"Brother Queen, Lord Arceus, have you finished your business? Brother Kaidou ran into a tough group, and we're heading over to deliver ammunition."
Kaidou has been expanding his territory, and for those lower-level pirate grunts, operating the cannons is one of their main tasks. They had just taken over an island when they encountered new enemies, and their ammunition was running low.
"Someone Kaidou finds troublesome? Who did he run into?"
"The Wald Pirates, captained by the so-called World Breaker, Byrnndi Wald." The pirate beside him respectfully answered the question, then pulled out a wanted poster from a pile.
A man wearing a Viking Pirates-like horned helmet displayed a somewhat silly smile on the wanted poster.
World Breaker - Byrnndi Wald, Bounty: 200 million Belly.
Looking at this wanted poster, Arceus remembered some things. Although the details were unclear, this was still a Great Pirate active on the sea, though the bounty seemed a bit unscientific.
These days, bounties for Great Pirates in the New World are generally over a billion Belly, especially for the remnants of the Rocks.
Although the incident with Rocks is something the World Government and Navy want to conceal, Rocks inadvertently gave those leftovers a boost, and the World Government has placed very high bounties on them.
Among Byrnndi Wald's achievements are battles against Whitebeard, Golden Lion, Roger, and even the fleet led by Zephyr before he retired behind the scenes.
Of course, there's some exaggeration in these battles; fighting hand to hand for three days and nights is also called a battle, firing a few shots from afar is also called a battle.
In most cases, he would withdraw after brief engagements. If these people had all been defeated by him, his bounty would not be so low, and he wouldn't have been able to sail for so long. The government would likely treat him the same way they treated Rocks, mobilizing a large force to eliminate him.
But regardless, the fact that he continued to sweep across the sea after clashing with these formidable figures already speaks volumes about his strength.
The World Government added the title "World Breaker" to his name because he poses a significant threat to its order.
Navy fleets, powerful pirates, and innocent civilians are all his targets; his existence seems solely for destruction, without a clear purpose.
"Why is this guy's bounty only 200 million?"
"Well... I think I heard someone mention in the research group that the government deliberately wants to downplay this person's existence, so after he entered the New World, they never raised his bounty again."
The World Government doesn't mind pirates on the sea maintaining a certain balance; what they despise most are those who try to disrupt that balance, as Rocks did back in the day.
Unlike other pirates who occupy a territory to become local tyrants, Wald causes aimless destruction, relying on his Double-Double Fruit ability to increase the size and speed of cannonballs a hundredfold, making his pirate ship's firepower stronger than that of a Navy Fleet.
In addition to his erratic destruction, he is disliked not only by the Navy but even by other pirates.
Such pirates easily cause public panic, so the World Government stopped increasing his bounty.
Moreover, Wald is not part of Rocks' remnants, his fame only rose in the last two years, and there's no background bonus for him.
By not further increasing his bounty, more pirates would challenge him, consuming force in internal strife.
Many pirates aspire to make a name for themselves, and the best way to achieve that is to step up on someone else's corpse.
Very few would start by challenging billion-belly pirates; Wald's 200 million bounty is just right in the New World.
"Queen, what year is it now?"
"Sea Calendar Year 1491, is there a problem, Lord Arceus?"
After being preoccupied for several months, it was already 1491, and his bananas had regrown. This time, he didn't eat them, planning instead to find a suitable place to cultivate new bananas.
"Nothing, let's go and see how Kaidou's battle is going."
He recalled that Byrnndi Wald had been imprisoned because a large number of CPs had infiltrated his ship, and then he was besieged by both pirates and the Navy. Judging by the time, it was about now.
Arceus and Queen boarded a supply transport ship and headed to the battlefield on the distant sea.
....
The battle between Wald and Kaidou continued. At this time, Wald had not yet experienced thirty years of Ice Seal, and his body was still in peak condition. When the ability of the Double-Double Fruit was applied to his body, his speed could reach the extreme.
According to Borsalino, who was still a new recruit in the Navy at that time, speed is power. After enhancing himself, even Kaidou could not gain much advantage in a direct confrontation.
At this point, Kaidou was already in Human-Beast Form, and he was fiercely battling Wald, who was covered in Armament Haki. The battlefield around them was completely cleared out, with the ground full of cracks and large pits; it looked like it would take a while before they could determine a winner.
However, it was apparent that Wald was somewhat distracted. While he could still match Kaidou now, in the battle between the pirate crews, the Wald Pirates were at a definite disadvantage.
The gap between the officers was too large.
The Hundred Beasts Pirates, due to the lack of ammunition, had their ship's cannons virtually silenced, but the cannons from Wald's side could not have any effect, as all the cannonballs were intercepted in the sky by Shaina.
Under Shaina's cover, the Beasts' ship was closing in. Without ammunition, keeping a distance meant getting attacked unilaterally, so they decided to move in for a close-quarters battle.
At this time, on Wald's ship, a small figure was holding a Radio Snail, commanding the battle.
Byrnndi Bingjack, Wald's older brother, but unlike Wald's robust physique, he was frail and sickly, completely lacking combat capability. On the ship, he held the position of Vice Captain and strategist, and the ship's specific actions were all arranged by him.
Usually, he sat on Wald's shoulder, but when facing a formidable enemy, Wald would not carry Bingjack along.
"Retreat! Keep your distance! Avoid close combat with them. They're low on ammunition, so try to maximize our firepower advantage! Sebastian! Find a way to deal with that ability user!"
A single ability user had completely nullified their firepower advantage. Sebastian was an officer on Wald's ship, a Fish Giant of a Coelacanth species, with an enormous physique, being a hybrid of Fishman and Giant.
Due to battle, he lost his eyesight, but his Observation Haki compensated for that shortfall.
Following Bingjack's orders, Sebastian planned to use Fishman Karate to attack Shaina in the sky.
However, things didn't go as he expected; the ship suddenly shook, and numerous stone spikes pierced through the deck. King had already broken through onto Wald's ship.