Chapter Twenty-Four: Potential Target

Taking advantage of the grand occasion of the auction to fish in troubled waters was something Maud had decided on more than half a month ago. If his hunts hadn’t gone smoothly before, he would have abandoned the idea without hesitation. But since the hunts had been successful and his weapons were more than sufficient, there was no way he would heed Sunny’s warnings.

After returning to his room, Maud changed into dark-colored clothes and took out his pre-prepared disguise. The armband bearing the character for “death,” and a mask that covered his face. The inspiration for this get-up came from the undertaker, Arthur. Thus, the mask Maud fashioned by hand bore a slight resemblance to Arthur’s own. The only regret was that he couldn’t replicate Arthur’s distinctive, bright work uniform; otherwise, perhaps Arthur might have unwittingly taken the blame.

Maud swiftly strapped on the armband, donned the mask that left only his eyes and mouth exposed, and glanced at himself in the mirror.

“Not bad,” he nodded, satisfied.

Assuming the guise of the undertaker with a mask was, for now, the best way to conceal his identity. Once disguised, Maud checked his weapons and ammunition: two flintlock pistols, a short dagger, and, most crucially, the Usopp.

“Thirty lead bullets. That should be enough.”

He meticulously checked the ammunition pouch. Once his preparations were complete, Maud couldn’t wait to head outside. With practiced ease, he climbed to the rooftop and made his way toward the tallest building nearby. Before long, he found himself atop a five-story building, gazing down at the brightly lit streets below—a bustling night scene one would hardly imagine possible in an outlaw haven teeming with pirates.

“The auction starts at nine o’clock. Still two hours to go.”

Maud sat down unhurriedly. He had never intended to enter the auction hall itself. It wasn’t out of fear of running into Saul, but because he felt the risks inside were far greater than those outside. As long as he could fish up a few targets from the outskirts, he would be satisfied.

Before the auction began, Maud had no plans to act. With time to spare, he pulled out Sunny’s notebook and, by moonlight, leafed through its pages.

There wasn’t as much information recorded as he’d expected; the main targets were mostly pirates who resided in Mad Hatter Town. Maud read each entry carefully. Perhaps out of habit, Sunny always began each entry with a few brief descriptions of the target’s appearance before noting their combat information. Although not as detailed as the “Neighbors” files, it was enough for Maud to quickly identify his targets by their characteristics.

Rustle—rustle.

Maud flipped through the pages from time to time. He couldn’t memorize everything in a short span, but just getting a general impression was enough.

“Oh, even Kid is in here.”

Maud was a bit surprised to find a page on Kid. On closer inspection, the information was mostly conjecture. For instance, Sunny inferred Kid’s marksmanship from his obsession with buying guns. Overall, the entry was full of speculation, since Sunny had likely never witnessed Kid’s abilities herself, nor even heard much about them—especially since Kid hailed from the outer seas.

“At this point, Kid probably hasn’t eaten a Devil Fruit yet, and his overall strength must still be growing.”

Maud recalled what he knew about Kid. If the chance to take Kid down presented itself now, he might hesitate, but he certainly wouldn’t let the opportunity slip by. After all, no matter how much Kid’s experience might increase over the years, to Maud, the value of that experience now was more important.

He turned to the next page and continued his research. After a few more pages, Maud suddenly came upon his own name, with several lines of description beneath it. However, every line had been crossed out with two thick black lines. At the bottom of the entry, several large question marks stood out—each of them also struck through with black lines.

“These lines make it look as if I’m already dead.”

Looking at the straight black lines at the start and end of each line, Maud shook his head slightly and kept reading.

Soon, he reached the end of the notebook. Then he began a second, more careful review. After nearly an hour, having formed a rough impression, he put the notebook away.

What left the deepest impression wasn’t the especially dangerous individuals Sunny had marked, but rather the Spiked Ox Pirates, to which Red belonged. Of all his previous prey, only Red had the backing of a group; the others were all scattered, drifting pirates.

“The Spiked Ox Pirates…”

Maud rose, gazing at the distant lights, his thoughts stirring.

His interest in the Spiked Ox Pirates wasn’t just because of Red. The main reason was that their captain possessed a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. According to the reliable information Sunny had recorded, it was one of the Ox-Ox Fruit varieties. One notable trait of Zoan-type Devil Fruit users was a considerable boost to physical abilities—precisely the kind of target that could yield Maud the greatest benefits.

From this, Maud could roughly deduce the Spiked Ox Pirates’ captain, Kazt’s, strengths.

Essentially, overwhelming strength, high defense, and formidable close-combat prowess. If he wanted to hunt such a target, breaking through that defense was the key point.

“Too bad there’s no bounty poster for Kazt.”

Maud muttered to himself, thinking he’d have to find some time to collect various pirates’ bounty posters. Otherwise, as now, although he wanted to log Kazt’s name in his Hunter’s Notebook ahead of time, he couldn’t do so without a “face image.”

In this regard, the Navy’s bounty posters were incredibly convenient for Maud: not only did they have photos, but also full names. Admittedly, the names could occasionally be wrong, but the odds were very low.

“It’s about time.”

Seeing there was only an hour left before the auction began, Maud no longer remained idle and headed straight toward Lookout Street.

……

Bar Street, inside an alleyway tavern.

Led by Kazt, the Spiked Ox Pirates arrived at the entrance of a bar called “Nightfall.” The alley was narrow, and nearly a hundred men gathered there, crowding the place to bursting.

Kazt glanced at the bar’s sign, then strode inside with about thirty men. The rest surrounded the building, blocking every exit.

Inside, the bartender Tatam and the nominal patron Wolf Rat both wore expressionless faces as they regarded the menacing newcomers.

From the distinctive spiked helmet and the thick, bushy beard, Wolf Rat recognized Kazt at a glance—the captain of the Spiked Ox Pirates.

As for why Kazt had brought his men here, Wolf Rat didn’t need to wonder; he’d already anticipated it.

Gently swirling his glass, Wolf Rat shot a glance at the wooden-faced Tatam.

“Sorry about this.”

The apology was bland and insincere.

Tatam remained silent.

Kazt stared coldly at Wolf Rat, his voice low and rough. “Wolf Rat, is it? I’m not one for beating around the bush.”

“Oh, I can see that.”

Wolf Rat glanced at the spiked helmet, utterly unfazed.