As Lafitte had mentioned, rescuing two innocent civilians in the middle of battle was nothing more than a trivial matter.
That statement, in turn, reflected his absolute confidence in defeating X Drake.
Because of this, when Drake exposed an opening, Lafitte chose to forgo a sneak attack that could have ended the fight instantly.
To Lafitte, no matter how the battle unfolded, the result was already set in stone.
"Looks like I'm the slowest one."
Even without turning around, Lafitte could tell from the sounds behind him that his comrades had already finished their battles.
"Can't keep the captain waiting. I'll wrap this up in a minute."
Raising his cane sword, Lafitte's upper body began shifting into his siren form, and an eerie glow flickered along the blade.
Drake's expression grew grim as hesitation took root in his mind.
The main force that had come to Dressrosa alongside him had already been crushed by the Maude Pirates. As a Marine undercover agent, there was no reason for him to fight to the bitter end.
But just as that thought crossed his mind, Lafitte's attack was already upon him.
A sharp, piercing sword light shot straight for his eyes.
"Axe Bite!"
Drake's gaze sharpened, and with a precise motion, his twin axes twisted at an uncanny angle, catching the tip of Lafitte's sword.
Clang!
The sound of metal striking metal rang out, sending sparks flying.
"An opening…"
The moment he successfully caught Lafitte's blade, Drake thrust his rapier with his free hand, aiming straight for Lafitte's chest.
Given the circumstances, unless Lafitte abandoned his weapon, he had no way of avoiding the fatal thrust.
Faced with a split-second decision, Lafitte's blood-red lips curled into a sinister grin.
"Phantom Blade."
"!?"
Drake's body trembled as his vision suddenly spun wildly.
A second ago, the clash of their weapons had clearly ceased, yet the sound of the impact echoed once more in his mind, as if replaying inside his skull.
His extended arm, along with his rapier thrusting toward Lafitte's chest, twisted into a swirling vortex in his eyes.
"What is this ability…?"
In the blink of an eye, cold steel sliced into his body.
A familiar sensation—the sharp sting of a blade cleaving through flesh—registered instantly.
Pain coursed through his nerves and surged into his brain.
As his distorted vision returned to normal, the first thing he saw was his own blood spraying from his chest.
Drake's eyes filled with disbelief.
The Haki-infused strike had inflicted severe damage.
But thanks to the resilience granted by his Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit, he remained conscious and managed to keep his footing.
"Hoho."
Lafitte observed Drake, who, despite suffering a near-fatal wound, still refused to fall. He was unsurprised.
He had seen this kind of endurance before.
During his sparring sessions with Jim, the Ancient Zoan's incredible durability had already been demonstrated.
Still, finishing the job was just a matter of landing a few more blows.
Lafitte prepared to strike again, but before he could act, Drake stomped the ground and bolted toward the town, leaving a trail of blood in his wake.
Fleeing after a loss—an expected outcome.
"…"
Lafitte narrowed his eyes. He had wanted to end the fight quickly, but now, with no other choice, he spread his wings and took off in pursuit.
...
On the streets outside the Toys House.
Maude and Law walked side by side.
Bailey perched on Maude's shoulder, frequently glancing back toward the Toys House's entrance.
Finally reunited with the Big Sis, only to part ways again after a few brief words.
But that couldn't be helped.
She was now part of the Revolutionary Army and had an important mission—stealing a massive supply of arms from the Donquixote Family. There was no time for reminiscing.
Bailey clung to lingering attachment.
Gazing ahead, Maude spoke calmly. "The matter is settled, we got what we came for. Best to leave this place quickly."
After parting ways with Sunny and the others inside the Toys House, Maude had casually found a room and instructed Law to extract the Hobby-Hobby Fruit.
With Sugar, the original user, dead, the Devil Fruit naturally reappeared.
And so, the number of Devil Fruits stored in Maude's Shadow Casket reached thirteen.
Meanwhile, several more Ancient Zoans awaited them at the port.
Counting everything, this haul alone—excluding the experience gained—was already an unimaginable fortune.
Law remained silent but turned to glance at the Toys House.
Before leaving, they had destroyed the underground factory and freed a group of Tontatta slaves who had been forced into labor by the Donquixote Family.
Liberating the Tontatta was a trivial matter, but wiping out the Donquixote Family, taking down Jack the Drought, and obliterating the factory would undoubtedly provoke Kaido's fury to new heights.
But at this point, worrying about that was meaningless.
Law sighed inwardly, his thoughts drifting to Violet, the woman Maude had set free.
"Was it really okay to let her go like that?"
He was referring to Violet, the former princess of Dressrosa and user of the Glare-Glare Fruit.
"There's no harm in it."
Maude knew exactly who Law was talking about. He gazed toward the port with a faint smile.
"She's a member of the royal family, one of the few people who knows the truth. With her around, no one will be able to twist the narrative afterward."
Law frowned. "That's a nice thought, but expecting the public to be grateful to pirates isn't realistic."
"Law, that was never my goal. I couldn't care less about the people's gratitude. What I don't want is for the Marines to cover up their failures."
"Huh? That's not like you, Maude."
"Strange, isn't it?" Maude chuckled, eyes gleaming. "Maybe I've seen too much of this sort of thing, and it bothers me."
"…"
Law had no response to that.
Personally, he saw the Glare-Glare Fruit as an incredibly useful ability—especially for fortifications, essentially providing all-seeing surveillance.
Even if they didn't extract it from Violet, taking her with them would have been beneficial.
Coercion, persuasion—it didn't matter.
Abducting Violet would have been nothing but advantageous.
But since Maude had already decided, there was nothing more to say.
As they walked down Central Street, they could feel numerous eyes watching them from the surrounding buildings.
With Sugar dead, the effects of her ability had worn off, restoring thousands of transformed toys to their original forms.
Among them were civilians, Marines, pirates, and, most notably, Dressrosa's kingdom soldiers.
All across the city, chaos erupted as those freed regained their senses.
Boom!
Suddenly, a wall on the left side of the street exploded outward.
Debris scattered, kicking up a thick cloud of dust.
"Damn it, I'm finally free!"
A deep, furious voice rumbled from within the dust.
A few moments later, a burly, shirtless man emerged, gripping a middle-aged couple in each hand as though he could snap their necks at any moment.
"A bounty of 55 million, and I was stuck playing house in this hellhole for three damn years!"
The man lowered his head slightly, his cold gaze fixed on the middle-aged couple he held in his grasp.
"It's not too late to collect my payment now. Your lives will do just fine."
Under the man's menacing stare, the couple trembled uncontrollably, paralyzed with terror, unable to utter a single word.
Reflecting on the past three miserable years, the self-proclaimed great pirate's expression grew even colder. He gradually tightened his grip, intending to slowly choke the couple to death.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his chest, draining his strength.
"Ugh?"
He slowly looked down, only to see blood spreading across his chest, his heartbeat completely absent.
"My body… so cold… What's… happening…?"
His strength rapidly faded, and as he collapsed to the ground, his vision blurred. In the distance, the last thing he saw was the backs of two men walking away side by side.
Those two men were none other than Maude and Law.
Taking out a piece of trash like that was as trivial to Maude as sipping a glass of water.
The real reaction came from the onlookers, whose gazes snapped away in an instant.
No matter the justification, killing and violence were acts that struck fear into the hearts of ordinary people.
Maude and Law continued walking away.
A couple of minutes later, people cautiously began emerging from the buildings lining the street.
Elsewhere, on another street—
Drake, wounded and battered, was sprinting through the city.
As long as he avoided the western port, there was still a slim chance of escape in another direction.
Even if it was just a sliver of hope… he couldn't afford to sit and wait for death.
His overwhelming will to survive pushed his body beyond its limits, gradually increasing his speed despite his injuries.
"Besides the western port, where else are there ships…? Think… fast… huh?"
Mid-sprint, Drake's pupils shrank in horror.
Two figures had just stepped out onto the street ahead of him—Maude and Law.
Seeing Drake's despairing expression, Maude spoke indifferently. "All that commotion—I was wondering who it was."
Lifting his gaze slightly, he spotted Lafitte descending from the sky in pursuit. In an instant, he pieced together what had happened.
Lafitte also noticed Maude and looked displeased at Drake's retreating figure.
Even though he had beaten Drake into fleeing, allowing the captain to stumble upon him like this wasn't exactly a job well done.
"Law."
Not wanting to waste time, Maude extended his right hand, where a flame-shaped shadow materialized in his palm.
Law immediately understood, responding in perfect sync as he activated his ability.
"Room."
The spatial field expanded, covering the entire street.
Then, Law swapped the position of the shadow in Maude's palm with Drake's body.
A perfect capture.
Swish—!
Drake, who had suddenly been teleported, was instantly seized by Maude before he could even react.
The seamless maneuver left Drake utterly dumbfounded.
It's over…
Cold sweat streamed down his face as despair overtook him.
Lafitte landed beside Maude, squinting as he said, "Shall we start by cutting off his limbs?"
Before his words had even finished, Lafitte was already raising his cane sword.
As soon as Maude gave the order, he would promptly carry out his well-practiced tradition—dismembering Drake.
"Arara…"
Just as Maude was about to nod, a voice interrupted.
Kuzan arrived with a chill in the air, speaking in the tone of a subordinate making a request. "Captain, could you leave him to me?"
"Sure."
Without a second thought, Maude tossed Drake toward Kuzan.
Kuzan raised a hand to catch Drake's limp body, momentarily surprised at how readily Maude had agreed.
Lafitte's eyes darkened with displeasure.
As Maude's earliest follower, he felt a subtle sense of crisis.
Law furrowed his brows slightly but said nothing.
"Catch up soon."
Without pausing, Maude walked past Kuzan, heading toward the western port.
Lafitte and Law followed closely behind, each glancing at Kuzan as they passed.
Once Maude and his crew had moved on, Kuzan silently set the bewildered Drake down.
"You… why?"
Drake, barely escaping death, looked at Kuzan in confusion.
He had thought he was doomed, yet at the last moment, Kuzan had intervened and saved him in front of Maude.
Kuzan gazed up at the white clouds in the sky and, instead of answering, muttered to himself, "Arara… Next time, don't be so reckless."
"Huh?"
Drake was taken aback.
Kuzan lowered his gaze, expression unreadable. "Aren't you leaving?"
"…"
Drake's lips twitched slightly. Without another word, he turned and bolted in the opposite direction, still in his hybrid beast form.
Kuzan quietly watched him go before turning back toward Maude's direction.
"That was too easy… almost makes me feel like I went overboard, huh, Captain?"
He scratched his messy hair, feeling oddly unsettled by how readily Maude had granted his request.
He had also noticed Lafitte rescuing the civilians earlier and overheard what he had said to Drake.
Though he hadn't been with the Maude Pirates for long—and his reasons for joining were far from pure—
Why did it feel like he was stepping into a swamp?
Kuzan stood in place, silent for a long time.
Their time together had been brief, but from Maude's actions, or rather, from the way Maude operated, Kuzan could sense something unique about him—something different from other notorious pirates.
"Well… guess I'll just go with the flow."
After a while, Kuzan shoved his hands into his pockets, his gaze turning lazy again as he started walking toward the port.
...
At the port, the battle had already ended.
But standing there was a squad of Marines led by Chaton. Though they had no intention of fighting, the atmosphere remained tense.
As the standoff dragged on, each second ticked by slowly.
That was, until Maude arrived.
With his presence, the tension shifted drastically.
The Marines noticeably grew restless.
"Law, take out their hearts."
Ignoring the Marines, Maude instructed Law to remove the hearts of the defeated Jack and Ulti.
Law complied, swiftly extracting their hearts.
"Lafitte, Jim, Urouge, Hawkins, Arthur—you handle the unconscious ones. The rest of you, prepare to set sail."
"Understood."
By "handling," Maude naturally meant finishing off the unconscious members of the Donquixote Family and Beasts Pirates.
This methodical execution was simply how Maude operated.
But to the Marines present—who preferred imprisoning pirates in Impel Down—it seemed excessively ruthless.
Though they disapproved, they remained silent, merely watching as Lafitte and the others carried out the executions.
Minutes passed.
The cleanup was nearly complete.
Just then, a massive warship appeared on the waters beyond the port.
The warship remained at a distance, but a purple figure shot into the air, soaring toward the port ahead of the ship.
Almost simultaneously, every person at the port turned their gaze toward the approaching figure.
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