Who Is Saving the Fish-Man?

Who fired the supporting shot afterward was anyone's guess.

Maud had no idea, and it didn't seem that important anyway.

Listening to the increasingly fierce sounds of the slaughter, he could imagine how horrific the scene was.

As the instigator, Maud felt a little regretful about it.

Those who ventured into this world would always have to pay the price.

Having no guilt whatsoever toward the pirates, he made a wide circuit through the buildings. Once he reached the other side, he immediately climbed onto the roof of the nearest building.

After reaching the rooftop, Maud was astonished to find that many people had somehow appeared on the surrounding roofs.

At a glance, some of them were even carrying food and wine bottles.

From nearby, he could hear their cheers.

Looking at those people, Maud pondered briefly.

Attacking them didn't seem like a bad choice either.

But there was a better option at hand, so he abandoned the thought.

Maud silently withdrew his gaze and turned toward the battle raging in front of the auction house.

His attention was focused mainly on the fish-man slave fighting desperately, covered in blood.

The pirates he had casually glanced at a few times earlier inexplicably felt a chill. Assuming the temperature had dropped after nightfall, they hurriedly gulped down more strong liquor to warm themselves.

At that moment, the melee below was gradually reaching its climax.

Some people withdrew from the battlefield in time after realizing the situation was unfavorable.

But even more stayed because their companions had been injured and their bosses were still inside the auction house.

Originally, after the explosions inside the auction house, the subordinates had worried about their respective bosses and wanted to charge inside to check on them. However, they were stopped by the auction house's armed guards.

From the auction house's standpoint, if so many people were allowed to rush in at once after an accident, it would not only make the situation inside worse, but also threaten the goods that the guests had already purchased at tonight's auction.

Faced with the armed guards' perfectly reasonable explanation, the subordinates grudgingly trusted the auction house's strength.

That became the flashpoint of the conflict. Once the situation descended into complete chaos, they stopped holding back. They began slaughtering in groups and pushed toward the auction house's entrance.

Under such circumstances, in less than a few minutes, more than a hundred corpses had piled up on the ground.

But at least a third of those corpses had been killed by the fish-man slave.

From the moment he escaped the auction house until now, killing anyone who stood in his way, the fish-man slave was still somewhat dazed.

He didn't know where the explosion inside the auction hall had come from.

He didn't know who had taken advantage of the chaos to open the cage imprisoning him.

He knew even less about why the people inside the auction hall had started fighting.

He only knew that an opportunity to regain his freedom had appeared before him.

So, clinging to a sliver of hope, he ran for his life through most of the venue.

What he couldn't understand was that none of the humans inside the venue—including the human who had paid a huge sum to buy him—had stopped him. They had simply allowed him to escape safely.

What the fish-man slave didn't know was that the guests attending the auction regarded him only as a commodity with a price tag, and a commodity that could be bought with money.

Since he was something they could obtain by paying money, what right did he have to make them risk their lives?

Therefore, even Kazt, who was determined to obtain the fish-man slave, could not possibly risk stopping him under such circumstances.

He was nothing more than a commodity that could be traded for money.

If something went wrong, the auction house was the one responsible.

How could the fish-man slave, fleeing in panic, possibly understand such a pure belief that had penetrated to the depths of their souls?

He had finally escaped the venue, only to find himself facing another crisis in an instant.

Just as he was slowly beginning to despair, another scene he could not understand unfolded before his eyes.

The humans suddenly began killing one another.

That gave the fish-man slave hope.

Arlong had been right. Humans were ugly creatures who had no reason to exist!

With the pressure suddenly reduced, the fish-man slave unleashed killing moves with abandon.

He no longer bothered to defend against the blades coming from behind, focusing only on breaking through as quickly as possible.

That reckless approach left him with several wounds gushing blood within a few short seconds.

But the results were also striking. He finally broke through to the edge.

Blocking his path was no longer a suffocating mass of people, but a human wall he could break through with a wave of his hand.

"Get out of my way!"

The fish-man slave roared again and charged straight through the last, weakest human wall.

After successfully breaking out, he ran down the long street, his entire body drenched in blood.

As long as I reach the sea, as long as I reach the sea...

That was the only thought in his mind at that moment.

Seeing the fish-man slave break through, the pirates watching the spectacle nearby couldn't help but be startled.

Several pirates immediately drew their pistols. They regarded the fish-man slave as a moving target for their amusement and aimed their muzzles at him.

Bang, bang...!

Gunshots rang out from all directions. Bullets tore through the night and shot toward the fish-man slave as he ran for his life.

Their terrible marksmanship caused most of the bullets to miss, but a few grazed the fish-man slave's arm and waist.

Several arcs of blood sprayed through the air.

The fish-man slave endured the pain and didn't slow down.

"Hahaha!"

The pirates laughed wildly.

Another volley of gunfire followed close behind.

The storm of bullets struck, leaving the fish-man slave like a small boat adrift in a storm, teetering on the brink of destruction.

At an alley entrance not far from the street, Clara watched the fish-man slave flee desperately through the hail of bullets. Apart from the gunshots, all she could hear was the pirates' ear-piercing, arrogant laughter.

Her brows furrowed deeply. Her fingers unconsciously tightened around the important blueprint in her hand, crumpling a large section of it.

It wasn't entirely out of pity for the fish-man slave. Rather, she loathed the atmosphere at that moment.

Her experiences as a child had taught her one thing clearly.

There were good and bad fish-men, just as there were good and bad humans.

The distinction between good and evil had nothing to do with race.

Bang, bang--!

Another series of deafening gunshots rang out.

But this time, they were followed by two dying screams from pirates.

Two shots fired from an unknown direction killed the two pirates who had been shooting most enthusiastically.

Clara froze. Relying on her excellent hearing, she picked out those two fleeting gunshots from among the many sounds.

She looked in the direction they had come from and saw a masked figure moving swiftly across a rooftop.

"What...?"

Clara's eyes widened.

The figure quickly holstered the flintlock pistol, then drew a long-barreled smoothbore gun from behind him with one hand. He abruptly leveled the muzzle and pulled the trigger without even seeming to aim.

As the gunshot rang out, Clara shifted her gaze and saw a pirate carrying a rifle, aiming its muzzle at the fish-man slave, collapse.

"That person... is saving the fish-man?"

Clara looked at the figure again, her eyes filled with astonishment.

Who was he?

A Marine?

A bounty hunter?

He couldn't possibly be a pirate, right?

And he definitely couldn't be a fish-man, right?

Staring blankly at the figure receding into the distance, Clara's thoughts churned endlessly.

She couldn't imagine who, in a place filthy with such rampant corruption, would step in to save a fish-man.

The person firing the shots was Maud, who had been watching the battle the entire time.

After seeing the fish-man slave successfully break through, he felt a surge of delight and quickly followed after him.

Then he saw the pirates emerging from the taverns and casinos on both sides of the street to watch the spectacle, using the fish-man slave as a live target for shooting practice.

"Touch my prey, will you?"

Without a second thought, Maud immediately drew his guns and killed the three pirates making the biggest scene.

And that was how Clara witnessed the astonishing scene.