Blood mist permeated the air, and a pool of mangled flesh on the ground was strikingly dazzling.
Kaido put away his spiked club and, following the direction of his Observation Haki, headed to the cold and damp dungeon.
Inside the dungeon, Wald, who was bound by chains, had his back pressed tightly against the damp, moss-covered wall, as a few beams of cold Moonlight shone in through the bowl-sized iron window.
Wald raised his head and grinned, "You're late, Kaido. If you were two minutes slower, I would have broken free from these chains and escaped on my own."
Wald knew his smile was forced, but his pride wouldn't allow him to show any weakness in front of Kaido.
Seeing that Kaido didn't respond, Wald hastily averted his gaze.
He remembered his confident promise to Kaido that he would complete the mission and become Kaido's right-hand man.
However, reality had dealt him an incredibly painful slap.
'Kaido must be very disappointed in me, right?'
Wald thought, his spirits low.
With a bang, Kaido violently smashed the chains, along with the lock, breaking them apart.
"Let's go, Wald. We still have things to do next."
"What things?"
Wald, who had just regained his footing, looked up at Kaido in astonishment.
"Of course, it's about those guys who schemed against us."
Kaido was very shrewd. For the assassin group Bolonga to personally take action meant they were inextricably linked to the Dorag Family.
These Underworld family forces were spread all over the world, making it indeed difficult to find their main base, but Kaido hadn't even considered looking for the high-ranking officials of the Dorag Family.
All he wanted was to continuously destroy their strongholds.
Of course, if he could take the opportunity to cut down a few family key members, Kaido would be very happy to do so.
Wald's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he rubbed his fists together, "How can such a good thing happen without me? Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, this stinky Fishman seems to have quite a bit of savings."
During the two days Wald was captured by Bolonga, Wald often saw Bolonga running into a secret underground room, coming out with a smiling face and talking about treasures and final payments.
"And I heard he also contacted bounty hunters, wanting to 'sell' me to the Marine."
Wald had a playful look, "Do you think we should 'sell' him to the Marine?"
A few minutes later, Wald looked at the mangled flesh on the ground, being pecked at by Crows, and his eye twitched.
"By the way..."
Wald sighed, picking up the anchor covered in blood and chunks of flesh, "Can we exchange this for the bounty?"
The bounty hunter Bolonga had arranged for arrived as scheduled, but when he saw Kaido and Wald, he froze.
He couldn't help but rub his eyes, thinking he had seen wrong, but when he confirmed the identities of Kaido and Wald, his face immediately changed dramatically in fear.
He wanted to run away, but Wald restrained him.
The bounty hunter explained with a mournful face, "Mr. World Destroyer Wald, I'm just a passing bounty hunter, I have no ill intentions."
Wald scoffed, not falling for it.
He threw the anchor to the ground with a thud, leaving a deep imprint.
Wald stated that Bolonga was dead, with no complete corpse, only this specialized weapon remaining, and asked if they could claim the bounty with it.
The bounty hunter said helplessly, "It used to be possible to receive the full amount, but ever since pirates colluded with bounty hunters to maliciously claim bounties, it has been reduced to only one-third of the original bounty amount."
One-third of 500 million Berries was not a small amount, and Wald didn't hesitate, immediately asking the bounty hunter to drag the anchor to a nearby branch base for appraisal.
This process would take three to five days.
Wald contacted Binjack, and they exchanged news of their safety. Learning that Wald had finally escaped, Binjack's nerves, which had been tense for two days, finally relaxed.
Binjack was already physically weak, and with the relaxation of his nerves, fatigue immediately set in. His subordinates carried Binjack to a relatively intact residence to rest.
Wald and Kaido, meanwhile, went to a nearby stronghold of the Dorag Family, continuing their widespread destruction, plundering their treasures, and burning everything to ashes.
When three strongholds on the Grand Line were successively taken down, Piekro, who couldn't contact Bolonga, finally realized the seriousness of the situation.
Piekro immediately went to report to his father, August.
"Things have exceeded our expectations. Bolonga has very likely been killed."
Piekro looked flustered, nervously and uneasily rubbing the scythe in his hand.
Bolonga was their ace in the assassin group, one of their two strongest combatants.
Bolonga's failure would have a significant impact on their assassin group.
"Is Kaido really that strong?"
August realized he seemed to have underestimated this young pirate, sighed helplessly, and said, "Release the news and negotiate peace with them."
Although they were an old family that had cultivated in the Underworld for a hundred years, they had too few high-end combat forces.
Anyone with a bit of strength either established their own power or was noticed by the World Government and went to serve the World Government in the Marine.
Showing goodwill now would only cost them some money, but if they continued to stubbornly resist, their losses would be more than just two or three strongholds.
August said coldly, "Also, since we undertook this mission, we naturally won't betray the Ibis Family, but... as for how much compensation Kaido will demand, that money must be borne by their family!"
The Ibis Family started with maritime shipping, and their business spread all over the world, something the August Family could not compare to.
Because they took this order, not only did they not make money, but they also lost an ace assassin and several strongholds.
And the Ibis Family was now safe and sound; how could August find balance?
Piekro paused for a moment, then went down to contact the Ibis Family.
The Ibis Family hesitated for a moment but ultimately agreed to Piekro's request.
Gute's intelligence network was even more developed than the Dorag Family's, and he already knew about Kaido's major destruction of several Dorag Family strongholds.
When he learned that the Dorag Family had actively compromised, Gute knew that this objective had completely failed.
"I understand," Gute said in a deep voice.
He hung up the Den Den Mushi, wincing in pain as he rubbed his temples.
Umit said, "Father, I told you long ago that Kaido isn't simple. If you had listened to me back then, none of this would be happening now."
Fuluo, who was standing nearby, also wanted to speak, but at this moment, he looked at his younger brother Umit with a rather resentful expression, showing a smile uglier than crying.
Those words you're saying are all mine!!
Gute was very impatient, "Don't talk about the past anymore, Umit. Now, let's think about what to do."
Umit frowned, "If it's just about paying money, that's simple enough. What I fear is whether Kaido will have other demands."
"What do you mean?" Gute asked.
"The reason Kaido wants to bypass us and sell first-hand arms himself is precisely to dilute our dominant influence, while also making a huge profit."
Umit thought for a moment and said, "I'm worried that he will use this as an opportunity to cause trouble and use this chance to establish himself in the Underworld and consolidate his power."