"So, you orchestrated this entire 'incident' just to get your hands on a Devil Fruit you've always dreamed of?"
Maude looked at Arthur, who appeared anxious and uneasy.
Through Arthur's explanation, Maude finally understood that the pirate known as Black Robe, the one leading the charge, had been brought into the mix by Arthur himself.
"That's right…"
Arthur let out a bitter laugh, lowering his head as he stared at his hands, unwilling to accept reality.
"I've spent over ten years chasing a Devil Fruit, never once slacking off… but no matter how hard I try, I just can't get my hands on one."
"Sometimes, I just don't get it. Why is it that some people have such insane luck? They could take a dump and stumble upon a Devil Fruit, while I… I don't even let a small deal worth tens of thousands slip away, working myself to the bone to finally save up enough money, yet I still can't buy one!"
Maude asked curiously, "Since you already saved up enough money, why were you still after the treasure in Ryugu Palace?"
"Sigh."
Arthur let out a deep sigh, pulled out a delicate little flask from his pocket, popped the cork, and took a hard swig.
As the bitter alcohol slid down his throat, tears welled up at the corners of his eyes. Whether it was the sting of the liquor or the flood of tragic memories, this grown man couldn't hold back his emotions.
"I had the money, and I even found a seller. But on my way to the exchange, I got caught in a storm. I barely survived, but my ship capsized, taking all the money I painstakingly saved with it, sinking straight into the ocean."
Saying this, Arthur took another deep swig, choking up as he continued, "If it had happened once or twice, I would've chalked it up to bad luck. But dammit, this was the ninth time my ship has gone down!"
"I just don't get it! Every time I finally save enough, something always happens right before the deal is done!"
Maude was stunned by the story and couldn't help but ask, "Since you've encountered so many accidents, why not just stay in one place and have the seller deliver the fruit to you?"
"I wish I could. Sigh."
Arthur forced a laugh and said, "But those underground dealers insist on setting up a random exchange location at the last minute. It's always a direct trade-off, cash for goods, claiming it's all about 'ritual.'"
"…"
Maude was speechless.
"Boohoo! That's so tragic!"
Perona, Bailey, and Brook were wiping away tears as they listened from the side.
Bailey blew his nose forcefully and wiped it on Brook's pant leg before suggesting, "Hey, Ghost Girl, why don't you hit him with a Negative Hollow?"
"Why?"
Perona wiped her tears and looked at Bailey in confusion.
Bailey sighed, "If he falls into complete despair, this kind of misery will become nothing more than a trivial matter."
"Oh, I see. Never thought you had a smart side, you stinky little weasel."
Still sniffling, Perona summoned a Negative Hollow.
Brook, watching Bailey come up with the idea and Perona preparing to carry it out, was moved to tears. "You two are so kind! Thinking of him like this!"
"Of course!"
Perona tilted her head slightly and sent the Negative Hollow flying toward Arthur.
The white spirit passed through him without resistance.
"In my next life, I want to be a pile of shit poured over a Devil Fruit…"
Arthur collapsed to his knees, utterly devoid of will to live.
"…"
Maude looked at him with pity.
He could hardly imagine that this guy, who had also come from Mad Hat Town, had such a wretched story.
When the effects of the Negative Hollow wore off, Arthur refused Perona's offer for another dose.
Barely recovering, he gritted his teeth and declared, "If I could get my hands on a Devil Fruit, forget attacking Ryugu Palace—I'd storm even the Holy Land of Mariejois if I had to!"
"An obsession that deep isn't necessarily a good thing."
Maude remarked casually.
While waiting for Lafitte to finish dealing with loose ends, he found listening to Arthur's tragic tale a decent way to pass the time.
Arthur slowly lifted his head, looking at Maude with a sigh. "You wouldn't understand."
"Yeah, I really don't."
Maude nodded. He raised his right hand, letting shadow waves ripple in his palm before three distinct Devil Fruits slowly emerged.
"After all, I've never been short on Devil Fruits. If anything, they take up too much space."
"???!!!"
Arthur looked as if he'd been hit with a crushing blow, staring in shock at the three Devil Fruits Maude casually pulled out. He almost passed out on the spot.
The thing he had dreamed of for over a decade—for Maude, it was nothing more than an inconvenience?
At that moment, Arthur finally understood.
Human joy and sorrow are never truly connected.
Maude put away the Devil Fruits.
Just then, Lafitte approached from the plaza's edge.
Trailing behind him were several terrified pirates.
Each of these pirates carried a young female mermaid over their shoulders, along with an octopus Fish-Man.
"What's going on?"
Seeing the people Lafitte had brought, Maude raised an eyebrow in surprise.
Lafitte let out a chuckle, his eyes narrowing slightly as he spoke with deliberate clarity, "A group of human traffickers—and I just happened to catch them."
His voice carried an intentional emphasis, particularly on the words 'human traffickers,' making sure it was loud enough for the gathering Fish-Man Island residents to hear.
And he wasn't wrong.
Though they were pirates, these scum were engaged in the slave trade.
"Human traffickers!!!"
The surrounding Fish-Men and merfolk all turned their furious gazes toward the captured pirates.
Disgust, hatred, rage—
Emotions intertwined and condensed into sharp, piercing stares directed at the slavers.
Lafitte observed the reaction of the Fish-Man Island residents with satisfaction, curling his lips into a silent smile.
Maude, however, didn't think too deeply about it. He frowned at the trembling pirates, then turned his gaze to the mermaids they had captured.
One of them looked oddly familiar, as if he had seen her somewhere before.
And then, there was another—a mermaid girl with waist-length red hair…
As Maude looked at her, his mouth twitched slightly, revealing an expression identical to Lafitte's from earlier.
"This woman…"
Maude truly didn't know what to say. He shook his head slightly and instead turned his gaze toward the severely injured octopus fish-man.
A trumpet-like mouth, sharp-angled hairstyle—this was none other than Hatchan, a former member of the Arlong Pirates.
Maude had no idea what had transpired, nor did he have any interest in finding out.
"Next time you run into slavers like these, just kill them outright. There's no need to bring them here."
His words, directed at Lafitte, were a casual yet absolute pronouncement of these pirates' fate.
"That's true," Lafitte mused, smiling as he slowly unsheathed his cane sword. "After all, the captain has always despised slavers. How could he possibly show them any 'mercy'?"
The moment he finished speaking, Lafitte's blade flashed through the air, cleanly slicing open the throats of the pirates who had just started to stir.
"Guh..."
Clutching their slashed throats, the pirates glared at Lafitte with wide, desperate eyes.
Lafitte, still smiling, delivered a finishing stroke.
Thud—
The bodies collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
Maude regarded Lafitte with mild curiosity. Killing slavers was nothing unusual. Normally, Lafitte would simply act without speaking much—so why had he bothered saying so much this time?
Moreover, there was no need to bring these slavers all the way to the plaza. Killing them in the streets would have sufficed. There was even less reason to bring along the enslaved mermaids.
As Maude pondered this, his peripheral vision caught sight of the gathered Fish-Man Island residents at the edge of the plaza. In an instant, he understood.
Lafitte…
This guy never misses an opportunity.
Maude chuckled softly, shaking his head.
Lafitte said nothing, merely tapping his cane against the ground a few times, producing a crisp, rhythmic sound.
To ensure that his captain's influence spread to every corner of Fish-Man Island, every event, no matter how big or small, had to be leveraged to the fullest. This was part of his duty as Maude's guide.
With everything playing out as expected—
The battle in the plaza, where Maude stood alone against thousands…
The clash with Big Mom's Sweet Commander, Smoothie…
The public execution of the slavers before the gathered Fish-Man Island citizens…
All these elements combined, layer upon layer.
The islanders, who had witnessed it all firsthand, would surely let go of their hostility. Some might even begin to see Maude and his crew as the saviors of Fish-Man Island.
"Now, all that remains is for Fish-Man Island's king to personally invite the captain into Ryugu Palace… and everything will fall into place."
Lafitte's thoughts unfolded methodically.
Maude never minded Lafitte's initiative.
In truth, Lafitte had never let him down.
Even the earlier idea of broadcasting the battle in the plaza had come from Lafitte.
Every move was made with the same goal—to present Maude as a supreme force that could only bring benefit, never harm, to Fish-Man Island.
That way, the island could be brought under their control effortlessly.
However, for Maude, beyond his stance against slavery, his true interest lay elsewhere—Princess Shirahoshi, the living Ancient Weapon.
Everything they had done on Fish-Man Island thus far…
Would ultimately become the key to grasping the power of the Ancient Weapons.
"Mmm…"
Suddenly, a red-haired mermaid slowly regained consciousness.
As her eyes fluttered open, she saw Maude and froze in place.
"Am I… dreaming?"
For a brief moment, she thought she was lost in a dream.
After all, how else could she be so fortunate? Just when she was in danger, Maude had appeared to save her once again.
"Why do you keep getting captured?"
Maude looked at the red-haired mermaid.
Every time they met, it was under these circumstances. It was beginning to leave a deep impression on him.
Though… he still didn't know her name.
"Ah?"
Hearing Maude's words, the mermaid slowly came back to her senses.
She was dazed for a few seconds before suddenly biting her tongue hard. The sharp pain snapped her into reality.
This wasn't a dream.
This was real.
"Maude…"
Relief from escaping captivity, joy at reuniting with someone she admired—her emotions surged uncontrollably, and she burst into tears.
Overwhelmed, she reached out her arms and threw herself toward Maude.
She seemed intent on wrapping her arms around his neck, seeking comfort in his embrace.
Faced with the mermaid's sudden lunge, Maude casually sidestepped.
The red-haired mermaid soared past him and—
Thud!
—landed face-first on the ground.
Silence filled the plaza.
Lafitte, the other crew members, and even the Fish-Man Island residents in the distance all watched with varying expressions as Maude stood calmly to the side while the mermaid lay sprawled on the ground, stunned.
Then—
The red-haired mermaid's wails grew even louder.
Hatchan and the other kidnapped mermaids gradually regained consciousness, staring in confusion at the crying girl on the ground.
Perona, unable to bear the sight any longer, stepped forward and helped the mermaid up.
Maude scratched his cheek lightly.
That kind of sudden lunge—any normal person would instinctively dodge, right?
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Lafitte had pushed his cane sword out slightly, while Jim had already raised his massive fists.
"What are you two doing?" Maude asked in exasperation.
"Hoho…"
Lafitte smirked but said nothing as he slowly slid his cane sword back into its sheath.
"Captain, I thought that mermaid was attacking you," Jim said in his deep voice, lowering his enormous fists.
If he hadn't realized at the last second that the mermaid's actions were harmless, he might have already thrown a punch at her.
"…"
Maude suddenly felt that these two would probably be single for life.
"Hatchan, your wounds…!"
Among the newly awakened mermaids, one with short, light-green hair looked at Hatchan anxiously, her face filled with worry.
"Camie, I'm fine. Don't worry about me."
Hatchan struggled to his feet, but every movement caused blood to seep from his bandages and drip onto the ground.
Seeing the steady trickle of blood, the mermaid called Camie covered her mouth, her face turning pale.
"Maude, did you save them?"
Hatchan lifted his gaze to Maude, who towered over him, his expression complicated.
Even after more than two years, the memory of Maude's destruction of Arlong Park was still vivid in Hatchan's mind.
Back then, he had believed Maude to be a ruthless, heartless force of devastation.
Even to this day, the existence he once deemed monstrous had now surpassed his comprehension.
"You could say that."
Maude replied casually.
Hatchan, upon hearing this, was both bewildered and grateful.
Thud—!
Not knowing how to express his gratitude, he dragged his heavily injured body forward and, without warning, fell to his knees, his forehead slamming against the ground.
"Thank you... back then... I... I had no power to save them... I could only watch as they were taken away by slavers... If it weren't for you... I would never forgive myself for the rest of my life..."
Hatchan's forehead pressed firmly against the ground, faint traces of tears visible.
He loathed his own helplessness.
"Hatchan..."
Camie and the others looked at Hatchan, at a loss for what to do.
Maude silently observed Hatchan, who remained kneeling, head bowed in deep remorse.
This wasn't the first time he had encountered such a scene.
And each of these experiences had one common thread—human trafficking, abduction, and slavery.
To him, it was nothing more than a minor effort.
Yet, to those he helped, it was a debt of gratitude as profound as being given a second chance at life.
"Sunny... has she also gone through something like this before?"
A sudden thought of Sunny crossed Maude's mind.
There were still so many promises he had yet to fulfill for her…
...
At the edge of the plaza.
More and more Fish-Man Island residents gathered, silently watching the events unfolding before them.
If not for this powerful human standing here…
The countless pirates gathered in the plaza would have already stormed Ryugu Palace!
And those mermaids who had been abducted amidst the chaos would soon fall victim to the atrocities of humans.
There was no doubt—the one who had saved Fish-Man Island from imminent crisis was this formidable human before them!
Suddenly—
Someone noticed Neptune descending from the sky, carried by a bubble membrane.
"Look! It's King Neptune!"
The Fish-Man Island residents all raised their heads to watch as Neptune descended.
Meeting the gazes of his people, Neptune slowly landed before Maude.
With a single glance at the scene before him, and his deep familiarity with human transgressions, he immediately understood what had transpired.
"Maude, would you be willing to come to Ryugu Palace for a discussion?"
Neptune extended his invitation to Maude with great respect.
This scene did not go unnoticed by the surrounding Fish-Man Island residents.
Their recognition of Maude had now reached an unshakable level.
Once people see the truth with their own eyes… they will believe it, without question.
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