"You need something from me?"
Maude blinked in surprise, glancing once again at the three swords strapped to Zoro's waist.
This scene... felt familiar.
Back in the palace courtyard of Alabasta, this same man had dragged his battered body before him, challenging him head-on despite grievous wounds.
Was it going to be the same this time?
He never took Zoro for the type to seek out duels while injured.
With that thought, Maude instinctively kept his distance. Before Zoro could speak his request, Maude waved him off.
"Don't bother. I'm not interes—hm?"
Mid-sentence, Maude paused abruptly.
His eyes widened as he watched Zoro silently remove his swords and drop to his knees.
The three blades were laid neatly before him, arranged with precision and care.
"What are you...?"
Maude's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Teach me swordsmanship."
With both hands resting before the blades, Zoro bowed deeply to Maude.
If this was the only path lying before him—
—then he would seize it with everything he had.
His eyes, hidden from view as his forehead touched the ground, burned with unwavering resolve for the distant goal he pursued.
Seeing wasn't enough.
He needed to grasp it with his own hands—
—and take that leap forward!
Zoro's sudden request to become a disciple left Maude visibly stunned. For a moment, he was at a loss for words.
He remembered that after the Straw Hat Pirates was "wiped out" on the Sabaody Archipelago, Kuma had personally sent Zoro to Mihawk's island.
And what had stood out most in that arc, especially in Maude's memory, was Zoro swallowing his pride and kneeling before Mihawk to ask for training.
For someone like Zoro to go that far—
—it wasn't just about ambition.
It was for his crewmates.
Which meant...
Did Kaido, by some twist of fate, end up playing Kuma's role last night?
Though it happened nearly half a year later than it "should" have—
Kaido's overwhelming power far surpassed the hopelessness that had been implied in the original "annihilation" at Sabaody.
During last night's battle, Zoro must've come face to face with despair unlike anything he'd ever known.
And so, standing at death's door, with Maude within reach... he came to ask for training.
Maude quickly pieced together the reason behind Zoro's request.
Then he turned him down.
"I don't have time."
A blunt, clean rejection.
Without sparing another word, Maude walked past Zoro and headed toward the infirmary.
There was no time or energy to spare on teaching Zoro swordsmanship.
Zoro remained kneeling, head bowed so deeply that his expression was lost in shadow.
Maude's footsteps echoed in the corridor, growing fainter with every step.
And just like that, he was gone.
Even as Maude pushed open the infirmary door and stepped inside, Zoro didn't move an inch.
Still kneeling.
Inside, Maude found Franky with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall near the door.
"Yo, Idol! Good morning!!!"
Before Maude could respond, a loud, excited voice rang out—Bartolomeo, grinning from ear to ear.
"Morning."
Maude gave a small nod in return.
Bartolomeo froze for a second, then suddenly grabbed Usopp by the shoulders and yanked him out of bed.
"Usopp! Wake up! Wake up, man!!"
"Huh? What? Enemy attack?!"
Jolted awake, Usopp's groggy eyes quickly cleared, scanning the room in alarm.
"No, no, it's not that—it's just that the idol nodded at me!!"
"...???"
Usopp blinked, staring in confusion at the starstruck Bartolomeo.
A beat of silence passed.
Then Usopp exploded into action, tackling Bartolomeo and punching him furiously.
"Cut it out! I was dreaming of meat skewers, you idiot!"
"Stop it! If you tear your stitches, the wound could get infected and fester and rot!"
Chopper rushed over in a panic, trying to pull the two apart.
His words were so sincerely terrifying that both Usopp and Bartolomeo froze in place.
Maude ignored the chaos near the beds and turned instead to Franky.
"Franky. Can we talk?"
"Sure."
The speed of Franky's response caught Maude off guard.
"Balcony?"
The infirmary was too crowded and noisy for a serious conversation.
Maude had initially planned to take Franky into the next room—
—but his Observation Haki told him Zoro was still kneeling in the corridor outside.
To spare Zoro some dignity, Maude changed the plan and headed for the balcony instead.
The two walked out, one after the other.
Robin and the others watched them go, visibly curious.
To them, Maude striking up a private conversation with Franky was about as strange as Franky suddenly deciding to wear pants.
Once outside, Maude used his shadow to close the glass door behind them.
He moved to the railing and looked up slightly, his gaze fixed on the sky above—so close it felt like he could reach out and touch it.
"Franky, when you built the Sunny, how much of the Pluton blueprints did you incorporate?"
He dropped the bomb without turning around.
"...How do you know about that?"
Franky's face twisted in shock, eyes locked on Maude's back.
He had burned the Pluton blueprints in front of CP9 during the Enies Lobby incident.
Not even the World Government or his crewmates knew he had embedded some of those technologies into the Sunny.
And yet, this man knew.
Franky's stunned expression said it all.
That reaction alone confirmed Maude's suspicions.
Turning around, Maude leaned back against the railing and looked at Franky, who didn't bother hiding his astonishment.
Truth be told...
The World Government had been so desperate for Pluton that they had chased those blueprints to the ends of the earth.
And yet, after Franky burned them, they just... stopped?
That never sat right with Maude.
They should've at least considered the possibility that Franky had memorized the blueprints—
—especially given the Sunny's capabilities.
And let's not forget—within the Straw Hat Pirates, they had someone who could read Poneglyphs: Nico Robin.
Just those two facts should've made the Straw Hats a top priority threat.
Yet the government's actions since then felt strangely... lackluster.
To Maude, it made no sense.
He didn't know what was going on behind the scenes—
—and frankly, he didn't care.
What he wanted now was the knowledge inside Franky's head.
"I need part of Pluton's technology.
"So... let's make a deal, Franky."
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