While Lafitte was still dealing with more than a dozen armed personnel, Maude had already arrived in front of the cages.
This operation wasn't just about destroying the human auctioning house—it was also about seizing every last bit of its "assets."
And the slaves inside the cages, soon to be auctioned off, were naturally among those assets.
Maude looked at the slaves within the cage.
There were about thirty of them, roughly matching the numbers listed in the auction catalog. Most of them possessed some kind of special talent.
His gaze swept across them before pausing on a large, semi-transparent cloth covering a water tank.
"Not a giant..."
Noticing the silhouette of a mermaid behind the thin fabric, Maude sighed softly.
If today's star attraction had been a giant, he could have tested whether the Hunter's Notebook worked on giants—and had a good fight with one.
But there was no "if."
A hint of disappointment crossed Maude's face.
However, to the slaves inside the cage, his reaction was rather perplexing.
Just what exactly did this man want?
A wave of unease slowly spread among them.
Maude quickly composed himself, pushing aside his disappointment. He turned his attention to four pirate captains who were standing close to the iron bars.
Feeling the cold, detached gaze from Maude, the four captains tensed up, instinctively stepping back several paces while swallowing nervously.
Retracting his gaze, Maude placed his right hand on the iron bars and pushed them aside.
Creaaaak—
The metal fence bent effortlessly under his hand, forming a half-circle gap.
Seeing Maude pry open the iron bars with his bare hands, the slaves—who had still held onto some hope—became overwhelmed with terror, retreating to the farthest corner of the cage.
The pirate captains, too, grew increasingly uneasy, stepping back further.
Ignoring their reactions, Maude stepped through the gap and approached the large water tank.
Inside, the mermaid seemed to sense something, her silhouette behind the thin cloth trembling slightly.
"..."
Maude stared at the faintly visible figure.
Come to think of it, this was the first time he had seen a mermaid in person. It was somewhat intriguing.
Without further hesitation, he reached out and pulled away the fabric, revealing a glass tank filled with water.
Inside, a young female mermaid curled up, trembling.
Maude studied her with interest.
She had delicate features, fair skin, and long, fiery red hair that cascaded down her back, conveniently covering her chest.
Lowering his gaze, he examined her blue-scaled fish tail. Under the dim lighting, a slight shift in angle revealed a deep blue shimmer reflecting off the scales.
A young and remarkably beautiful mermaid.
If sold to the right buyer, she could easily fetch a price in the billions.
"Glub, glub—"
The sudden removal of the cloth startled the mermaid, causing bubbles to rise to the surface.
Perhaps feeling Maude's intrigued gaze, she curled up even tighter, almost folding herself in half like a shrimp.
"So he was after the mermaid..."
Observing Maude's actions, the surrounding slaves finally understood.
If that was the case, it all made sense.
But in the next second, Maude turned and left without hesitation—
As if slapping them in the face.
It stung a little.
Maude approached the four pirate captains and calmly said, "I'll unlock your shackles. In exchange, you'll fight me."
"To the death?"
Before Maude even finished, one of the captains—a burly, scarred man with a muscular upper body—asked quickly.
Maude glanced at him. The sheer number of scars on his body rivaled Jim's.
The difference was, Jim's scars came from brutal torture, whereas this man's scars were clearly earned through battle.
"Edmond, bounty: 76 million berries."
Information about him flashed through Maude's mind.
Before arriving, Maude had already recorded the details of the four pirate captains in the Hunter's Notebook.
Among them, Edmond had the highest bounty.
And now, it seemed, he also had the most fighting spirit.
"Yes," Maude nodded.
"Good! Dying in battle—that's the death I want!"
Edmond's eyes lit up as he readily extended his shackled hands toward Maude.
"Oh?"
Maude raised an eyebrow but didn't immediately unlock the shackles. Instead, he asked, "You're that sure you'll lose?"
"Isn't it obvious?"
Edmond retorted.
Despite his eagerness to fight, he had already accepted his fate.
"Interesting."
Maude looked at Edmond with newfound appreciation. Stepping forward, he coated his right hand in Armament Haki and crushed the shackles with ease.
Clatter—
Fragments of metal fell to the ground.
Edmond glanced down at the broken shackles, then took a deep breath before looking up at Maude with a solemn expression.
"You really are terrifying—so strong it's suffocating."
His battle-hardened instincts screamed at him, making it clear just how fearsome the man before him was.
A terror so overwhelming, he could feel his own powerlessness without even fighting.
Nearby, the other three pirate captains, all with bounties lower than Edmond's, stared blankly at the broken shackles.
A deathmatch against this monster?
They finally understood.
They weren't getting out of this alive.
But...
"Bacardi Maude... We have no grudge against you, so why did you go out of your way to come here and kill us?"
The lowest-bounty captain, Billy, forced out the question.
To him, Maude was simply looking for an excuse to kill them.
And it was the same question the other captains wanted to ask.
Maude turned to Billy, who was starting to sweat, and shrugged with a smirk. "Because I'm a 'dutiful' Warlord of the Sea."
"No... There's no way that's the real reason...!"
Billy's face grew paler, his sweat pouring.
The other pirate captains, including Edmond, all stared intently at Maude.
They wanted to know why he considered them enemies.
"Can you answer? Let us at least die with some understanding."
Edmond finally spoke, despite thinking the question was pointless.
Maude glanced at Edmond.
Since he had taken a liking to him, he decided not to be vague.
"There's no special reason. If I had to say... It's because you're a bunch of scum who enjoy pillaging and slaughtering. And taking down scum like you doesn't weigh on my conscience."
"Just... just because of that?"
"Yes."
"You're kidding! You're not some self-righteous Marine—you're a pirate! A pirate!"
"You're free to think whatever you want."
Maude moved in a blur, breaking the shackles on the remaining captains.
Clatter, clatter—
By the time they realized, their restraints had already fallen to the ground.
"Fighting... this kind of monster..."
Their faces turned deathly pale, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Even the thought of resisting was crushed under overwhelming fear.
But Maude had no interest in their feelings.
"Alright. Let's begin."
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