A single stone can stir a thousand waves!
Maude's arrival instantly plunged the entire auction hall into chaos.
In the guest seating area, terrified patrons scrambled to their feet, each desperate to flee from this place of disaster as quickly as possible.
In mere moments, the scene descended into utter disorder.
Shouts and screams filled the air.
On the auction stage—
Disco collapsed onto the ground, his face twisted in fear as he watched Maude stroll toward him.
"Damn bastard… Why did it have to be now…?"
From the moment Maude sent Edmond flying onto the stage, Disco knew that today's auction was doomed.
Not only that, but the heavily armed security force he had spent a fortune assembling was likely done for as well.
"Those useless fools…"
Disco cursed his incompetent guards bitterly in his mind.
Meanwhile, his eyes remained locked on Maude as his hands fumbled frantically inside his coat—only to come up empty.
It was then that Disco suddenly remembered—before stepping onto the stage, he had left his flintlock pistol in the dressing room.
Gulp—
Now unarmed, Disco swallowed hard, the fear on his face intensifying.
Yet Maude didn't spare even a glance at the clownish-looking Disco. Nor did he pay any attention to the growing chaos in the auction hall. He simply walked straight to where Edmond lay.
"But that's all there is to it."
Maude gazed down at Edmond's bloodied face from above, his arm hanging loosely as he pressed the tip of Shusui against Edmond's chest.
Edmond struggled to rise, but his body refused to obey.
Even so—
With bloodied teeth bared in a grin, Edmond let out a strained, broken chuckle.
"To… to have lasted… two exchanges… against you… that's… beyond… my expectations… I… have no regrets…"
"I admire your spirit. But…"
Maude shook his head slightly and, with a small exertion of force, drove Shusui through Edmond's heart.
Edmond's body shuddered as the light in his eyes faded away.
Maude withdrew his sword, flicking off the blood before sheathing it.
Edmond had been a man worthy of recruitment under Maude's banner.
But the sins he had committed in the past were things Maude could not tolerate.
So, despite his appreciation for Edmond's fortitude, Maude had never considered taking him in.
Tap, tap—
Just then, the hurried sound of approaching footsteps filled the air.
A group of a dozen iron-clad guards who had originally been stationed at the auction house entrance pushed through the panicked crowd and positioned themselves below the auction stage.
Their expressions were tense as they raised their spears, pointing them at Maude in a loose semicircle.
Their presence gave Disco the confidence to make a desperate scramble, tumbling off the stage and taking cover behind the guards.
"Do something, damn it!"
Seeing the guards hesitate, Disco's voice trembled as he shouted.
"…"
The guards exchanged uneasy glances before cautiously shuffling half a step forward.
"?"
Disco almost coughed up blood in frustration.
In the seats and aisles behind them, the auction guests continued to push and shove their way out, each frantic to escape.
Even with the guards forming a line in front of Maude, none of them felt reassured.
The only ones who weren't running were a few daring journalists, hiding in the shadows with their eyes locked onto Maude.
Those in the industry all knew one thing—
Wherever Maude appeared, there was always a story.
If they managed to capture this moment, they wouldn't have to worry about finding a newsworthy headline.
"This was definitely worth the trip!"
A few reporters were so excited they nearly dropped their cameras.
On the auction stage—
Maude cast a glance at the guards below.
The moment they took a second cautious step forward, his shadow stretched out like an ink-black serpent, slithering silently across the floor, creeping into the shadows of each guard.
Crack!
Without warning, the guard on the far right suddenly had his neck twisted and snapped.
The guard beside him barely had time to register the scene before he met the same fate.
Crack.
Crack.
Crack.
One after another, in less than three seconds, every single guard had their necks broken, collapsing to the floor like dominoes—lifeless corpses strewn across the ground.
"W-What just happened?!"
Disco stared in shock at the bodies.
From his perspective, Maude hadn't even moved.
If anything, he had merely cast a glance their way.
And yet… the guards standing in front of him had suddenly dropped dead?
Disco prided himself on being well-informed, but he had no idea what kind of ability Maude had just used.
He stood frozen in place.
Maude tilted his head slightly, raising his left hand as his gaze fell on Disco.
His voice was cold.
"The slavers who attacked Brook—was that your doing?"
"W-What?"
Disco was completely lost.
He had no idea who this "Brook" was.
Or rather, he simply didn't know that the skeleton man's name was Brook.
Maude furrowed his brows slightly.
Shadow Grasp!
His shadow moved silently behind Disco, shifting into a claw-like shape before surging forward like a wave, slamming into Disco's back.
Disco let out a muffled groan as his body was lifted off the ground and flung toward Maude.
Maude extended his left hand, catching Disco by the chin and suspending him in midair.
"Playing dumb?"
"I—I don't know what you're talking about!"
Disco struggled desperately.
"Forget it."
A murderous glint flickered in Maude's eyes.
Whether it had been Doflamingo's orders or Disco acting on his own—
It didn't matter.
Maude had no intention of wasting his time on this man.
"Y-You can't kill me!"
Feeling an overwhelming sense of doom, Disco's eyes trembled as he rasped out a plea.
"I—I'm one of Doflamingo's men…!"
"Oh."
Maude let go.
Disco's body plummeted.
Afraid now, aren't you, bastard?!
Disco exhaled in relief—
But before he could touch the ground, a sharp sound split the air.
Maude withdrew his hand—then threw a punch.
Before Disco could even land, Maude's fist drove straight through his chest.
Boom—!
He didn't go flying—but a gaping hole the size of a washbasin now marked his torso.
"Ugh…"
Disco looked down at his hollowed-out chest in shock. His lips parted slightly—before his body collapsed lifelessly to the ground.
The entire process—from the moment the guards' necks were snapped to Disco's brutal execution—
Had been witnessed by the journalists and the few lingering guests in the hall.
All of them stared at Maude in utter horror.
Ignoring their reactions, Maude turned and walked through the tattered curtain, returning to the room where the cages were kept.
On the ground, the pirate captains Billy and Ozym lay motionless—long dead.
Before sending Edmond flying onto the auction stage, Maude had already killed the others in a single instant.
The battle had been over in three seconds.
Stepping over the bodies, Maude approached the cell bars.
"Why are you all still here?"
He looked at the slaves huddled in the corner, somewhat surprised.
"Huh?"
Hearing his words, the slaves hesitantly looked up at him.
One of the male slaves raised a trembling hand to his neck collar, his voice full of despair.
"If we can't remove these collars… it doesn't matter if we escape… we won't make it far."
Hearing this, the other slaves' faces filled with sorrow.
If not for the explosive collars around their necks, they would have fled the moment Lafitte and Maude had left earlier.
"The key should be on one of these corpses. You never thought to check?"
Maude gestured at the bodies on the floor.
"…"
"…"
The air grew heavy.
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