The Great Vortex

Kazt had been in a terrible mood these past two days. A truly terrible mood.

First, an important navigator had been suddenly killed. Then there was Lagron, the capable officer who had stayed behind to deal with the matter.

After that, the long-awaited auction had run into trouble.

The fish-man slave they had successfully won at auction had been shot dead in an alley, while more than half of the brothers stationed outside the auction house had been killed or wounded in the chaos.

Several things had happened one after another, leaving Kazt feeling deeply depressed.

He did not even understand what he had done wrong to deserve being targeted like this.

Even successfully raiding Bolgin's merchant ship a few days ago had failed to ease his current frustration.

Afterward, carrying a heavy heart, he had begun settling old scores.

According to the information he had obtained from Wolf Rat, the first target was naturally the culprit—the youth inside the weapon shop.

Kazt badly wanted to capture that boy as soon as possible, then torture him while forcing him to reveal why he had it in for him.

However, Lagron's bizarre death had stopped him from acting rashly.

Steadying himself with every step had always been Kazt's guiding principle.

Even with a major undertaking like raiding Bolgin's merchant ship, he had originally needed only to join forces with a pirate crew of comparable strength. But to ensure success, he had found another pirate crew as well, showing no hesitation about dividing the spoils one more way.

Thus, despite his cautious nature, he had not gone straight to cause trouble at the weapon shop after the auction ended. Instead, he had spent considerable effort investigating the shop's background with his subordinates.

He had subsequently learned that Saul, the weapon shop's usually unassuming owner, was actually an old man who was extremely difficult to provoke.

But that was all.

If he had not lost more than half his fighting force the previous night, Kazt might not have thought so much about it. He would have simply followed his instincts and taken his men to destroy the weapon shop.

Now, with the risk he had foreseen likely exceeding what the current situation could bear, Kazt had decisively abandoned the idea of destroying the weapon shop.

But he was still a man, and also a pirate who had gone to sea in pursuit of doing whatever he pleased.

If he did not take something back from this Assassination Incident, it would be too difficult to vent the hatred in his heart.

Thus, Kazt had sent a subordinate skilled at surveillance to hide around the weapon shop.

He could refrain from risking an attack to destroy the weapon shop, but at the very least, he had to kill Maud.

What Kazt had not expected was that the opportunity would come so quickly.

After his subordinate returned to report, Kazt had given Maud more than enough respect, bringing all his brothers straight to the Battle Axe Tavern.

His violent way of opening the door, along with the large group barging in, immediately drew everyone's attention.

Seeing Kazt storm into the tavern with a crowd behind him, Wolf Rat's expression changed as he thought, This is bad.

He was not worried about his own safety. He was worried about Maud's.

The previous night, he had first provided Kazt with the free information, then accidentally witnessed Maud killing those three pirates. That was how he had realized Maud was the opening he could use to make further contact with Ghost Gun Saul.

Thinking of this, Wolf Rat felt extremely distressed.

He had seriously underestimated Kazt's ability to judge the limits of a situation.

"Usopp, Usopp... If I had known this would happen, I never would have sold you out last night. Look at you now—Boss Ebe in front, Kazt behind. I can only say you're out of luck."

Faced with this enormous vortex where getting dragged in meant instant death, Wolf Rat abandoned his mission opening without a second thought.

If it had only been Ebe, he might still have been able to make use of the situation by stepping forward and earning Maud's goodwill.

But now Kazt had come seeking revenge...

Why bother stepping forward? And as for the mission opening he had worked so hard to find?

To hell with the opening!

Protecting himself was the most important thing!

In the span of a few seconds, Wolf Rat's thoughts had turned countless times.

Having decided to stay out of it, he could not help feeling that his earlier mistake—thinking Ebe had called him out and stepping forward on his own—had instead become the key to clearing himself of any connection.

It truly felt as though fate had arranged it.

Before Kazt's attention turned this way, Wolf Rat quietly moved away from Maud's table without hesitation.

Because there was some distance between them, the movement did not seem out of place at that moment.

In Wolf Rat's eyes, Maud was practically doomed.

If Ghost Gun had been present, the result would have been entirely different.

After all, Ghost Gun was an existence even the Marine Hero wished he could tear muscle from bone.

Against pirates of Ebe and Kazt's caliber, Ghost Gun would need only two shots, so long as he did not mind exposing his identity.

But Ghost Gun was not there.

As for Maud, judging from the strength he had displayed the previous night...

"Don't die too horribly, Usopp."

With his back to Maud, Wolf Rat silently thought this.

Maud was pondering how to escape from Ebe's clutches and had not noticed Wolf Rat's actions. He naturally had no idea that Wolf Rat had wanted to be his friend one second, then decisively sold him out the next.

The commotion caused by Kazt and his men entering the tavern was immense.

After hearing it, Maud no longer had the luxury of playing the ostrich in front of Ebe. He and Ebe turned toward the tavern entrance almost simultaneously.

He immediately noticed Kazt's distinctive horned helmet and thick beard, recognizing his identity.

Kazt, with a bounty of 32 million Beli.

"I'm finally seeing the real deal."

Maud committed Kazt's appearance to memory, completely unaware that the other man had come for him.

As the mastermind behind the Assassination Incident, he had somehow become the only person kept in the dark.

It was something he could never have imagined.

Ebe coldly watched Kazt, who had clearly come with hostile intent. As pirates whose bounties both exceeded 30 million, they had always been at odds.

Although they had never openly clashed, given the chance, either of them would gladly torment the other to death.

This black bull is charging in so aggressively. Could he have been kicked in the head by a donkey and come here specifically to cause trouble for me?

Ebe considered the possibility.

After all, they had only just entered the tavern, and Kazt had arrived with a large group right behind them.

In this place, the only person Ebe could think of who would be worth Kazt gathering a crowd to cause trouble for was herself.

For a moment, Ebe completely forgot about coveting Maud's looks. She signaled her subordinates with a glance and immediately prepared for battle.

At the entrance, Kazt swept his gaze across the pirates in the tavern and naturally noticed Ebe's undisguised hostility.

But he paid it little mind. Guided by his subordinate, his gaze passed over Ebe and slowly settled on Maud.

With vengeance before him, his eyes instantly reddened.

The anger that had nowhere to go transformed into cold killing intent, surging toward Maud like a tidal wave.

The first to react to the killing intent was not Maud, but the white skunk Ebe had brought along.

An opportunity to escape had arrived!

Without a word, the skunk darted beneath the table.

The second to react to the killing intent was the person bearing the brunt of it—Maud.

"Is he here for me???"

Maud's heart jolted.

In the blink of an eye, he instantly guessed the reason.

His killing of Red had been exposed.

He had no idea why the other party had waited so long before coming to his door.

Nor did he have time to think about it.

Maud abruptly rose to his feet and took two steps forward, entering the edge of Ebe's reasonable guard range.

He neither crossed the line nor moved too far away.

Then—

"Boss Ebe!"

Maud puffed out his chest and called Ebe by name in a respectful tone.

Then he looked toward Wolf Rat's back.

"Brother Wolf Rat!"

Hearing Maud's two forms of address,

Ebe froze.

Her subordinates froze as well.

Kazt froze.

His subordinates froze too.

Wolf Rat, who had already prepared himself to stay out of it, was shocked.

"Usopp, you son of a—@#%@#&...!"

"That extra chapter... I'll do my best to finish writing it before I go to sleep!"