Chapter 18

"Ah, I'm hungry."

After delivering another punch to Morgan, Luffy jumped off him and turned to Eden, who was still beating up Helmeppo. "Stop messing with them; let's go eat."

Damn, I was just getting into it.

Hearing Luffy's words, Eden glanced at Helmeppo, who was now unconscious, his once arrogant face beaten to a pulp. Helmeppo, already ugly, looked even worse with his features twisted.

Alright, a few more punches, and I'll stop.

Eden thought to himself. After a few more punches, he felt much better, his previously gloomy mood lifted.

As Eden prepared to punch again, Morgan, standing behind Luffy, suddenly rose. His face, already beaten by Eden and Luffy, looked terrifying with blood streaks and an unrecognizable expression.

"I am Captain Morgan, the Axe Hand!"

Morgan, breathing heavily, with a grim face, raised his giant axe on his right arm and swung it towards Luffy's back.

Luffy seemed unaware of the danger behind him and continued walking towards Eden. Just as the giant axe was about to touch his straw hat, Koby, standing far away, turned pale and screamed, "Luffy-san, watch out!"

As Koby shouted, a figure quickly dashed past Luffy.

"Oni-giri!"

Zoro, with a sword clenched in his mouth and two in his hands, crossed them in a single move, slashing the large and sturdy Morgan, making his eyes roll back and leaving a big X-shaped wound on his body.

"Zoro."

Luffy adjusted his straw hat and turned to Zoro.

"No big deal, Captain."

Zoro, with a green bandana on his head and a sword in his mouth, replied coolly.

"C-Captain... Captain lost. Captain Morgan was defeated!"

The surrounding marines stared in disbelief at the fallen Morgan and Helmeppo, their faces full of shock.

Clang!

Zoro sheathed his swords and coldly scanned the marines. "Anyone still wanting to catch us, step forward!"

The marines looked at each other but no one dared to move.

"Great, we're finally free!"

"We're free from Morgan's control. Long live the Navy!"

After a moment of silence, the marines erupted into cheers.

"What's going on? Their captain was defeated, and they're so happy."

Luffy looked at the cheering marines in confusion.

"They must have been forced to act against their conscience out of fear of Morgan."

Koby realized these marines weren't as evil as he had thought. They had been forced by Morgan's tyranny to commit acts against naval justice. His disappointment in the navy turned into renewed hope, making him look much more spirited.

Thud!

As Koby regained his faith in the navy, Zoro suddenly collapsed to the ground.

"Phew, I'm so hungry."

Lying on the ground, Zoro looked up at the blue sky. He had been tied to a wooden post for three weeks without food. It would be strange if he wasn't hungry.

Luffy gave Zoro an understanding look, then turned to Eden, who had just finished beating Helmeppo. "Carry Zoro back."

"Why do I have to carry him? You carry him; it's the same."

Eden shrugged, feeling tired after beating up so many people today.

"Because both of us are hungry. Let's meet at the place where we eat."

Luffy said this, patted his slightly flattened stomach, and walked out of the navy base without looking back. Seeing this, Koby bowed to Eden and said, "I'll leave Zoro-san to you," then quickly followed Luffy.

Damn, they forgot I'm injured!

Eden grumbled inwardly, then walked over to Zoro and helped him up. The two slowly walked out of the navy base.

As they left, Eden noticed the marines didn't try to stop them. Instead, they looked at them with gratitude, making Eden feel a sense of satisfaction. He had beaten up many people today, and now they were thanking him instead of seeking revenge.

Life is truly strange.

...

Some time later, in a restaurant in Shells Town.

"Phew, that was a great meal. Not eating for three weeks was really tough."

Zoro, patting his slightly bulging stomach, burped contentedly.

"What? You're full already? If I hadn't eaten for so long, I'd be dead."

Luffy, stuffing food into his mouth, said to Zoro.

"How can you eat more than me?"

Zoro, already full, looked at Luffy, who was still eating ravenously, in shock.

"Because the food here is so good. Right, Koby?"

Luffy swallowed a mouthful of meat and asked Koby, who was bandaging Eden's wounds.

"Sorry, I ate quite a bit too."

Koby scratched his head apologetically and spoke to the restaurant's proprietress.

"It's okay because you saved us."

The proprietress, holding a stack of empty plates, smiled.

"By the way, why did you take so long to get here? I've been eating for over an hour and only now see you."

Luffy, still eating, asked Eden, who looked gloomy.

"If I told you we got lost, would you believe me?"

Eden stuffed a piece of meat into his mouth and asked Luffy.

"You must be joking. Getting lost in this small town means you're a super directionally challenged person. Hahaha!"

Luffy laughed heartily, swallowing a large piece of meat, completely unaware that Zoro's face had turned dark.

When Eden carried Zoro out of the navy base, he realized he had no idea where Luffy meant for them to eat.

So Eden asked Zoro for directions, and Zoro confidently claimed he knew the way.

In fact, Zoro had eaten at that restaurant before.

Seeing Zoro's confidence, Eden, though skeptical, thought the town's roads were simple enough that Zoro couldn't possibly get lost.

So Eden carried the exhausted Zoro, following his directions.

But under Zoro's guidance, Eden found himself walking into dead ends twenty-nine times.

Staring at the trash can at the end of yet another dead end, Eden, sweating profusely, wanted to throw Zoro into the trash can.

Damn, this is too much.

On the first day of meeting Zoro, Eden realized what it truly meant to be directionally challenged.

Zoro's directions were different every time, but Eden always ended up in a dead end.

What puzzled Eden most was that twelve times, he ended up in the same dead end, even though they had taken different routes each time. It almost drove Eden insane.

Luckily, they ran into Rika, who was out buying supplies, or they might have wandered the town until nightfall without finding Luffy.

Seeing Rika felt like seeing a holy angel to Eden. The little girl with twin ponytails and a cute face seemed to have angel wings behind her.

Zoro, on the other hand, felt like a green-haired demon, too terrifying!

On the way back to the restaurant with Rika, Eden kept thinking, Thank God I'm finally free!

Earlier, Eden suggested asking someone for directions, but Zoro kept insisting Eden trust him one more time, even grabbing Eden's neck in excitement.

So Eden trusted Zoro twenty-nine times and nearly walked the entire Shells Town, ending up in dead ends each time, until even Eden was thoroughly confused.

"See? I heard they're the pirates who defeated Captain Morgan."

"I saw them walking back and forth many times. What are they doing?"

"Who knows? They're pirates. Maybe they're doing some special training. Look at that guy carrying someone, sweating all over. It seems like the training is effective."

Hearing these comments from the town residents while wandering with Zoro, Eden felt incredibly embarrassed. He wasn't training; he was completely lost, and the sweat was from the fear of Zoro's terrible sense of direction.

From that moment on, Eden vowed never to trust Zoro's directions again. If anyone claimed Zoro wasn't directionally challenged, Eden would be the first to argue.

"Eat your food and talk less!"

Zoro, with a dark expression, told Luffy, who was still laughing at the super directionally challenged person.

"Big brother, you're amazing! I heard from Koby that you taught that nasty Helmeppo a lesson. Where's that pretty orange-haired sister who was with you? Did you beat up Helmeppo because she told you to? I knew she wouldn't lie to me."

Rika, helping Koby bandage Eden's wounds, cheerfully spoke to Eden.

Hearing Rika's words, Eden, who had been grim-faced, immediately smiled kindly at the little girl who had saved him from getting lost. "Yes, I rushed into the navy base and gave that bully Helmeppo a good beating. He won't dare to cause trouble anymore."

Eden recalled the first time he met Rika, when Nami was still with him. Nami, hearing someone had bullied a little girl, had bragged about teaching him a lesson.

But when Nami learned the bully was Captain Morgan's son, Helmeppo, she left the task to Eden, whom she ignored.

Now, after beating up Helmeppo, with Nami gone, Eden felt inexplicably empty.

"Why did it take you so long to show up? If you had come later, we'd all be dead."

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Eden asked Luffy the question that had been bothering him. Why did Luffy take so long to find Zoro's swords?

"What could I do? I searched the entire navy base to find Zoro's swords."

Luffy, swallowing his food, replied.

"You mean you didn't know where Zoro's swords were at first? So you searched the whole base?"

Eden, puzzled, asked, "Didn't Helmeppo tell you where the swords were?"

"You mean the guy with the parted hair?"

Luffy, eating, recalled, "When I saw him at the base, he was already unconscious, probably knocked out by Morgan."

Hearing this, Luffy apologized to Eden, "I'm sorry I broke your statue there."

Damn, I told you, that wasn't my statue. It was Morgan's!

Eden, feeling his appetite diminish, asked Luffy, "Do you know why Helmeppo was unconscious?"

"Let me think. I jumped up to the base and heard marines saying someone broke into the captain's room to steal something. The guy with the axe arm got angry and knocked Helmeppo out. That's probably it."

Luffy's casual words stirred a storm in Eden's heart.

Could it be that when Nami and I were stealing the Grand Line map from Morgan's room, Luffy's accidental entry exposed us, making the short-tempered Morgan so angry he knocked Helmeppo out?

And then Luffy couldn't find out from the unconscious Helmeppo that Zoro's swords were in his room, forcing him to search the entire base, wasting time and almost costing us our lives?

Eden hadn't expected the chain reaction from their theft would lead to Luffy taking ten extra minutes to find the swords, almost getting them killed.

"Did you... really search for Zoro's swords seriously?"

Eden, skeptical, asked Luffy.

"It was surprising. Zoro's swords were in the room where I had snacks, hahaha!"

Luffy's words made Eden's face darken. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I found a nice room while searching for Zoro's swords. I saw snacks on the table, and since I was hungry, I went in and ate. But there wasn't any meat, so I didn't get full."

Luffy said regretfully, oblivious to Eden's darkening face.

"After eating, I kept searching for Zoro's swords. I searched the whole base and couldn't find them. Then I went back to the first room and saw three swords there. I was too careless, hahaha!"

As Luffy laughed, Eden, with a dark face, jumped to his side, grabbed Luffy's neck, and shook him. "You idiot! If you hadn't been so focused on eating, you would've found the swords earlier, and we wouldn't have had to fight so hard! Do you know how dangerous it was outside then?"

Eden was genuinely angry. If Luffy had encountered any problems while searching for the swords, it would have been understandable.

But he had missed finding the swords because he was too busy eating. This reason was too frustrating for Eden.

Though Helmeppo didn't tell Luffy where Zoro's swords were, and Luffy didn't know where Helmeppo's room was, causing the delay, your eyesight is terrible. You walked into Helmeppo's room by accident and only saw the food!

Your eating put us in danger. The feeling of having your life in someone else's hands is unforgettable!

Eden choked Luffy, making him cough, spitting meat all over Eden's face.

At this moment, Eden and Luffy seemed ready to fight.

"What does it matter? I knew you were out there, so I felt safe searching for Zoro's swords inside because you're reliable. Look, in the end, we're all fine, right? I knew you were a trustworthy companion."

Luffy grinned, his smile pure and sincere.

Hearing Luffy's words and seeing his infectious smile, Eden was stunned. His hand on Luffy's neck slowly lost strength, feeling a warm rush in his heart, a sense of contentment.

Seeing the tension between Eden and Luffy, Zoro, about to intervene, was surprised when Eden released Luffy.

In Zoro's astonished gaze, Eden warmly draped an arm over Luffy's shoulder, smiling. "Of course, I'm very reliable. Next time, enjoy your tea and snacks. I can handle it alone because I'm trustworthy. Hahaha!"

For a moment, Eden's smug laughter and Luffy's carefree laugh filled the restaurant.

"Two idiots!"

Zoro sat back down, watching Eden and Luffy with a faint smile.

Koby and Rika, the little girl with twin ponytails, looked at Eden and Luffy in bewilderment, unable to understand their sudden change.

"What are they doing?"

The little girl, confused, asked the pink-haired boy with thick glasses.

"Maybe it's what they call men's friendship. Perhaps."

The boy adjusted his thick glasses and, after hesitating, replied uncertainly to the little girl.