The goddess had been struck down by Maude.
At a time like this, if he just reached out and held her, he could take full advantage of the situation.
Those towering peaks, that round and full figure—he could grasp it all with one hand.
This was truly… a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!
However—
Chaton did not seize this rare chance.
Because, within his reach, a group of civilians was about to face imminent disaster.
"Damn it!"
Chaton regretfully glanced at Gion's alluring figure, then turned away without hesitation, sprinting towards the nearby Yarukiman Mangrove.
Compared to taking advantage of Gion, saving the civilians in danger was far more important.
Even more important than his own life.
Chaton's swift retreat significantly eased the pressure on Maude.
At the same time, Gion's body crashed into the ground, sending up a thick cloud of dust.
Maude first glanced at Chaton, who was rushing toward the Yarukiman Mangrove, then shifted his gaze to the dust-covered ground.
A simple free fall wouldn't inflict the slightest injury on Gion.
After all, Vice Admirals like Gion and Tokikake were in a league far above someone like Wolfrat.
With Maude's current strength, it was only by leveraging the unique abilities of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit that he could hold his own against them and even gain small advantages in battle.
But as for actually defeating them? The odds were near zero.
If the fight dragged on, Chaton and Gion would eventually adapt to his Shadow-Shadow Fruit techniques.
By then, Maude wouldn't stand a chance against their combined assault.
It was fortunate that Maude had developed creative uses for his Devil Fruit. If he had relied on it the way Moria did, he wouldn't even be able to gain a slight advantage against Chaton and Gion—surviving for any length of time would have been a problem.
"Old hag, one day I'll make you pay."
Maude muttered fiercely to himself.
At this stage, there was no way he could afford to fight Gion to the death.
If not for this crazy woman's reckless, all-or-nothing approach, this battle could have been avoided entirely.
"Boom!"
A loud crash came from the direction of the Yarukiman Mangrove.
Maude turned his head to look and saw that Chaton had used his shoulder to forcibly knock away the upper half of the falling Yarukiman Mangrove, preventing it from crushing the buildings below. Instead, it landed on an empty patch of ground.
His timely and decisive action saved the civilians in the danger zone.
Maude silently withdrew his gaze and turned toward where Brook was fighting.
Brook had been intercepted by Sentomaru.
"Hmm?"
Seeing this, Maude's eyes narrowed slightly. However, instead of immediately swapping places with his shadow, he allowed it to continue moving along the ground at top speed, closing the distance to Brook.
Then, Maude descended from the air, preparing to switch places with his shadow at any moment.
If his shadow could move freely in midair, Maude would have simply continued using Moonwalk to gain altitude and widen the gap between himself and Gion.
This was one of the limitations of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit.
As Maude landed, Gion rose from the shallow crater where she had fallen.
With a swing of her blade, she dispersed the surrounding dust, then locked eyes with Maude and coldly stated, "Swapping places with a shadow… That's the power of the Shadow-Shadow Fruit."
"Bang!"
Maude had no intention of responding. Instead, he fired a shot at her.
With a casual swing of her sword, Gion sliced the incoming bullet cleanly in half.
"Bacardi Maude, people like you… are far too dangerous."
"Oh? Is that your reason for relentlessly chasing me down? Even at the cost of disregarding the consequences of attacking a current Warlord of the Sea without cause?"
"A current Warlord of the Sea? Just words. Who would believe a pirate's claim?"
"Tch, you could confirm it with Marine Headquarters in seconds… Forget it, no point in talking. The timing is just about right."
With that, Maude flashed Gion a small smile.
Gion's eyes narrowed. She stepped forward and dashed toward Maude.
But Maude's figure vanished once more.
However, Gion did not stop her charge. She continued advancing toward Maude's last position.
Her target was… the shadow!
Yet this time, Maude had disappeared without leaving a shadow behind.
"The shadow… Where is it?"
Caught off guard, Gion hesitated slightly.
From twenty meters away, Maude's voice carried a hint of mockery.
"Foolish woman. You already know I'm a Shadow-Shadow Fruit user, so why would I leave such an obvious opening in front of you?"
Using Stealth Walk, Maude had repositioned himself twenty meters away while Gion focused entirely on the missing shadow.
Gion looked up just in time to see Maude's form disappear into thin air again.
This time, he truly swapped places with his shadow. The twenty-meter retreat had given his shadow ample time to escape.
Realizing she had been tricked again, Gion's fair face twisted with suppressed fury, though she quickly forced it back down.
The frustration was unbearable—it felt like internal injury from sheer anger.
At this point, she had no idea how many times she had suffered Maude's tricks.
If Aokiji found out, he would definitely mock her again.
She simply couldn't understand.
With her strength, why couldn't she take down Maude?
—Elsewhere—
Sentomaru's speed in pursuit was even faster than Wolfrat's in his beast form.
As Brook fell from the air, the distance between him and Sentomaru shrank to less than thirty meters.
With no surprise at all, Sentomaru quickly caught up and swung his massive axe, cutting off Brook's escape.
Brook was forced to stop, looking at Sentomaru with an exasperated expression—though, being a skeleton, he had no facial muscles to show it.
Another one… Another opponent skilled in this so-called Haki.
Even with his boundless optimism, Brook couldn't help but feel anxious.
Haki… Haki…
Brook both resented and desperately wished to master this technique.
Sentomaru, unconcerned with Brook's frustration, smirked as he closed in, swinging his axe down in a simple yet deadly motion.
Brook, with only half of his cane sword remaining, and a deep respect for Haki's terrifying power, had no choice but to evade rather than block.
He leapt backward.
The Haki-infused double-bladed axe crashed down where he had just stood.
Boom!
The ground cracked open.
From the axe's impact point, a shockwave of concentrated Haki energy shot forward, aiming straight at the retreating Brook.
"Heh."
A cunning gleam flashed in Sentomaru's eyes.
Sensing danger, Brook instinctively raised his broken sword in defense.
The shockwave struck, sending Brook tumbling to the ground.
Sentomaru, withdrawing his Haki, was about to lift his axe and finish Brook off before Wolfrat arrived.
But at that moment, a shadow raced along the ground and leaped onto the axe's blade.
Sentomaru stared at the shadow in confusion.
A weight—over a hundred pounds—suddenly pressed down on the axe.
In the next instant, Maude materialized atop the weapon.
"You… Why are you here?!"
Sentomaru's eyes widened in shock. He couldn't comprehend how Maude had escaped the combined assault of Vice Admirals Chaton and Gion.
But Maude gave him no time to react.
He gathered all his Haki into his foot—
And stomped down with full force.
Crack!
The axe split apart with deep fractures.
Sentomaru's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at Maude, now standing right before him.
And from afar, Wolfrat, who had just arrived, was left in complete shock.
Under the combined assault of Vice Admirals Chaton and Gion…
Why… was Maude here?!
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