Whether it was the lofty and untouchable Holy Land of Mary Geoise or the Sabaody Archipelago, a place that masked its filth behind a glamorous facade, Jinbe had always found both locations unappealing.
Yet, for the sake of having a proper conversation with Maude, he had traveled to Mary Geoise. And now, he had come to the Sabaody Archipelago as well.
At last, he had finally met Maude.
After careful consideration, unwilling to miss this opportunity, he decided to block Maude's path—just as Sentomaru had done moments earlier.
"Shall we talk?"
Maude looked at the whale shark Fish-Man standing before him—his identity unmistakable at a single glance.
For a brief moment, Maude was surprised.
But then, his thoughts quickly turned to the Arlong Pirates, whom he had eradicated.
If there was any possible connection between him and the Warlord of the Sea, Jinbe, it could only be through Arlong and his crew. Nothing else came to mind.
"If you're here about the Arlong Pirates, then there's nothing for us to discuss."
Having understood the likely reason for Jinbe's approach, Maude made his stance clear without hesitation.
Jinbe's expression shifted slightly as he responded solemnly, "It's true that I came here because of that matter, but—"
"I don't intend to repeat myself."
Maude bluntly cut Jinbe off, his right hand resting on the hilt of his blade as he calmly added, "If you understand what I mean, then step aside."
"..."
Jinbe fell silent. He cast a sideways glance at Brook, who was slumped weakly against Lafitte's shoulder, looking utterly drained of energy.
After a brief moment of contemplation, he quietly stepped aside, making way for Maude.
To the onlookers, Jinbe's action came as a surprise. A veteran warrior like him seemed to have lost the upper hand in presence against Maude?
Seeing Jinbe move aside, Maude said nothing further. He simply walked forward, passing by Jinbe without a second glance.
Gaya and Lafitte followed closely behind, both glancing at Jinbe as they passed. The demeanor of this Fish-Man, who held both a Warlord title and a strong moral compass, was somewhat unexpected to them.
Jinbe silently watched as Maude and his crew walked away, their figures gradually fading into the distance.
At last, he could no longer hold back and called out loudly to Maude's retreating figure, "Maude, I want to know your reason for taking action against the Arlong Pirates!"
Hearing this, Maude stopped in his tracks. He found the question somewhat laughable.
But when he considered it from Jinbe's perspective, he could understand why he asked.
"Do I need a reason to eliminate scum who only prey on the weak? Oh, actually, that's not entirely fair. When it comes down to it…"
Maude's gaze shifted past Jinbe and landed on the group of Marines led by Gion. His tone was calm as he continued, "If the Marines had done their job, it wouldn't have been up to me to wipe out the Arlong Pirates."
As soon as he said this, Gion and the Marines around her looked visibly displeased.
They had already suffered losses at Maude's hands, and now they were being publicly called out by him. No one would take that lightly.
Yet, they couldn't refute his words.
Jinbe opened his mouth, but no words came out.
The Arlong Pirates had been able to terrorize the East Blue largely because of the Marines' inaction—and, in part, because he himself had turned a blind eye.
Maude observed Jinbe's expression, which was now tinged with guilt, and his eyes flickered with a dangerous glint.
"Of course, it's not like I'm some kind of righteous crusader. It's just that… when I need money, rather than raiding civilian merchant ships, I prefer targets like the Arlong Pirates. If you think I went too far, or if you want to stand up for that bunch of trash, then by all means—come at me."
With that, he strode away without waiting for Jinbe's response.
Jinbe watched his departing figure, his expression complex.
Silence filled the air.
Every eye in the area was fixed on Maude as he left.
"Fuffuffuffu… Don't celebrate too soon, Bacardi Maude…"
Doflamingo lowered his arm, shoving both hands into his pockets. He then cast an indifferent glance at Kuma, who, in his eyes, was nothing more than an eyesore.
Kuma ignored Doflamingo's gaze. After watching Maude and his crew disappear from sight, he simply turned and left, his heavy footsteps echoing behind him.
Crocodile's sharp eyes lingered on Maude's figure before he too turned and walked away, his coat billowing slightly behind him.
Robin sighed softly in her heart and followed Crocodile.
She had lost an opportunity today. And she had no idea if Maude had even taken note of the small favor she had once done for him.
With the Warlords gradually leaving, the spectators turned their attention to the remaining Marines, who stood there looking like a defeated army. The murmurs among the crowd soon began.
They all knew one thing for certain.
From this moment on—
The Grand Line, and even the New World, would now have to reckon with a name that would soon resound across the seas.
And what kind of storm would this rising figure bring next?
Some of the more eager onlookers could hardly wait to find out.
On the way back to Shakky's Rip-Off Bar, Maude and his crew encountered no further obstacles.
They soon arrived, pushing the door open and stepping inside.
"You're back."
Hearing the door creak open, Shakky, as always, rested her elbow on the counter and greeted them with a smile.
By the bar, Rayleigh, who had returned earlier, swirled his drink and gestured for them to come have a drink.
Not far from the bar, in the lounge area, Cavendish was leisurely enjoying a cup of fine aristocratic tea.
Upon seeing Maude enter, however, his grip slipped, and he accidentally snapped the handle of his teacup.
He was utterly shaken.
Fortunately, the gilded porcelain set was his own; otherwise, Shakky would have made him pay dearly.
Hearing the soft crack of the teacup handle, Maude glanced over at Cavendish.
Feeling Maude's gaze, Cavendish immediately straightened up, sitting properly with his eyes fixed straight ahead, adopting the demeanor of a well-behaved student.
No choice—power dictated respect!
In this world where strength reigned supreme, even Kamaitachi, a notorious assassin, had been left traumatized by this man…
And Cavendish himself was nowhere near as strong as Kamaitachi.
Considering his crew's safety, he had even lost the privilege of speaking loudly in Maude's presence.
Had he known Maude was such a monster, he would have swallowed his jealousy and let it go—then he wouldn't be in this predicament now.
The thought filled Cavendish with frustration.
Maude withdrew his gaze and sat at the bar with Lafitte and the others.
"Aunt Shakky, do you have any milk?"
"Yes."
"Give Brook a few bottles—he's injured."
"Just milk?" Shakky glanced at Brook's fractured ribs, intrigued.
"Mhm."
Nodding, Shakky set out all the milk she had in front of Brook.
Weakly, Brook picked up a bottle and began chugging, one after another.
Before their eyes, his broken bones slowly, yet visibly, began to mend.
"How fascinating," Shakky chuckled, recognizing elements of Life Return in the process.
"Yohohoho!"
Having drained all the milk, Brook felt much better.
Rayleigh turned to Maude and asked, "So, what's next?"
"Hm…" Maude pondered before answering, "We'll head back to the Florian Triangle to take care of some business first. After that, we might stay in Sabaody for a year or so."
"Oh?"
Rayleigh raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You're not heading to the New World?"
"We will, just not yet," Maude replied, his gaze fixed on the condensation forming on the rim of his glass.
Shakky looked at Maude with curiosity.
From her perspective, with the strength Maude and his crew possessed, they would have no trouble establishing themselves in the New World.
After a moment of thought, she chuckled. "What, are you planning to stick around and recruit a few more rookies like Cavendish?"
"Something like that."
Maude cast a fleeting glance at Cavendish, who sat on the couch staring straight ahead, his expression unreadable.
Staying on the Sabaody Archipelago to absorb promising rookie pirates wasn't a bad strategy.
However, what Maude truly had in mind was hunting down the pirates who came to Sabaody.
As for intelligence, he figured the Marines would be more than happy to offer it up—saving him the trouble of asking Shakky.
On the couch, Cavendish shuddered slightly as images of Maude ruthlessly slaughtering several Supernova pirates just days ago flashed through his mind.
"This monster... he's not seriously going to—"
A chilling thought took root in Cavendish's mind, sending a wave of terror through him.
If this monster was truly planning to stake out the only gateway to the New World…
Suddenly, he could vividly imagine the gruesome fate awaiting all the arrogant pirates who dared to set foot on the Sabaody Archipelago in the coming days.
That would be downright insane!
No way… no way…
Cavendish shook his head vigorously, refusing to entertain the thought any further.
Just then, a hand clapped onto his shoulder.
Startled, Cavendish instinctively looked up—only to be met with Maude's ever-so-friendly smile.
"Gah—!"
His entire body stiffened before he sprang up like a coiled spring.
"?"
Maude tilted his head, a question mark practically forming over his head as he watched Cavendish react as if he'd just seen a ghost.
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