The sudden voice startled both Chopper and Miss Merry Christmas, their hearts skipping a beat.
They instinctively turned toward the direction of the female voice.
Perona was briskly approaching, dragging the gravely injured and unconscious Zoro behind her.
"Did you fire that shot?!"
Miss Merry Christmas, flustered and panicked, didn't even bother to check whether Perona was carrying a gun. She immediately pegged her as the suspect.
"Huh?"
Perona blinked, looking at the flustered Miss Merry Christmas with confusion.
However, knowing the truth, she quickly understood what was happening.
"You're going to die soon anyway, so I might as well let you die with some clarity."
Perona muttered, letting go of Zoro's wrist before placing her hands on her hips.
"Listen up, I wasn't the one who fired that shot. It was Maude."
"Maude? Maude!! It's him!!! How could it be him?!"
At the mere mention of Maude's name, Miss Merry Christmas turned pale, trembling all over.
Without hesitation, she dug through the hard stone slabs, twisting her barrel-shaped body as she burrowed into the tunnel.
She had no desire to die here.
However—
As if it had been precisely timed, the third conventional bullet effortlessly pierced the ground, striking her in the back and leaving a conspicuous, gaping wound.
Blood, violently squeezed out by the impact, gushed through the tunnel like a subterranean spring, staining the ground above.
Chopper's eyes widened in shock as he stared at the blood spurting from the tunnel. His soot-covered face reflected pure astonishment.
From start to finish—
He couldn't even tell where the bullet had come from.
That alone was terrifying, but the sheer power of the bullet, capable of piercing solid ground, left him utterly shaken.
How could anyone possibly defend against such long-range sniping?
Even though Chopper knew Maude wouldn't shoot him, he was still scared out of his wits.
"Th-Thank goodness Maude isn't our enemy..."
His heart pounding, Chopper couldn't even fathom what would happen if Maude turned against them.
That would be truly horrifying!
Perona glanced at the blood seeping from the tunnel, shaking her head with pity before pointing at the unconscious Zoro at her feet.
"Hey, little raccoon, this guy's about to die. You'd better stop his bleeding fast."
"I'm not a raccoon!!!"
Chopper finally snapped out of his daze, loudly correcting Perona's mistake.
"Ah, wait—why is Zoro so badly hurt?!"
Only then did Chopper notice Zoro's blood-soaked body. Forgetting his argument with Perona, he rushed to Zoro's side in panic.
Perona watched Chopper fuss over Zoro, pouting.
"He got slashed, obviously."
Chopper ignored her, immediately assessing Zoro's injuries.
Upon seeing the crisscrossing cuts covering Zoro's body, Chopper's breath caught.
Any normal person would have died on the spot from such wounds.
Fortunately, Zoro's vitality was anything but normal.
Meanwhile—
The other battles gradually drew to a close.
Near a small fountain—
The Wax-Wax Fruit user, Mr. 3, had initially believed Bartolomeo would be an easy opponent.
But the moment Bartolomeo revealed his Barrier powers, the fight became completely one-sided.
Mr. 3's attacks were utterly ineffective against the impenetrable barriers.
Even Miss Goldenweek, who could manipulate emotions through her paintbrush, couldn't affect Bartolomeo due to the barrier's protection.
After dozens of exchanges—
Bartolomeo brutally beat Mr. 3 into critical condition before turning on Miss Goldenweek.
He had been serious about his earlier threat—he wouldn't hold back, even against a little girl.
After finishing off Mr. 3, Bartolomeo punched Miss Goldenweek hard on both cheeks, swelling her face like a pumpkin before she fainted on the spot.
"Is this the best Baroque Works' elite agents can do?"
Bartolomeo sneered at the fallen Mr. 3 and Miss Goldenweek before striding toward the plaza without looking back.
Moments after he left, a bullet flew in from afar, finishing off the immobile Mr. 3.
As for Miss Goldenweek—
Maude spared her life.
He had no reason to kill a little girl with no powers.
Besides, she wasn't a Devil Fruit user.
Satisfied with the added experience, Maude shifted his sights toward Usopp.
The battle there was at its climax.
Usopp, now proficient in Observation Haki, effortlessly dodged the explosive attacks of Mr. 5 and the Kilo-Kilo Fruit user Miss Valentine.
While evading, Usopp continuously shot at his enemies, gradually gaining the upper hand.
In the end, through relentless maneuvering and sharpshooting, Usopp defeated both Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine without taking a single scratch.
The importance of Observation Haki was clear.
Despite his victory, Usopp refrained from delivering a finishing blow, in line with the Straw Hats' style. He simply hurried toward the plaza.
Maude silently observed Usopp's actions.
It wasn't a habit he approved of, but everyone had their own way of doing things.
He wouldn't correct Usopp's methods.
Instead, he simply raised his rifle and sniped both Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine from a distance.
With more experience flowing in, Maude's satisfaction grew.
The rewards were exceeding his expectations.
Three targets remained—
The Spike-Spike Fruit user Miss Doublefinger (Paula), the Clone-Clone Fruit user Bon Clay, and the boss, the Sand-Sand Fruit user Crocodile.
"Now then, the next target is..."
Just as Maude shifted his gaze toward Nami's location, a large white falcon appeared in the distant sky.
On its back was none other than Luffy, arriving at last.
The falcon was Pell, the Alabasta Kingdom's Guardian Officer, who had eaten the Bird-Bird Fruit, Falcon model.
After delivering the letter to the palace, Pell had set out to find Princess Vivi.
Instead, by sheer coincidence, he had encountered Luffy racing toward Alubarna.
Now, here they were.
"Tch, the 'protagonist' finally shows up."
Maude watched Luffy calmly.
This meant that Crocodile's experience points would most likely fall into his hands.
If so, his Shadow-Shadow Fruit abilities might reach the next level.
Luffy, oblivious to Maude's gaze, had only one thought in his mind—
To beat Crocodile to a pulp.
"Eh? Isn't that Sanji?"
Clinging to Pell's back, Luffy spotted Sanji, who had been battered by Bon Clay.
His severe face blindness meant he recognized Sanji only by his clothes.
Seeing his crewmate on the brink of death, Luffy immediately ordered Pell to land, postponing his confrontation with Crocodile.
"Huh..."
Watching Luffy divert his course, Maude raised an eyebrow.
Would this delay the battle?
He wondered silently.
In an inconspicuous corner of Alubarna—
Dragon and the Revolutionary Army quietly observed Luffy's arrival.
Dragon's face remained impassive.
None of his companions could possibly know that the rising Straw Hat pirate was their leader's own son.
-------
Want to read waaaay ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/EmperorGarus [remove the parenthesis ( )]
There are more than 400 advance chapters available for you!