It wasn't that Maud was pretending to be stupid.
The main issue was that Sunny had brought up the question at such a strange moment.
Seeing Maud's bewildered expression, Sunny added, "Arthur's hand."
"Oh, that..."
Maud looked at Sunny strangely.
After a brief pause, he set down the mop and bucket, then slowly reenacted the dodging motion he had made at the time.
After finishing, he looked at Sunny and said uncertainly, "Like this?"
Sunny fell silent.
A few seconds later, a sudden clatter came from behind the counter.
Maud instinctively looked beneath the counter. When he saw a small part of a gun handle protruding from the edge underneath, his eyelid twitched.
Sunny said at just the right moment, "The gun just fell by accident. Don't worry about it."
With that, she bent down, picked up the gun, and casually placed it on the counter.
"I couldn't remember the motion you demonstrated just now. Sorry for the trouble, but could you demonstrate it again?"
"..."
Maud glanced at the flintlock lying across the counter. Its muzzle was pointed at him, whether intentionally or not.
He pondered for a moment. Of course, he wasn't going to demonstrate that meaningless motion again.
Although he didn't know what motivated Sunny to fixate on it, it seemed he could no longer fob her off.
"I didn't use any special method. I was simply on guard at the time, so I managed to dodge in time. Besides, it wasn't anything major, was it?"
At that, Sunny quietly looked at Maud.
After a long while, she nodded and said calmly, "It really wasn't anything major. You can get back to work."
"..."
Maud was speechless. All he could do was silently label Sunny as strange.
Afterward, he put the mop and bucket in the storage room.
When he returned to the shop, Sunny was still sitting in the same place.
The flintlock that had been lying across the counter was gone. In its place was a sheet of scratch paper, with a pencil weighing it down.
Maud's gaze swept over the paper and pencil. "I can go back to my room now, right?"
Sunny nodded, pulled the scratch paper out from beneath the pencil, and gestured for Maud to come take it.
Maud understood. He walked to the counter and accepted the paper Sunny handed him.
There were several lines of writing on it.
From a quick glance, they seemed to be a few precautions.
There's so little written down. Did she really need to put it on paper?
Maud was full of questions.
As he put away the paper, the corner of his eye caught sight of the pencil, and an idea stirred.
"Sunny, can I take this pencil back to my room?"
"Suit yourself."
"Thanks."
Maud took the pencil and turned to leave.
Sunny watched him go, then took a notebook and a newspaper from the drawer beneath the counter.
She placed both items on the counter.
She set the newspaper to one side and opened the notebook halfway.
The exposed page contained information mixed with several names.
Sunny glanced at it, then turned another page.
This page also contained writing, and Kid's name was conspicuously present in the upper half.
Without looking any further, Sunny flipped through several more pages until she finally reached a completely blank one.
Then she took a pencil from the drawer, glanced at the newspaper twice, and began writing something in the notebook.
A few minutes later, Sunny stopped writing.
More than half of the formerly blank page was now covered in writing.
At the very bottom of the text were Maud's full name and a large question mark.
After taking one last look at Maud's name, Sunny closed the notebook and placed it, along with the pencil, deep inside the drawer.
"I should have a talk with Saul."
Sunny muttered to herself.
Maud returned to the room where he had woken up.
Maud was rather surprised that he had been accepted so easily.
However, he could also tell that Saul, who was in charge, was very casual about such matters.
Perhaps the reason he had brought Maud back was simply that he viewed him as future labor for the shop.
"Since I'm here, I might as well settle in."
Maud muttered to himself, locked the door from the inside, and dropped into the thickly dust-covered chair. Only then did he examine the contents of the paper.
Whether day or night, don't go outside. Stay in the house.
Don't touch the merchandise on the shelves.
The basement is off-limits.
There are ingredients in the kitchen refrigerator.
We'll discuss the rest tomorrow.
Maud finished reading the paper with mixed feelings.
Couldn't she have just said these few things aloud?
Maud shook his head slightly, unable to understand Sunny's way of doing things. He tossed the paper onto the similarly dust-covered table, then picked up the pencil he had brought with him.
Hunter's Notebook.
With a thought, the black notebook materialized out of thin air.
He casually flipped to a blank page, closed his eyes, and tried his best to recall everything he knew about One Piece.
To consolidate and organize those memories, he planned to slowly write them down from memory, sort them out, and then write them several more times.
Although the quill that came with Hunter's Notebook was inkless, it was the only thing that could fundamentally leave writing in Hunter's Notebook.
As for other writing implements...
Such as the pencil in Maud's hand.
He could use the pencil to scribble and draw on any page in Hunter's Notebook.
But as soon as he put away Hunter's Notebook, the words and doodles left on the pages would turn into graphite dust and fall to the ground.
Thus, Maud could make unrestricted use of this feature to reinforce his memories.
After all, the information formed from these memories might all become nourishment for him in the future.
"The memories that stand out the most are still the Straw Hat Pirates, I suppose..."
"After all, they're the protagonist group, so there's a lot more information about them."
"But the period when they truly became powerful was two years after the story began."
"That's too far away..."
"Judging from Kid's current age, there should still be at least a few years before the story begins, right?"
"Besides, there are plenty of more suitable targets. There's no need to focus on them."
"Right, the Arlong Pirates. I wonder if Hunter's Notebook can work on the Fish-Man Race. And the Giant Race too!"
"If it can, the implications are unimaginable."
"Speaking of which, the Arlong Pirates are in the East Blue, right? This place is in the West Blue. If I relied solely on sea travel, could I get to the East Blue?"
"I seem to remember that Kid was from the South Blue. Since he was able to reach the West Blue, going from the West Blue to the East Blue should be possible too."
"There doesn't seem to be much point in thinking about this now."
Maud organized his memories while scribbling on the page.
Although he knew nothing about navigation, that didn't stop him from letting his imagination run wild.
Immersed in this process, the seconds and minutes slipped by.
Saul's room.
Several lit candles were placed on the windowsill, beside the bed, on the table, and in other locations, providing ample light for the room of several dozen square meters.
Even though there was the more convenient option of electric lighting, Saul chose not to use it.
This was one of the things Sunny had never been able to understand.
"You came to find me specifically to tell me that Maud is very abnormal?"
Saul sat cross-legged on a huge double bed, holding a slender, gold-plated pipe in his right hand.
Smoke curled through the air, carrying a slightly acrid smell.
His gaze passed through the smoke and settled on Sunny before him with a hint of scrutiny.
"But you know that I've never cared about such things."
"Saul, Maud is different from the others before him..."
"How is he different?"
"..."
Sunny couldn't explain exactly why for a moment.
Saul gently rubbed the stem of his pipe.
"You're right. He really is very different."
Thank you to Justice Zombie Loli and to the person who comes to take a look whenever they're tired from hauling bricks for the ten-thousand-yuan tip!
Thanks to q Xiaofeng and Purple Pig Is the Best for the tips!
The book's status has been changed to contracted. Recommendation tickets are extremely important, so please vote as usual!
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