Chapter Eleven: Then Just Follow Me

That human walked out of the territory.

This meant that his compatriots inside had already been...

On the flat ground, Arlong struggled to his feet with a shudder.

The two kicks just now not only caused him to temporarily lose consciousness, but also inflicted severe internal injuries.

Had it not been for his exceptional physical constitution, he wouldn't have been able to stand up at all.

"Haki...!"

In Arlong's eyes as he looked at Maud, there was only terror remaining.

That previously haughty and superior demeanor had vanished into thin air at this very moment.

"Oh, you know about Haki."

Maud walked step by step toward Arlong, saying indifferently: "That's right, you used to be a member of the Sun Pirates; it's only natural that you know about Haki."

He knew Arlong was at the end of his tether now, and what he needed to do next was to take down this source of experience points with a single slash.

The terror in Arlong's eyes deepened. "You're a human from the Grand Line...!"

Maud did not speak.

Arlong panted heavily, struggling to say: "An incredibly strong human like you... why, why did you come to the East Blue?!"

Maud still did not speak.

"What do I have to do for you to spare me?"

Just standing was quite an effort for Arlong now; he no longer had the capital to contend with the powerful human before him.

Recognizing the grim reality, Arlong was left with only the instinct to survive.

As long as he kept his life, everything could start over from the beginning.

For the sake of survival, he did not even hesitate to lower his head to Maud.

That racist Arlong, who had always looked down upon humans as mere blades of grass... was actually begging for mercy!

Nami and the others looked at Arlong with incredulous gazes.

This was something they could never have imagined even in their wildest dreams.

Maud suddenly stopped.

At this moment, there were only about ten steps of distance between him and Arlong.

Seeing Maud stop, a glimmer of hope flashed deep within Arlong's eyes. Enduring the pain, he said: "As long as you spare me, name your conditions!"

Maud, however, ignored Arlong and instead looked up at the sky.

Laffitte, with wings growing from his back, descended from the sky carrying Bepo and landed beside Maud.

"You mentioned something about money—was it just to wipe out the Arlong Pirates all by yourself?"

Laffitte glanced at Arlong, who was at the end of his rope.

When he was in the air just now, he had already seen the corpses of the fish-men scattered all over Arlong's territory.

From this, it was safe to deduce that the Arlong Pirates had practically reached their end.

"Haha, I'll tell you later. By the way, I'll leave the Sea King over by the coast to you. As for that fish-man, don't touch him."

Maud glanced toward the coast a hundred meters away, then resumed walking toward Arlong.

Laffitte felt a slight sense of helplessness, but still obeyed the order and headed toward the shoreline.

With their Observation Haki, they could sense two presences approaching from the sea toward this direction.

Bepo, lacking Observation Haki, could only listen in confusion to the conversation between Maud and Laffitte, then looked toward the calm coast.

A few seconds later.

Boom!

A burst of splashes rose from the surface of the sea near the coast.

When the splashes settled, a giant Sea King with the head of an ox and the body of a fish was revealed.

At the same time, a fish-man with six arms also popped his head out of the water—it was Hatchan, the final officer of the Arlong Pirates.

"Arlong, what happened!?"

Hatchan climbed ashore and, seeing Arlong's horrifying state, instantly began waving his six octopus arms wildly in a flurry of panic.

Upon seeing the Sea King and Hatchan, Arlong and Nami's group reacted differently.

The former seemed to see hope, while the hearts of Nami and the others skipped a beat.

Without a moment's hesitation, Arlong abruptly bolted toward the coast where Hatchan and Moo Moo were.

With a flash, Maud effortlessly blocked Arlong's escape route.

"Didn't you just ask me why I came here?"

As he spoke, Maud thrust his blade directly into Arlong's mouth, pinning him to the ground.

Arlong stared with bulging fish eyes at the expressionless Maud.

He felt the breath of death.

Suddenly, enduring the excruciating pain, he closed his mouth with all his might, attempting to snap the blade of Shigure with his teeth.

Yet it was all in vain...

"This is the answer."

Maud pulled the blade of Shigure downward, cleanly and decisively executing Arlong.

As Arlong drew his last breath, subtle changes instantly occurred within Maud's body, imperceptible to the naked eye, accompanied by the faint sound of bones grinding against each other.

Though baseless, Maud felt as though his height had grown just a tiny bit once again.

His current body was seventeen years old, but his height had already broken past 1.9 meters.

If his physique star rating crossed the second stage of six stars, he wondered what height he might reach.

At this thought, Maud closed his eyes and checked the star progress in his Hunter's Notes.

【Physique: ★★★☆】

【Swordsmanship: ★】

【Haki: ★★】

After killing a dozen fish-men in Arlong's territory, the fourth physical star frame had condensed.

Now, having absorbed Arlong's experience points, the star frame was directly filled by one-third.

Maud slowly opened his eyes and involuntarily glanced back at Arlong's corpse.

The immediate, tangible gain gave rise to the absurd notion of wanting to resurrect Arlong on the spot for another round.

Maud shook his head slightly, banishing the ridiculous thought from his mind, and then turned his gaze toward the coast.

By the time he finished off Arlong, Laffitte had also finished his task, using just a single slash to grievously wound and render Moo Moo unconscious, leaving it floating on the coastal waters.

As for Hatchan, obeying Maud's command, Laffitte had not harmed him, but instead used hypnotic ability to freeze Hatchan in place, unable to move at all.

Ignoring Nami and the others, Maud walked straight over to Laffitte.

First, he glanced at Hatchan, who stood with a dull, wooden expression, and then looked at Moo Moo, who was hanging on by a single breath.

Bepo squatted at the edge of the shore, examining Moo Moo up close, and grinned. "This guy has eaten quite a few people."

Hearing this, Maud lowered his gaze to Bepo and asked in surprise, "Oh, you can tell that just by looking?"

"Perhaps it's just my talent."

Bepo tilted his head up slightly with a smug look on his face.

Maud smiled softly and turned his attention back to Hatchan.

Laffitte instantly understood Maud's intent and voluntarily lifted the hypnosis on Hatchan without waiting for an order.

Such considerate actions prompted Maud to give Laffitte another look.

After spending some time together, he had to admit that Laffitte was truly an impeccable subordinate.

Hatchan snapped out of his trance, and his very first reaction was to look toward Arlong's direction.

Upon seeing Arlong's corpse, Hatchan cried out in grief and anger, "I'm going to kill you!"

"Hatchan, you know Rayleigh, right?"

Maud's follow-up question instantly shattered the fierce emotion Hatchan had just summoned.

"Y-You, how do you know that?!"

Hatchan stared at Maud in terror.

He had never even mentioned this matter to his compatriots in the Arlong Pirates.

"Never mind how I know. For Rayleigh's sake, I won't kill you."

"Who on earth are you?"

Hatchan's limited cognitive capacity sent his thoughts spinning into utter chaos.

"The Tricky Gun."

Maud simply stated his moniker and said calmly, "You may leave."

He had originally intended to have Hatchan deliver a message to Rayleigh, but then decided it was unnecessary and dropped the idea.

Besides, if Hatchan ever crossed paths with Rayleigh again, he would most likely bring up the moniker he had just dropped.

A few seconds later, Hatchan dazedly plunged into the sea and departed from the scene.

Once Hatchan was gone, Maud looked at the heavily injured and unconscious Moo Moo. After a moment of thought, he summoned the Hunter's Notes out of thin air.

Noticing this, a look of profound astonishment surfaced on Laffitte's pale, sickly complexion.

A Devil Fruit...?

He had never known about something like this.

Observing Laffitte's reaction, Maud said, "This is not the ability of a Devil Fruit."

"Oh?"

The astonishment on Laffitte's face deepened as he furrowed his brow. "If it's not a Devil Fruit, then what on earth is this thing?"

Maud's gaze locked onto Moo Moo floating on the sea surface. The tangible benefits of wiping out the entire Fish-man pirate crew made him eager to enter the Grand Line all the more.

Without offering any further explanation regarding the existence of the Hunter's Notes, he calmly stated:

"Laffitte, you said you wanted to follow me to the absolute peak and witness extraordinary sights... Then come along."

Laffitte looked at Maud's calm expression, beneath which currents ran deep, and a gradual brilliance began to awaken in his eyes.

"Heh heh, finally... I'm seeing the exact thing I wanted to see in you!"