Notebook

During the day, cannon fire rang out nonstop from all across Mad Hatter Town.

It was not until evening that it showed signs of stopping.

Not long afterward, the sun went down, and the town's lights began to blaze.

After dinner, Saul gathered all the cash he had and prepared to attend the auction.

Although he lacked the talent to walk the path of a Great Swordsman, he was very fond of collecting famous blades.

Tonight's auction featured one of the Fifty Crafts, the Good Fast Swords, and that was his target.

Before leaving, he turned back to Sunny and Maud and said in a slightly warning tone:

"You two, if you have nothing to do tonight, go to bed early."

"Okay."

"Got it."

Sunny and Maud nodded.

Seeing this, Saul opened the shop door and walked out.

Watching Saul leave, Maud immediately shut the main door tight and bolted it.

"Sunny, I'll go to bed first, then."

"Oh? Trying to sneak out this early?"

"Yeah. Since there's nothing else to... Hm? What did you say?"

"I said, Saul just left, and you're already thinking about sneaking out to join the fun?"

"What nonsense are you talking about? It's so dangerous outside. How would I dare go out?"

After Sunny saw through his intentions, Maud could only let out an awkward laugh.

Hearing this, Sunny snorted. "Do you think I don't know what you've been doing these past few days?"

"Doing what?"

Maud blinked and countered smoothly.

Seeing Maud play dumb again, Sunny could not be bothered to argue with him. Instead, she warned him:

"Tonight is different from usual, so you'd better not leave the shop. I don't want Arthur to bring your corpse here tomorrow morning, with your eyeballs gouged out, your ears and nose sliced off, your torso chopped into more than a dozen pieces, and half a pound of your organs missing."

"Sunny, you—you're ruthless!"

The corner of Maud's eye twitched wildly. He could not take Sunny's well-intentioned warning.

Sunny's gaze was solemn. "I'm serious."

"I can tell."

"Then behave yourself and sleep tonight."

"..."

Maud fell silent.

Seeing this, Sunny frowned and fell silent as well.

She knew that when Maud stopped bickering, it meant there was no way to change his decision.

The atmosphere grew awkward for a while.

After a long time, Sunny suddenly walked to the counter and pulled a yellowed notebook from deep inside one of the drawers.

"Take this."

She tossed the notebook toward Maud.

Maud raised his hand and caught it, asking in confusion, "What's this?"

"A record of intelligence I've gathered over the past few years."

"An intelligence record?"

Maud's pupils contracted, and he quickly flipped open the notebook.

"This is..."

After skimming through a few pages, Maud immediately looked excited.

In this not particularly thick notebook, there was actually information on quite a few pirates with medium-to-high bounties.

It was precisely what he lacked most at the moment.

He had previously assumed that Sunny had investigated the neighbors' backgrounds merely as a precaution.

Now, it seemed the real reason was that Sunny had been doing this sort of thing all along.

"Sunny, this—this is your hobby?"

Suppressing his excitement, Maud nearly stuffed the notebook straight into his arms.

Sunny could not understand the reason for his excitement, but she did not probe further. She shook her head and said, "It isn't entirely a hobby. It's just preparation for the future."

"Preparation for the future?"

"Mm. Saul is already old. He might not wake up one day, or he could drop dead next month. That sort of thing isn't impossible."

Sunny first described, in a lighthearted manner, the potential future Saul would have to face as an old man. She then continued:

"When that happens, I'll have to bear certain pressures alone. My own strength is limited, so I can only reduce that pressure by preparing intelligence in advance."

"You've already thought that far ahead?"

Maud was somewhat surprised, but he felt Saul could still live for several more years. After all, Saul had the energy to go jogging on Flower Street every morning.

Without realizing it, he seemed to have grown accustomed to Sunny's offhand barbs.

"Because unlike you, I have no talent."

Sunny glanced at Maud's lower body.

She was looking at the weights strapped to his legs.

"Uh..."

For a moment, Maud did not know how to respond.

"When Saul went out of his way to rescue you back then, it wasn't out of kindness. Nor was it merely to give the shop another laborer. More importantly, he wanted to make sure I wouldn't be left struggling alone in the future."

"Before you, there had already been several others, but none of them could adapt to Mad Hatter Town. Without exception, they all died horribly."

At this point, Sunny stared at Maud's face.

"But even Saul himself never expected that the man he brought back this time, despite occasionally being slick-tongued, would have such astonishing talent that he would even make an exception and take the initiative to accept a disciple."

Maud fell silent at her words.

He had been puzzled before about why Saul had rescued him.

Now, he finally understood.

Looking at the silent Maud, Sunny spoke more heavily. "I don't dislike you, which is why I'm giving you my 'Notebook.' And I don't want you to die too soon."

"Thank you."

Maud suddenly smiled knowingly.

Even if we're not talking about liking you, I don't dislike you either.

He thought this to himself.

Sunny snorted. "I don't care what you plan to do after this, but you have to return the 'Notebook' to me tomorrow night."

"Huh? I have to return it?"

"Obviously. I worked hard to write all that down!"

"Can't I keep it?"

"No. Besides, you can copy it yourself."

"True."

Maud chuckled.

Having said all she wanted to say, Sunny went upstairs first.

She had given Maud the Notebook because she wanted him to have the sense to stay away from those dangerous people, so he would not be killed for no reason.

"Sunny."

Maud suddenly called out to her.

Sunny stopped and quietly looked back at him.

"What kind of Devil Fruit do you want? I'll get one for you someday."

"..."

Seeing that Sunny said nothing, Maud counted on his fingers and smiled.

"Forget about Logia-types. They're too difficult to obtain. Zoans aren't bad—they're durable and hard to beat—but their lower limit is too low, and there are too many varieties. Unless it's an Ancient Zoan, don't consider one."

"After thinking it over, the best choice is still a Paramecia. But Paramecias come in all sorts of forms. Broadly speaking, they can be divided into several categories: body enhancement, creation, control, and so on."

"So it depends on which aspect you need most. I also remember there's a Paramecia Devil Fruit called the Slick-Slick Fruit. I think that one would suit you quite well."

Hearing Maud suddenly ramble on and on, Sunny said expressionlessly, "You know quite a lot about Devil Fruits."

"Σ(д)"

Maud hurriedly explained, "I read about them in a book."

"Oh."

Sunny thought for a moment, then suddenly turned around and walked back toward the counter.

Seeing this, Maud asked in confusion, "What are you doing?"

"Writing it down."

Sunny took out paper and a pen and completely recorded the analysis of Devil Fruits Maud had just given.

Maud was speechless.

Compared to taking notes, wasn't choosing a direction first more important?

He silently watched Sunny, who was bent over the counter and diligently taking notes, and could not help sighing inwardly.

She clearly looked very shrewd, yet sometimes she gave him the impression that she was rather dense.

Devil Fruits...

In his mind, the expression Sunny had worn when she saw the auction catalog slowly surfaced.

Though I can't do it right now, I'll definitely get you a Devil Fruit someday.

Maud said to himself.