The colossal Island Eater, which had devoured countless ships and lives, was effortlessly cleaved in two.
Everyone stared in shock at Maude, who maintained his stance after delivering the strike.
What terrifying power!
What an unexpected miracle!
For a moment, it felt like a dream.
With the Island Eater dead, they could finally set sail in safety.
Out at sea.
The two halves of the Island Eater's corpse crashed into the ocean, sending massive waves surging toward the shore.
The mast ship of the Buggy Pirates, which had been only a few hundred meters from the coastline, was caught in the rushing tide and hurled toward the shore.
Amidst panicked screams, the surging seawater carried the mast ship onto land, flooding the temporary base constructed by bounty hunters and pirates alike.
In mere moments, the waves destroyed the makeshift base of wooden huts, reducing it to debris.
The people on shore were affected by the sudden surge, but thankfully, none were seriously harmed.
Yet none spared a glance at the flooded remains of their temporary stronghold. Their eyes remained locked onto Maude, as if he were a savior.
Indeed.
From the moment Maude struck down the Island Eater, he had become their liberator.
"The Island Eater is dead!!!"
"We're saved! We're finally saved!!!"
"We can finally leave this cursed place!!!"
A scene they had only dreamed of had suddenly become reality.
Realization dawned on the people at shore, and many of them wept tears of joy.
If not for that damned Island Eater, most of them would have long since left this forsaken place, Little Garden.
On the deck of the Buggy Pirates' ship.
Having barely escaped death, Buggy's crew sobbed uncontrollably.
Just moments ago, they had been staring death in the face.
Had it not been for that powerful man's intervention, they would have been swallowed whole and reduced to nothing more than waste.
The mere thought of that fate made their tears flow even more.
As they regained their composure, all eyes turned in unison toward Maude, the man who had saved them from the brink of death.
"He's… incredible."
A crew member stared at Maude, eyes wide with awe.
"Yeah…"
The others nodded reflexively. Even from a distance, they could feel the overwhelming aura radiating from him.
Unconsciously, the crew members glanced at their captain, Buggy.
And felt a tinge of disappointment.
"Hey! Stop looking at me like that!!! And what the hell are you all disappointed about?!"
Buggy's face twitched with irritation as veins bulged on his forehead.
Faced with his rising fury, the crew members instinctively lowered their heads, though deep inside, they all shared the same thought:
Comparison is truly the thief of joy…
Seeing his crew suddenly behave, Buggy took a deep breath.
If he knew what they were thinking, he would've pulled out his flintlock and fired a few shots at them.
"Well, whatever. At least we made it to shore safely."
Fresh from his brush with death, Buggy's mind drifted back to John's treasure.
Then, as if something had just struck him, his expression changed drastically.
"That guy… isn't he—?!"
His gaze snapped toward Maude, his pupils shrinking rapidly.
Yes, it was him—
The current Warlord of the Sea, with a bounty of 500 million berries—
Bacardi Maude!
Buggy's reaction did not go unnoticed by his crew. Though confused at first, realization soon dawned on them.
"Now that you mention it… he does look familiar… like I've seen him somewhere before…"
"Yeah… I feel the same way."
As they thought carefully, their expressions shifted.
Having spent most of their time in the East Blue, it took them a moment to recognize him.
But now, it was undeniable.
He was none other than the infamous Pirate Hunter, known for his cold-blooded slaughter of pirates.
In an instant, the tears on their faces were replaced with beads of cold sweat.
On the shore.
Ignoring the countless eyes fixated on him, Maude slowly sheathed his blade, Shusui.
For some time, he had been honing his mastery over Hakoku.
His goal was to refine his control over its power and—more importantly—integrate its principles into his swordsmanship.
Now that he had made some progress, he realized that simply testing it on thin air wasn't enough.
Naturally, his mind turned to the Island Eater lurking in the waters around Little Garden.
Compared to the dinosaurs on the island, a creature of this size was an ideal target for practice.
Thus, he had come.
And just in time to see the Island Eater surfacing to devour a mast ship trying to leave Little Garden.
With such perfect timing, Maude had not hesitated to unleash a Hakoku—this time, in the form of a slash—easily bisecting the beast.
By sheer coincidence, he had ended up saving the Buggy Pirates.
One could say they were lucky.
"The piercing form of Hakoku is more forceful, but its slashing form isn't bad either. It's just harder to control."
Maude hadn't even noticed the Buggy Pirates' presence yet. Stroking his chin, he pondered his technique.
In terms of raw power, his previous strike had done the job.
However, its cutting nature was still lacking—more penetrative than slicing.
He could tell just by looking at the Island Eater's smooth, curved wound.
Had it been a true slash, the cut should have been straight and clean, not rounded.
It hadn't been as obvious in training.
But using the Island Eater as a target made everything clear.
"Well, I'll improve in time."
Maude wasn't in a rush.
Besides, he would be heading to Sabaody Archipelago soon.
There, he would have no shortage of test subjects.
Setting aside his thoughts, Maude turned his attention back to the battlefield.
"Oh?"
Just as he was about to collect some of the Island Eater's meat, he finally noticed the Buggy Pirates.
Their flag was rather distinctive—especially the red nose on the skull.
"Buggy the Clown? What's he doing here?"
Maude was slightly surprised.
At this point in time, Luffy was still at least six months away from setting sail. Theoretically, Buggy's crew should still be in the East Blue.
His curiosity piqued, Maude activated his ability.
A shadow stretched across the ground and shot toward the Buggy Pirates' ship.
The moment it reached the deck, Maude switched places with it.
In an instant, before the astonished eyes of the pirates and bounty hunters, Maude vanished.
A second later—
He reappeared on the Buggy Pirates' deck.
Buggy and his crew froze in shock.
For a moment, nothing happened.
And then—
"AAAAHHHHHH!!!"
A chorus of terrified screams erupted across the deck.
The Buggy Pirates scrambled backward in perfect unison, pressing themselves against the railing, eyes filled with terror at the sight of Maude.
Buggy's reaction was even more extreme—
With a shriek, he instinctively activated his Bara Bara no Mi (Chop-Chop Fruit), causing his head, torso, and limbs to scatter into the air.
"???"
Maude blinked, bewildered.
"I mean, come on… I'm not that scary, am I?"
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