"Actually, I was a captain at age three! You see, my father is also a great pirate, and so piracy is in my blood! As a child, I set out on a great journey across the world to explore and fight as a pirate!" Usopp's non-muffined hand thumped his chest manfully for emphasis. "Soon I had followers, and at age nine, I had already gathered my crew of eight thousand men. We roamed the seas for years, the terror of the law yet the friend to innocents!"

Well, that had been exciting to tell, but it hadn't really advanced the story. He harrumphed, before beginning the tale properly. "It all started as we were leaving Tree Island, an island that was really just a gigantic tree grown right up out of the ocean, when one of my trusty crewmen spotted a dingy floating in the water. And on the deck of that dingy was a man collapsed from exhaustion! We brought the poor soul aboard, and he told us of how he was fleeing the reign of terror on a nearby island. As soon as we heard about the monstrous creature that had taken over that island, of course, my whole crew was filled with excitement at the thought of a new battle and a new adventure! So we set sail towards Isla Rojo, where the Queen lived..."

Now absorbed in his own story, his whole face was animated, grinning and gesturing to emphasize each action. He hadn't had a good audience in a long time.