Laneside Battle

The auction hall's décor was much like an opera house. The first-floor seats spread out in a semicircle, and wherever each seat faced, everyone had a clear view of the auction stage.

The second floor consisted of individual booths set into the walls. Each booth had a slanted staircase leading down to the floor, pointing directly toward the auction stage.

The hall was packed at this moment.

Even the second-floor booths, despite their demanding conditions, were completely occupied.

On the splendidly decorated 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 a seat near the front row, Saul's eyes were fixed on the female slave who had just been bought. His wolf-like gaze swept over her sensitive areas.

"Gulp."

Saul swallowed involuntarily.

Only after the female slave was sent backstage did he smack his lips regretfully.

Beside him, Arthur silently shifted to the side.

"So white and so big."

Saul sighed. He wiped the saliva that had accidentally dribbled out, then casually rubbed his hand on Arthur's clothes.

"You...!"

Arthur stared at Saul in shock and fury, suppressing the urge to slam the seat over Saul's head.

Saul, meanwhile, acted as though nothing had happened, calmly sitting there with his legs crossed.

Arthur endured it, blaming himself for foolishly choosing to sit beside Saul.

"It's probably going to get lively soon."

Suddenly, Arthur heard Saul muttering under his breath.

"What do you mean?"

He looked at Saul in confusion.

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

"Hmm?"

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

Then he heard Saul's next words.

"Is often like shit—it's easy for it to blind certain people."

"..."

On the auction stage, the middle-aged auctioneer spread his arms, his tone still impassioned and forceful.

"The next item will be the final slave auctioned tonight. As the finale of the slave category, I believe it will not disappoint you all. Now, please take a look."

As his final word fell, he suddenly swung his arms and pointed toward the left side of the auction stage.

Amid the rumbling of rolling wheels, two powerfully built workers pushed a cart bearing an iron cage to the center of the auction stage.

Inside the cage, a completely ochre-colored fishman sat cross-legged, his sturdy body wrapped in chains that left him no chance of escape.

The fishman kept his head lowered, as still as a corpse.

His physical condition was good, but his entire body radiated a withered, dispirited air.

The auctioneer walked to the cage and smiled.

"This is tonight's final slave item, a Cone-toothed Shark Fishman. I know that any guests who like this item must have come prepared, while those who dislike it have no interest in it at all."

"Therefore, allow me to skip the introduction and proceed directly to the item demonstration."

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

Bzzzt—!

All of a sudden, bright currents raced rapidly across the fishman's body.

"Ahhhhhh!"

After being shocked, the fishman, who had been lifeless just a moment before, suddenly twisted his body frantically and opened his mouth to let out a shrill scream.

As a result, his wide-open mouth revealed the characteristic feature of a Cone-toothed Shark Fishman—rows of densely packed, crisscrossing fangs.

Among the seats, the buyers who had come for the fishman were already eager to act. As soon as the auction began, they would raise their placards and bid immediately.

Kazt was one of them.

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

Behind the curtain of the auction stage was the backstage area, where cages holding slaves were scattered about in disorder.

Nearly all these slaves were women with outstanding figures and appearances. Of course, there were also a few strong male slaves.

Whether male or female, they all lowered their heads in silence as they listened to the shrill screams coming from the auction stage, their eyes filled with despair.

Among these cages was one that looked more like a pet carrier. Inside was a long-bodied skunk covered entirely in white fur.

Strangely, the skunk did not stink at all. In fact, it even gave off a strange fragrance.

The skunk curled up inside the cage, its humanlike black eyes fixed on the human slaves present.

Those eyes, no different from a human's, showed not the slightest awareness that it was imprisoned in a cage as well.

It looked at those slaves as though they were a group of pitiful wretches.

The night deepened, and a chill came with the wind.

Maud quietly followed the three targets.

Not long after they left, several drunken men also stumbled out of the tavern and headed in a certain direction down the street.

After those men had gone some distance, Sabo pushed open the tavern door and walked out.

He glanced inconspicuously at the men who had already gone some distance away, then acted in strikingly the same manner as Maud, quietly following behind them.

Maud, who was on the opposite side, naturally knew nothing of this.

He followed the three targets the entire way but never found a suitable opportunity to make his move.

However, he was not anxious in the slightest.

As long as he could ensure the reward, waiting until dawn would make no difference.

That was one of his hunting principles.

Maud continued hanging far behind his targets.

Time passed, and half an hour soon went by.

At that moment, Maud finally got his chance.

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

The three men, walking with their arms around one another's shoulders, had no idea that a grim reaper was trailing them.

They wandered aimlessly through the alleyways. Somehow, they ended up seeing a bar at the end of a narrow lane, its business lights still lit.

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

One of the men rubbed his eyes in surprise.

"How about we have a few more drinks?"

"Sure."

Their drinking spirits rekindled, and the men grew excited.

Bang, bang—

At that moment, two gunshots rang out without warning in the alley.

Hot lead tore through the air and struck two of the men in the back, bursting into two conspicuous sprays of blood as they fell forward.

"Hm?"

The last man, who had not been shot, reacted instantly. Without hesitation, he dragged one of his wounded companions, who was about to fall, in front of himself as a human shield. At the same time, he looked toward the direction from which the bullets had come.

Bang—

Another gunshot rang out.

Another splash of blood bloomed across the back of the companion being used as a human shield.

At the other end of the alley, Maud was rather surprised after firing the third shot.

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

For the first two shots, he had fired his flintlock pistols with both hands, hitting the two targets who were carrying guns.

Of course, in order to harvest experience, he had deliberately avoided their vital points.

Then he had quickly switched to Usopp and fired at the last target, who was carrying a knife.

He simply had not expected the knife-wielding target to react so quickly—or so ruthlessly. Without even thinking, he had used his companion as a human shield.

Realizing that the two wounded targets would bleed to death soon, Maud decisively abandoned Usopp and charged at the knife-wielding man using his companion as a human shield.

When the knife-wielding man saw Maud charging over, his expression changed. After hesitating briefly, he did not draw the flintlock pistol hanging from his human shield's waist. Instead, he shoved the human shield aside and drew his long blade.

At that moment, Maud had already closed in, dagger in hand as he attacked the knife-wielding man.

The knife-wielding man advanced instead of retreating. He took a large step forward and thrust his blade straight at Maud without hesitation.

He wanted to use the length advantage of his weapon to kill Maud with a single strike.

However, Maud suddenly lowered his body and narrowly avoided the incoming thrust. Then, in the blink of an eye, two flashes of steel shot past.

Maud passed the knife-wielding man, then abruptly spun around, pressing his heel against the ground to slow himself as he looked at the man's back.

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

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

Seeing blood spray from the knife-wielding man, Maud rushed forward several steps and drove his dagger into the man's lower back, while simultaneously forcing him to the ground.

He then quickly searched the incapacitated target and pulled out the Bounty Poster, scanning it once.

After confirming the name, he immediately summoned the Hunter's Notebook. Before the three targets could breathe their last, he rapidly wrote down their information with a quill.

"Just in time."

After writing the final word, Maud slowly let out a sigh of relief.

"Tsk."

At that moment, a surprised voice suddenly came from the end of the alley behind him.

Maud was startled by the sound and instinctively dismissed the Hunter's Notebook.

The blood staining the notebook instantly turned into beads of blood that fell toward the ground.

Then he dropped into a crouch in one stride, drew the flintlock pistol from the target's waist, and spun around, aiming the muzzle at the owner of the voice.