Having Nothing

The muzzle quickly aimed at the figure.

Before he could even see the face clearly, Maud decisively pulled the trigger.

Bang—

The lead bullet flew straight towards the figure's forehead.

The figure hadn't expected Maud to be so ruthless, firing without even offering a chance to talk.

Despite the suddenness of the event, the figure, relying on abnormal reflexes and danger perception, jerked their head back, narrowly dodging the bullet aimed at their forehead.

Even though they dodged the bullet, they still broke out in a cold sweat.

"You @#%#@%…!!!"

The figure turned out to be Wolf Rat, who had come out of the bar to check on the commotion.

He had only been watching, but he was nearly killed. Enraged, he began to curse.

Bang—

Another lead bullet flew, this time aimed directly at Wolf Rat's body.

This was right when Wolf Rat had just straightened himself up.

But he was a Devil Fruit user, after all. With his excellent physical conditioning, he managed to twist his body.

However, it was still too late to fully twist away, because after the first shot missed, Maud had immediately switched his aim to the body, where the hit probability was higher.

The second bullet thus lodged itself in the left side of Wolf Rat's abdomen, splashing a bloom of blood.

"You bastard, I was just watching, did you have to do that!!!"

Wolf Rat clutched his bleeding stomach, looking incredulously at the masked Maud.

If he hadn't instinctively beast-formed his abdomen to increase its defense while dodging the bullet, he wouldn't be wasting words right now. He would have already taught Maud a lesson about courtesy before force.

Maud looked expressionlessly at Wolf Rat, whom he didn't recognize at all.

He casually tossed aside the two flintlock pistols he'd picked up from the fallen prey at his feet, then slowly crouched down and pulled out the dagger stuck in the back of the knife-wielding man's waist.

"It was an accident."

Then, Maud lowered his voice and gave a perfunctory explanation, slowly backing away.

"An accident?"

Wolf Rat let out a bitter laugh upon hearing this.

If he hadn't reflexively beast-formed his abdomen to increase his defense while dodging the bullet...

That shot, at such close range, would have definitely done some serious damage.

"You're quite interesting."

Wolf Rat looked at Maud, who was slowly retreating, with a complex gaze.

He first fully transformed into his human-beast form, then used his fingers to dig out the bloody lead bullet, pinching it between his fingers.

The human-beast transformation wasn't for attacking, but to speed up his body's regeneration and suppress the pain.

"A Zoan Devil Fruit user...!"

Seeing Wolf Rat suddenly transform, Maud became wary. His eyes lit up with desire as he looked at Wolf Rat's visibly swollen body.

However, all five guns on the scene were now empty. In this situation, there was clearly no time to reload.

Without his crucial firearms, Maud didn't believe he could subdue this apparent Zoan Devil Fruit user with just a dagger.

In other words.

The timing was bad; it was better to escape.

"What's with that look?!"

Wolf Rat shivered under Maud's gaze.

Perhaps it was the shift in his thought processes due to the beast transformation, but for a moment, he felt as if he were being looked at like food.

Maud remained silent, continuing to slowly retreat while facing Wolf Rat.

Seeing this, Wolf Rat took a deep breath. His brow furrowed slightly as the movement pulled at his wound.

He painstakingly calmed his agitated state, which Maud had almost pushed to the brink, and tried to soften his expression as much as possible.

"It was my fault for speaking suddenly behind you, so I don't blame you. And I mean no harm."

"..."

Maud looked at Wolf Rat in confusion, his retreating steps halting.

Noticing Maud had stopped, Wolf Rat's heart leaped with joy.

He genuinely meant no harm to Maud. The reason he had spoken suddenly from behind was merely a bad habit he had developed over a long time.

Regardless, the moment Maud stopped signaled a good start.

Next, he had to seize this opportunity to become friends with Maud.

It would be best if we could become friends!

"I really mean no harm. Don't mind that I've transformed; it's not to attack you or anything. It's just that my self-healing ability is faster in my beast form."

"Of course, I'm explaining this specifically not to make you responsible or anything."

"Because you were completely right to shoot. Anyone would have opened fire in that situation."

"So I don't think anything of it, and I certainly wouldn't get angry over such a small matter."

"It's just that seeing how skilled you are, I felt this... well, you know, this sense of admiration that naturally arises for the strong."

"I think I've already become your admirer, so I wanted to get to know you...?"

Wolf Rat raised his hands high, then stared blankly as Maud, without giving him any chance to finish speaking, vanished at the end of the alleyway.

The cool night breeze blew past, swirling a few scraps of paper that whistled past his stiff face.

So that bastard had stopped not because he was willing to listen to a few words, but to pick up the flintlock musket he had discarded earlier.

"I @%#*@#!"

Wolf Rat was both angry and wronged.

Wasn't I the one who got hurt?

Why did you run?

Is it that hard to let me finish speaking?

Tatam appeared outside the bar at some point and looked at Wolf Rat, who had no outlet for his emotions, asking, "Not going after him?"

"Chase him? What a joke."

Wolf Rat glanced at Tatam, extremely dejected.

"That's not like you."

Tatam seemed a bit confused.

Wolf Rat sighed, "Because that guy is the culprit the Sharp Bull Pirates are looking for. What do you think? How could I possibly chase after him? Even if he had shot me again, I would have had to endure it."

"..."

Tatam fell silent upon hearing this.

He really wanted to ask Wolf Rat: Even so, was there really no need for you to grovel like that just now?

After some thought, he decided silence was better.

Wolf Rat looked down at the gunshot wound in his stomach and gritted his teeth:

"But that guy is really ruthless. Tatam, do you know? I just made a sound behind him, and he shot me right between the eyes without a word!"

"..."

Tatam nodded in agreement with Wolf Rat's words.

Such a ruthless person was indeed rare.

But it was precisely such people who could live longer.

"Damn him. If I hadn't reacted quickly enough, I probably would have been dead by now."

Wolf Rat grew more frightened the more he thought about it.

"Forget it, let's go back inside and keep drinking. Hmm, wait a minute."

Wolf Rat suddenly thought of something and looked at the three pirates who had already breathed their last on the ground.

A few seconds later, Wolf Rat retrieved their money pouches from the corpses.

"Much better."

Fiddling with the money pouch, Wolf Rat let out a long sigh of relief.

"You're really living backward, Ratty."

A woman's voice suddenly echoed from the alley.

It wasn't Tatam's somewhat girlish voice, but a more mature female tone.

Suddenly, Wolf Rat sprang to his feet, looking in astonishment in the direction of the voice.

Tatam, still at the bar entrance, narrowed his eyes and quickly entered a combat stance.

When the voice had come, neither he nor Wolf Rat had realized there was a third person present.

Looking towards the source of the sound, a woman stood there, wearing a hooded cloak that still managed to accentuate her figure.

She had a long sword at her waist and was tall and slender.

Just standing there, she exuded a powerful aura.

Tatam, having been in Mad Hatter Town for years, had never encountered such a person and could only remain on guard.

Wolf Rat, however, seemed to recognize the woman.

"You... how can you be here!"

"When did it become your place to decide such things?"

The woman slightly tilted her head, revealing a beauty mark on her chin.

Thanks to qingyinss, Tang 0, and "Forgive my fingers" for the 100 reward~