Someone Fired A Shot

Explosion?

Was it from the auction house?

Maud's thoughts stirred, then hesitated.

If it was indeed an explosion from the auction house, then something must have gone wrong.

Something going wrong meant it would be easier to fish in troubled waters.

But at the same time, it also meant greater risk.

Should he go or not?

Maud pondered for a moment.

Anyway, as long as he kept his distance.

As for Saul's safety.

Maud hadn't even considered it.

Even if everyone attending the auction died, he believed Saul would definitely be the one to survive until the end.

If you ask why, ever since that day he heard Saul explaining the sniper's realm, Maud had deeply understood a principle.

As long as you run fast enough, the enemy's hail of bullets and swords won't be able to catch you.

And Maud believed that Saul, as a veteran sniper who even Yasopp treated with respect, even if his hard power wasn't strong, his realm of running fast might have reached the peak of perfection.

Having made his decision, Maud put away his gun, leaped, and effortlessly jumped onto the rooftops.

The three pirates he hunted tonight had brought him substantial gains, and his jumping ability had naturally increased.

Jumping onto a two or three-story building was no longer a problem.

Leaping across the rooftops of the buildings, Maud headed in the direction of the auction house.

Before long, Maud arrived at Cape Street, where the auction house was located.

It took quite some effort to find a suitable vantage point on top of a building.

However, to avoid being caught up in it, Maud chose a spot a considerable distance from the auction house.

Looking towards the auction house from his position, he could only clearly see the black smoke billowing out from it. As for the crowd outside the auction house, he could only vaguely make out their general shapes.

In this situation, Maud suddenly felt that it might be necessary to get a pair of tactical goggles or a portable telescope.

Like now, it would allow him to ensure he was in a sufficiently safe area while still being able to see the situation clearly.

"Should I get a little closer?"

Maud pondered.

"Forget it, safety first."

Soon, Maud abandoned the idea of taking risks.

If just killing these pirates earned him experience, he would be willing to take the risk, as the rewards were evident.

But the Hunter's Notebook had its limitations, and there was no need to take risks in this situation.

He just needed to stay in a safe place and wait patiently.

When luck strikes, people will naturally deliver themselves to him.

If luck doesn't strike, he'd just wait for the next opportunity.

Maud held his flintlock pistol, leaned against a long, cylindrical chimney, and gazed afar at the scene outside the auction house.

Besides the thick smoke, the crowd gathered outside the auction house seemed calm, with no obvious signs of panic.

Or perhaps it was because the auction house's armed team had control of the situation.

"Seems like it was just a lot of noise, signifying nothing."

Maud glanced at the thick smoke rising into the sky, feeling somewhat disappointed.

Without any fighting, where would the easy pickings come from?

In his imagination, he didn't expect the intensity of the Battle of Marineford where it was life or death, but at least a chaotic brawl would have been good.

A chaotic brawl would lead to fighting, and fighting would lead to people temporarily withdrawing due to injuries.

That would be the time for him to seize the opportunity and pick off a few heads.

But even though his plan was well thought out, with such a small disturbance, he probably wouldn't gain anything in the end.

"Even a troublemaker would be fine."

Maud muttered to himself.

As soon as he spoke, as if to prove his lucky tongue, another explosion echoed from within the auction house.

Immediately after, a figure burst out of the thick smoke, like a tank crashing into the crowd.

"Huh?"

Maud's spirits immediately lifted, and he narrowed his eyes, looking at the wide street outside the auction house.

Even with his eyesight, he could only see a general outline.

It seemed like a "person" had broken out of the auction house, scattering the crowd.

"What a guy!"

Maud muttered to himself from afar.

To get a clearer view of the situation outside the auction house, he stopped hiding and moved closer.

At this moment.

Outside the auction house.

Blood and gore filled the crowd, with severed limbs flying.

A two-meter-tall Fish-Man was charging through the crowd.

"Get out of the way!"

The Fish-Man's face was contorted in a snarl, his mouth full of sharp teeth, like a keen blade, instantly biting those in his path into several pieces.

What was terrifying was that one of the scattered body parts happened to fall directly into the Fish-Man's mouth.

Gulp—

The Fish-Man didn't spit out the body part but swallowed it whole, filling his empty stomach.

"Get out, get out, all of you get out of my way!"

"I want to go back, back to the sea!"

The Fish-Man's face was covered in glaring bloodstains. He roared and thrust his hands forward, grabbing the cheekbones of two pirates.

An astonishing grip strength erupted, and the two pirates' heads exploded like watermelons.

Then, the Fish-Man continued to charge forward with undiminished momentum.

However, there were simply too many humans around. No matter how hard he tried, to onlookers, he seemed to be staggering, with only a distance called [Despair] left before breaking free.

If nothing unexpected happened, in such a desperate situation, no matter how much the Fish-Man could kill, he would eventually die from exhaustion.

"It's a Fish-Man! If he gets close, it's over! Shoot, hurry up and shoot him dead!"

Amidst the chaos, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted.

Bang—

Someone shot.

However, the bullet not only missed the Fish-Man but also hit an unlucky pirate.

"Which idiot fired the shot?"

The companions of the shot pirate were shocked and furious, unable to comprehend how someone could fire a gun in a situation where they had the numerical advantage.

Was this person looking to boost their confidence because their usual aim was too poor?

"Make way, make way."

The auction house's armed team, like a pair of large hands, forcefully cleared a path through the crowd.

"Stop! That Fish-Man slave is an important commodity of the auction house!"

"Go to hell! They're already on top of us, and you want us to stop?"

A pirate whose companion had been killed by the Fish-Man glared with bloodshot eyes, raising his flintlock pistol and aiming it at the Fish-Man's back.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger, a member of the armed team intervened, snatching the pirate's flintlock pistol amidst the chaos.

The pirate, who was about to shoot, was stunned. As he turned to curse, a gunshot suddenly rang out beside his ear.

The pirate's body trembled. He looked down at his bleeding chest, his lips moved, and he collapsed on the spot, becoming a corpse.

The armed team member who had snatched the pistol was momentarily stunned, thinking for a split second that the gun had misfired.

"Who fired the shot?"

A question mark popped into the armed team member's head.

Suddenly, he heard someone shout.

"Someone from the auction house made a move! Someone was killed by them!"

"I didn't...!"

Just as the armed team member opened his mouth to defend himself.

Another gunshot.

The bullet hit him squarely between the eyebrows, cutting off the words he hadn't finished.

As one pirate and one armed team member fell dead from gunshot wounds, chaos began to unfold.

"Damn it, you killed my brother!"

Bang—

After the gunshot, another armed team member was shot and fell.

The person who shouted and then fired, however, quickly retreated back into the crowd, disappearing without a trace in an instant.

Although the auction house's armed team had two members inexplicably taken out, they ultimately represented the auction house's stance and did not rashly retaliate.

However, two more shots followed, directly shattering their resolve.

For a time, the scene became even more chaotic...

The Fish-Man slave, though unaware of what was happening, seemed to see an opportunity, and his actions of brutally killing the pirates became increasingly swift.

"Who gave me the assist?"

On the rooftop of a building, Maud, astonished, quickly put away his [Usopp] and then leaped into the alleyway between buildings.

"Could there be someone else doing this?"

Maud rapidly changed his position.

After he arrived at the scene, he learned that the "person" who had broken out of the auction house was a Fish-Man.

After observing for a while, he felt the situation was too peaceful, so he fired a shot experimentally.

He hadn't really expected much.

To his surprise, after he fired, one "assist" after another sprang up like bamboo shoots after a spring rain.

Afterward, the situation developed beyond his expectations.

Listening to the sounds of fighting coming from the auction house, Maud moved through the building's alleyways, reloading his ammunition while quickening his pace.

He wasn't trying to make a run for it; he intended to find a different spot to see if any fish might slip out.