Chapter Seventy: The Gaze from Maud

Countless pirates fixed their gazes on Mod.
Inside the tavern, the clamor gradually faded.
Under the scrutiny of myriad eyes, each bearing its own intent, Mod remained unmoved.
In the quiet that followed, he committed to memory each target in the bar that matched a bounty poster.
Then, under the weight of those stares, Mod strode calmly toward a seat in the corner.
In Mad Hat Town, night-owl pirates who revel until dawn are never in short supply.
Thus, even in the dead of night, the Battle Axe Tavern was livelier than it was by day, and free seats were scarce.
If Mod had chosen to be brash, he could have easily kicked a table of drinkers out.
But he had no patience to wait for a server to clear a messy table.
There were still seats, after all.
He had barely walked a few steps before three hostile pirates blocked his path.
The leader was a burly man wielding a sheathless machete, his yellowed teeth particularly striking.
The other two flanked him, each also clutching unsheathed blades.
"So, you're Usopp, huh?"
The leader looked down at Mod, grinning coldly, baring his yellow teeth.
"Do you know who I am?"
He might as well have stuck a "Looking for Trouble" sign on his forehead.
Without a word, Mod drew his blade.
The Dark Raven flashed from its sheath, instantly piercing the yellow-toothed pirate's heart.
The man's face froze in disbelief as he stared at Mod, who had given no warning before striking.
He was one of Elbe’s admirers and had heard of Mod's past grievances with Elbe.
With Mod’s name now carrying weight in Mad Hat Town, the yellow-toothed pirate had hoped to snatch a bit of fame for himself.
He never imagined Mod would be so ruthless, drawing his blade without a word in such a setting.
The pirate struggled to look down at the sword through his chest; a moment later, his eyes rolled back, strength leaving him.
Mod withdrew his blade cleanly, stepping back to avoid the spray of blood.
The yellow-toothed pirate crumpled lifeless to the ground.
Around them, the pirates reacted with shock, indifference, or derision.
They marveled at the speed and ferocity of the strike.
Usually, even if someone wanted to pick a fight, at least some words would be exchanged first.
But Mod gave no one the chance.
Truly ruthless.
Having dispatched the leader, Mod did not forget his two lackeys.
Though there was little profit in it, he cut the two henchmen down without hesitation.
With the trouble resolved, Mod glanced at the lifeless yellow-toothed pirate.
"I haven't even come looking for you, and yet you delivered yourself right to my door," he thought.
This was a pirate with an eight-million bounty, one he had noted in his ledger, but who had never made a name for himself.
Clearly not much in the way of strength, but meat was meat—no reason to refuse.

Under the gaze of the crowd, Mod wiped the blood from the Dark Raven’s blade with the corpse’s clothing, then fished about the body, retrieving barely over a hundred thousand Berries.
Pathetically poor.
He waved a hand at the nearest barmaid.
The woman flinched, but, hardened by long experience, managed a nervous smile as she approached.
"Is this enough to fetch the undertaker for the bodies?" Mod asked.
"It’s more than enough, sir," she replied, not daring to contradict him.
"Good," Mod said with a smile.
The barmaid was briefly dazed by his grin.
Most of her customers were rough brutes; rare was the decisive, handsome youth like this one.
Mod had no patience for her distraction; he handed over the money and headed for the empty seat in the corner.
As he walked, he habitually glanced at the pirates on either side.
Those caught by his gaze quickly looked away like ostriches hiding from a predator.
Damn it, having Lafitte in town was trouble enough; now there’s a Usopp to deal with as well, they grumbled inwardly.

After Mod sat, the prepared barmaid hurried over.
"What can I get you, sir?"
Mod ordered a drink and a meal at random.
When the barmaid left, he surveyed the pirates around him.
His eyes lingered a few seconds on a table where a pirate with a seven-million bounty sat.
Sensing Mod’s attention, those at the table grew visibly uneasy.
"Why’s he looking at us?" one muttered, glancing nervously at the three corpses near the door.
Without another word, they all got up.
"We’ve eaten our fill and drunk enough—time to settle the bill," one said, tossing Berries on the table.
Moments later, they hurried toward the exit.
The guests at neighboring tables watched in silence as meals only half-finished were abandoned.
Full already?
Mod watched the seven-million pirate leave.
"I’ll let that one go," he thought.
There were plenty of targets in the tavern, but most were worth less than ten million Berries.
There was, however, one table with two pirates each over ten million—a true prize.
That was Mod’s real objective.
Still, there were plenty of unlisted but promising-looking prey that caught his eye.
He glanced at one table.
A moment later, another group left.

He looked toward another.
Chairs scraped back in unison.
That group left as well.
"It’s getting late anyway, past the peak hours," Mod mused as he watched the guests trickle out.
Fifteen minutes passed.
Eight tables had cleared out in haste.
Behind the bar, the manager watched Mod in the corner with a bitter expression.
When the third group left, he’d realized something was wrong.
After observing for a while, he saw that Mod was scaring the customers off.
But what could he say? "Sir, please, enjoy yourself—just stop staring at everyone"?
He could do nothing but swallow his frustration.
Forget making money off Mod—just calling the undertaker for three bodies would cost him a hundred thousand Berries out of pocket.
It was the same last time, too—this guy had been behind it.
With a sigh, the manager could only pray Mod would leave soon.

Perhaps his prayers worked.
About twenty minutes later, Mod stood up, and the manager brightened.
He silently willed Mod to go, go, go.
Mod was indeed leaving, because his real targets—the duo of high bounties—had already exited the Battle Axe Tavern.
Leaving money for his tab, Mod followed after them.
The group he trailed consisted of seven, two of whom carried bounties of eleven million five hundred thousand and thirteen million eight hundred thousand Berries.
They were the most valuable prey in the tavern, and, most importantly, both were swordsmen.
Stepping out into the long street, Mod found the pirates waiting, watching him coldly.
He wasn’t surprised—he hadn’t tried to hide his pursuit, and, afraid of losing them, had followed immediately.
"Usopp, others might fear you, but we don’t. If you don’t want to die badly, turn around and walk away," the highest-bounty pirate said, drawing his sword with a chill in his voice.
"I, Usopp, am not one to be easily frightened," Mod replied, slowly unsheathing the Dark Raven.
On the long street, passing pirates saw the swords drawn and quickly cleared the area.
In the distance, the fledgling Kid Pirates happened to be passing by.
Their leader, Kid, immediately noticed the dramatically changed Mod.
"It’s him?" Kid thought, inwardly startled.
Last time, this one had been nothing but a frail weakling—yet now...