Street Fighting

The auction hall was decorated similarly to an opera house. The seats on the first floor were arranged in a semi-circle, with the auction stage clearly visible from every seat.

On the second floor were individual private boxes built into the walls. Each box had a steeply sloped staircase leading directly to the auction stage.

At this moment, the hall was packed.

Even the exclusive second-floor boxes were completely full.

On the opulent auction stage, a middle-aged auctioneer with a composed expression was congratulating the buyer who had just purchased a female slave in an impassioned tone.

In the front row seats, Saul's eyes were fixed on the female slave who had just been sold. His gaze, like that of a wolf, swept over her sensitive areas.

"Gulp."

Saul couldn't help but swallow.

Only after the female slave was escorted backstage did he smack his lips with regret.

Beside him, Arthur quietly shifted away.

"So pale, so big," Saul exclaimed, wiping the drool that had escaped his mouth with his hand, then casually wiping it on Arthur's clothes.

"You...!"

Arthur stared at Saul, a mixture of shock and anger in his eyes, suppressing the urge to slam his seat down on Saul's head.

Saul, however, acted as if nothing had happened, casually crossing his legs.

Arthur endured it, blaming himself for being foolish enough to sit next to Saul.

"It's going to get lively soon, I bet."

Suddenly, Arthur heard Saul muttering softly.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at Saul, confused.

Saul grinned and muttered to himself, "Anything that can easily touch people's hearts..."

"Hmm?"

Arthur's expression turned serious, as if he had realized something.

Then, he heard Saul's next words.

"Is often like shit, easily blinding some people's eyes."

"..."

On the auction stage, the middle-aged auctioneer spread his arms, his voice consistently strong and passionate.

"The next item is the final slave to be auctioned tonight. As the grand finale of the slave category, it surely will not disappoint you all. So, please take a look."

As the last syllable fell, he suddenly gestured with his arms towards the left side of the auction stage.

With a rumbling sound of wheels turning, a cart carrying an iron cage was pushed to the center of the auction stage by two burly staff members.

Inside the cage, a fishman, entirely yellowish-brown, sat cross-legged. His muscular body was wrapped in chains he couldn't break free from.

The fishman kept his head down, appearing lifeless.

His vital signs were good, but he exuded an aura of decay.

The auctioneer walked to the side of the cage and smiled.

"This is the grand finale slave of the night, a Cone-toothed Shark Fishman. I know that guests who like this item are surely prepared, and those who dislike it are completely uninterested."

"Therefore, please allow me to skip the introduction and proceed directly to the product display segment."

As soon as the auctioneer finished speaking, the staff member on the other side of the cage pressed a button on the cart.

Zzzzt—!

Suddenly, bright electric current coursed rapidly through the fishman's body.

"Ahhh!"

Struck by the electricity, the fishman, who had been listless a moment before, began to writhe violently, his mouth wide open in a desperate scream.

Through his gaping mouth, his characteristic feature as a Cone-toothed Shark Fishman was revealed—rows of dense, sharp teeth.

Among the audience, buyers who were interested in the fishman were already eager, waiting for the auction to begin so they could immediately raise their paddles.

Kazt was one of them.

This fishman slave was an item he was determined to acquire.

Behind the curtain of the auction stage, cages holding slaves were haphazardly arranged.

Most of these slaves were women of exceptional appearance and figure, though there were a few strong male slaves.

Regardless of whether they were male or female, all of them lowered their heads in silence, their eyes filled with despair, as they listened to the piercing screams coming from the auction stage.

Among these cages, there was one that resembled a pet carrier more than anything else. Inside it, a white, slender skunk was confined.

Strangely, this skunk was not only not smelly, but it even emitted a peculiar fragrance.

The skunk curled up in its cage, its human-like dark eyes watching the human slaves present.

Its gaze, no different from a human's, showed no awareness of being caged alongside them.

It looked at the slaves as if they were pathetic wretches.

As night deepened, a chill arrived with the wind.

Maud quietly followed the three prey.

Not long after they left, a few more drunken men exited the tavern and walked in a certain direction down the street.

After the men had gone a fair distance, Sabo pushed open the tavern door and stepped out.

He glanced subtly at the men who had already walked some way ahead. His actions, however, were surprisingly consistent with Maud's; he quietly followed behind the men.

Maud, located in the opposite direction, was naturally unaware of this.

He had been following the three prey all along, but hadn't found a suitable opportunity to strike.

However, he wasn't in any hurry.

As long as he could guarantee his profit, he didn't mind waiting until dawn.

This was one of his hunting principles.

Maud thus trailed far behind his prey.

Time passed, and soon, half an hour went by.

It was at this moment that Maud finally found his chance.

Seeing that the three prey had finally stopped wandering and had turned into an alley, Maud's eyes lit up, and he quickly followed.

The three men, arm in arm, were completely unaware that a grim reaper was trailing them.

They wandered aimlessly down the alley. Somehow, they spotted a bar with its "Open" sign lit at the end of a narrow lane.

"Huh? There's a bar in a place like this?"

One of the men rubbed his eyes, looking somewhat surprised.

"Want to grab a few more drinks?"

"Sure."

Their desire for alcohol piqued, the men became interested.

Bang bang—

Just then, two gunshots rang out in the alley without warning.

Hot lead bullets tore through the air, striking the backs of two of the men, blooming two conspicuous splotches of blood, and they fell forward.

"Huh?"

The last man, who hadn't been shot, suddenly reacted. Without hesitation, he pulled one of his nearly falling companions in front of him as a human shield, while simultaneously looking in the direction the bullets had come from.

Bang—

Another gunshot.

The companion being used as a shield received another bloody wound on his back.

At the other end of the alley, Maud, firing his third shot, was quite surprised.

He had brought three guns in total, which allowed him to fire three shots in a short period.

The first two shots were fired with a flintlock pistol, one from each hand, hitting the two prey who were carrying guns.

Of course, to harvest experience, he had deliberately avoided vital spots.

Then, he quickly switched to [Usopp] and fired at the last prey, who was armed with a knife.

It was just that he hadn't expected the last prey, armed with a knife, to react so quickly and ruthlessly, using his companion as a shield without a second thought.

Thinking that the two shot prey would die from excessive bleeding in a short time, Maud decisively dropped [Usopp] and charged fiercely at the knife-wielding man using his companion as a shield.

Seeing Maud rush over, the knife-wielding man's expression changed. He hesitated for a moment, did not draw the flintlock pistol hanging from his shield companion's waist, but instead pushed the shield companion away and then drew his long saber.

At this very moment, Maud was already close, attacking the knife-wielding man with his dagger.

Instead of retreating, the knife-wielding man advanced, taking a large step forward and thrusting his saber directly at Maud without hesitation.

He intended to use the advantage of his weapon's length to finish Maud with one blow.

However, Maud suddenly ducked, narrowly evading the thrusting saber. Then, two flashes of blade light streaked past in an instant.

Maud passed the knife-wielding man, then spun around sharply, using his heel to slow down, and looked at the knife-wielding man's retreating back.

Moments later, streams of blood spurted from the knife-wielding man's wrist and throat.

The entire process, from beginning to end, happened in the blink of an eye.

Seeing the knife-wielding man bleeding, Maud charged forward a few steps, thrust his dagger into the man's lower back, and pushed him to the ground.

Then, he quickly searched the incapacitated prey for bounty posters and scanned them.

After confirming the names, he immediately summoned his notebook and, before the three prey took their last breaths, quickly jotted down their information with his quill.

"Caught up."

With the last word written, Maud slowly let out a sigh of relief.

"Tsk."

Just then, a surprised sound came from the end of the alley behind him.

Startled by the noise, Maud reflexively put away the Hunter's Notebook.

The bloodstains on the notebook instantly turned into droplets and fell to the ground.

Then, he lunged into a crouch, drew the flintlock pistol from the prey's waist, and immediately spun around, pointing the muzzle at the source of the sound.