Undertaker

Mad Hatter Town was a lawless mix of all kinds of people, and a famous pirate money pit in West Blue.

At the same time, various forces from the underworld had entrenched themselves throughout Mad Hatter Town like roots, allowing all kinds of black-market industries to flourish there.

The main reason behind this prosperity was that Pirate King Roger had ushered in the Great Pirate Era with a speech before his death.

The fundamental reason, however, was a simple, clear chain of cause and effect woven from human desires.

For example, rampant pirates robbed the honest citizens of various countries of vast sums of money.

In turn, the bosses of the underworld racked their brains to make the pirates willingly empty their pockets.

Thus, Mad Hatter Town, a lawless haven for spending money, spawned all kinds of industries.

Slaves,

organs,

weapons,

Flower Street,

Anything that could easily stir ordinary people's nerves could be found here.

Among the many black-market professions in Mad Hatter Town was that of the Undertaker.

His main job was collecting corpses. Depending on the circumstances, he would occasionally moonlight as a doctor, maintaining a fairly direct partnership with organ dealers.

Arthur, whom Sunny had called to collect the body, was one of the undertakers in Mad Hatter Town.

His skills were not quite top-notch, but they were still among the best.

When Saul had brought Maud's former body back, Arthur had also been responsible for treating him.

And now, as the person in charge of the treatment, he was extremely surprised to see Maud wake up.

"What do you mean, 'he actually woke up'?"

Saul sensed something amiss and glared at Arthur.

Arthur had guaranteed back then that Maud's chances of waking up after treatment would exceed fifty percent, which was why Saul had gone through with it.

At the time, he had figured that even if Maud could not be revived, he could still sell him on the black market and minimize his losses, so he had ultimately agreed.

Judging from the current situation, Maud's chances of waking up back then had definitely been below fifty percent.

Arthur had been caught out by Saul, an old hand, over a slip of the tongue. He simply spread his hands and admitted it.

"If I hadn't said that at the time, how could I have taken your business?"

"You profiteering bastard! May you die a horrible death!"

Saul immediately launched into a tirade.

"Likewise."

Perhaps it was because he wore a mask, or perhaps he was genuinely thick-skinned. Arthur remained completely calm.

"Anyway, you still made a profit. You should know that the starting price for a human slave is five hundred thousand, while you only spent fifty thousand on treatment. You ought to be satisfied."

"Maud isn't a slave."

Sunny suddenly corrected him.

She left the rest of her sentence unsaid—Maud was a laborer.

Arthur glanced at Sunny without replying. Instead, he set aside his work and walked toward Maud.

Seeing Arthur approach, Maud secretly went on guard.

This guy clearly isn't a good person.

Arthur was tall and burly. Standing before Maud, he towered over him by half a body.

He lowered his head to look at the bandage wrapped around Maud's forehead, then suddenly reached out to grab him.

But Maud had been prepared. The instant Arthur moved, he promptly retreated several steps and dodged the grab.

"Oh?"

A strange glint flashed through Arthur's eyes.

His move had been fast and sudden. He never would have expected Maud to dodge it.

Based on his original diagnosis of Maud, he had determined that even if Maud woke up, his control over his limbs would certainly be affected. It was even less likely that he could recover to this level in such a short time.

But the facts were right before him.

Leaving everything else aside, Maud's healing ability alone was already extraordinary.

The strange glint in Arthur's eyes quickly faded, replaced by a calculating light.

This was premium merchandise, precisely the kind those special customers liked most. Not only would it sell easily, but it could also fetch a price well above market value.

With that thought, Arthur stepped forward, intending to further confirm Maud's physical condition.

The next instant, he suddenly stopped.

He turned to look at Saul, who was smoking a dry tobacco pipe behind the counter with an expressionless face. He felt that the gaze directed at him was painfully sharp.

At the same time, he realized that this seemingly ordinary little fellow had most likely already caught Saul's eye. It was impossible to pry him away and turn him into merchandise.

He could not help feeling disappointed.

But all he could do was silently snuff out the idea of discussing a deal with Saul.

"Sorry, sorry. I got a little excited when I saw that a patient I personally treated had awakened, and I nearly forgot that I'm an Undertaker now."

Arthur casually came up with an excuse for his overstep, then returned to the corpse and continued the work he had interrupted.

Only then did Saul's expression ease.

Although he felt awful about being tricked by Arthur, he did not doubt Arthur's professional ethics. He knew that every penny spent had genuinely gone toward the treatment.

Otherwise, he could make Arthur walk in and be carried out horizontally, and their years of friendship would not be wasted.

Maud watched Arthur's back.

So his name is Arthur...

Beside him, Sunny tilted her head and looked at Maud's profile, a trace of puzzlement flashing through her eyes.

Beside the corpse, Arthur examined its wounds and drew a thin needle threaded with string from his collar.

"The heart was stabbed several times, so I can only give you sixty percent of the going rate."

"Fine. Finish up quickly and get lost."

Saul exhaled a puff of smoke and spoke impatiently.

Arthur said no more. His right hand, gripping the needle, produced a blur of shadows over the corpse's wounds.

In just a moment, the several messy wounds had been stitched so tightly that not a drop could leak through.

Watching Arthur display his technique, Maud could not help thinking of the woman from his previous life who had used needles and thread as weapons and was exceptionally fearsome.

Damn.

Even someone who never showed his name in the original story can have this kind of technique?

And Saul—although he is very short, his strength is definitely not weak.

And this is only West Blue...

So what are the Grand Line and the New World like?

Maud's thoughts grew slightly heavier.

It seemed he would have to be more cautious when choosing his prey.

He had better not be careless and end up being hunted by people instead of hunting them.

In truth, Maud was overthinking it.

As the saying went, birds of a feather flock together. How could someone who could associate with Saul be a weakling?

And for an old pirate like Saul, who had retired from the previous era, how many people like him could there be in a remote place like Mad Hatter Town?

After stitching up the corpse's wounds, Arthur simply tossed down a small stack of money, then carried the body away.

After Arthur left, the shop door closed again, and they ended business for the day ahead of schedule.

As for the bloodstains covering the floor, Maud naturally had to clean them up.

Although he was hungry and thirsty, given his circumstances, Maud could only resign himself to it.

Fortunately, Sunny had already started treating him as a coworker. She took the initiative to give him a flatbread and a cup of boiled water.

After swallowing the flatbread and drinking all the water, Maud finally managed to fill his stomach a little. He immediately picked up the tools and began cleaning the bloodstains.

At that moment, Saul went upstairs to his room, while Sunny did not leave.

There were two stools behind the counter, one high and one low.

Saul used the low stool to stand on, while the high one was for sitting.

She sat on the low stool, propped her chin on her hand, and watched Maud clean the floor.

After finally waiting for Maud to finish cleaning, she asked about the question that had puzzled her earlier.

"How did you dodge it?"

"Uh?"

Maud looked at Sunny in confusion.