Locked on by three sets of watchful eyes, Absalom felt an unsettling mixture of doubt and panic.
Impossible...
If they could see me, they would have attacked outright. How could they remain so motionless?
Because Maude and his crew took no immediate action, Absalom convinced himself that his presence had not been detected.
Even so, a sense of foreboding crept over him, one that far outweighed his usual perverse thoughts.
He desperately wanted to taste Philo's touch—if circumstances allowed, he wouldn't hesitate to feel the fullness of her figure firsthand.
But the strange, tense atmosphere before him made him hesitate, sparking a sudden desire to retreat.
"I'll get my chance once they come ashore..."
Making up his mind, Absalom turned slowly and began to move toward the shore.
Maude, his face expressionless, watched Absalom's every movement.
Swish!
With a sudden burst of speed, Maude appeared behind Absalom.
"Since you've come, you're not leaving."
Maude's words, laced with killing intent, pierced Absalom's ears.
Absalom's body jolted in shock. Before he could react, a hand closed tightly around his neck.
The hand, infused with Armament Haki, exerted crushing pressure on his throat.
Under Maude's grip, Absalom's face flushed red as his limbs flailed like a fish out of water.
Fear gripped his heart, but with his throat completely constricted, he couldn't utter a word.
How can they see me...?
The Clear-Clear Fruit ability, which had never failed him before, was utterly exposed. Absalom's spirit sank to rock bottom, just like the fog-shrouded forest around Thriller Bark.
I can't break free. What kind of monster is this...?
The oppressive aura of impending death weakened Absalom's resistance. His struggles grew feebler by the second.
He couldn't understand it.
The enhanced physical power from his body modifications was utterly useless against this man.
Eyes wide with terror, Absalom stared at Maude, whose face was just inches away.
As the suffocating pressure increased, his vision blurred, and his invisible form began to flicker into view.
"Hoho... A user of the Clear-Clear Fruit, is it? No wonder we waited on the ship for a while."
Lafitte, twirling his cane, strolled over, scrutinizing Absalom's now-visible body.
When the Underworld Ferry docked ashore, Maude had not immediately ordered the crew to disembark. Instead, they remained on board, seemingly waiting for something.
And that wait had led to the capture of a Clear-Clear Fruit user.
"You waited just for me...?"
Hearing Lafitte's words, a thunderbolt of realization struck Absalom, whose consciousness was on the verge of slipping away.
In that moment, he understood everything.
The Maude Pirates... had come prepared.
Gaya glanced at Absalom with clear disgust. "What a vile creature."
Using her Observation Haki earlier, she had keenly sensed Absalom's frequent, shameless glances.
Maude caught Gaya's expression and thought to himself: This guy's most revolting trait is his tendency to lick women relentlessly with his tongue.
Naturally, as long as Maude was here, Absalom would never get the chance.
With that thought, Maude tightened his grip, swiftly knocking Absalom unconscious.
Then, as if discarding trash, he tossed Absalom's limp body to the ground.
The crew gathered around, inspecting the unconscious Absalom.
"So this is the Clear-Clear Fruit user, huh?"
Bailey, who had already consumed the Arms-Arms Fruit, hopped onto Absalom's chest. Now a Devil Fruit user himself, he showed interest in observing another ability user.
Maude flipped open the cover of his wrist-mounted Den Den Mushi and made a call to Law.
Moments later, the Polar Tang surfaced from beneath the waves.
Law opened the submarine's hatch and stepped onto the deck, then leapt aboard the Underworld Ferry.
Once on deck, Law's eyes immediately fell on Absalom's unconscious body.
"This is him?"
"Yeah, the Clear-Clear Fruit user," Maude confirmed with a nod.
Law's gaze flickered. Within mere minutes of arriving at Gecko Moria's territory, they had captured a Devil Fruit user.
It was as if they had casually picked up a treasure worth hundreds of millions of berries.
"Shall I proceed with the operation?" Law asked, shifting his gaze from Absalom to Maude.
"There's no rush. First, let Lafitte extract some intel. Also, this time... I'll be the one to kill him."
Maude met Law's questioning eyes.
During the first operation, Maude had been eager to obtain the Arms-Arms Fruit. To ensure success, he had refrained from personally killing Baby 5, opting instead for Law's expertise.
But now things were different.
Having already succeeded with one Devil Fruit operation, Maude wasn't about to pass up the chance to take down another target himself.
Even if this surgery failed, Maude could accept the outcome.
Law was momentarily surprised by Maude's request but didn't overthink it.
Maude personally delivering the killing blow might slightly affect the process, but it wouldn't compromise the result.
Soon after, Lafitte used hypnosis to extract information from Absalom.
Maude recorded the details in his Hunter's Notebook, then, when Law began the operation, Maude personally ended Absalom's life.
With Absalom dead, Law skillfully manipulated the Devil's soul within the heart, forcing it to transfer into a nearby piece of fruit, thus creating a new Clear-Clear Fruit.
Having performed this procedure once before, Law completed it even faster this time. After a few more attempts, the operation's success rate would be virtually guaranteed.
For now, their success rate was 100%.
However, that relied on matching the right fruit type. If the wrong type was used, the outcome remained uncertain.
Given the immense value of Devil Fruits, Maude and Law weren't willing to take unnecessary risks.
Fortunately, acquiring a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia wasn't difficult. With enough money and effort, they could easily obtain one from the black market.
Law held the newly formed Clear-Clear Fruit in his hand.
Despite having already handled the Arms-Arms Fruit, he still felt a mix of emotions as he looked at the freshly created fruit.
A Devil Fruit—a treasure most people could only dream of—had been obtained with such ease.
If not for Maude's vision, Law might never have realized the terrifying potential of the Op-Op Fruit, even after decades.
After extracting the Clear-Clear Fruit, Maude grabbed Absalom's corpse, walked out to the ship's rail, and tossed it into the sea.
"So weak," Maude muttered, shaking his head.
The experience points gained from Absalom were pitifully low.
But upon reflection, Maude wasn't surprised.
After all, the strength and physique Absalom relied on came from body modifications, which weren't covered in the Hunter's Notebook.
"I wonder if the zombies on the island will give me any surprises..."
Maude's eyes gleamed as he gazed toward the fog-shrouded forest of Thriller Bark.
Hidden in the shadows at the forest's edge, several pairs of terrified eyes stared at Maude.
"Master Absalom... was killed!!!"
"What did those people on the ship do to him? There wasn't even a sound!"
The small animal zombies lurking in the darkness were paralyzed with shock.
In just a few minutes, Absalom, who had boarded the enemy ship in silence, met his end just as quietly.
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