. You look exactly like him, so I recognized you right away," Luffy said between mouthfuls of meat.

"So my old man is on the crew of that great pirate Shanks, huh?" Usopp's face filled with admiration.

"Your dad's marksmanship is incredible!" Luffy recalled fondly.

"I heard so much about you from Yasopp, my ears almost fell off! Yasopp is an amazing pirate," Luffy added with a smile.

"Right?! I'm incredibly proud of my dad for bravely heading out to sea like that, risking his life!" Usopp declared proudly.

"Check Traits." Rowen, having finished all the meat on the table, finally had a moment to check Usopp's Traits.

If he hadn't eaten quickly, Luffy would have devoured everything.

———

Usopp Traits: Slingshot Sniper (Pale Purple), Inventor (Pale Purple), Anthem of Courage (Special).

Slingshot Sniper (Pale Purple): Possesses exceptional sniping talent. When using a slingshot for sniping, can be even more effective than firearms.

Inventor (Pale Purple): Possesses outstanding inventive talent, capable of creating various gadgets and tools.

———

Slingshot Sniper (Pale Purple), being a combat Trait like Superhuman Physique (Deep Purple), currently reflected Usopp's overall combat capability based on his present sniping skill. It didn't indicate his ultimate potential ceiling.

In the One Piece world, snipers relying solely on marksmanship rarely achieved high combat power levels; firearms were largely ineffective against truly strong opponents.

Usopp, still untrained at this point, only reached the Pale Purple combat tier by combining his natural talent with the special ammunition created through his Inventor (Pale Purple) Trait.

Truly exceptional snipers reached their peak combat potential through Haki.

Therefore, possessing a Pale Purple sniping Trait even before learning Haki already proved Usopp's sniping talent was potentially on par with his father, Yasopp's.

Of course, this didn't diminish the importance of raw sniping skill. Controlling Haki was difficult enough; imbuing it into projectiles and hitting targets accurately became exponentially harder as Haki strength increased.

Only supreme sniping ability could allow one to accurately strike enemies with projectiles carrying incredibly powerful Haki.

The same principle applied later when Usopp used special plants for his attacks; only supreme sniping skill allowed him to accurately deliver those plants to the optimal locations for maximum effect.

This held true even for snipers with Observation Haki.

While Observation Haki could reveal a target's location, "seeing" didn't guarantee hitting.

Accurately hitting the target still relied fundamentally on sniping skill.

Inventor (Pale Purple) was a non-combat Trait, similar to Navigation. Its current tier reflected Usopp's present inventive capabilities.

As Usopp grew stronger and more skilled in the future, both these Traits would likely upgrade accordingly.

Even so, compared to Luffy and Zoro, Usopp's current Trait lineup seemed rather unremarkable.

But that last Special Trait... that was something entirely different.

Rowen's eyes narrowed slightly.

——

Anthem of Courage (Special): Timidity is natural to living beings, but courage is humanity's anthem! Though naturally timid and weak-willed, at critical moments, can sing forth humanity's anthem of courage! Unleashing power far exceeding their own strength to turn the tide of battle.

——

Reading this description, Rowen felt a genuine sense of admiration.

Usopp was naturally cowardly—arguably the most cowardly of the Straw Hats' 'Weakling Trio'.

Even Perona's Negative Hollows, which could drain anyone's will to live, had no effect on Usopp.

That was because Usopp was already at the absolute rock bottom of negativity and cowardice; even Devil Fruit powers couldn't make him worse.

Compared to Zoro, Luffy, and others, Usopp's character wasn't exactly popular with everyone.

But it wasn't Usopp's fault; it was his innate nature, practically coded into his genes, something he couldn't change.

What made Usopp admirable was his ability to overcome this inherent flaw, to sing humanity's anthem of courage when it truly mattered!

For someone naturally so timid and negative, displaying such bravery was even more commendable than it would be for an ordinary person less prone to fear.

His lifelong dream was to become a brave warrior of the sea, and Usopp, through his actions, ultimately proved he possessed the necessary 'Disposition'.

Rowen respected a man like that.

"Since you two know each other, that makes things easier! Say, I was wondering if we could find someone in your village who knows how to sail, and maybe get a bigger ship?" Nami asked Usopp with a hopeful smile.

"As you can see, it's just a small village... You'll probably be disappointed," Usopp replied, his eyes darting away nervously.

"There's a huge mansion up on the hill," Zoro suddenly pointed out.

"!!!" Usopp's expression changed instantly.

Nami sharply caught this shift.

"Eh? Is that a friend of yours, Usopp? Could you maybe ask them to help us out with some money?" Nami asked, her eyes curving into smiling crescents.

"Not there! Definitely not there!" Usopp reacted almost instinctively, shouting loudly.

"Hm?" Luffy and the others looked at Usopp, puzzled.

"Uh, I just remembered I have something important to do! I know the owner here really well, so feel free to eat and drink as much as you like! I gotta go! See ya!" Usopp blurted out, then bolted away.

"What's wrong with him? He seemed so panicked," Nami wondered aloud, watching Usopp's retreating figure.

Crunch. Luffy continued eating his apple.

"Well, there's only one way to find out what's going on. Let's go take a look, right, Luffy?" Rowen suggested, a slight smile playing on his lips.

That mansion belonged to Usopp's friend, Kaya.

And hiding within that mansion was another pirate: 'Hundred Plans' Kuro, with a bounty of 16 million Beri.

Given that bounty and his performance in the original story, Kuro should possess a Purple-tier combat Trait. Perfect material for upgrading.

Every little bit helps. They were about to enter the Grand Line soon. Rowen wouldn't pass up any opportunity to become stronger.

"Right! Shishishi!" Luffy grinned.

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