From the perspective of Jeff's crew, their captain had merely been grabbed by the back of his neck by Maude. They hadn't seen any sign of force being applied.
Yet—
That seemingly casual motion, akin to a friendly gesture, had rendered their captain completely immobile, as if he were a stone statue.
Unable to comprehend what had just happened, Jeff's crew instinctively raised their weapons, their eyes locked onto Maude's back as they shouted in unison, "Let go of the captain!!!"
Maude paid them no mind. The hand gripping Jeff's neck had already been quietly imbued with Armament Haki.
A cold killing intent flickered for a brief moment.
Jeff's heart was suddenly gripped by an icy dread, an all-encompassing chill spreading through his limbs.
The sensation of death was like a blade of winter's night, sharp and inescapable, grinding against his nerves.
"Bacardi Maude! What the hell did you do to me?!"
Faced with the imminent threat of death, Jeff, completely unable to move, lost his composure.
Ever since he had set sail, he had always been the one placing others on the chopping block, disposing of them as he pleased.
Yet now, he had become the prey beneath Maude's blade.
And before he could even make a single move.
Maude looked at the panicked Jeff with an impassive expression. He wasn't foolish enough to explain his techniques on the spot. Instead, he simply muttered coldly, "160 million? Is that all?"
Jeff's performance left him sorely disappointed.
Not even worth using to refine his newly acquired Shadow-Shadow Fruit abilities.
Realizing how inflated the bounty was, Maude's grip tightened slightly, the Armament Haki reinforcing his fingers. In an instant, Jeff's neck was crushed with a sickening crack.
Jeff's eyes widened in disbelief as he collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
In his final moments, he had dreamed of taking Maude's head to make a name for himself. Yet, to his utter shock, he had been killed without even getting the chance to strike a single blow.
His resentment and unwillingness to accept his fate vanished along with the last flicker of light in his eyes.
And just like that, this year's generation of Supernovas had lost one.
"Captain!!!"
Jeff's crew, too late to stop Maude's execution, were filled with fury. But even as their anger surged, a deep sense of terror crept into their expressions as they stared at Maude.
Maude didn't even glance at Jeff's lifeless body. Instead, he slowly turned, his cold gaze landing on the remaining members of the Jeff Pirates.
The intel he had gathered from Shakky wasn't limited to just the seven Supernovas.
After all, truly outstanding Supernovas usually commanded pirate crews with considerable overall strength.
And among those crews, there were always a few members with potential.
For example, the Jeff Pirates, who followed an elite-focused approach. Though few in number, they were an ideal target for Maude's hunt.
Naturally, their names had already been recorded in his Hunter's Notebook.
Jeff's crew, caught between shock and rage, could barely process what had just transpired.
Their captain, a pirate with a 160-million-berry bounty, had been killed as effortlessly as swatting a fly.
The entire fight—if it could even be called that—had ended before they even understood what had happened.
"For the captain!!!"
One of the crew members, the most devoted to Jeff, roared in fury and charged at Maude with his sword raised.
However, the moment he rushed forward, the rest of the crew made a decisive choice—they turned and ran for their lives.
The charging crewmember, realizing no one had followed, assumed they were just a step slower to react.
But as he failed to hear any movement behind him, confusion struck, and he turned his head.
"???"
What he saw were the backs of his fleeing comrades.
"You bast—"
"Bang!"
Before he could finish cursing, Maude shot him dead.
The others didn't dare look back, sprinting away at full speed.
Revenge?
What a joke…
How were they supposed to avenge their captain against someone who had killed him in an instant?
It was far wiser to survive and reconsider their options later.
With clear heads, they committed to this rational course of action.
And their rash comrade had, unintentionally, bought them a critical few seconds.
Maude calmly watched the fleeing members of the Jeff Pirates.
Shadow Step.
The shadow beneath his feet moved rapidly across the ground, swiftly cutting off the escape route of the fleeing pirates.
The next instant, his shadow swapped places with his body.
Maude suddenly appeared right in front of them, as if he had teleported.
He had used this exact method to sneak behind Jeff earlier, pinning his shadow in place with his foot—paralyzing him completely.
Once a target's shadow was securely controlled, victory was already assured.
In that scenario, Maude had a thousand ways to kill Jeff, but he had chosen the simplest, most unassuming method—snapping his neck.
"Hm?"
The pirates skidded to a stop, staring in horror at the man who had just materialized before them.
"That ability again…!"
In that instant, they realized that escape was no longer an option.
Without hesitation, they chose the only course left to them—throwing their lives away in a final, desperate assault.
But the vast gulf in strength could not be bridged by sheer resolve alone.
"Bang! Bang!"
"Slash!"
"Thud, thud…"
In less than a minute, ten more bodies lay lifeless on the ground.
Maude cast a brief glance at the corpses before silently holstering his flintlock pistol, White Weasel.
Having eliminated his prey, he did not immediately check his Hunter's Notebook but instead focused inward, feeling for any subtle changes in his body.
After reaching six-star rank, the gains from ordinary prey had become almost negligible—akin to a fleeting prick of a needle.
Though the Jeff Pirates were decently skilled, Jeff's 160-million-berry bounty had been grossly inflated.
In terms of actual strength, he was likely worth no more than 90 million.
From atop a tree root, Brook couldn't hide his astonishment at how effortlessly Maude had dispatched a pirate with a 160-million bounty.
"A pirate with a nine-figure bounty, and that's all he amounted to…?"
He knew Maude was strong, but shouldn't a 160-million pirate at least put up a few rounds of resistance?
Brook's perception of bounties was still rooted in the era of fifty years ago.
Back then, a pirate with a bounty of 160 million would have been a renowned force.
But in today's world, the New World was teeming with Conqueror's Haki users—let alone pirates with bounties in the hundreds of millions.
"Heh."
Shakky chuckled lightly. "Bounties aren't a direct measure of strength. Jeff the Ripper had such a high bounty because of his heinous crimes and his habit of provoking the Marines. He's sunk his fair share of warships."
"I see." Brook nodded in understanding.
Shakky exhaled a puff of smoke and smiled. "Still, Jeff wasn't weak—Maude was just stronger."
"True enough." Brook agreed.
Meanwhile, Rayleigh observed Maude with growing interest.
Unlike Jeff's clueless subordinates, he and Shakky had clearly seen the technique Maude had used.
"The Shadow-Shadow Fruit, huh…"
Rayleigh set down his bottle, intrigued.
From a distance, a group of onlookers approached cautiously.
"It's over???"
"That fast?"
"What the hell, was the Jeff Pirates always this weak?"
"Idiot, do you even know who their opponent is? That's Bacardi Maude!"
Staring at Jeff's lifeless body, the spectators broke into a clamor.
They had come to watch a spectacle.
Instead, all they found were corpses.
That was way too fast.
The noise drew Maude's attention.
Just as he turned to glance at the onlookers—
A lead bullet hurtled toward his temple from afar.
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