Chapter Thirteen: A Bloody Incident Triggered by a Gun

The blue perforated mask was how Maud recognized Killer’s identity. Thinking of Kid also being in Mad Hatter Town only made him more certain.

“What’s he here for? Helping Kid buy a gun? But that gun… seems to be the same flintlock Jesus Burgess bought yesterday.”

Maud surreptitiously studied Killer, speculating about his motive for coming to the shop.

As soon as a customer arrived, Sunny put down the auction catalog without delay, swiftly composed her emotions, and by the time she raised her head again, her face was expressionless as she looked at Killer entering through the door.

Shops like theirs had no need for salesmanship or smiles.

Buy if you want, if not—get lost.

A very “humane” principle.

Killer entered the shop and, noticing that the difficult old man Kid had mentioned wasn’t present, was slightly surprised but didn’t dwell on it.

He was there to buy something; whoever was present didn’t matter, so long as someone was.

He strode up to the counter, unceremoniously placed four stacks of Berries on it, and got straight to the point: “Four million. I want the Keenoo Set Gun.”

“The price for the Keenoo Set Gun is three million eight hundred thousand.”

“Makes no difference. The extra two hundred thousand is yours to handle.”

“Oh, but the gun was already sold.”

“?”

A question mark seemed to pop up on Killer’s forehead.

If it was sold, why didn’t you just say so instead of wasting my time?

He suddenly understood why Kid always lost his temper in this shop.

Since they’d set out to sea, when had they ever encountered a merchant like this?

But on second thought, Killer figured it might be for the best—the gun was gone, but they could just take it from whoever bought it.

If you want something, just take it; if someone annoys you, just kill them. That was their code.

The four million Berries, after all, had just been stolen the night before.

With this clarity, Killer pressed, “Who bought the gun?”

Having been around for years, Sunny could easily see through Killer’s motive—he simply wanted to track down the buyer for a proper pirate-style robbery.

Normally, she would never have divulged a customer’s information. That was the seller’s bottom line.

But this was different—the buyer was Yasopp from the Red-Haired Pirates.

She looked at Killer, her expression calm. “The gun was sold yesterday afternoon. The buyer’s name is Yasopp.”

Hearing this, Killer didn’t waste another word. He grabbed the Berries and left without a backward glance.

He vaguely felt the name Yasopp sounded familiar, but didn’t think much of it.

The gun was bought yesterday afternoon; that person was likely still in Mad Hatter Town.

Leaving the weapons shop, Killer made straight for the tavern where Kid was.

What came next was obvious: track down the buyer, take the gun, then there’d be no reason to linger here any longer.

Maud walked to the door, stuck his head out, and watched Killer’s retreating figure with a look of pity.

But recalling that Shanks and his crew had already left, he couldn’t help but feel a touch of regret.

Otherwise, he’d love to see Kid’s crew try to rob the Keenoo Set Gun.

He pulled the door to a narrow gap and turned back toward the counter, meaning to tease Sunny with a “You’re really something,” only to find she was already engrossed in the auction catalog again.

Given her habit of poring over a single newspaper for three or four hours, who knew how much time she’d spend on that little booklet.

Maud was somewhat interested in the auction himself. He silently moved behind Sunny and started sneaking peeks at the list of auction items.

“One of the fifty famed swords? Who knows when I’ll learn how to use a sword…”

“Hm? Even fish-man slaves—starting price a million Berries… Too bad I’m broke, or I’d buy one just to see if the Hunter’s Notes would work on a fish-man.”

“A musk-skunks? The description says… A variant skunk that gives off fragrance instead of stench? What sort of thing is that? And it’s classed as a rare exotic beast…”

“Hmm, as expected, most of the auction items are weapons. Swords aside, even flintlocks get auctioned.”

“Makes sense; most potential buyers are pirates—the demand for weapons is naturally higher than at a noble auction, where it’s mostly slaves.”

“But looking through it all, only the Devil Fruit and the famed sword really count as headline lots.”

“The latter isn’t as valuable as the former, but it’s still a rare find.”

Browsing the items behind Sunny, Maud was amazed by the range of starting prices.

Compared to the Hunter World’s auctions, which focused on antiques, pirate world auctions were far more interesting.

All those odds and ends easily roused Maud’s urge to buy.

Once he’d finished looking, he quietly slipped away from the counter and resumed his physical training in the corner of the shop.

This kind of training wouldn’t bring instant improvement, but it was steady. Given his current state, it was better than nothing.

“It’s past mealtime and Thor still isn’t back.”

Maud checked the time.

Maybe Thor was still stewing over being angered by Shanks yesterday, which would explain why he looked so much younger today.

After all, venting is important.

Somehow, Maud felt he’d found the reason for Thor’s absence.

...

Inside the bustling tavern, Kid was waiting for Killer, who returned empty-handed.

“They didn’t sell it to you either?”

Kid’s gaze was cold, his rising anger ready to explode into destructive fury at any moment.

This gun was driving him to exhaustion.

Killer shook his head. “It wasn’t that they wouldn’t sell. A man named Yasopp bought it.”

“Oh? When did he buy it?”

Kid perked up, an icy smile curling his lips.

He couldn’t mess with the unfathomable Thor, but surely he could handle the man who’d bought the gun.

“Yesterday afternoon.”

“Find him.”

Kid sprang to his feet and strode toward the door.

Killer tossed some money for the drinks and followed closely behind.

Mad Hatter Town had no strict ban on pirates fighting each other, but there was one rule that had to be obeyed:

You must not harm the lawful interests of merchants.

That is—if you spend money in a shop, you pay what you owe.

Trying to skip out?

Prepare to die.

The two of them left the tavern one after the other and stepped into the street.

As the saying goes, every snake has its path, every rat its alley.

If they wanted to find Yasopp quickly, they’d have to go through the town’s usual informant network.

Striding quickly through the street, Killer suddenly said, “You know… the name Yasopp sounds kind of familiar.”

“Then think harder,” Kid shot him a glance.

But now that Killer mentioned it, Kid had the same feeling.

Yasopp...

They both stopped in their tracks.

Kid’s expression was still menacingly murderous, but his aura clearly dropped.

As for Killer, with his mask, nothing could be read from his face.

After a long pause, Killer asked blankly, “What do we do now?”

“Leave!” Kid ground out between clenched teeth.

He loved collecting weapons, but some were not essential.

The Keenoo Set Gun, though, was meant to be part of his personal fighting gear—a short blade and a short gun—not just a collector’s item.

That was why he’d been so persistent, staying in Mad Hatter Town for so long.

But now that it was out of reach, there was no reason to stay.

Just then, a man came their way, head down, absorbed in an auction catalog.

He was about to walk straight into Kid.

Kid didn’t move, letting the man bump into him.

Bang—

The man, who’d clearly been at fault, staggered back two steps, dropping his auction catalog.

“Damn it, are you blind—”

The man’s temper flared, but before he could finish, Kid, looking for an outlet, sent him flying with a punch. The man landed over ten meters away, his condition uncertain.

“Trash like that dares to set out to sea?”

Kid spat on the ground, then suddenly noticed the auction catalog.