With supernovas like Cavendish scouting the way, House and Gant had witnessed Maud's formidable strength firsthand.
That level of power had exceeded their expectations and could no longer be judged by bounty alone.
After realizing this, House decisively abandoned his plan to use Maud to make a name for himself.
Still, he never would have imagined that after dealing with Cavendish, Maud would come straight for them.
After all, they had merely watched from a distance throughout the entire process and had not taken part in it at all. They simply could not understand why Maud had come looking for trouble with them.
Seeing Maud charging toward them aggressively, House was puzzled, but he acted decisively nonetheless, ordering his men to open fire on Maud.
In an instant, a barrage of bullets poured toward Maud, who was striding through the air.
"Quite the fierce reaction."
Maud glanced at the hundred or so members of the White Whale Pirates clustered around the tree roots. He abruptly halted, then stomped heavily on the air with his right foot, causing his body to veer left and avoid the net of fire coming straight at him.
Immediately afterward, his body plunged sharply downward, once again dodging the numerous bullets that had locked onto him.
Maud's midair maneuver, changing direction to evade the barrage, made the White Whale Pirates' members' hearts pound wildly. They repeatedly pulled their triggers, emptying the first round of bullets in an instant.
"We missed..."
"What are you standing around for? Reload!"
"Oh, oh!!"
The White Whale Pirates' members hurriedly reloaded their weapons.
Firing at Maud from the ground might have been their best chance to injure him.
Perhaps they could even shoot Maud down directly.
After dodging all the bullets fired at him, Maud adjusted his posture slightly. He then