Chapter 12: Devil Fruit
As night deepened, the wine and food were finished.
Shanks and Yasopp left.
Before they left, Maud assured Yasopp that he would take care of the weapon as if it were his own son.
After Yasopp left, Maud silently gave the musket a new name: Usopp.
As the night grew deeper, Maud, who was satisfied with his new weapon and bullets, lay down in bed. Slowly, sleep overtook him.
In the distance, he thought he heard Saul shouting that he had been tricked again and that his wine was gone.
But that no longer mattered.
What was important was that he had a weapon and bullets, which meant he had taken a big step toward his second hunt.
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The next morning, Maud woke up early again.
First, he did a few sets of high-intensity exercises and then went down to the first floor.
By that time, Sunny had already prepared a overly nutritious breakfast, and Saul had gone to Flower Street for his morning exercise.
Once again, the food in the shop was incredible.
But what Maud found strange was that, despite how good the food was and how much Sunny ate, her figure was still... um, so thin.
No matter how strange it was, he couldn't stop eating.
After devouring breakfast, Maud cleared the table without Sunny asking, and then cleaned the shop as usual.
Since he still had some time left, he also cleaned the hallway and stairs.
Afterward, Sunny came downstairs and once again used her ruler to measure the position of each product.
Once she was done, the shop began a new day of business.
As expected, several hours passed without a single customer coming in.
However, since Yasopp bought two weapons for five million berries the day before, Maud had already changed his mind about the shop.
It was obvious that it was a high-end gun shop, the kind that only opens for three days to survive for three years.
With nothing to do, Maud organized his memories or did some sets of exercises.
Sunny sat at the counter reading the day's newspaper.
She ignored Maud's exercises in the shop and didn't interfere too much.
This relaxed management attitude made Maud feel at ease.
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Near noon, the shop door opened.
Maud thought Saul had returned from his morning exercise, but when he looked, he saw it was Arthur, the undertaker.
Arthur entered the shop, closed the door halfway with his hand, and then looked at Sunny and Maud. He asked: "Has Saul returned?"
"Not yet."
Sunny put down the newspaper and replied.
Arthur, surprised, said: "It's so late and he still hasn't returned? He's getting younger with time, isn't he?"
Sunny said nothing.
Arthur didn't mind, he walked up to the counter, leaned on it, and began to complain.
"Yesterday there was a riot at the Slaughterhouse, and almost a thousand slaves died or were injured. I got really tired. I don't know what these slaves are thinking. Wouldn't it be better to live in peace? Now, so many died or were injured that the Slaughterhouse's production capacity won't be enough in the short term, and the other slaves are the ones who suffer the consequences, aren't they?"
Hearing Arthur talk about "slaves" over and over again, Sunny's expression grew more somber.
Noticing Sunny's reaction, Arthur hit his mask and apologized without much sincerity: "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I almost forgot that you don't like to hear those things."
Sunny snorted coldly and stopped talking to Arthur.
Arthur, seeing that the atmosphere had become a little tense, laughed nonchalantly, took a brochure from his pocket, and put it on the counter.
"This is the catalog that just came out for the auction. I think Saul will be very interested. By the way, tell him that I'll wait for him at the entrance of the auction house at the end of the month."
"Okay."
Sunny's attitude was cold.
Arthur shrugged and turned to leave.
Before leaving, he looked at Maud and said with a sinister tone: "Kid, you'd better not go out on the street for now, lest you get caught and used as extra labor in the Slaughterhouse."
Saying that, Arthur opened the door to leave, but he didn't forget the unwritten rule of the shop: he closed the door halfway.
After Arthur left, Maud went to the counter and asked: "Sunny, what is the Slaughterhouse?"
"The meat you eat in the mornings comes, in part, from the Slaughterhouse. What do you think that place is?"
"But, what does that have to do with sl...?"
Mid-sentence, Maud suddenly associated the answer with certain images that could be censored. His face immediately changed, and he exclaimed: "Don't tell me that meat is from...?"
Seeing Maud's reaction, Sunny knew he was thinking of something completely wrong.
"What are you thinking? It's just a food production base with a well-established livestock and agricultural industry. Most of those who work there are common people who were kidnapped by slave ships and pirates from various regions. There are also a few Marine soldiers who were captured by pirates, which is why it was given that derogatory nickname."
After explaining this, Sunny suddenly looked at the bandage that Maud still hadn't removed and said with a meaningful tone:
"For those animals, a target with serious injuries is not worth it. Sometimes, because of the transportation cost, it's impossible to waste time and energy to take it to sell on the black market, so they usually throw it directly into the sea."
After a pause, Sunny said calmly: "So, Maud, you are very lucky."
"Lucky?"
Maud looked thoughtfully at the disfigured scar on Sunny's face and nodded: "Yes, lucky enough to wake up here."
"Actually, you should thank Saul. He..."
Sunny opened the brochure that Arthur had left. Suddenly, she stopped mid-sentence and became excited.
"A Devil Fruit! There will be a Devil Fruit at this auction!"
"Hmm?"
Maud raised an eyebrow. Ignoring the consequences, he went to the counter to see the brochure in Sunny's hands.
A fruit with strange patterns suddenly appeared.
Seeing the drawing of the fruit, Maud's expression immediately changed.
A Devil Fruit, the shortcut to strength that most people long for!
Unfortunately, with the capital he had, getting this Devil Fruit was, without a doubt, a fantasy.
Maud didn't dare to dream about it and quickly calmed down.
He noticed Sunny's fingers, which were white from the force with which she was holding the brochure. He could clearly feel Sunny's excitement.
That excitement came from a desperate desire to become stronger.
'A great advantage like a Devil Fruit is not for me at the moment.'
Maud looked away and stopped paying attention to the brochure.
Although a Devil Fruit would lead him down the fastest path to becoming stronger by hunting, he had no money, nor the strength to steal, so why waste time?
However, he was still somewhat interested in the end-of-the-month auction.
Although he had no money, could he go and watch?
Besides, who knows if the presence of a Devil Fruit would cause chaos at the auction?
If that happened, an accidental shot from the already old "Usopp" could kill someone from afar, and that wouldn't be a big problem.
'There are still more than twenty days until the end of the month. If I can hunt some prey before then...'
Maud was thinking about the possibilities.
Suddenly, the shop door opened for a second time.
The one who entered was not Saul, but a strange man with long, blond hair and a blue mask with holes.
Maud looked at the man and immediately recognized him.
'Isn't this Killer, one of the Supernovas from Kid's crew?'