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Chapter 27: The Defense of Syrup Village
The next day.
At dawn, the villagers of Syrup Village got up as usual, only to realize that something was wrong. Why was Usopp, the liar who used to wake them up every morning with "The pirates are coming!", not making a sound today?
Pirates are here! Pirates are really here!
Gulp.
Usopp swallowed hard, his expression a mixture of tension, fear, and excitement as he watched the pirate ship gradually come into view.
One group of pirates after another disembarked from their pirate ships and set foot on the island where he had lived for seventeen years.
"Such sharp weapons, so strong, so scary... These people all look incredibly powerful!"
Usopp's body trembled uncontrollably as he looked at these pirates, each one far stronger than an ordinary person.
He spoke hesitantly.
"Do we... really have to go to war with them?"
"Nonsense, aren't you going to save your village?"
Hearing such a demoralizing statement, Zoro frowned slightly, calmly watching the figures landing on the island below.
"Those ahead are just small fry. The real tough ones are yet to come."
Before he had finished speaking, a thin man wearing a black coat and black sunglasses swaggered off the ship, flanked by two other men, one fat and one thin.
Usopp pointed at the man in sunglasses and said, "That's him. Yesterday he waved a pendant at Luffy, and then Luffy fell asleep!"
"A Devil Fruit user?" Nami's gaze darkened, sensing the pressure.
Usopp's description made him seem very much like a Devil Fruit user.
"Luffy, how did you fall asleep back then?"
"Huh?" Luffy thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't know either. I just fell asleep for no reason, but before I fell asleep I heard 'One, two, yay!'"
"Is this a password?" Nami asked, puzzled.
"This guy sounds like a hypnotist," Zoro said.
"That's right."
Ganyu explained to the group, "His name is Jango, and he's the acting captain of the Black Cat Pirates. He's not a Devil Fruit user, just a somewhat skilled hypnotist who can hypnotize enemies or enhance teammates. It's best to take him out first once the battle starts."
The four nodded in agreement.
"Ganyu, your intelligence gathering is way too detailed!"
Nami gave a compliment, then turned to Zoro suspiciously and asked, "Weren't you guys going together? Why do you look like you don't know anything about it?"
"Uh..." Zoro opened his mouth, unsure how to answer, and felt a little embarrassed.
Ganyu then came to his rescue, saying, "Do you expect a directionally challenged swordsman who only knows how to use force to remember information? He forgot all the information we gathered together in the blink of an eye."
"Tch, his memory is terrible! Luckily we had Ganyu, otherwise we would have missed such important information!" Nami mocked Zoro.
"Haha, Zoro is so stupid!" Luffy chimed in with a sarcastic remark.
"He doesn't seem very smart..." Usopp muttered to himself.
"You guys..." Zoro's forehead veins bulged, and he seemed on the verge of going berserk.
"Quiet down, they're about to go up the slope."
At that moment, a cold hand pressed down on his shoulder, and the chill instantly spread throughout his body, causing Zoro to shiver.
"You're an Ability User too?" Usopp, with his excellent eyesight, caught this scene and gaped in surprise.
Ganyu did not answer, but instead stretched out her hand. Amidst the frost and cold air, a bow gradually appeared in her palm.
He's truly a superhuman!
Silence spoke louder than words. Usopp looked at the bow in Ganyu's hand, then at the slingshot in his own, and a hint of envy flashed in his eyes.
The equipment gap is just too big!
"Haha, they're coming up! They've all tripped up by the oil Usopp set up!"
Before long, Luffy's loud laughter rang out beside them.
Nami laughed too. "Hehe, there's a row of nails after the paved road, they're definitely going to slip and fall again!"
Sure enough, as expected, soon the pirates' pained howls echoed from the slope.
"What kind of lunatic poured so much oil here and threw so many nails?!"
"This is definitely a trap set by someone, and there might even be someone lying in ambush!"
"What? You mean we've been discovered?"
A commotion arose among the pirates.
"Stop wasting time, you idiots! Do you want to be killed by Captain Kuro himself?"
Jango shouted, silencing all other voices with the name "Kuro." He then glanced at the trap on the slope, before looking up and circling the trees on the cliffs on either side of the slope.
"There must be someone hiding in the woods. Go, rush up the slope and drag him out!" "But… Captain Jango, the ground is covered in oil and nails, we can't get up there at all." The pirates looked troubled.
The terrain was too disadvantageous for them; there was only one road into the island, which was riddled with traps.
"It's alright. Come on, look at the pendant in my hand."
Jango stretched out his hand, unfolded a pendant attached to his finger with a thread, and waved it at the pirates.
"After I say 'One, two, praise!' you will become warriors who charge forward fearlessly, unafraid of pain, and undaunted by death..."
"One, two, awesome!"
The words fell.
The pirates who had been complaining just moments before suddenly fell silent. They closed their eyes, and when they opened them again, their eyes were filled with fanaticism and madness. Before Jango could give the order, they charged up the slope like madmen!
"What?! What's wrong with them? Why aren't the oil and nails working on them?"
Usopp was dumbfounded.
"It's obvious that the hypnosis is working." Zoro looked at the crowd getting closer and closer below, took a black cloth from his clothes, put it on his head, and then began to draw his sword as if no one else was around.
"What are you going to do?" Usopp asked, but he already had the answer in his heart.
"To kill someone."
After Zoro finished speaking, he pushed off the ground with both feet, and with a whoosh, he swung his sword at the group of pirates charging towards him!
Slish!
A spray of blood appeared in front of the pirates running at the front, and they collapsed to the ground with stunned expressions, only to be trampled into the ground by the pirates behind them.
"Gum-Gum... Machine Gun!"
Luffy had somehow ended up standing in the path that the pirates were bound to take. He stood still, his hands outstretched, and his rapidly swinging fists created afterimages in the air!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A dozen or so pirates who were charging ahead were knocked away, but their resilience was significantly enhanced after being strengthened, and they soon got back up.
Even the pirates who had been cut down by Zoro's sword stood up!
"Amazing!" Usopp's expression changed drastically, exclaiming repeatedly, "But... these hypnotized people seem practically invincible!"
"Tch, making a fuss over nothing." Nami gave him a disdainful look and said casually:
"It's amazing that they can't be killed. Can't we just trap them?"
"Trapped...? Could it be that you...?" Usopp stared at Nami with considerable surprise. This woman looked just as weak as him. Could it be that... she was also a hidden master?
"Idiot, have you forgotten whose abilities we just witnessed?" Nami rolled her eyes at him, then pointed to her side.
There stood a blue-haired girl, her hands outstretched like a bow. A tangible chill swirled around her, and the surrounding grass and leaves were covered in frost. Suddenly, her closed eyes snapped open with a whoosh!
An ice crystal arrow shot out from the sky!