Chapter Forty: The Great Whirlpool

These past two days, Kazte has been in a foul mood—an exceedingly foul mood. First, his important navigator was abruptly killed, followed by the loss of his capable subordinate Lagron, who had stayed behind to handle the matter. Then came the incident at the long-anticipated auction. The fish-man slave he had successfully bid for was shot dead in an alley, and over half the men stationed outside the auction house were killed or injured in the ensuing chaos.

One calamity after another left Kazte feeling suffocated. He couldn't even begin to fathom what he had done wrong to warrant such targeted misfortune. Even the recent successful plundering of the Polkin merchant ship did little to dilute his current frustration.

Afterward, weighed down by gloom, he began his reckoning. According to intelligence obtained from Wolf Rat, the primary target was, as expected, the perpetrator—a young man in the weapons shop.

Kazte was eager to catch the boy swiftly, to torture him mercilessly until he confessed why he had chosen to antagonize him. However, the bizarre manner of Lagron's death made Kazte wary of acting rashly.

Prudence had always been Kazte's guiding principle. Even when looting the Polkin merchant ship—a feat that could have been achieved with the aid of a single pirate crew of similar strength—he recruited an additional crew to guarantee success, never mind the necessity of splitting the spoils further.

Thus, in keeping with his cautious nature, Kazte did not immediately seek trouble with the weapons shop after the auction. Instead, he and his men worked to investigate the background of the establishment. That was how he learned that the usually unassuming shop owner, Saul, was in fact a formidable old man not to be provoked.

But that was all.

Had he not lost over half his fighting force the previous night, Kazte might not have hesitated so much; he would have simply followed his instincts and led his men to raze the weapons shop to the ground. Now, foreseeing risks beyond what he could bear, Kazte decisively abandoned the idea of destroying the shop.

Yet, he was still a man—and a pirate whose very reason for going to sea was to do as he pleased. In this murderous episode, if he didn't reclaim something, his rage would never be quenched.

So, Kazte sent a subordinate specialized in surveillance to stake out the area near the weapons shop. He would not risk destroying the shop, but at the very least, he had to eliminate Maud.

What Kazte did not anticipate was just how swiftly the opportunity would present itself. Once his subordinate returned with news, Kazte gave Maud due face by personally leading all his men straight to the Battle Axe Tavern.

Their violent entrance and the sudden surge of people instantly drew the attention of everyone present. Seeing Kazte storm in with his crew, Wolf Rat's expression shifted, and he thought to himself that this was bad.

He wasn't concerned for his own safety, but rather for Maud's. The previous night, he had provided Kazte with free information, only to later witness Maud dispatch three pirates—realizing that Maud was his key to forging a connection with the notorious "Strange Gun" Saul.

This thought left Wolf Rat deeply vexed. He had gravely underestimated Kazte's capacity for restraint.

"Usopp, Usopp, if I'd known this would happen, I'd never have sold you out last night. Now look what's become of you—first Albay, now Kazte. Just your rotten luck."

Faced with such a deadly whirlpool, where involvement meant instant death, Wolf Rat didn't hesitate to abandon his intended point of contact.

Had it only been Albay, perhaps he could have used the opportunity to win Maud's favor by stepping forward in his defense. But now, with Kazte here for revenge...

There was no point in stepping forward—let alone clinging to his hard-won mission's entry point. To hell with it! Self-preservation was paramount!

In the span of a few seconds, Wolf Rat's thoughts spun furiously. Having chosen to keep out of it, he now realized that his earlier move—mistakenly believing he had been singled out by Albay and stepping forward—had ironically become the very act that distanced him from trouble.

It truly felt like fate.

Before Kazte's attention could land on him, Wolf Rat quietly moved further away from Maud's table. Given the distance, it didn't look out of place.

In Wolf Rat's eyes, Maud was as good as dead. If the "Strange Gun" were here, things would be different. After all, he was someone even the Navy Hero would dearly love to flay alive. Against the likes of Albay and Kazte, if he didn't mind exposing his identity, he could deal with them in two shots.

But the "Strange Gun" was not present. As for Maud, judging by the power Wolf Rat had witnessed the night before...

"I just hope you don't die too horribly, Usopp," Wolf Rat thought to himself, his back to Maud.

Maud, meanwhile, was preoccupied with thinking of a way to escape Albay's grasp and had not noticed Wolf Rat's actions—let alone guessed that, only moments before, Wolf Rat had wanted to befriend him but now had unhesitatingly betrayed him.

Kazte's arrival in the tavern caused a huge commotion. At the sound, Maud could no longer afford to play dumb in front of Albay; at almost the same moment, both he and Albay turned to the tavern door.

He immediately noticed Kazte's distinctive horned helmet and his bushy beard, instantly recognizing him.

Kazte, with a bounty of thirty-two million Berries.

"At last, we meet in person," Maud thought, memorizing Kazte's features—unaware that the man had come specifically for him.

As the instigator of the murder, Maud was, by a twist of fate, the only one left completely in the dark. Never could he have imagined such a thing.

Albay glared coldly at the hostile Kazte. Both had bounties exceeding thirty million, and there had always been bad blood between them. Outwardly, they hadn't openly clashed, but given the chance, either would gladly see the other dead.

"This black bull is coming in with such force—could it be he's lost his mind and come here just to pick a fight with me?" Albay mused.

After all, they had barely entered when Kazte followed almost immediately with a large group.

In this place, the only one worth Kazte gathering his crew to confront, Albay reckoned, was herself—no one else.

With that, she put aside any thought of admiring Maud's looks, signaling her men and preparing for battle.

At the door, Kazte scanned the pirates inside and quickly sensed Albay's open hostility. He paid it no mind; following his subordinate's lead, he let his gaze drift past Albay and fall upon Maud.

Face-to-face with his enemy, his rage flared all the more intensely. That pent-up fury instantly transformed into a cold, murderous intent, surging toward Maud like a tidal wave.

Strangely, the first to react wasn't Maud, but the white skunk Albay had brought along.

"Now's my chance to escape!"

Without a second thought, the skunk dived under the table.

The second to sense the killing intent was Maud, who bore the brunt of it.

"He's here for me???"

Maud's heart pounded. In a flash, he guessed the reason—word of Red's death had gotten out. He couldn't fathom why it had taken so long for Kazte to come after him, but there was no time to dwell on it.

Maud sprang to his feet, taking two steps forward—just inside Albay's reasonable zone of vigilance; not too close, not too far.

Then—

"Big Sister Albay!"

Maud raised his voice, addressing Albay with respect.

Then he looked to Wolf Rat's retreating figure.

"Brother Wolf Rat!"

At these words, Albay was startled. So were her men. Kazte was stunned. So were his men. Wolf Rat, who had been ready to stay out of it, was shocked beyond measure.

"Usopp, you son of a—!"