[One Piece: The Legend of the Star Sea] Chapter 35 (Patreon)

When Usopp and Nami arrived at the slope where Eden was fighting, they saw that nearly half of the Black Cat Pirates were already down.

"Hey, Eden, are you alright?" Usopp called out from the top of the slope, slightly out of breath.

"What? It's you two," Eden replied nonchalantly, glancing at them briefly before kicking another pirate away.

"Is that any way to greet us? Are you disappointed to see us?" Nami shouted, relieved to see Eden still lively and fighting.

To be honest, Eden was a bit disappointed to see Nami and Usopp. If it had been Luffy and Zoro, he could have taken a break.

"Don't just stand there shouting. Why was I the only one guarding this place this morning?" Eden asked Nami while fending off the attacking pirates.

"You were sleeping like a log last night, so I decided to let you rest and brought you here," Nami explained, unusually honest.

"You idiot! Why didn't you wake me up?" Eden snapped back.

"You fool! I won't bother with you anymore!" Nami retorted, angry that her good intentions were unappreciated.

Eden rolled his eyes, thinking to himself: If every time you 'take care' of me I end up in trouble, I'd rather you didn't.

"I thought he was just bluffing yesterday, but he's really this strong," Usopp said, stunned at Eden's prowess despite his injuries. "I wanted to challenge him again after this was over to show my respect as Captain Usopp."

"I think you should drop that idea. He'll definitely knock you out," Nami said sincerely, seeing Usopp's trembling legs.

"Yeah, it's a good thing I changed my target to you during our fight yesterday, or I'd be in trouble," Usopp added, completely oblivious to Nami's darkening expression.

"Listen up, pirates! If you can't handle even one of my subordinates, you should leave now. Otherwise, my billion-strong army will show no mercy!" Usopp began boasting again, feeling emboldened by Eden's success.

Kids are better liars than this long-nosed guy.

At that moment, Eden and the Black Cat Pirates had the same thought, except for one person.

"What? He has a billion subordinates? That's a lot! What do we do?" Jango panicked, sweating profusely.

"Captain, calm down! That must be a lie!"

"Don't believe the enemy so easily, Captain."

The surrounding pirates tried to reassure Jango, making Eden feel embarrassed for them. How can this guy be a captain with such low intelligence?

But then he remembered Luffy and felt less surprised.

"Who said I'm your subordinate? If you're going to lie, at least make it believable," Eden scolded Usopp.

"No way! They saw through it just like that. I didn't expect this," Usopp exclaimed, holding his head in shock.

"Did you really think you could fool them like that?" Eden dodged a few pirates' attacks, surprised at Usopp's naïveté.

Usopp's tendency to lie had reached a level where he seemed to believe his own falsehoods more than anyone else.

"Eden, my treasure isn't stolen, is it?" Nami asked, concerned now that she saw Eden was fine.

"They moved your treasure onto their ship," Eden admitted, having seen it with his own eyes.

"Why didn't you stop them, you idiot!" Nami roared, her sharp teeth showing in her anger.

"What are you saying? Instead of complaining, why don't you come down here and help!" Eden retorted, frustrated.

"Stop arguing," Usopp tried to calm them down, then addressed the pirates. "The treasure you took is mine. I'll give it to you if you leave now."

"He wants to bribe us with money."

"Such despicable tactics."

Some pirates paused, tempted by Usopp's offer.

"Idiot, that treasure is already on our ship. It can't be his," Jango said, adjusting his heart-shaped sunglasses.

These Black Cat Pirates should be called the Dumb Cat Pirates; neither the current captain nor the crew is impressive, Eden thought.

Just then, Nami punched Usopp and shouted at the pirates, "That treasure is mine! I won't give you a single coin! Guard it well, because I'm taking it all back!"

Eden thought for a moment that Nami was ready to fight for her treasure.

"Go, Eden! Beat them up for my treasure!" Nami cheered from the slope.

"Who'd fight for your treasure? Go cool off somewhere else!" Eden shouted back, continuing to fight the pirates.

"Treasure is important to me! I'll beat you up if you don't help!" Nami threatened.

"Why did you hit me? That hurt!" Usopp yelled at Nami, rubbing the bump on his head.

Eden, Nami, and Usopp began arguing loudly, completely drowning out the pirates' shouts.

"You dare argue while fighting us? You think nothing of the Black Cat Pirates?" the pirates fumed, feeling insulted.

Usopp used his slingshot to support Eden from the rear, further infuriating the pirates.

"I was still knocking out your guys while talking to them," Eden said, punching another pirate. "Are the Black Cat Pirates really that notorious in East Blue? I don't think much of them."

Despite his injuries, Eden found the fight against these small fry fairly easy.

The only person Eden found strange was Jango, with his heart-shaped sunglasses, moonwalk, white gloves, and oversized cowboy hat—a truly odd character.

"How dare you underestimate us!"

"If Captain Kuro were here, he'd finish you off easily."

"If you don't want to die, move aside and let us through."

Angered by Eden's nonchalant attitude, the pirates felt desperate. They couldn't even reach Nami and Usopp with Eden blocking them.

"Kuro, the captain who pretended to be a butler for three years? If he shows up, I'll knock him out!" Eden shouted, disgusted by Kuro's behavior.

"You dare speak that way about Captain Kuro because you don't know his strength," Jango said, brandishing his circular blade.

"And you don't know how hard my punches are," Eden retorted.

Just then, Eden heard familiar voices.

"Usopp, you idiot, why didn't you tell me which way was north?"

"Nami, it's your fault we wasted so much time!"

Luffy and Zoro appeared at the top of the slope, both looking angry.

"Who are they? Reinforcements?"

"They look strong. This is bad."

The pirates hesitated, intimidated by the newcomers.

"You're late. I've nearly finished them off," Eden said, relieved to see Luffy and Zoro.

But something felt off. Why were the pirates suddenly so quiet?

Eden turned to see the pirates, previously knocked down, standing up with crazed expressions.

What's going on?

"Nami, what's happening?" Eden asked, confused.

"Watch out! That weird guy is a hypnotist. He's hypnotized his men to make them stronger," Nami warned.

"You should've said that earlier!" Eden complained. If he had known, he would have dealt with Jango first.

"Sorry, I was too focused on my treasure..." Nami admitted, embarrassed.

Usopp had also forgotten about Jango's hypnosis, distracted by Eden's fighting prowess.

Damn, I didn't expect that weirdly dressed man to be a hypnotist. But even with hypnosis, their strength shouldn't increase this much, Eden thought, watching in disbelief as a pirate punched and crumbled a cliff.

Are these the same pirates I fought earlier?

Even with hypnosis, their strength shouldn't increase this drastically.

The pirates, now seemingly ten times stronger, charged at Eden with wild abandon, making him nervous.

"You two stay back. We'll handle this," Zoro said, drawing his sword.

"Be careful not to hit Eden while you fight," Nami warned as she and Usopp moved back.

But as soon as she spoke, Luffy let out a deafening roar, "Gomu Gomu no Gatling!"

"What? Even Luffy's hypnotized?" Zoro, Nami, and Usopp were stunned, watching Luffy charge down the slope.

"Gomu Gomu no Gatling!" Luffy shouted, extending his arms to unleash a flurry of punches.

Eden had intended to fight the hypnotized pirates head-on, but Luffy's rapid punches forced him to dodge repeatedly.

"You maniac! What are you doing?" Eden shouted, narrowly avoiding Luffy's punches, which were also hitting the pirates.

With no other choice, Eden matched Luffy's strength, their fists clashing with a thunderous impact.

The force of their punches sent shockwaves through the area, knocking over the surrounding pirates.

Within moments, Luffy had decimated the pirates, leaving only Eden standing in his path.

"Great opportunity! You're dead!" Jango shouted, throwing his circular blade at Eden's back.

Damn it!

Eden dodged Jango's attack but found himself facing Luffy's relentless punches again.

"Stop it already!" Eden yelled, putting all his strength into countering Luffy's blows.

Their fists collided with a force that sent both of them flying in opposite directions.

"Eden! Luffy! Are you alright?" Nami and Usopp rushed to check on them.

Eden crashed into the Black Cat Pirates' ship, and Luffy landed in the forest, creating a crater.

Despite the pain, Eden struggled to stand, only to see the ship's cat-shaped figurehead about to crush him.

Move, damn it! Eden willed his body to move, rolling to the side just in time.

Luffy, still under hypnosis, grabbed the falling figurehead, muscles straining.

Eden thought Luffy was saving him but realized he intended to use the figurehead as a weapon.

"Wrong target! Hit the other guys!" Eden shouted.

Luffy, now focused on the pirates, moved towards them, scaring them white.

Eden sighed in relief but was soon attacked by the Nyaban Brothers, Sham and Buchi, wielding cat-like weapons.

"Leave them to me," Zoro said, stepping in to protect Eden.

Luffy, however, was hypnotized to sleep by Jango, dropping the figurehead on himself.

With Luffy and Eden incapacitated, Zoro faced the Nyaban Brothers and Jango alone.

"Come on, Eden, get up. I need your help," Nami shouted, dodging the pirates' attacks.

"They must be in trouble," Zoro said, unable to help.

"You should focus on us!" Sham said, disarming Zoro of his swords.

Not good. With only one sword, Zoro can't fight at full strength.

Eden struggled to his feet, seeing Usopp thrown from the slope, bleeding and bruised.

"Stop right now, or I'll kill you all!" Kuro, the captain of the Black Cat Pirates, grabbed Nami's staff, furious at the state of his crew and ship.

"We were ambushed by some tough guys. It wasn't our fault," Jango stammered, trembling.

Kuro tossed Nami aside, smashing her against the rock wall.

"You want to die?" Eden yelled, angered by Kuro's treatment of Nami and Usopp.

Seeing Nami and Usopp injured, Eden's fury grew.

Kuro would pay for this.