The Scourge of One Piece

If it was before his soul transmigration, Maude could easily withstand a bullet.

But now...

The dark gun barrel seemed like a scythe of death hanging high above his head, and if it fell, death was certain.

"I mean no harm."

Facing the gun barrel, without any room for thought, Maude quickly stated his position.

The fact that the gun barrel pointed at him immediately after entering the door indicated that the person holding the gun had noticed his small movements before pushing the door open.

In such a situation, Maude had no other choice but to show that he was harmless.

After all, it was because this body's current state couldn't support any of his coping strategies.

Silence reigned outside the door, the gun barrel remaining steady.

A few seconds later, a slightly hoarse female voice came from outside the door: "Stand in front of me."

"Okay."

Without hesitation, Maude moved to stand directly in front of the door, with the gun barrel following closely.

Standing in front of the door, Maude finally saw the person holding the gun outside.

It was a thin girl wearing coarse clothes.

The girl had short, tough-looking hair and three knife scars running from the left eyebrow to the right corner of her mouth, resembling claw marks.

If not for the hoarse female voice, one might mistake her for a boy at first glance.

"I mean no harm."

Maude reiterated his position, then slowly raised his hands to show he was unarmed.

Meanwhile, he glanced at the burlap sack the girl was holding in her left hand, causing his eyelids to twitch slightly.

Compared to her steady gun-holding posture, the presence of the burlap sack made Maude even more uneasy.

Sunny stared into Maude's eyes and said flatly, "Be honest. If we meant you harm, do you think you'd still be here talking?"

After a slight warning, Sunny swiftly put away her flintlock.

She knew that Maude's small movements earlier were mostly out of self-preservation.

Otherwise, she would have pulled the trigger without hesitation.

Seeing that the situation wasn't as dire as he had feared, Maude breathed a sigh of relief.

"Since you're awake, this is no longer necessary."

Before Maude could react, Sunny casually threw away the burlap sack.

Including the return trip, this guy had been unconscious for seven days.

According to Thor's instructions, if he didn't wake up, they would recycle the "waste" to recover some of the medical costs spent on Maude.

Unexpectedly, this guy woke up at the last moment.

Maude glanced at the burlap sack, his lips moving slightly, and asked, "If I hadn't woken up, was that sack meant for me?"

"Yes, if you hadn't woken up, I would have stuffed you into the sack and sold you on the black market. Then, you would be dismantled into dozens of parts by the 'Undertaker' and sold as goods to anyone with money."

Sunny showed a cold smile.

Maude remained silent.

Dismantling, parts, selling.

The words were veiled, but he could roughly understand what kind of black industry it was.

And the earlier gunshots indicated that this place had nothing to do with stability.

He could tell that Sunny wasn't joking, but as Sunny said, if they meant him harm, he wouldn't have had a chance to wake up.

In other words, although the future was uncertain, the current situation was at least safe.

As long as the situation wasn't bad, he had a chance to develop using the Hunter's Notebook.

"What should I call you?"

Maude asked the girl's name.

Sunny slowly squinted and smiled, "You're quite calm. Just call me Sunny. As for your name, I should already know it."

Maude was puzzled for a moment but then saw Sunny take out a bronze pocket watch from her pocket.

Seeing the familiar yet strange pocket watch, Maude raised an eyebrow.

It was his thing.

No, to be precise, it was the previous owner's thing.

However, when the previous owner was transferred to the slave ship, the pocket watch should have been taken by a man.

Now, the pocket watch was in Sunny's hands.

This meant that the people who attacked the slave ship were Sunny and her group.

Maude thought silently.

If he remembered correctly, the pocket watch had two photos inside, one of which was a full-body shot of the previous owner taken during his coming-of-age ceremony at sixteen.

The previous owner's signature, in the bottom right corner of the photo, explained why Sunny said what she did.

The other photo was a family portrait of three... or was it four?

His head throbbed with pain again.

Maude frowned.

Sunny was looking at the pocket watch and didn't see Maude's expression.

"This pocket watch is yours, but now it's my 'war trophy.' However, since we might become colleagues, I'll reluctantly return it to you."

With that, Sunny threw the pocket watch to Maude.

Catching the pocket watch, Maude opened the cover despite the pain, revealing the stopped watch face and the two photos embedded in the cover.

His gaze swept over his full-body shot and then rested on the family photo, where four people were smiling brightly.

Four?

Wasn't it just the previous owner and his parents?

Some memories suddenly began to resurface, and the pain in his head intensified.

Maude quickly closed the watch cover, remaining silent.

He was grateful for the new life this body brought him, but he didn't want to be influenced by the lingering memories.

Sunny noticed Maude's discomfort but had no interest in delving into it. She reminded him, "As someone who has been through it, I suggest you destroy that signed photo and give yourself a new name."

Maude looked up at Sunny, not questioning the reason, and said, "Thank you, I'll consider it."

Sunny nodded, then glanced at the blood-stained bandages on Maude's forehead and without further words, got to the point.

"Come, follow me to see Thor."

Maude naturally had no right to refuse. After putting away the pocket watch, he obediently followed Sunny.

The two of them went down the corridor and descended the stairs to the first floor.

As soon as they reached the first floor, a loud noise came from ahead, like a wooden door being violently kicked open and hitting the wall.

Sunny stopped at the sound, and Maude also stopped, looking down the hallway.

As the sound of the door hitting the wall faded, an old man's quacking voice rang out.

"Kid, you bastard, you kicked my shop door again. Do you believe I'll tear your tendons out?"

"Shut up, I brought the money. Quickly bring out Keenu's gun."

A defiant male voice retorted.

"Screw off. I'd rather dismantle the gun and throw it in the garbage dump than sell it to you."

"Oh, then throw it away. I'll find it anyway."

"Get lost!"

The conversation came from the front of the hallway, where there seemed to be a small shop.

Listening to the increasingly heated conversation from the front hall, Sunny sighed helplessly.

The conversation continued, with tensions rising.

"Keep up."

Sunny quickened her pace.

Maude followed in silence.

The hallway wasn't long, and they soon reached the front hall shop.

Without time to observe the shop's setup and type, Maude's attention was immediately drawn to the old man and the young man, who seemed ready to clash at any moment.

As the voices had suggested, it was an old man and a young man.

Maude guessed that the old man might be Thor, as Sunny mentioned, and the other defiant young man was likely a customer.

"Hmm?"

Maude looked at the young man's conspicuous red spiky hair, passing his gaze over the goggles on his forehead and finally resting on the familiar face.

Memories associated with it suddenly came rushing in.

"Kid?"

Maude's heart skipped a beat as he recognized the red-haired spiky young man.

When he heard the name earlier, he hadn't made the connection, but seeing the real person now, he finally confirmed that this was the world of One Piece.

However, compared to the memories, the Kid in front of him was obviously younger and less mature.

Maude subconsciously considered Kid to be one of his targets.

Because the Hunter's Notebook ability was naturally suited for characters, who were exposed to information in the original series.