Perona's Negative Hollows…
Theoretically, if they hit, they could put Kaido in a depressed state and rob him of his will to fight.
But Perona's constitution was far too fragile.
So fragile that in a battle of that scale, her margin for error was practically nonexistent. A single shockwave might be more than she could endure.
Because of this, Maude hadn't let her participate in the battle.
Instead, she took on the role of a cameraperson, using her ghosts to film the fight from every possible angle.
All the footage from tonight was currently stored in the visual Den Den Mushi in Maude's hand.
"Maude, what's the point of recording all this?"
Perona floated beside him, glancing curiously at the Den Den Mushi in his hand.
Maude replied calmly, "Nothing much. Just planning to take a little fame from Kaido."
"Take some fame? What do you mean by that?"
Perona blinked in confusion.
Seeing her slow reaction, Maude explained:
"These recordings illustrate one thing clearly—that I sent Kaido flying into the sea with a single blow, and now his life or death is unknown. I'll hand this footage over to Dada and the others. And as long as Morgans isn't an idiot, he'll know exactly how to spin this into a headline: Kaido, defeated by me. No prompting needed."
"…I get it now."
Realization slowly dawned on Perona.
The footage could be selectively edited, taken out of context.
It would be more than enough to declare that the "invincible" Kaido of the Beasts Pirates had been defeated.
And once Kaido was declared the loser, it was only natural that his reputation would take a hit.
Meanwhile, Maude—positioned as the victor—would gain all the fame that Kaido had lost.
For a Yonko-level figure, reputation was everything. No further explanation was needed.
"When that newspaper drops, Kaido's probably going to lose his mind! Horohorohoro…"
Just imagining Kaido going berserk after reading the headline, Perona giggled into her hand.
Maude didn't reply. He simply stowed the visual Den Den Mushi away.
At this point, he didn't particularly need more fame.
But the idea of giving Kaido a stroke out of sheer rage… well, that was reward enough.
Still, he hadn't expected Kaido to get so arrogant as to come after him alone.
If he hadn't been in such a rush to find Rayleigh…
He definitely would've taken Kaido's head tonight.
Maude's eyes darkened with thought as he passed through a corridor and ascended a spiral stone staircase.
A few moments later, he arrived at a room and stood quietly at the door, lost in thought for a second or two before shaking his head and brushing it all aside.
Creak—
Maude pushed open the door and stepped inside.
As usual, Perona followed closely behind, floating into the room with him.
But Maude suddenly stopped.
Perona, caught off guard, bumped into his broad back and let out a startled yelp.
Maude turned, giving her a slightly strange look.
He'd been so absorbed in his thoughts, he hadn't realized Perona had followed him all the way back to his room.
At this hour, they should've already returned to their own quarters to rest.
"What's wrong?"
Perona rubbed her sore nose and looked up at him in confusion.
Maude simply glanced toward the open door—a silent cue.
The meaning was obvious: It's late. Go back to your own room and sleep.
Following his gaze, Perona turned to look at the door he'd just pushed open and suddenly understood.
The person in the back was supposed to close the door on their way in.
But she'd forgotten.
My bad.
She scolded herself mentally, floated back to the door, and gently shut it before turning to face Maude again.
"All closed."
"..."
Maude was silent for a beat.
Perona tilted her head at his reaction.
From his perch on Maude's shoulder, Bailey yawned lazily, squinting at Perona as he bared his teeth.
"Boss means get lost and go sleep in your own damn bed, but what do you do? You close the door like you're gonna shack up here! What, you planning to sleep with the boss tonight?"
"?!"
Perona froze, her face turning beet red in a flash.
"You filthy skunk—weasel—thing!! DIE!!"
She hurled a Negative Hollow at Bailey and, without even checking if it hit, turned and bolted out the door.
Bailey, pierced by the ghost, collapsed to the floor, mumbling miserably in a spiral of despair.
"You really love getting hit by those things, don't you…"
Maude looked down at the despondent Bailey and shook his head with a sigh.
He closed the door, then walked over to his desk.
Before bed, there was still one thing left to do—contact the news agency and send over the footage.
Though… it was already past midnight.
Even if the press got the material now, it probably wouldn't make the morning front page.
Clearly, Maude had underestimated just how much Morgans valued a truly explosive headline.
He reached for the transponder snail and dialed Dada's number.
…
The next morning.
Maude opened his eyes.
He'd chatted with Dada for a while after sending the footage.
By the time he went to bed, it was well past midnight.
He'd only gotten about three hours of sleep.
Still, he sat up immediately, washed up quickly, and headed straight for the makeshift control room.
A few minutes later—
He arrived.
Lafitte and Gaya were already there.
"Maude."
"Captain."
They greeted him as he walked in.
Maude nodded back at the two and asked, "Can we push the speed any faster?"
Lafitte glanced toward Gaya.
She shook her head. "This is the maximum. I've done everything I can."
Like Maude, she wanted to find Rayleigh as soon as possible and get answers.
But this was the limit.
"…Alright."
Maude exhaled a breath.
The speed always felt fast enough—until you were in a hurry.
At moments like this, the Thriller Bark really showed its size and weight.
Maybe it was time to install an independent propulsion system…
As the thought took hold, Maude immediately thought of Franky.
Should I try prying some "Pluton" tech from him?
Even if it didn't solve the speed issue, it would definitely help bolster their weapons systems.
After all, Pluton was rumored to fire a single blast powerful enough to wipe out an island…
Maude didn't linger long in the control room.
He headed straight to the medical bay.
He wanted to ask Franky about Pluton.
Descending the stone stairs, Maude arrived in the corridor near the infirmary.
There—at the end of the hall—stood a figure wrapped nearly head to toe in bandages.
It was Zoro.
Maude raised a brow in surprise as he looked the swordsman over.
Though both arms had recovered, Zoro's body still bore a dozen lacerations from wind blades.
With injuries like those, he really shouldn't be out of bed.
What was more—
Maude's eyes drifted to the three swords hanging at Zoro's waist.
He'd even brought his swords?
What is this guy thinking?
"If little Philo catches you walking around like this," Maude said, "she might break your legs with a joint lock. Just saying… Roronoa Zoro."
"..."
Zoro was silent for a moment.
Then he looked at Maude with rare seriousness.
"…I have a request."
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