"Saul fired the Seastone bullet at my feet because he wanted me to accept the 'keepsake' and then find a way out of my predicament."
"I knew the situation back then very well, and I knew even better which choice was the right one, but..."
Even now, the events of that day remained vividly etched in my mind.
That was the closest Maud had come to death since arriving in the One Piece World.
"In that situation, even if I had turned and fled and somehow managed to escape, I might never have been able to let it go for the rest of my life."
"And pulling the trigger meant staking my only remaining 'path to survival' on that single shot."
"I never considered the consequences back then."
"I just thought... Sunny was already somewhere safe, so I had nothing left to worry about."
"Even so, the Haki I had mastered at the time could only be used to coat things. 'Emission' was still a distant, unattainable goal."
"Fortunately, the old gun Yasopp gave me didn't let me down."
"Guided by that old gun, I successfully fired that shot."
"Actually, my main thought at the time... was that I wanted to kill Garp."
At Shakky's request, Maud briefly recounted what had happened back then. When he reached this point, a self-mocking look appeared on his face.
"Thinking back on it now, I was truly too naive."
"Kill Garp..."
Shakky pressed her lips together and smiled, snuffing out the cigarette that had nearly burned to the end in the ashtray.
Having personally lived through both of the great eras, she didn't think that thought was naive at all.
On this sea, filled with danger at every turn, the will to see things through could sometimes matter more than a strong body.