Chapter 9
"They're here! It's Crowe and his crew!" Usopp's voice shot up an octave, his long nose practically standing on end. He frantically shoved the three kids. "Hurry! Run to the village and warn everyone!"
As the Onion, Pepper, and Carrot trio stumbled off toward the village, Jango was already perched on a rock, swinging his hypnotic ring. "Watch the disk~ When I count to three, you'll all become invincible warriors~"
"One... two... three!!"
"Raaargh!" The pirates' eyes rolled back, muscles bulging unnaturally. One slammed his fist into a cliff face—boom!—shattering a massive boulder into rubble that rained toward the village.
Zoro's eyes narrowed. "They've been hypnotically enhanced?"
"Me too! I wanna get stronger!" Luffy suddenly stared blankly at the spinning ring, flailing excitedly. "Gum-Gum—"
"Idiot! You got hypnotized too?!" Zoro knocked him on the head with a sword hilt—just as the rubber man rocketed into the enemy ranks.
"Gum-Gum Gatling!"
Luffy's fists blurred into a storm, bowling over pirates left and right. He charged straight to the shore, ripped off the Black Cat ship's cat-head figurehead, and hoisted it overhead.
"Take this—Figurehead Smash!" He swung the massive sculpture like a battering ram.
Jango's ring nearly slipped from his shaking hand. "One... two... three! Sleep!!!"
The hypnotic disk flashed. Luffy froze mid-swing, the figurehead crashing at his feet. He stood snoring. "Zzz... meat... medium rare..."
Zoro cleaved through another pirate and roared over his shoulder. "Which side is that moron even on?!"
"Fire Dragon's Fang Thrust!"
Sol's arms erupted in flame, forming three massive dragon-claw phantoms that raked across the battlefield. Pirates clutched charred claw marks on their chests, the air filling with the scent of scorched flesh.
"If you keep this up, the Black Cat Pirates are gonna turn into grilled cat," Sol quipped.
The Nyaban Brothers—Sham and Buchi—flanked him with gleaming claws. "Cat-and-Claw Assault!!"
Sol leaped high, flames exploding under his feet for boost. The brothers couldn't stop in time and barreled straight toward Zoro, who was busy cutting down grunts.
"Sol, you bastard!!" Zoro barely crossed his blades in time, skidding back several steps under the combined impact, sandals carving deep furrows in the sand.
Buchi's ears twitched. "Huh? Green algae-head?"
Sham's tail puffed. "Doesn't matter—take him out!"
Sol landed gracefully with a mid-air flip and waved cheerfully. "Tactical teamwork~"
"Teamwork my ass!" Zoro's three swords flashed. "Demon Slash!"
Blade light streaked like lightning. The Nyaban Brothers didn't even see the cuts before collapsing unconscious. Zoro flicked blood from his blades. "Small fry should know their place."
Jango's trembling hand reached for his ring again, sweat dripping—only to spot Captain Crowe calmly slipping on his ten-blade cat claws, metal glinting coldly in the sun.
"I... I have to hypnotize myself stronger..." He raised the ring toward his own face.
"Firecracker Star!"
Usopp's slingshot fired from behind a rock. An explosive pellet detonated right in Jango's face—shattering his glasses and sending him tumbling into the sand, eyes swirling.
Crowe adjusted his glasses, claws dripping. "Hmph. Useless trash." His lenses flashed. "Wiped out by nobodies in five minutes... Guess I'll clean up myself."
"Scoop-Out Slash."
His figure blurred. Only the whistle of wind remained as deep claw marks exploded across sand, rock, and even ship masts—no one could track him!
"W-Wait, Captain Crowe! We're your—"
The remaining pirates' words cut off as blood lines appeared across their throats. They clutched the wounds in disbelief before collapsing one by one.
Zoro crossed all three swords, sparks flying. "Damn it... can't track his movement at all!"
Luffy snapped out of hypnosis just in time to see Crowe slaughtering his own men. Fury ignited under the straw hat.
"You treat your crew's lives like garbage?!" Luffy roared.
Crowe's form solidified. He pushed up his slipping glasses, blood dripping from his claws onto the sand. "They were nothing but stepping stones on my path to success. That's the fate of pirate crew members."
"That's bullshit! I'm gonna send you flying into the sky!!" Luffy clenched his fists.
Crowe vanished again, claws shrieking through the air—heading straight for Usopp and Nami.
Clang!!
Sol's arm, now armored in hardened dragon-scale flames, blocked the strike. Sparks lit up Crowe's shocked eyes.
"What...?!"
"Your speed—" Luffy's fist slammed into Crowe's stomach from nowhere. "—is nothing compared to Sol's!!!"
"Gah!" Crowe's glasses flew off as he doubled over like a shrimp, staring in disbelief at the straw-hat kid who'd somehow intercepted his silent step. "Impossible... my Silent Step was..."
Sol shook out his smoking arm with a grin. "In a Dragon Slayer's senses, that speed's still way too slow."
"No... impossible!" Crowe staggered up from the rubble, face bloodied, half his claws broken. He launched into another frenzied Silent Step, body blurring into afterimages. "I am... 'Hundred Plans' Crowe—!!"
Luffy stood still, right arm stretched back like a drawn bow. "Gum-Gum..."
Crowe's claws were inches from Luffy's throat when the spinning punch erupted. "Ricochet Slug!!"
BOOM!!
The blow crushed Crowe's cheekbone visibly. Glass shards and blood sprayed as he rocketed backward, smashing into the cliff with a web of cracks before sliding down limp.
Kaya arrived, supported by the three kids, her white dress dusted with sand. Seeing Crowe embedded in the rock and unconscious pirates everywhere, her parasol slipped from her fingers.
"Everything... Usopp said... was true..." Tears welled as she covered her mouth.
The butler Merry collapsed to his knees. "Mr. Klahadore... these three years..." Staring at the claw-slashed pier, he wept openly. "We were all deceived..."
Onion-head puffed out his chest. "See? Captain Usopp wasn't lying this time!"
Carrot-head: "He risked his life to protect the village!"
Pepper-head pointed suddenly. "Ah! The captain fainted!"
Usopp lay sprawled dramatically on the sand—having tried to play the heroic wounded act for Kaya's arrival. He'd overdone it, actually knocked himself out, and now clutched his nose in genuine pain.
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