Tidying Up

It wasn't that Maud was feigning ignorance.

Mainly, the timing Sunny chose to ask the question was too strange.

Seeing Maud's confused expression, Sunny added, "Arthur's hand."

"Oh, that..."

Maud looked at Sunny strangely.

After a pause, he put down the mop bucket and slowly reenacted the dodging motion from before.

After completing the action, he looked at Sunny and asked with an uncertain tone, "Like this?"

Sunny remained silent.

A few seconds later, there was a falling sound from behind the counter.

Maud instinctively looked under the counter. Upon seeing a small part of a gun handle peeking out from the edge of the cabinet bottom, his eyelids twitched.

Sunny said at the opportune moment, "The gun just fell accidentally, don't mind it."

After speaking, she bent down, picked up the gun, and casually placed it on the counter.

"I didn't manage to remember the movement you just demonstrated. Could you please demonstrate it again?"

"..."

Maud glanced at the flintlock pistol lying on the counter, its muzzle pointed at him unintentionally.

He pondered for a moment, certainly not going to demonstrate that meaningless action again.

Although he didn't know Sunny's motive for being so persistent, it seemed he couldn't just brush it off anymore.

"I didn't use any special method. It's just that I was on guard at the time, so I was able to dodge in time. Besides, this kind of thing is no big deal, right?"

Sunny listened and quietly looked at Maud.

After a long while, she nodded and calmly said, "Indeed, it's no big deal. You can continue with your work."

"..."

Maud was speechless and could only silently label Sunny as peculiar.

Afterward, he put the mop bucket in the storage room.

When he returned to the shop, Sunny was still sitting in the same spot.

The flintlock pistol that had been lying on the counter was gone, replaced by a piece of rough paper with a pencil resting on it.

Maud's gaze swept over the paper and pencil, and he asked, "Can I go back to my room now?"

Sunny nodded, pulled out the rough paper from under the pencil, and gestured for Maud to come and take it.

Maud understood, walked to the counter, and took the rough paper Sunny handed him.

There were a few lines of text written on it.

He scanned it briefly; it seemed to be a few points of caution.

Why write such a small amount of content on paper specifically?

Maud was utterly confused.

After putting away the paper, Maud's peripheral vision caught sight of the pencil. A thought flickered through his mind.

"Sunny, can I take this pencil back to my room?"

"Whatever you want."

"Thank you."

Maud took the pencil and turned to leave.

Sunny watched Maud leave, then took out a notebook and a newspaper from the drawer under the counter.

She placed both items on the counter.

She set the newspaper aside and directly opened the notebook halfway.

The opened page contained some information with names included.

Sunny glanced at it, then flipped again.

This page also had writing, and in the upper half of the page, Kid's name was prominently listed.

Without looking further, Sunny flipped a few more times, finally reaching a completely blank page.

Then, she took a pencil from the drawer, glanced at the newspaper content for a moment, and began writing something in the notebook with the pen.

A few minutes later, Sunny stopped writing.

The originally blank page was now more than half filled.

At the very bottom of the text was Maud's full name, followed by a large question mark.

After a final look at Maud's name, Sunny closed the notebook and put it, along with the pencil, deep into the drawer.

"I should talk to Saul."

Sunny murmured to himself.

Maud returned to the room where he had woken up.

Maud was quite surprised to be accepted so easily.

However, Maud could also see that Saul, who was in charge, was very casual about such matters.

Perhaps the reason he was brought back was purely to treat him as future labor for the shop.

"Where you are, be at peace."

Maud muttered to himself, locked the room door, and then plopped down onto the dust-covered chair. Only then did he examine the contents of the parchment.

[You are not allowed to go out, day or night. Stay in the house honestly.]

[Do not touch the goods on the shelves.]

[The basement is off-limits.]

[There are ingredients in the refrigerator in the kitchen.]

[Other matters will be discussed tomorrow.]

Maud finished reading the parchment with mixed feelings.

Couldn't these few things just be said verbally?

Maud shook his head slightly, unable to understand Sunny's style of action. He tossed the parchment onto the equally dusty tabletop, then picked up the pencil he had brought with him.

[Hunter's Notebook]

With a thought, a black notebook appeared out of thin air.

Casually flipping to a blank page, Maud closed his eyes and tried his best to recall memories related to the Pirate King.

To consolidate and organize these memories, he planned to slowly transcribe them, then review them, and then write them out several more times.

Although the quill that came with the Hunter's Notebook was inkless, it was the only one that could fundamentally leave writing in the Hunter's Notebook.

As for other writing instruments.

Like the pencil Maud held.

He could use the pencil to scribble and draw on any page in the Hunter's Notebook.

But after he put away the Hunter's Notebook, the words and doodles left on the pages would turn into graphite dust and fall to the ground.

Thus, Maud could freely use this to consolidate his memories.

After all, the information converted from these memories could potentially become his nourishment in the future.

"The Straw Hat Pirates are still the ones that leave the deepest impression..."

"After all, they are the main characters, and there's a lot of information revealed about them."

"But their truly powerful period is two years after the story begins."

"Too far away..."

"Judging by Kid's current age, there are still several years before the story begins, right?"

"Besides, there are plenty of more suitable targets, no need to fixate on them."

"Oh, right, the Arlong Pirates. I wonder if the Hunter's Notebook works on Fish-Men, and Giants!"

"If it works, I can't even imagine."

"Speaking of which, the Arlong Pirates are in the East Blue, and this is the West Blue. Can we reach the East Blue just by sailing?"

"I remember Kid is from the South Blue. Since he can come to the West Blue, it should be fine to go from the West Blue to the East Blue."

"Thinking about these things now seems meaningless."

Maud sketched and doodled on the page while sorting through his memories.

Although he knew nothing about navigation, it didn't stop him from letting his mind wander.

Immersed in this, time ticked by second by second.

Saul's room.

Several lit candles were placed on the windowsill, beside the bed, and on the table, providing ample light for the room, which was tens of square meters.

Even though there was a more convenient electric light, Saul chose not to use it.

This was one of the things Sunny could never understand.

"You came all the way to find me just to tell me Maud is abnormal?"

Saul sat cross-legged on a large double bed, holding a slender, gold-plated pipe in his right hand.

Smoke swirled, slightly pungent.

His gaze, through the smoke, fell somewhat scrutinizingly on Sunny in front of him.

"But you also know I never care about these things."

"Saul, Maud is different from the others before..."

"How is it different?"

"..."

Sunny couldn't quite explain it.

Saul gently rubbed the pipe stem.

"You're right, he really is very different."

Thanks to [Justice Zombie Control Loli] and [Tired of Moving Bricks, Just Come and See] for their generous rewards!

Thanks to [Xiao Feng] and [Purple Pig Set Is Number One] for their tips!

The book's status has been changed to "Signed," and recommendation votes are extremely important. Daily vote request!