One hour ago.
The man standing beside her had indeed saved a group of slaves who were on the verge of descending into hell.
But now, an hour later…
Perona quietly observed Maude's demeanor, naturally catching his whispered words.
"The first one?"
Instinctively, Perona glanced at the scattered bounty posters on the ground.
Suddenly, she understood something, and a chill ran down her spine.
All the pirates on these bounty posters seemed to be present on the Sabaody Archipelago.
And the man before her, upon arriving at Sabaody, wasted no time in raising his blade—no, gun against the pirates listed on those posters.
"A demon…!"
Perhaps because she could empathize, Perona couldn't help but feel a sense of pity for the pirates on those bounty posters as she screamed internally.
Just as her thoughts surged chaotically, she saw Maude pull the trigger, firing a second shot.
Inside a bar on Grove 26, silence reigned, broken only by the ragged breaths of those gripped by fear.
"F-Ferolde… the one with a 94-million bounty… just died like that?"
Shocked and horrified, everyone stared at Ferolde's corpse, a bullet hole square in the middle of his forehead.
Their reactions were so extreme because just moments ago, Ferolde had been facing the bar counter, his back turned to the entrance.
Logically speaking, for the bullet to strike Ferolde's forehead, it should have been fired from behind the counter.
Yet, no one had fired from there, nor was there a single bullet hole in the walls.
Then where had the bullet that killed Ferolde come from?
At that moment, a rough-looking bald pirate suddenly stepped forward from the crowd, approaching the first corpse—the one who had been shot in the head moments earlier.
"That's Egar, the pirate with a 72-million bounty!"
The others immediately recognized him due to his high bounty.
Egar crouched beside the corpse, his face emotionless as he dug into the man's skull and pulled out a bloodstained, perfectly intact lead bullet.
The onlookers exchanged uneasy glances.
"The bullet pierced through the skull… yet there isn't even a single crack on it?"
Egar frowned, staring at the pristine bullet.
Unfamiliar with Haki, he found the situation completely illogical.
"Who could it be…? Could it really be… Bacardi Maude?"
His gaze lifted toward the tightly shut bar door.
The walls, doors, and various obstacles between them and the shooter provided some sense of security.
Still, Egar stood up and walked toward Ferolde's body.
Under the watchful eyes of those around him, he extended his bloodstained fingers toward the bleeding hole in Ferolde's forehead.
His joined index and middle fingers plunged into the wound.
After a few twists, he retrieved nothing but a few bits of shattered bone. Not a single fragment of a bullet remained.
"Gone?"
Egar stared at the bloodied bone fragments in his palm, eyes flickering with doubt.
The surrounding pirates exchanged uncertain glances.
Through Egar's actions, they understood the situation.
"How is this possible?"
"The bullet… disappeared?"
Disbelief spread through the room.
The moment Ferolde had been shot, they hadn't heard the bullet slicing through the air. Yet, they had clearly seen blood burst from his forehead.
As experienced fighters, they knew exactly what that meant.
A creeping sense of unease settled over the bar like a suffocating fog.
Egar flicked the bone fragments from his hand and fixed his gaze on the bar's closed door.
If the shooter really was Bacardi Maude…
Then as someone with a bounty similar to Ferolde's, he would likely be the next target.
"Damn it."
Egar gritted his teeth, fear creeping into his heart.
After setting out to sea, his high bounty had been a source of pride.
He enjoyed dealing with bounty hunters and Marines who sought his head.
But that was the extent of it.
If Maude was targeting him solely because of his bounty…
Just the thought sent a chill down his spine.
"Huh?"
Fixated on the door, Egar's expression suddenly changed.
In an instant, the door was pierced by a bullet hole, and the shadow of death rushed toward him.
However, his reflexes were sharp, and he instinctively drew the short blade from his waist, raising it in front of him.
The lead bullet that had traveled from an unimaginable distance slammed into Egar's blade.
Clang!
A brilliant spark flickered.
The bullet embedded itself in the blade, and the force of the impact sent the weapon slamming into Egar's face.
Smack!
The flat of the blade struck Egar, knocking him to the ground.
"Again?!"
The surrounding pirates panicked, their eyes darting between Egar and the embedded bullet, which remained completely intact.
Such an impossibly precise shot—fired through walls and with no audible gunfire—
This meant that the bullet had been fired from outside the range where sound could travel.
Realizing this, their hearts pounded wildly.
They looked around at the walls, wooden tables, and bar counter—so many obstacles that once felt like cover but now offered no comfort at all.
"It's him… It has to be him…"
Egar struggled to sit up, his face pale as he stared at the bullet hole in the door.
A chilling memory surfaced—Maude, with a single rifle, tearing through the White Whale Pirates, a crew boasting two Supernovas.
"It's Bacardi Maude!!!"
Even though he had managed to block the shot, an overwhelming sense of dread gripped Egar.
And in the next second, that dread was realized.
Once again, without a sound, a bullet struck, and blood bloomed from the center of Egar's forehead.
He hadn't even processed it before his expression froze, and he collapsed lifelessly to the floor.
Silence returned to the bar.
The remaining pirates stared at Egar's corpse, their bodies trembling with cold fear.
They hadn't seen the bullet.
They hadn't even heard it.
It was as if… the bullet was a ghost.
And the last name Egar had shouted before his death echoed in their minds like a funeral bell.
Bacardi Maude… Was it really him?
Just as the question formed in their minds…
Another pirate, without warning, dropped dead.
The rapid succession of gunshots, spaced less than three seconds apart, was like a bomb dropped into deep water, instantly setting off a massive uproar.
Panic spread through the bar as people scrambled for cover behind tables and chairs, desperate for a sense of safety.
But as the minutes passed and no further gunshots rang out, the onlookers finally had the presence of mind to focus on the latest victim.
And that's when they saw—
It was none other than Trollope, the pirate with a 68-million-berry bounty.
At that moment, the terrified crowd finally understood.
Far away, at the roots of Grove 13.
Seated on the Shadow Throne, Maude lowered his rifle and turned to the girl beside him.
"How about calling it Ghost Bullet?" he mused.
"Huh?"
Perona blinked in confusion. But as soon as she heard the word "ghost," her mind immediately filled with eerie possibilities.
A second later, she took two steps back, clutching her flat chest protectively, her eyes filled with wariness toward Maude.
"...?"
Maude looked at her, perplexed.
In less than half a day, news of what had happened in the bar on Grove 26 had spread throughout the entire Sabaody Archipelago.
With this single act, that man was sending a message to everyone on the archipelago—
He was back.
For a moment, pirates across Sabaody were gripped with unease.
Inside a restaurant, murmurs about Maude filled the air.
A member of the Beautiful Pirates leaned in and asked quietly, "Captain Cavendish… do you think this was really Maude's doing?"
"Who else could pull off something like this?"
Cavendish's expression remained calm, but his thoughts drifted back to several months ago—
To this very same Sabaody Archipelago, where the Supernovas had suffered a crushing defeat…
The night is still young, dear guests. No need to rush.
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