Before arriving at Little Garden, the significantly stronger Cavendish was brimming with confidence. He even entertained the thought of helping Maude take down Brogy and Dorry within a minute.
However, reality delivered a harsh blow.
Had it not been for Maude's timely intervention, Cavendish might have already met his end.
Following that, he personally witnessed Maude's monstrous and unreasonable level of talent.
All of this left him frustrated, bottling up a surge of emotions with nowhere to release them.
He originally intended to suppress his feelings and move on, but as fate would have it, a group of walking punching bags presented themselves.
"I'll handle this!"
Cavendish narrowed his eyes, his flowing golden locks billowing despite the absence of wind, as he swiftly stepped in front of Gaya.
His eagerness momentarily caught Gaya off guard.
Before she could respond, Cavendish kicked off the ground and charged at the hundred or so individuals emerging from the forest.
"Feeling dejected, huh…"
Gaya watched Cavendish rush forward and quietly put away her axe.
At the forest's edge, the bounty hunters gazed at Brogy's lifeless body with flickering eyes.
They had mustered the courage to come here, hoping to scavenge some benefits.
But upon arrival, they saw Maude panting heavily, seemingly exhausted.
Unfortunately for them, he was unscathed.
Even so, they saw an opportunity.
"If we can successfully take Blue Ogre Brogy's head…"
All the bounty hunters instinctively glanced at Brogy's corpse, which was still a considerable distance away from Maude.
Fortune favors the bold!
Given Maude's fatigued appearance, even if they seized Brogy's head, they might not necessarily be pursued.
As for the two women…
The bounty hunters shifted their gaze to Philo and Gaya, their eyes flashing with disdain.
"One's a nobody, and the other only has a 30-million bounty—not worth worrying about."
Their attention then turned to Cavendish.
"The only real threat is the captain of the Beautiful Pirates, Cav— Cav— Cav…"
"What the hell?!"
Seeing Cavendish suddenly charge at them like a madman, the bounty hunters were instantly terrified.
What was going on?!
They hadn't even done anything yet!
"Scatter!"
The ringleader, who had advocated for this opportunistic move, shouted in panic.
Their primary objective was to take either the Blue Ogre's or Red Ogre's head without clashing directly with Maude's group.
Yet, before they could even make a move, Cavendish came at them like a rabid dog.
Left with no choice, the ringleader ordered the group to scatter in an attempt to reduce Cavendish's efficiency in chasing them down.
Upon hearing the command, the bounty hunters immediately spread out as quickly as possible.
The awkward part? They all had the same goal—Brogy's corpse.
As a result, their dispersal was far from thorough.
"Damn it…"
The ringleader cursed inwardly.
Of course, given their nature as bounty hunters, all of them dreamed of claiming the massive reward. In a situation like this, who would willingly act as bait to divert Cavendish's attention?
Suddenly, the ringleader had an epiphany—perhaps it would be best to sacrifice this ragtag bunch for his own survival.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, a figure suddenly appeared before him.
"Huh?"
The ringleader's eyes widened in horror as he saw Cavendish closing the distance within mere seconds.
That—That was too fast!
His heartbeat spiked as he instinctively reached for his sword, but before he could react, Cavendish's blade was already swinging down.
"I'm done for!"
A wave of despair flooded his mind before he felt a sharp pain in his chest. Then, darkness consumed him.
Cavendish glanced at the unconscious ringleader before shifting his gaze to the remaining bounty hunters.
"I was only told to drive them away… So, as long as I don't kill them, everything else is fair game, right?"
Satisfied with his own reasoning, Cavendish dashed toward the remaining bounty hunters who were still scrambling for Brogy's corpse.
The previous strike on the ringleader had been with his sheathed sword.
With controlled force, the most it would do was leave his opponent severely injured, but not dead.
In mere moments, Cavendish caught up to the bounty hunters.
Leveraging his incredible speed, it took him less than three minutes to knock every last one of them unconscious.
Deeper in the forest—
A few figures remained hidden, watching in shock as Cavendish effortlessly dismantled the bounty hunters.
"A man with a 380-million bounty… Could he have become Maude's subordinate?"
"With such a promising future, yet he willingly follows Maude's orders…"
"Was it to survive? Or was he truly awed by Maude's strength?"
For a moment, these observers, who appeared to be intelligence agents, were convinced that Cavendish had become Maude's underling.
Only this explanation made sense—why else would Maude, after taking down other Supernovas, spare Cavendish's life?
It all added up…
The men exchanged knowing glances.
"Regardless, my job here is done."
One of them, holding a Den Den Mushi with a camera lens, muttered to himself.
"Now, I just need to deliver this intel to that person."
A fleeting image of a sleazy-looking middle-aged man crossed his mind.
Back at the scene—
Having vented his frustration, Cavendish looked utterly content, completely unaware that the hidden spies had already branded him as Maude's subordinate.
Had he known, he would have slaughtered them immediately to prevent such rumors from making headlines.
Unfortunately…
He remained oblivious to their presence, meaning this misinterpretation would inevitably spread.
"Once this is all over, I'll just send Maude back to the Florian Triangle and head for the New World."
Cavendish glanced at the unconscious bounty hunters scattered on the ground, silently forming a plan.
Since Maude had already stolen the spotlight in the first half of the Grand Line, he would go to the New World and stage an event that would attract the attention of every major news outlet!
The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, even chuckling to himself.
Not far away, Gaya and Philo exchanged puzzled looks at Cavendish's sudden self-indulgent laughter.
Meanwhile—
Maude rummaged through Brogy's belongings and unexpectedly found an Eternal Pose.
"This is… an Eternal Pose to Elbaf."
Looking at the wooden base engraved with the island's name, Maude's expression shifted slightly.
Elbaf—the island of the giants.
And where there were giants, there was immense experience to be gained.
"Not now, though."
Shaking his head slightly, Maude put away the Eternal Pose.
The experience from battling giants was certainly tempting, but his primary focus remained on the future—the war that would shake the very foundations of the New Era…
The Paramount War.
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