The gathered pirates stared at Maude.
Inside the tavern, the boisterous noise gradually died down.
Though surrounded by countless watchful and varied gazes, Maude remained unfazed.
In the silence, he methodically noted the bountied targets scattered throughout the tavern in his mind.
Then, under the scrutiny of so many eyes, Maude walked calmly toward an empty seat in the corner.
Mad Hat Town was never short of nocturnal pirates partying until dawn.
So even late at night, the Battle Axe Tavern bustled with more activity than it did during the day, leaving few seats available.
If Maude were the domineering type, he could easily have kicked out a group of drinkers.
But he had no patience to wait for a server to clear a messy table.
Besides, there was still a vacant spot.
Maude had only taken a few steps when three hostile pirates blocked his way.
The leading pirate was tall and burly, wielding a naked cutlass. His jagged yellow teeth were particularly striking.
The other two flanked him, each also gripping unsheathed blades.
"Usopp, is it?"
The leader sneered down at Maude, his grin exposing his yellow teeth even more.
"You know who I am?"
He might as well have slapped a "troublemaker" sign on his forehead.
"…"
Maude responded by drawing his blade.
In one swift motion, the Dark Crow slid from its sheath and pierced through the leader's heart.
The yellow-toothed pirate froze, his face twisting in disbelief as he stared at Maude, who had struck without a word.
He had admired Abby and heard of Maude's history with her.
With Maude's growing notoriety in Mad Hat Town, Yellow Teeth had hoped to gain some fame by challenging him.
But who would have thought Maude would be so ruthless, drawing his blade without even a hint of hesitation?
The pirate struggled to lower his gaze to the blade protruding from his chest. Moments later, his eyes rolled back, and his strength left him.
With a clean motion, Maude withdrew his blade and stepped back to avoid the splatter of blood.
Yellow Teeth collapsed to the floor, dead.
The surrounding pirates were variously shocked, indifferent, or amused.
They were taken aback by the swiftness and decisiveness of Maude's strike.
Ordinarily, even in a provocation, some words would be exchanged first.
But Maude didn't even give his opponent the chance.
Brutal.
After dispatching Yellow Teeth, Maude turned his attention to the man's two lackeys.
Though they carried no bounties, Maude didn't hesitate to cut them down as well.
With the trouble dealt with, Maude glanced at Yellow Teeth's lifeless body.
"I wasn't even looking for you, yet you came straight to me."
He mused silently.
Yellow Teeth carried a bounty of 8 million berries but was relatively unknown. His strength likely wasn't much to speak of. Still, meat was meat, and Maude wouldn't turn it down.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Maude wiped the blood from his blade on the corpse's clothes, then rummaged through the body to find around ten thousand berries.
"Pathetic," he muttered.
He waved over a nearby waitress.
The woman flinched but, as a seasoned worker, managed a nervous smile as she approached.
Maude looked at her and asked, "Is this enough to call an undertaker to deal with the bodies?"
"It's plenty, sir," the waitress replied, not daring to refuse.
"Good."
Maude smiled.
His grin made the waitress momentarily dazed.
She wasn't used to such decisive yet handsome young men in her line of work—most of her customers were gruff brutes.
But Maude didn't wait for her to recover. He handed her the money and walked toward the vacant seat in the corner.
As he walked, Maude instinctively scanned the pirates on either side.
The pirates he glanced at immediately avoided his gaze like ostriches burying their heads in the sand.
Damn it, one Lafitte in town was bad enough. Now there's a Usopp too.
The pirates cursed silently.
Once seated, Maude placed a casual order of food and drink when the waitress returned.
Then, he resumed surveying the pirates around him.
His gaze lingered for a moment on a table where a pirate with a 7-million-berry bounty sat.
Feeling Maude's attention, the pirates at that table grew visibly uncomfortable.
"Damn, why is he staring at us?"
They exchanged uneasy glances, their eyes darting to the three corpses near the door.
Before long, one of them stood up abruptly.
"Well, we're full. Time to pay and leave."
The group hastily threw some money on the table and headed for the door, their pace quickening.
Nearby patrons watched silently, noting the half-eaten food and drink left behind.
Full already?
Maude watched the 7-million-berry pirate leave but decided to let him go.
"This one's not worth it," he thought.
There were plenty of targets in the tavern, though most had bounties below 10 million berries.
Still, one table caught his eye.
It held two pirates, both with bounties over 10 million.
This was Maude's real target.
Even so, he couldn't help but scrutinize the other pirates who seemed promising, causing more to leave their seats.
Another table cleared out.
Then another.
The sound of chairs scraping across the floor echoed again and again.
By the time fifteen minutes had passed, eight tables had emptied.
Behind the counter, the tavern manager wore a bitter expression as he watched Maude sitting calmly in the corner.
By the third table, the manager had realized something was amiss.
After observing for a while, he figured out that Maude's mere presence was scaring off his customers.
But what could he do? Tell Maude, "Please, sir, eat and drink all you want, but stop staring?"
So, he could only swallow his complaints and hope Maude would leave soon.
And perhaps his prayers were answered.
About twenty minutes later, Maude stood up, much to the manager's relief.
Please go, please go, the manager silently begged.
Maude was indeed leaving because the two high-bounty pirates he had been watching had exited the tavern.
Leaving his payment on the table, Maude followed them.
The group consisted of seven pirates, including two with bounties of 11.5 million and 13.8 million berries.
They were the heaviest hitters in the tavern and, more importantly, swordsmen.
Outside, Maude found the group waiting on the long street, their gazes cold and fixed on him.
Being noticed didn't surprise him.
He hadn't tried to hide his intentions, following them almost immediately.
"Usopp, others might fear you, but we don't. If you don't want to die a miserable death, turn around and leave," said the highest-bounty swordsman, drawing his blade.
"I, Usopp, don't scare easily," Maude replied, unsheathing the Dark Crow.
The long street fell silent as passing pirates hurried to clear the area.
In the distance, the fledgling Kid Pirates happened to pass by.
At the front, Eustass Kid immediately noticed Maude and froze in shock.
"It's him?"
Kid thought back to the last time he had seen Maude, when the man had seemed weak and frail.
But now…
----------------------------
Join my patreon to access advance chapters: patreon.com / emperorgarus