Saving Fish-Men was for the sake of killing Fish-Men.
How could Clara, as a bystander, have guessed such a wondrously strange logic?
Thus, she simply thought Maud had stepped in to save the Fish-Man.
Along with her disbelief came her doubts about Maud's identity.
On the long street, the Fish-Man slave, who was bent on escaping back to the sea, noticed this as well.
Someone is helping me?
The Fish-Man fell into the same line of thought as Clara for an instant.
Who?
How could anyone possibly help me in a place like this?
The Fish-Man shook his head violently. He had no time to think about such things and kept his head down as he fled for his life.
However, he was not a fool.
Having experienced firsthand what it meant to be a living target, how could he continue running along the main street?
He abruptly changed direction and ran toward the alleys between the buildings.
The pirates who had come out to seek entertainment saw that the Fish-Man slave had gotten smarter. Though they regretted being unable to fire a few more shots, they were not foolish enough to give chase.
Because they knew very well that the Fish-Man slave was merchandise from the auction house in Mad Hatter Town.
When there were many people around, everyone could fire a few shots for fun. If the Fish-Man died, everyone would share the blame.
In that situation, there was no need to worry about the auction house causing trouble afterward.
As for helping the auction house capture the Fish-Man slave alive?
The risks and rewards were disproportionate. Only someone who had been kicked in the head by a donkey would do it.
Only after seeing the Fish-Man slave escape into the alley did the pirates who had gathered to watch shift their attention to the three comrades who had been killed by someone unknown, as well as the melee at the auction house entrance.
From atop a building, Maud watched the Fish-Man turn into the alley, and a satisfied smile appeared beneath his mask.
Now that's more like it...
At the thought of soon being able to verify whether Hunter's Notebook worked on the Fish-Man Race as well, Maud's heart burned with excitement.
When he had designed the ability, his original intention had been to utilize a transmigrator's information advantage.
Thus, subconsciously, Hunter's Notebook was, as its name suggested, meant for hunters and humans.
In Maud's original envisioned range of prey, creatures like Fish-Men and Giants had not been included.
However, whether Fish-Men or Giants, they were still connected to humanity in one way or another.
Therefore, Maud felt there was a high chance the ability would apply to them.
As long as it did, the range of possible prey would expand further.
By then, Fish-Men and Giants would practically be prey with even greater rewards.
That said, although the rewards were high, compared with the pirates spread throughout the Four Seas, Fish-Men and Giants were more like rare monsters.
Unless he went directly to their territory, they were basically creatures one could encounter only by chance.
"The physical strength of the Fish-Man Race really is astonishing. After suffering so many injuries, he can still maintain this kind of speed."
Maud followed closely behind the Fish-Man slave.
"If I hadn't killed those three pirates tonight, I might not have been able to catch up."
Seeing that the Fish-Man slave showed no signs of slowing down, Maud was surprised, but remained calm.
It was best to let the Fish-Man run a little longer.
First, he would suffer excessive blood loss.
Then, his stamina would plummet.
After that, it would be much easier to make his move.
Maud had seen everything the Fish-Man slave had done earlier when he had slaughtered his way through the crowd.
At this moment, he was like a lone wolf patiently waiting for its prey to grow exhausted, hanging tightly behind the Fish-Man slave.
Considering that troublesome bystanders might appear, Maud slowed down and reloaded his ammunition as he gave chase.
Even though his physical abilities were no longer poor, only firearms could still give him a sense of security.
As long as his enemy was not someone who could withstand bullets head-on, Maud was confident he could handle them.
After letting him run for roughly ten minutes, the aftereffects of the Fish-Man slave's injuries finally began to erupt.
First came excessive blood loss, which left his limbs weak.
Then came a clear decline in speed.
To guard against unforeseen changes, Maud felt it was about time to strike.
He suddenly accelerated. After several rapid leaps, he landed in front of the Fish-Man slave.
The Fish-Man slave was startled and abruptly stopped.
His body, weakened in the limbs by excessive blood loss, could not support such a sudden stop, and he stumbled forward.
Damn it...!
The Fish-Man slave's heart pounded wildly.
To his surprise, the human before him did not take advantage of the opportunity to finish him off.
The Fish-Man slave hurriedly steadied himself. Still shaken, he panted heavily while warily staring at the human who had suddenly landed in front of him.
His gaze swept over the dagger in the human's hand and the long gun barrel protruding from his shoulder. He was suddenly startled, and without caring about his lack of strength, he charged forward.
The first move is the best move!
Bang—
The Fish-Man slave abruptly stopped again.
A lead bullet landed in front of his feet, wisps of gun smoke rising into the air.
"Stupid human."
Seeing that Maud had fired the only lead bullet in his flintlock gun wide, the Fish-Man slave's heart settled.
In this terrain, the thing he feared most was a gun. That was why he had risked charging when he noticed the flintlock gun strapped behind Maud.
Yet the other party had deliberately fired the bullet off target.
There was no need to think too much about the reason.
The Fish-Man slave, on the contrary, was no longer in a hurry to attack. He silently adjusted his breathing.
Using a single lead bullet to stop the Fish-Man slave's charge, Maud tossed the empty Usopp aside.
"Although you're a member of the Fish-Man Race, I, Arthur, have never liked taking advantage of someone in peril."
Maud slightly raised his head, his eyes fixed on the Fish-Man slave's body through the holes in his mask.
"Your injuries look quite serious, and fleeing for your life has thrown off your breathing, so I'll give you five minutes to rest."
"..."
The Fish-Man slave's eyes widened at once.
So that's it.
No wonder he deliberately fired wide just now.
Hmph. What a pointless sense of honor.
Humans are especially foolish because of things like this.
Five minutes?
I need less than three minutes to adjust my breathing.
The Fish-Man slave thought to himself as he adjusted his breathing.
Once his breathing recovered, how could he possibly wait five minutes?
He would attack immediately, then leave this place of trouble as quickly as possible.
Watching the Fish-Man slave work hard to recover his breathing, Maud said solemnly, "I never strike down nameless people beneath my blade. State your name."
With that, he raised the dagger and held it horizontally before him.
The Fish-Man slave glanced at the dagger and could not help sneering.
Even injured, as long as it came to close-quarters combat, he was confident he could kill this human with only a dagger in an instant.
"Xidon Sam."
The Fish-Man slave coldly gave his name without hesitation.
He had intended to add a threat, but decided it was unnecessary.
In any case, he would soon crush the head of this self-proclaimed righteous and noble human.
"Xidon Sam, is it?"
Maud smiled and carefully studied the outline of the Fish-Man slave's bloodstained face.
After a while, Maud suddenly retreated while sheathing his dagger.
The Fish-Man named Sam froze at the sight, unable to understand what Maud was planning.
After sheathing his dagger, Maud directly summoned Hunter's Notebook.
"Hm? Could he be a Devil Fruit ability user?!"
Seeing Maud produce a notebook from thin air, Sam suddenly sensed danger. He no longer had time to regulate his breathing and decisively lunged at Maud.
Maud remained calm in the face of danger. Like a judge, he swiftly wrote Sam's name in the book with a quill, along with the astonishing grip strength he had displayed earlier in the battle.
"Whatever your ability is, as long as I get close...!"
As Sam charged, he raised his right hand. His spread webbed fingers were poised to strike, ready to crush Maud's cheeks with his bare hand once he got close.
Suddenly, his expression changed drastically.
He saw the notebook in Maud's hand suddenly disappear, replaced by a flintlock pistol drawn from inside his clothes.
Bang—
Maud pulled the trigger.
The shot struck Sam's body.
Blood burst forth. The impact of the lead bullet made Sam's body jolt, then brought him to a stop.
"You...!"
Sam collapsed to the ground in disbelief.
Maud then drew a second flintlock pistol and fired another shot into Sam's body.
"Shameless Arthur... A-Arlong will absolutely..."
Before he could finish, Sam breathed his last.
"Arlong?"
Hearing Sam's dying threat, Maud raised an eyebrow.
Before you continue