During the day, the constant firing of guns in Mad Hatter Town finally began to subside by evening.
Not long after, the sunset and the lights came on.
After dinner, Thor took a bundle of cash and prepared to attend the auction.
Although he didn’t have the talent to become a great swordsman, he had a strong passion for collecting famous swords.
Tonight, his target was the 50-skill grade sword at the auction.
Before leaving, he looked back at Sunny and Maude with a warning tone:
“You two, if there’s nothing important tonight, go to bed early.”
“Okay.”
“Got it.”
Sunny and Maude nodded.
Seeing this, Thor opened the shop door and walked out.
Watching Thor leave, Maude then closed and locked the door tightly.
“Sunny, I’m going to bed now.”
“Oh, trying to sneak out so early?”
“Uh, no, I’m not… huh? What did you say?”
“I said, Thor just left, and you’re already thinking of sneaking out to join the fun?”
“What nonsense are you talking about? It’s so dangerous outside, why would I dare to go out?”
Caught in his intention, Maude forced a laugh.
Sunny snorted coldly, “You think I don’t know what you’ve been up to these past few days?”
“What did I do?”
Maude blinked, feigning ignorance.
Seeing Maude playing dumb, Sunny didn’t bother to argue and instead warned:
“Tonight is different from usual, so you better not go out. I don’t want to see Arthur bringing your corpse here tomorrow, with your eyeballs falling out, ears and nose cut off, body chopped into pieces, and your insides missing half a pound.”
“Sunny, you, you’re vicious!”
Maude’s eye twitched uncontrollably, unable to handle Sunny’s well-intentioned warning.
Sunny’s expression was serious, “I’m not joking.”
“I can see that.”
“Then stay in and sleep tonight.”
“……”
Maude fell silent.
Seeing this, Sunny frowned and also fell silent.
She knew that when Maude stopped bantering, it meant he had made up his mind.
The atmosphere became awkward for a moment.
After a long while, Sunny suddenly walked to the counter and pulled out an old notebook from the deep drawer.
“Take it.”
She tossed the notebook to Maude.
Maude caught it and asked curiously, “What’s this?”
“My notebook of intelligence gathered over the years.”
“Intelligence notebook?”
Maude’s eyes widened, flipping through the pages quickly.
“What is this…”
After glancing at a few pages, Maude’s face lit up with excitement.
This seemingly thin notebook contained information on many mid-to-high bounty pirates.
This was exactly what he was currently lacking.
Previously, he thought Sunny only investigated their “neighbors” for safety.
Now it seemed that Sunny had been doing this for a long time.
“Sunny, is this your hobby?”
Suppressing his excitement, Maude almost stuffed the notebook into his jacket.
Sunny couldn’t understand Maude’s excitement but didn’t delve into it. She shook her head, “Not entirely a hobby, just preparing for the future.”
“Preparing for the future?”
“Yes, because Thor is getting old. One day he might not wake up, or he could pass away next month. It’s not impossible.”
Sunny’s casual description of Thor’s potential future as an old man was followed by her continuing:
“When that time comes, I’ll have to bear certain pressures alone. My own strength is limited, so I have to prepare in advance to reduce those pressures.”
“You’ve thought that far ahead?”
Maude was surprised but believed Thor still had many years left, given his daily energy to practice in the pleasure district.
Unintentionally, he seemed to have adapted to Sunny’s occasional sharp tongue.
“Because I don’t have talent like you.”
Sunny glanced at the weights on Maude’s legs.
“Uh…”
Maude didn’t know how to respond.
“When Thor saved you, it wasn’t just out of kindness or to add a laborer to the shop. It was mainly to ensure I wouldn’t be left struggling alone in the future.”
“Before you, there were several others, but none could adapt to Mad Hatter Town, and they all died miserably.”
Saying this, Sunny stared at Maude’s face.
“But Thor didn’t expect that this time, the person he brought back, although sometimes glib, had amazing talent. He even broke the rule and offered to take you as a disciple.”
Hearing this, Maude fell silent.
He had wondered about Thor’s reasons for saving him before.
Now he finally understood.
Seeing Maude speechless, Sunny’s tone grew heavier, “I don’t dislike you, which is why I’m giving you this notebook. I don’t want you to die too early.”
“Thank you.”
Maude suddenly smiled warmly.
Even if it wasn’t love, I don’t dislike you guys either.
He thought to himself.
Sunny snorted, “Do whatever you plan to do, but return the notebook to me by tomorrow night.”
“Ah? Do I have to return it?”
“Of course, I worked hard to gather this information!”
“Can’t I keep it?”
“No, but you can copy it.”
“Fair enough.”
Maude chuckled.
With that, Sunny didn’t say more and went upstairs.
She gave Maude the notebook to make him stay away from dangerous people and not get himself killed.
“Sunny.”
Maude suddenly called out.
Sunny stopped and looked back at him.
“What kind of Devil Fruit do you want? I can get one for you in the future.”
“……”
Seeing Sunny not respond, Maude counted on his fingers and smiled:
“Let’s rule out Logia, too hard to obtain. Zoan is not bad, tough and durable, but too variable unless it’s an Ancient Zoan.”
“Thinking it over, Paramecia might be best. But there are so many types, like transformation, creation, control, and so on.”
“So, it depends on your needs. I remember there’s a Slip-Slip Fruit. I think that suits you.”
Listening to Maude’s sudden chatter, Sunny said expressionlessly, “You know quite a bit about Devil Fruits.”
“Σ(д)”
Maude quickly explained, “I read about it in a book.”
“Oh.”
Sunny pondered, then returned to the counter.
“What are you doing?”
“Writing it down.”
Sunny took out a pen and paper, writing down Maude’s analysis.
Maude was speechless.
Isn’t it more important to decide on the type first?
Watching Sunny seriously taking notes, Maude felt a bit emotional.
She looked so shrewd but sometimes seemed quite naive.
A Devil Fruit…
He recalled Sunny’s expression when she saw the auction catalog.
“Although I can’t do it now, I’ll definitely get you a Devil Fruit in the future.”
Maude promised himself.
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