For some time now, Maude and his crew had been traveling high above the sea, as if isolated from the world.
Although they hadn't been keeping up with current events, it was safe to assume that the World Government would do everything in its power to cover up the deaths of the two Celestial Dragons.
Yet, against all expectations, word had still spread—even the children aboard a merchant ship had heard about it.
"Oh well, it's not that big of a deal."
Maude didn't dwell on it and slowly withdrew his gaze from the children.
Back on Raijin Island, he had made his stance clear to Kizaru.
As long as they didn't provoke him, he wouldn't go out of his way to cause unnecessary trouble.
Besides, he still held the life switches of three Celestial Dragons in his hands.
If the World Government or the Marines failed to read the situation, he wouldn't mind killing three more Celestial Dragons. In fact, he might even make a habit of strolling through Mary Geoise whenever he felt like it, taking out Celestial Dragons as he pleased.
As for the risks…
Using a shadow from a sacrificed limb to set up a long-distance Shadow Mark was hardly an issue.
Below the mast.
Ellis and the rest of the pirates looked up at Maude standing on the mast. Their faces were drained of color, their bodies frozen as cold sweat dripped uncontrollably.
Move… Damn it, move!
Shoot? Slash?
Anything would do.
Just do something…!
Even pulling the trigger—anything!
At the very least, they needed to muster the courage to face that man!
If nothing else, they should at least move their tongues—to beg for mercy if nothing else…
Do something!
Drip… drip…
Sweat dripped from Ellis' chin, splattering onto the deck like tiny raindrops.
Faced with an overwhelming presence that made even the air tremble, both Ellis' body and mind were locked in an unbearable state of paralysis.
Just moments ago, he had felt exhilaration and excitement.
Now, those feelings had been entirely replaced by an indescribable terror.
The other pirates on deck weren't faring any better.
The civilians, herded into a corner, continued to shiver in fear, their faces filled with despair.
To them, the arrival of the infamous Maude Pirates was like exchanging a pack of wolves that sought to devour them for a prehistoric beast—far more terrifying and ruthless.
The outcome was the same.
If anything, it would be even more tragic.
With their heads buried deep, the civilians clamped their hands over their mouths, fearing that even the slightest whimper might attract the pirates' attention.
A heavy silence blanketed the deck.
The air was thick with unease.
Though only a few seconds had passed, for Ares and his crew, it felt like an eternity.
His desperate survival instincts screamed at him to act.
Then—
Ellis, thinking rationally, abandoned the foolish idea of attacking Maude. His trembling eyes locked onto the man standing atop the mast.
He believed that if he humbled himself, surrendered all the spoils from this voyage, and pleaded for his life, he might just have a chance to survive.
"M-Maude-sama, everything on this ship—"
"Shut up."
In the blink of an eye, Maude appeared beside Ellis, his right arm extended across Ellis' throat while his hand rested lightly on his shoulder. From his palm, an inky-black wave of shadow spread out.
Ellis' body froze, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints.
Schlkk!
Without warning, several shadowy spikes pierced through Ellis' chest, blood spraying into the air.
"Eh…?"
Ellis looked down in stunned disbelief at the shadowy spikes protruding from his torso.
He had no idea how they had even emerged.
With profound confusion clouding his thoughts, he crumpled to the ground, life vanishing from his body in an instant.
"E-Ellis Captain…!"
"No way…! Captain Ellis had a bounty of 92 million, and yet, he was taken out in an instant…?!"
The remaining pirates stared in shock at their fallen captain.
If even a pirate worth 92 million berries had been disposed of so effortlessly, what chance did they have?
In that moment, they finally understood the sheer, hopeless terror that the civilians they had once tormented must have felt.
"Lafitte, Jim, Brook—leave no one alive."
With those cold words, Maude sentenced the pirates to death and stepped over Ellis's corpse, moving toward the trembling civilians.
Behind him, Lafitte, Jim, and Brook descended onto the deck, carrying out Maude's order with ruthless efficiency. What followed was a one-sided massacre.
Screams of agony and despair echoed across the ship.
Maude paid them no mind as he reached the civilians, his voice calm.
"You."
The civilians flinched even harder at the sound of his voice, which was now right beside them.
"Who has a newspaper?"
"…"
The civilians were momentarily stunned.
It was then that they truly felt the difference between Maude and Ellis.
If Ellis had stood before them, his sheer bloodlust would have made them feel as if he could take their lives at any second.
But Maude was different.
Though he stood just a step away, he exuded no such malice. In fact, he felt almost…harmless.
"I… I have one."
A young shipwright, clad in work clothes, mustered his courage and stood up, holding a sweat-dampened newspaper in his trembling hands.
Maude nodded at him.
Taking a deep breath, the young man walked forward, his hands shaking as he handed the newspaper over.
"Thanks."
Maude accepted the paper.
The shipwright froze, stunned.
Did… did a world-renowned pirate just thank him?
Maude didn't dwell on the man's reaction. He first glanced at the date on the newspaper.
"Yesterday's edition…"
Muttering to himself, he unfolded the paper and began reading.
The distant cries of dying pirates did nothing to disrupt his focus.
As he read, the shipwright and the rest of the civilians, who had been paralyzed with fear, finally dared to look up at the infamous man who had wreaked havoc during the Summit War, stormed Mary Geoise, and even killed two Celestial Dragons.
"…He's nothing like we imagined."
They silently shared the same thought.
Maude quickly finished the newspaper.
Even though the incident on Raijin Island had happened over two weeks ago, the front page still featured several images from the event.
One of the pictures even captured the moment he had slashed Kizaru, splitting his light-form in half—though it was somewhat blurry.
Judging by the angle, it must have been taken from a considerable distance.
"So there were outsiders present back then…"
"No wonder the World Government couldn't suppress the news. Their humiliation must be unbearable. Wouldn't be surprised if they start acting irrationally."
A smirk tugged at Maude's lips as he slowly folded the newspaper.
Just as he finished reading, Lafitte and the others had completed their cleanup, now standing silently behind him.
"Want to take a look?"
Maude raised the newspaper toward Lafitte.
"Hohoho…"
Without hesitation, Lafitte took the newspaper from him.
Maude smiled slightly, then turned his gaze toward the civilians.
"Relax, we won't stay too long. Also, we'll be taking half of the supplies on this ship. Any objections?"
Silence.
The owner of the merchant ship had already perished under a pirate's blade. Even if he were still alive, who would dare to object?
Seeing no one speak up, Maude wasted no time and instructed Jim to begin loading the supplies onto their ship.
Jim immediately stepped into the cabin, moving the crates and barrels the pirates had only half-unloaded, carrying them onto the deck one by one.
Maude turned his head slightly, glancing at the pirate ship moored alongside the merchant vessel. A flicker of red light passed through his eyes.
Under the perception of Observation Haki, he could sense nearly a hundred presences across the three pirate ships, varying in strength.
"Brook, go to the pirate ship and take care of the remaining ones."
"Yohohoho, I thought they had all come out already."
Brook chuckled but didn't hesitate, stepping toward one of the nearby pirate ships.
At the same time, Lafitte finished reading the newspaper. At Maude's signal, he boarded another pirate ship to ensure no loose ends remained.
A few minutes later, Jim had moved all the supplies onto the deck.
By his calculations, including gold, silver, jewelry, and goods, they had taken precisely half—no more, no less.
Not long after, Lafitte and Brook returned to the merchant ship.
"Hohoho, just a few small fries. They've been dealt with. Also, we found something interesting in the cargo hold."
"Slaves?"
Maude guessed.
Using Observation Haki earlier, he had sensed an assortment of weak, unevenly dispersed auras.
Some areas had a dozen presences cramped together, a telltale sign of captives.
"Yes, and among them, two mermaids and a fish-man."
Lafitte nodded with a smile.
"Oh? Two mermaids?"
Maude was slightly surprised, immediately disregarding the fish-man's presence.
In the slave market, mermaids were always a high-demand commodity, rarely available. It was surprising that such a weak pirate crew had managed to capture two of them.
"Want to take a look?"
Lafitte asked.
"Yeah."
Maude nodded.
"Brook, Jim, stay here."
"Understood."
"Alright, yohohoho…"
Following Lafitte's lead, Maude made his way to the lower deck of one of the pirate ships.
A row of wooden cells lined the cargo hold, built against the ship's wooden walls.
Inside, a group of young captives huddled in the corners, their bodies covered in filth.
The poor ventilation left the air thick with an unbearable stench.
Stepping over the worn, cracked wooden floorboards, Maude and Lafitte reached the end of the row of cells.
Inside the last cell, two young mermaid girls lay on the ground, their expressions lifeless.
Around their necks were the infamous slave collars, each attached to a chain nailed to the wall.
The floor beneath them was damp, evidence that the pirates had periodically doused them with seawater to keep them subdued.
In the adjacent cell, a heavily wounded fish-man lay motionless, his body covered in scars so severe that Maude couldn't even identify his species at first glance.
Ignoring the fish-man, Maude focused on the two mermaid girls inside the cell.
One of them had striking red hair.
A faint memory stirred in Maude's mind, but he couldn't immediately recall where he had seen her before.
Perhaps sensing movement, or maybe drawn by Maude's gaze, the red-haired mermaid slowly turned her head.
Her dull crimson eyes met Maude's gaze.
In an instant, her eyes lit up with recognition and excitement.
"It's you…"
Her voice, hoarse from suffering, trembled with indescribable emotion.
Seeing her reaction, Maude frowned slightly and asked calmly, "Do you know me?"
His words made the mermaid girl's expression freeze.
She had engraved his image deep in her heart, yet he had already forgotten her.
A bitter glint flashed in her eyes at the realization.
"Sabaody Archipelago… the auction house… you saved me…"
She suppressed her disappointment and softly reminded him.
"Oh, now I remember."
Her words triggered Maude's memory.
She was one of the mermaid slaves he had casually freed back at Sabaody Archipelago before handing her over to Jinbe.
"How did you get captured again?"
"Not long after the war ended, pirates started swarming Fish-Man Island. I…"
The mermaid girl struggled to turn her body to face him fully. As she recalled the events, fear crept onto her delicate face.
"No need to say more. I understand."
Maude cut her off.
He could already guess what had happened.
After he killed Whitebeard in the war, the Whitebeard Pirates lost their deterrent force. Without his flag to protect it, Fish-Man Island became vulnerable.
Seizing the opportunity, countless pirates targeted the island, hunting young mermaids for their immense market value.
To make matters worse, Jinbe had still been imprisoned in Impel Down at the time, leaving Fish-Man Island without a strong figure to turn the tide.
Thinking further, Maude could already imagine the suffering Fish-Man Island had endured in the aftermath of the war.
In the end, it was partly his doing.
Maude shook his head slightly, then reached forward and effortlessly snapped the wooden bars apart before stepping into the cell.
The red-haired mermaid gazed up at him with admiration.
The figure she had dreamed about, day and night, once again stood before her, saving her in the same way as before.
It had to be fate's guidance…
Maude crouched down, the hem of his black coat touching the dirty floor, soaking up water and dust.
Seeing this, the mermaid girl instinctively reached out to lift the coat off the ground but hesitated, realizing her own hands were just as filthy. She timidly pulled back.
Noticing her subtle movement, Maude paused briefly, then reached out and removed the collar from her neck with his bare hands.
"You're free now."
"Maude…"
Tears welled up in the mermaid girl's eyes as she held back sobs.
"I know I shouldn't ask for too much… but, Maude… could you help Fish-Man Island?"
"…"
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