Law remained in the room, working on repairing Smoothie's corpse.
It was a rather rare material, one that Maude deemed worthy of special attention.
As for Vander Decken's body, Lafitte took the trouble to dispose of it, personally carrying it to the deep waters outside Ryugu Palace to feed the fish.
Now, only Maude and Law were left in the room.
Law was fully focused on his work, while Maude casually straddled a table.
Shing—!
Maude drew Shusui and swung it a few times, immediately sensing an inexplicable awkwardness, as if he were wielding a toy sword.
Hearing the sound, Law glanced up at Maude and couldn't help but show a hint of surprise.
From his perspective, Maude, whose height had more than doubled, looked utterly bizarre wielding the relatively short 1.1-meter-long Shusui.
"Maude, do you need me to perform an 'amputation' for you?"
"Hm? I'll give you one chance to rephrase that."
Maude paused mid-swing and cast an amused look at Law.
"Uh… just kidding."
Under Maude's piercing gaze, Law immediately backed down and returned to repairing the corpse.
Maude sheathed Shusui and turned to glance at his shadow.
The drastic change in his physique was making it difficult to adjust, especially when it came to wielding his sword.
Bailey, that little fool, could simply gain weight to match Maude's current size, but Shusui had no such flexibility.
The biggest issue was the length, which made everything feel completely off.
"Screw it, I'll 'revert' back…"
While his current size did make certain techniques easier to execute, the lingering stiffness was beginning to drive his brain crazy.
Maude lowered his gaze to his shadow and activated his ability, compressing and reshaping it with sheer will.
Under his control, the shadow gradually shrank inward, causing his body to follow suit.
On the side, Law stole glances at Maude as he adjusted his size, unable to suppress his amazement.
In just a short moment, Maude's height had returned to his original three-meter stature, along with the rest of his physique.
"The speed of adjustment… could be even faster."
During the process, Maude realized this ability could be implemented in combat.
For example, in close combat, he could suddenly extend his arms to strike an opponent positioned behind their weapon.
Or he could abruptly shrink to dodge an attack.
With this in mind, Maude began experimenting with increasing the speed of his size adjustments—growing larger and smaller, longer and shorter, thicker and thinner, over and over again.
Since obtaining the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, he had conducted many experiments with similar traits.
Each time, he found them both intriguing and valuable in deepening his understanding of his powers.
Especially the ability to extend and expand at will—he suspected it could be combined with Life Return, allowing him to accomplish feats impossible for ordinary people.
And, of course, significantly enhancing his offensive capabilities!
Maude's thoughts raced as he played around excitedly, while Law, watching from the side, was left in utter disbelief.
"Is this guy even human anymore…?"
Law was thoroughly disturbed.
Eventually—
After multiple trials, Maude settled on a height of 2.6 meters, making him only about 0.6 meters taller than renowned swordsmen like Red-Haired Shanks and Dracule Mihawk.
Though he could adjust his height freely, Maude felt that 2.6 meters offered the best balance of handling and coordination when wielding a sword. Even his slashes felt smoother at this size.
By the time Maude finalized his height, Law had also finished repairing the corpse.
Maude stored Smoothie's body inside the Shadow Casket.
At present, the Shadow Casket already contained Whitebeard and Smoothie's corpses, along with five Devil Fruits.
The storage space was nearly at full capacity.
Maude wanted to expand the Shadow Casket, but such a thing wasn't achievable through mere training—it would require reaching a nine-star rating to undergo a significant transformation.
"Let's go eat."
Maude led the way out of the room.
After going half a day without food while repeatedly using his abilities, he was starting to feel hungry.
Law followed closely behind.
Meanwhile—
The princess of Fish-Man Island, Shirahoshi, who had been knocked unconscious by Maude's Conqueror's Haki, slowly awoke in her bed.
Neptune stood beside her, exhaling softly in relief as he saw his daughter regain consciousness.
"Shirahoshi, how are you feeling?"
Neptune gently placed a hand on her forehead.
Shirahoshi looked at her father but said nothing. She simply bit her lip, her eyes welling up with silent tears.
In the entire Fish-Man Island, only she and her pet Megalo knew the truth about her mother Otohime's assassination eight years ago.
Yet, as the one who inherited her mother's will, she had buried that secret deep within her heart, shouldering the grief and loneliness in solitude within the Hard-Shell Tower.
Eight years of endurance had made her much stronger inside.
And now, having witnessed the brutal deaths of her three elder brothers with her own eyes, she desperately wanted to cry out loud—but for the sake of her father, she forced herself to hold it in. Still, the tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.
Neptune instantly understood her feelings, his own eyes turning red with sorrow.
Hating his own powerlessness, he stroked Shirahoshi's head and said softly, "Fukaboshi, Manboshi, and Ryuboshi are out of danger. They were saved by the doctor from Maude's pirate crew."
"R-Really?"
Shirahoshi looked at Neptune in disbelief.
Neptune nodded firmly.
"Wahhh…"
Hearing this, Shirahoshi could no longer suppress her emotions and burst into loud sobs.
Her tears poured like a river, drenching the sheets beneath her.
Neptune pulled her into his arms, his voice filled with tenderness. "You've been through so much… It must have been so hard for you…"
The king of Ryugu Palace had already learned everything from Megalo—the suffering his daughter had endured for the past eight years.
Once Shirahoshi calmed down, Neptune recounted the events that had transpired in the palace.
"They may be pirates, but without a doubt, they are our kingdom's benefactors."
After explaining everything, Neptune's expression turned solemn.
Shirahoshi silently nodded, agreeing with her father.
Yet, the sight of Maude's cold and merciless slaughter of tens of thousands of human pirates was forever seared into her memory as an overwhelming terror.
She couldn't even begin to imagine how she would react if Maude were to stand before her again.
"Father, I… I want to meet that mermaid named Luna."
"Alright."
Neptune agreed to Shirahoshi's request.
Thirty minutes later—
Luna arrived at Shirahoshi's chambers, feeling rather uneasy.
"Princess Shirahoshi."
She looked up at Shirahoshi's breathtaking beauty, a flash of awe passing through her eyes.
It was her first time seeing Shirahoshi in person, and as a fellow woman, she couldn't help but be captivated by her charm.
"Hello, Luna."
Shirahoshi took the initiative to greet Luna.
She wanted to learn more about the outside world through this mermaid girl who had endured many hardships, as well as about the man who filled her with fear—Maude.
"Could you tell me about…your experiences during this time?"
"Ah?"
Luna stared at Shirahoshi in surprise.
Before coming here, she had wondered why Princess Shirahoshi, someone she had never met before, would summon her.
She never expected that the reason for the summons would be to ask about her recent struggles.
What was the reason behind this?
Luna didn't respond immediately; instead, she instinctively pondered.
Then, a name silently surfaced in her mind.
It seemed that because of this name, she and the high-ranking princess of Ryugu Kingdom had crossed paths.
After sorting out her thoughts, Luna blurted out, "Is it because of Lord Maude…?"
"Mm."
Shirahoshi was momentarily taken aback, then confirmed Luna's guess.
Seeing this, Luna's radiant face dimmed slightly.
...
Nightfall arrived.
Yet, Fish-Man Island remained brightly lit.
With the threats from pirates and slave traders gone, the mermaids who had once hidden in the deep-sea apartments gradually returned to the streets.
As the mermaids returned, even at night, the streets—once desolate for a time—began to bustle with life again.
All across Fish-Man Island, it was as if spring had arrived, and the island was slowly reviving.
At this moment, Neptune appeared on screens across Fish-Man Island through a live broadcast via a Den Den Mushi.
As king, he addressed his people about the events that had transpired on Fish-Man Island that day.
However, he deliberately omitted the invasion of Ryugu Palace by the New Fish-Man Pirates and the brutal slaughter of many palace guards.
In contrast, he did not leave out the crucial role the Maude Pirates had played in this incident. Instead, he expressed his deep gratitude toward them.
Yet, even if Neptune had not publicly declared his stance through the broadcast, Maude's influence had already etched itself into the hearts of the island's inhabitants.
At the end of the broadcast, after delivering a rousing speech, Neptune issued a long-overdue nationwide recruitment order!
The citizens of Fish-Man Island had no idea that this recruitment order marked the first step in Neptune's resolve to change.
From this moment on, with Maude's intervention, the future of Fish-Man Island began moving in an entirely new direction.
Shortly after, the broadcast ended.
Many Fish-Men who had previously led idle lives now found themselves contemplating the implications of the recruitment order.
And just half an hour after Neptune's broadcast, an earth-shattering event shook Fish-Man Island once again.
A few Fish-Men returned to Coral Hill, a port town previously occupied by pirates. Inside a disheveled tavern, they discovered several newspapers carrying explosive news.
"Our benefactor… not only stormed into Mary Geoise but also personally killed two Celestial Dragons?!"
These towering, robust Fish-Men were utterly stunned as they read the newspaper.
Even after meticulously confirming the details multiple times, they still doubted their own eyes.
In truth, this was an old newspaper from some time ago.
Being located ten thousand meters beneath the sea, Fish-Man Island rarely received news updates promptly.
Moreover, due to the pirate occupation, not only were newspapers unavailable, but even the token naval reinforcements sent by the Marines had been intercepted by the pirates.
But now…
Fish-Man Island was entirely free of pirates.
At this moment, a piece of news previously unknown to the island's inhabitants surfaced—just as Maude had saved them from crisis.
With the efforts of these Fish-Men, this shocking, explosive piece of information spread like wildfire across Fish-Man Island in no time.
"He killed two Celestial Dragons… I never even dared to imagine such a thing!"
"I can't believe this is real."
"What kind of courage does it take to accomplish something so monumental?!"
"To think that there exists such a person in this world…"
As the news spread, the recently revived Fish-Man Island erupted into a frenzy.
Inside a mermaid café in Coral Hill—
Hatchan, whose injuries had been properly treated, was temporarily placed here by Camie.
The news of Maude personally killing two Celestial Dragons had also reached the café, where Hatchan and the others learned of it.
"This kind of thing…"
Hearing the news, Camie's eyes widened as she tightly covered her mouth.
Hatchan bowed his head, his body trembling slightly.
After a moment—
In an inexplicable tone, he murmured, "That man… is the most terrifying human I have ever encountered in my life."
As he spoke, scenes of Maude annihilating the Arlong territory involuntarily surfaced in his mind.
"If it's him…"
Hatchan unconsciously clenched his fists and muttered, "Maybe he can rescue…"
At that moment, Hatchan let out a bitter laugh and shook his head sharply.
The abrupt movement tugged at his wounds, causing a pained expression to cross his face.
"How could that be possible…"
Hatchan murmured to himself.
Camie, having overheard, curiously asked, "Rescue who?"
Hatchan was momentarily stunned but then shook his head. "It's nothing…"
...
That night—
Every person on Fish-Man Island was talking about one name—Maude!
Inside the palace at Ryugu Castle—
"Maude-sama, you… actually killed two Celestial Dragons?"
Upon learning this, Neptune stared at Maude, utterly shaken.
"They were just two pieces of trash. Nothing worth being surprised about."
Seated in a chair, Maude's reaction was exceptionally calm.
"Tr-Trash…?!"
Neptune's jaw nearly dropped to the floor.
Suddenly, something came to his mind. Struggling to suppress his inner shock, he asked, "Maude-sama, you've done something so earth-shattering… Yet the World Government hasn't taken any action against you. Why is that…?"
"Because I still 'control' the lives of three more Celestial Dragons."
Maude smiled faintly, revealing the reason without hesitation.
He had already decided to keep the Ancient Weapon, Poseidon, firmly within his grasp. The first step toward that goal was bringing Fish-Man Island into his camp.
For that, he needed to establish a good relationship with its king.
"Holding the lives of three Celestial Dragons in your hands... This is truly... unbelievable."
Neptune couldn't hide the shock on his face.
"Unbelievable, huh..."
Maude rested his chin on his hand and spoke softly, "I have a 'family member' who was unfortunate enough to fall into the hands of a slave-hunting crew. To avoid the tragic fate she foresaw, she carved nineteen scars onto her own face..."
"Hmm?"
Neptune's expression tensed.
In a side chamber of the palace, Princess Shirahoshi, who had been eavesdropping, trembled slightly.
Inside the grand hall—
Maude continued, "She never knew that I had counted the scars on her face. At that time, I couldn't even begin to imagine the despair and helplessness she must have felt..."
As he spoke, his gaze turned chillingly terrifying.
"She is one of the people I treasure most. No matter what she wants to do, I will do everything in my power to help her."
"She never wanted to see another person reduced to slavery again. So, along my journey, I have slaughtered more slave-hunting crews than I can count."
"Her enemy is the Celestial Dragons. So, once I have enough power..."
Maude lifted his eyes to meet Neptune's heavy gaze and, in an eerily calm voice, said, "I will wipe out every last one of them. Right now, I've merely killed two."
"!!!"
Listening to Maude's words, Neptune was left utterly speechless, shaken to his core.
Until today, as the King of Ryugu Kingdom, he had never imagined that such an overwhelmingly powerful human could exist in this world.
The entire palace, including the side chamber, fell into a silence so profound that even a pin drop could be heard.
After a long pause—
Maude's voice broke the stillness once more.
"During the time when pirates and slave-hunting crews have invaded Fish-Man Island, who knows how many merfolk have been taken... Neptune, if you truly wish to put an end to this once and for all, then make a pact with me."
"You mean..."
Neptune's emotions surged within him.
Maude's expression suddenly became incredibly serious.
"I, Bacardi Maude, will one day lead your people to the surface."
"!!!"
Neptune—and even Shirahoshi within the side chamber—couldn't hide their looks of sheer disbelief.
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