Chapter 372: The Straw Hat Pirates in Shock
To become the world's greatest swordsman—
Zoro had relentlessly honed his body and technique since childhood.
Day after day.
Without fail.
As his strength grew, so did his confidence.
Until... he was utterly defeated by Dracule Mihawk's black blade.
It was then that he truly realized how vast the world was.
Yet, compared to his duel with Mihawk, the sight of Maude cleaving the colossal rock giant in half with a single flying slash shook him even more.
This... this is the power of a top-tier swordsman!
Zoro's heart pounded with excitement as he stared intently at Maude's imposing figure, radiating an awe-inspiring aura.
Both Mihawk and Maude had shown him what it truly meant to be a master swordsman—the insurmountable gap between them and himself.
Even so—
Zoro did not feel discouraged.
One day, he would stand among them.
One day, he would be able to unleash a slash powerful enough to rend the land and the skies, just like Maude!
Sanji glanced sideways at his eternal rival, sensing his surging emotions.
He could vaguely understand how Zoro was feeling at this moment.
"The Warlords of the Sea... are all monsters of this caliber?"
Sanji turned his gaze toward Maude, who embodied sheer strength, and shakily pulled out a crumpled cigarette.
His hands were trembling.
With a bitter smile, he admitted to himself—
The overwhelming power displayed by Maude and Pica weighed on him like a towering mountain.
Today's battle had taught him an important lesson:
In the journey ahead, they would encounter more monsters like Maude—many more.
If he didn't grow stronger quickly, he would once again find himself powerless in situations like this.
"We're saved!"
Nami, now free of fear, looked at Maude with an indescribable sense of joy.
Once again... they had been saved by him.
"As expected of my master!!!"
"As expected of my idol!!!"
Usopp and Bartolomeo cheered, their excitement spilling over as they hugged each other, tears welling in their eyes.
"Such... overwhelming power!"
Vivi, staring at the massive rock giant now split in two, trembled as she covered her mouth, unable to hide her shock.
Aside from the unconscious Chopper, every member of the Straw Hat crew was left in awe of Maude's terrifying strength.
That towering rock giant—an opponent they had thrown everything at without making the slightest impact—had been cut in half with a single strike from Maude.
Even Luffy stood frozen, unable to say a word for a long time.
But the battle was not yet over.
"Damn it!!!"
Pica, who had first been bisected and then had his head blasted apart, was both shocked and enraged.
The rock giant, formed through his Stone-Stone Fruit ability, was his ultimate trump card.
Yet Maude had effortlessly destroyed it.
Seething with fury, Pica moved swiftly within the remaining half of the rock giant's body.
He intended to reassemble another formidable stone colossus from the rubble.
Maude's eyes gleamed red as his Observation Haki locked onto Pica's movements inside the fractured rock structure.
"You still don't understand, do you?"
With his enhanced perception, Maude could track Pica's every move within the giant's body with pinpoint accuracy.
"The stones you rely on are nothing more than paper in front of my blade."
A smirk of disdain formed on Maude's lips.
As he spoke, he swung his blade once more, unleashing another crescent-shaped Hakoku strike towards Pica's location.
In an instant, the remaining half of the rock giant was cleaved apart.
But Pica, utilizing his high mobility within the stone, managed to escape before the slash reached him.
"This guy..."
After three successive Hakoku attacks, Pica finally realized the fundamental weakness of his rock giants against Maude's overwhelming power.
With this newfound understanding, he made a decisive move—
Abandoning his stone colossus, he withdrew.
But before he left, he shoved the remaining quarter of the giant's body forward, sending it crashing towards Maude and the Straw Hats.
The massive chunk of stone tilted forward, casting an enormous shadow over Maude and the crew as it threatened to crush them beneath its weight.
Seeing the rock remnants about to fall, the Straw Hats' expressions changed drastically.
Even with Maude standing before them, they instinctively panicked.
This was no joke.
If such a massive chunk of rock buried them—
Even with the soft sand below, they would be flattened into pulp in an instant.
Maude first glanced back at the flustered Straw Hats before turning his gaze upward at the descending rock mass.
His initial Hakoku strike had been precise and clean, ensuring the rock giant remained standing rather than toppling over.
The second Hakoku had obliterated the giant's head, causing its body to tilt backward under the force of the shockwave.
He had already accounted for potential hazards.
But no matter how meticulous his calculations were, he couldn't account for the enemy's sheer stubbornness.
And now, Pica had simply decided to push the remnants forward.
"Still refusing to accept reality, huh?"
Maude's expression remained calm as he raised his sword, Shusui, gathering power along its blade.
"Even if you can cut through that massive rock, so what?!"
A sharp, menacing laugh echoed from above.
Pica, now in his true form, stood atop a falling boulder, clad in golden armor with a matching cross-shaped helmet. He gazed down at Maude and the crew with a murderous gleam in his eyes.
"Even if you cut it apart, the fragments will still rain down upon you!"
His cold, merciless stare locked onto Maude and the Straw Hats.
"I already told you... the stones you rely on are nothing more than fragile paper before me."
Meeting Pica's murderous gaze, Maude's arm muscles bulged as his energy surged.
Hakoku!
Maude swung his blade in a wide arc, unleashing a colossal cylindrical shockwave that shot straight through the air, colliding head-on with the collapsing remains of the giant rock construct.
This time, the power and scale of Hakoku were several times greater than before!
Pica had not anticipated that Maude had been holding back earlier. So when he saw the vastly expanded shockwave, his face reflexively contorted with shock and horror.
The Straw Hat Pirates was equally astonished. They hadn't expected that Maude's earlier Hakoku, which had cleaved through the rock giant so effortlessly, wasn't even his full strength.
Now, the shockwave reflected in their eyes was like a comet blazing through the sky, slamming into the remains of the rock titan with overwhelming force.
With a deafening explosion—
The immense impact of Hakoku spread across the giant's fractured body.
In an instant, the rock colossus burst apart like a firework, scattering countless massive stone fragments in all directions.
The looming shadow that had threatened to engulf Maude and the Straw Hats dissipated completely in that moment.
As they watched the shattered rock debris scatter into the distance, the Straw Hat crew stood frozen in disbelief. Their lips moved as if to speak, but no words came out.
Pica, still plummeting towards the ground, was equally shaken.
But Maude's onslaught wasn't over.
"Gun."
With his free hand, Maude drew White Weasel.
At his command, the longblade instantly shifted into the form of a rifle.
Bang!
Without even aiming, Maude raised his arm and pulled the trigger, sending a lead bullet flying toward the falling Pica.
The bullet shot straight for Pica's face.
His expression shifted—he wasn't about to be struck so easily. He swiftly tilted his head forward, narrowly avoiding the shot aimed at his forehead.
Yet, at the exact moment the bullet passed over Pica's head—
Maude's figure suddenly vanished from his original position and reappeared above Pica in an instant.
He had swapped places with the shadow attached to the bullet.
"You—!?"
Pica's mind reeled. He hadn't anticipated Maude teleporting with the bullet's trajectory.
Just as he raised his head to look at the suddenly appearing Maude, a razor-sharp blade flashed toward him.
Armament Haki!
In a split second, Pica poured all his strength into his Haki, reinforcing his upper body as he crossed his arms to block the incoming strike.
Maude's blade, also clad in Armament Haki, slashed down mercilessly onto Pica's arms.
Ssshhkk!
Not all Haki is equal.
Maude's superior Haki tore through Pica's defense, carving a deep wound into his arms, exposing the bone beneath.
A spray of blood followed instantly.
At the same moment—
The impact from Maude's attack sent Pica hurtling toward the ground like a meteor.
Maude withdrew his blade and hovered midair using Moonwalk, his cold gaze following Pica's rapid descent.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
With a single-handed grip on his rifle, Maude fired a barrage of bullets at the airborne Pica, each round tracing golden streaks through the sky before piercing his massive body, creating small bursts of blood with every impact.
Boom!
Pica crashed violently into the rocky terrain, kicking up a cloud of dust and debris, his fate uncertain.
From the Straw Hats' perspective, after being struck down from such a great height, taking a slash from Maude's blade, and enduring a rain of bullets—whether dead or barely alive, Pica had to be grievously wounded.
But what left them even more in awe than Pica's condition was the sheer speed and precision of Maude's relentless assault.
Having never truly faced the might of a top-tier combatant, they could only look up at Maude, suspended in the sky by Moonwalk, each of them wearing an expression of utter disbelief.
"How did he even do that?"
"He's so powerful it's terrifying."
"Maude is incredible..."
"We're not even in the same league."
Even putting Hakoku aside, the ability to teleport across vast distances in an instant and wield a shape-shifting weapon left the Straw Hats both stunned and newly aware of the power that existed in the New World.
Recognizing another's strength is the first step to realizing one's own weakness.
Just as the Straw Hats thought the battle was over, a furious roar erupted from within the settling dust cloud.
"Bacardi Maude, I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
A sudden gust of wind cleared the lingering dust, revealing Pica standing atop the cracked and cratered ground, his body drenched in blood.
Despite his grievous injuries, his stance remained firm, exuding an indomitable will.
The Straw Hats stared in shock. To them, Pica looked more like a monster than a man.
Ignoring them completely, Pica lifted his gaze to the sky, his eyes burning with rage as he locked onto Maude.
Yet, in the very instant his sight settled on Maude—
Maude vanished.
"Huh?"
Pica's eyes widened in confusion, but before he could react, a sharp pain flared in his chest.
A few meters in front of him, Maude walked forward at a slow, deliberate pace, his back turned to Pica as he gently slid his now-bloodless blade back into its sheath.
At the last moment, Maude had once again switched places with his pre-positioned shadow, delivering a fatal strike before Pica could even register what was happening.
From the moment Pica had tilted his head back to look skyward, his defeat had been sealed.
"Wh-when did he—?"
Still struggling to comprehend what had transpired, Pica lowered his head in a daze, staring at the back of the man who had effortlessly cut him down.
Ssshhkk!
A massive gush of blood suddenly erupted from Pica's chest, splattering onto the rocky ground behind Maude.
The rapid loss of blood drained Pica of his life force and strength in an instant.
His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground.
"Bacardi Maude…"
Realizing that death was imminent, Pica locked his gaze onto Maude's back, forcing out each word with lingering resentment and unwillingness.
His tone carried a palpable mix of frustration and hatred.
"The highest executive of the Donquixote Family?"
Maude halted his steps and turned back, his gaze calm as he met Pica's eyes, which had shifted from confusion to bitter resentment.
"That's all?"
"..."
Pica's mouth opened slightly, but he no longer had the strength to speak another word. His body slumped powerlessly onto the rocky ground.
His massive frame stirred up a faint cloud of dust upon impact. In mere moments, a pool of blood spread beneath him.
From the moment Maude had marked the Donquixote Family as his enemy, he had meticulously documented the known abilities of all its key members in his Hunter's Notebook.
Thus, the moment Pica perished, a substantial influx of benefits was immediately fed back to him.
Though a portion of the gains was siphoned off into swordsmanship—offering little immediate value—the remaining rewards, when distributed across his physique, Haki, and Devil Fruit mastery, proved incredibly significant.
Feeling the myriad of changes coursing through his body, Maude closed his eyes and took a moment to check the Hunter's Notebook, something he hadn't reviewed in quite some time.
[Physique: ★★★★★★★]
[Swordsmanship: ★★★★★★]
[Haki: ★★★★★★]
[Devil Fruit: ★★★★☆]
His physique had already reached such a high level that the improvements weren't particularly noticeable.
However, his Haki had undergone a significant breakthrough, advancing to the second stage—now at six stars.
This marked the second major transformation of his star rating, signifying that future progress would only become increasingly difficult.
As for the fourth category he had designated in pursuit of rapid Shadow-Shadow Fruit mastery, it had now formed a fifth star slot.
There was no denying it—Pica had been an exceptional target.
Whether in terms of physique, Haki, or Devil Fruit mastery, he had provided Maude with an immense amount of experience.
Looking at the entirety of the Donquixote Family, aside from Doflamingo himself, the only other individual who could rival Pica in terms of experience yield was likely Vergo, who had infiltrated the Marines as an undercover agent.
In other words, within a crew led by a Warlord of the Sea, only two individuals had reached such a high level of experience.
This further emphasized just how rare of a target Pica had been—an opponent worthy of being classified as an "epic-tier" hunt.
After finishing his review of the Hunter's Notebook rankings, Maude opened his eyes and turned his gaze toward the Straw Hat Pirates.
There, staring back at him, were several all-too-familiar faces—frozen in shock.
Did I stun them?
What's this reaction?
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