Usopp continues with the characteristic snark in this episode, calling the millennium dragon “useless.” To be perfectly frank, the audience currently has no idea what the value of a millennium dragon is, either. In any event, Apis calls him useless, and this in-fighting interaction portrays how we often perceive our reality. Upon first encountering someone or something, we fail to understand its value and will mentally push it aside to focus on things we do, in fact, recognize the value of. This schism can result in a negative outlook towards the newly encountered thing we don’t yet understand. As mentioned, Usopp has no idea what a millennium dragon is or does, and Apis has not seen Usopp being particularly heroic during their short time together.
While we all still don’t know what a millennium dragon is, Apis did witness things about Usopp she hadn’t noticed before. Soon after the aforementioned conversation, Usopp is the first Straw Hat to speak up that they would continue to help Apis & Rio find the lost island, filling the child with joy. Later, back aboard the Gullwing Mary, Usopp quickly calls out a plan to escape Commodore Nelson which Zoro believes would work, again impressing Apis.
Apis, of course, has her own majesty within, made evident when part of the group is on the speedy cart. She tells Luffy she is worried about Zoro, who calmly responds that Zoro will be okay, while Nami & Usopp are only discussing their own safety. Ultimately, Zoro was okay, but only because Apis relayed the message from the birds to Luffy, who then rescued Zoro, so both Apis & Luffy were correct in their assertions.
We see the continued inner-workings of Marine insubordination when the fleet captain wants to leave Eric behind at the mirage. The captain appears to be rather loyal to Nelson, and it seems Eric is from the world government and outranks the Commodore, and Commodore Nelson also seems to be suspicious of Eric, and Eric is unhappy with the fleet captain. This house-of-cards-esque scrawling of relationship lines appears to exist throughout every level of the Marines and is indicative of the levels of distrust, arrogance, graft, and corruption there is in the organization. There is a stark difference between this chaos and a more harmonious splinter-cell type grouping with checks and balances between differing wings or branches, although it is easy to see how the latter may devolve into the former.
Last note, during the combat of Zoro & Eric, we see them utilizing sticks and dirt as aids in battle and it evokes the image of 2 young boys fighting without any legendary weapons or devil fruit powers at all. Both adversaries are quick-thinkers who take advantage of anything they can in any situation, again taking notes from The Art of War. Seeing Eric rival Zoro’s ability, requiring rescue by Luffy, foreshadows continued trouble for the Straw Hats from this government agent.