A group of pirates had gathered there, all rubbing their hands in anticipation.
"We'll head in and kill every villager in this village. If we do a good job, Captain Kuro will reward us handsomely."
"And another thing, you lot..."
Jango paused, then roared:
"You'd better do a good job!"
"Last time, you managed to lose all the treasure on our ship while I was away. Tell me, what good are you?"
"This is a great chance to make up for your mistakes. See if you can plunder some Beli from the village to cover our losses!"
"All right, that's all I have to say. Go, boys!"
Jango waved his hand. The pirates let out all sorts of strange cries, then charged up the slope together.
But as they charged up the slope, they spotted a figure standing at the top.
In an instant, the same thought sprang into all their minds.
"Where did this reckless idiot come from? How dare he block our way?"
But when they saw who was standing at the top, their attitudes did a complete reversal.
Within a second, their savage expressions turned to terror.
Then they all turned and ran back down, countless times faster than before.
They looked as though they wished their parents had given them two more legs.
Meanwhile, Jango was still down below, sighing with a hand against his forehead.
"Whew, thank goodness none of that treasure belonged to Captain Kuro. Otherwise, if he found out we'd lost it, he'd slaughter us!"
Thud, thud, thud!
While he was still wallowing in grief over the lost treasure, he suddenly felt the ground shake.
"What's this?"
Sensing something, Jango looked ahead, only to see a dense crowd charging toward him, already just a few meters away.
"You guys..."
Before he could finish, the torrent of people knocked him into the air, and he landed on the nearby beach.
A few seconds later, he sprang to his feet with a kip-up.
Seeing the pirates huddled together ahead, crouching with their hands over their heads, he instantly flew into a rage and roared:
"What the hell are you doing?!"
But the pirates acted as though they hadn't heard him. Not one answered.
His fury instantly burned even hotter!
Damn it, losing my treasure a while ago was bad enough. Now you're dragging your feet just because I told you to attack a village?
He looked at the hopeless bunch and angrily berated them:
"Look at yourselves! Do you look anything like pirates anymore?"
"What could possibly scare you this badly?"
With that, he turned toward the top of the slope, where a boy of about seventeen stood watching them with an indifferent gaze.
Jango stood there studying Xia Chen for half a minute. No matter how he looked at him, Xia Chen seemed like an ordinary person, with nothing special about him at all.
If he had to name something special, it was that the boy was incredibly handsome!
In that short span, many thoughts ran through his head.
Judging by his subordinates' behavior, they must have been terrified of the boy up there.
But why were they afraid?
There was only one answer: this boy was the person they'd said had come aboard their ship and taken their treasure.
At that realization, Jango could no longer suppress his rage. He stared fixedly at Xia Chen.
Damn it, this was going too far!
First, he'd taken advantage of my absence to steal our treasure. Now he even dared to block our way.
Just because the tiger hasn't shown its claws, you think I'm Hello Kitty?
Two iron rings appeared in Jango's hands. He was going to teach this guy a lesson!
"Yahoo!"
Just as he was about to attack, two strange cries came from behind him.
At the sound, a smile appeared on his lips. It seemed he wouldn't have to act himself.
"Nyaban Brothers, go! Tear that brat at the top of the slope to pieces!"
"Yes, Captain!"
Sham of the Nyaban Brothers gave a sinister chuckle, then swiftly dashed out alongside Buchi.
At the sight, Jango smiled happily. The Nyaban Brothers were dependable, unlike that bunch of useless cowards.
A few seconds later, he stared at the two newest members of the head-covering army and fell into thought.
Had... I spoken too soon?
Just then, something even more upsetting happened.
"Xia Chen, we're here to help!"
Usopp came running from the distance, with Nami close behind.
"Huh? Why are they all crouching on the ground with their hands over their heads?" Usopp asked, pointing at the pirates in confusion.
"Who knows? An occupational hazard, maybe!"
Xia Chen spread his hands as he spoke.
"Where's Luffy? Why didn't he come?" Usopp asked, puzzled again.
"Wasn't he with you? Why are you asking me?"
"No, he was the first to run over here. I thought he'd arrived ages ago!"
Hearing that, Xia Chen couldn't help putting a hand to his forehead.
That idiot captain!
"Forget it. It doesn't matter. These pirates aren't planning on coming up here anyway!"
"Usopp, I'll leave that hypnotist to you. Any problem with that?"
"Huh?!"
Usopp instantly let out a yell.
"M-me? I might not be up to it!"
"To tell you the truth, I've always had this disease where I suddenly die if I fight someone, so..."
"Then deal with that bunch of pirates over there! You can't just do nothing, can you?" Xia Chen said flatly.
It wasn't that he was deliberately making things difficult for Usopp. Early-stage Usopp really did need some tempering. Otherwise, his strength was honestly a little too pathetic to look at.
"Uh..."
Usopp's gaze kept shifting between the two sides. Finally, he made a decision and charged toward Jango below.
Between fighting one opponent and fighting many, he still chose the option that looked easier.
And that really was the case. Most of Jango's abilities lay in hypnosis. His own combat strength was actually inferior to that of the Nyaban Brothers.
Watching Usopp charge toward him, Jango's expression turned ugly. Then he turned and shouted at the pirates:
"Everyone, look this way!"
"Once I finish speaking, you'll become incredibly strong. At the same time, your hearts will fill with killing intent, and all you'll want to do is rush into the village and kill!"
"Here we go! One, two, Jango!"
In an instant, all the pirates on the ground stood up, their eyes completely changed.
Every one of their eyes seemed filled with violent killing intent.
"Kill!"
The crowd roared, then charged toward the top of the slope together once more.
Usopp, who was halfway down, saw this and instantly turned around. He ran desperately toward Xia Chen and huddled behind him.
"Well, there goes the plan to train Usopp!" Xia Chen sighed helplessly.
One look confirmed it. A coward, all right!
Then Xia Chen turned his gaze toward the pirates below, a faint smile appearing on his lips.
Looks like the lesson I gave them last time wasn't enough!
Xia Chen narrowed his eyes, about to unleash his Conqueror's Haki to clear the field. But suddenly, as though he had noticed something, he stopped. Instead, he watched the charging pirates with a smile.