Desperate Situation

Before using Shadow Shift to travel to Wano Country, Thriller Bark was on its way to Dressrosa.

Maud had learned remotely that Yamato was in danger through the condition of Yamato's Vivre Card.

This was exactly what he had anticipated.

So Maud did not think too much about it. As long as his stamina allowed, he teleported to Wano Country.

That was how the battle with Charlotte Linlin and Kaido came about.

That battle.

Although it ended hastily, Maud had gained a great deal from it.

The clash with those two monsters had shown him the existence of a "gap."

As long as he was given some time, he would cross that gap at the fastest possible speed, then seek out Charlotte Linlin and Kaido again—or make Charlotte Linlin and Kaido come looking for him.

In any case...

Next time, he would crush Charlotte Linlin and Kaido.

Before that, he had to remember the visible gap and then find a way to raise all four of his star ratings above nine and a half stars.

Once his overall strength improved, the strength of his Shadow Clones would increase accordingly.

If he could further improve the Shadow Clones' autonomy as well.

Then he might be able to develop some combination techniques.

But for now, his priority was to raise his star ratings as quickly as possible.

However, with the blank pages in Hunter's Notebook nearly exhausted, the prey that could satisfy Maud's hunting requirements had to be worth at least 500 million Beli.

Looking across the current New World, one could count the great pirates with bounties exceeding 500 million Beli on one hand.

There had originally been quite a few strong fighters, but most of them had already become stepping stones for Maud.

Now, if he wanted to raise the