The battle between Bullet and Roya continued until evening, with the sun setting in the west, and only ended when Bullet was completely exhausted.
Looking at the panting young man lying on the ground, Roya breathed a sigh of relief, feeling both a pang of sympathy and admiration.
"Roya, I will definitely defeat you next time!"
"Is that so? I look forward to that day, haha!"
Roya couldn't help but sigh, thinking how wonderful youth was, even though he was only twenty-six himself.
Facing the formidable junior, Bullet, Roya felt a sense of defeat for the first time.
Hiber, dressed in Viking attire, walked over with a smile, deliberately teasing, "Well, Roya, it seems it won't be long before you can't even beat the little brats."
Roya retorted, "Who are you looking down on, Hiber! I'm constantly getting stronger, alright?!"
As the two bickered as usual, Kaido and Wald, sitting in the attic, burst into laughter.
A moment later, Roya, Hiber, and the others walked over and respectfully greeted Kaido, "Boss Kaido!"
Kaido nodded slightly, smiling approvingly, "Thank you for your hard work recruiting, have a seat."
Roya, Hiber, and Bullet sat down on the ground, and immediately, maids came up with wine, meat, and fruit, placing them before the group.
After battling for most of the day, Bullet was already ravenously hungry, and he rudely grabbed chunks of meat and stuffed them into his mouth to replenish his energy.
Roya and Hiber then recounted the events of their overseas recruitment efforts over the past few months.
It must be said that Kaido's reputation preceded him.
Most pirates admired strength, and in the past two years, Kaido's infamy had spread far and wide, especially after defeating the highly popular Black Arm Zephyr of the Marine, which greatly boosted his reputation.
Leveraging this momentum, along with Roya and Hiber's strength, they immediately brought two new pirate crews into their fold.
"Well done!"
Since the Jaltsburg incident, Kaido hadn't been idle either.
Many undesirable elements from the Oren Kingdom and Jaltsburg Kingdom who were dissatisfied with their royalty also joined Kaido's ranks. Now, Kaido has over two thousand pirates on Winter Island alone.
If you add the forces stationed in the Oren Kingdom, the factory wasteland island, and the Jaltsburg Kingdom, this number would reach over three thousand.
Currently, among all the pirate forces across the vast sea, only a handful exceed Kaido's numbers.
The only one Kaido truly feared was Golden Lion Shiki.
Golden Lion Shiki commanded such a massive pirate force not only due to his own strength and reputation but primarily because he accepted anyone who came his way.
It is said that Golden Lion's subordinate pirates already numbered nearly ten thousand.
However, Kaido wouldn't let just any riff-raff join; there were quite a few young and powerful pirates on the sea nowadays.
"Uorororo, it's truly great to be born in this era!"
Kaido burst into laughter, his eyes blazing with two streaks of light, already envisioning the creation of a Beasts Pirates far surpassing its previous incarnation!
Kaido loudly declared to everyone, "My lads, prepare yourselves! In one month, we will head to Hachinosu Island to conquer John!"
"Is it starting again?"
"Is it Captain John?!"
Wald, Roya, and Hiber's eyes lit up, showing no fear, but instead, excitement, as they eagerly rubbed their hands together.
Hachinosu Island, also known as Pirate Island, was a place of exile where countless kingdoms banished the most heinous criminals.
Two years ago, Rocks and dozens of his pirate crews launched an all-out assault, taking away most of the pirates on the island.
But in the past two years, countless vicious criminals had once again gathered on Hachinosu Island, and it was now quite a force to be reckoned with... While Kaido's grand plan to conquer Hachinosu Island was still brewing, a major event occurred on the sea.
Led by Sengoku and Zephyr, with several Marine Vice Admirals participating, a fierce battle erupted with the Silver Ax Pirates in the Herod Sea.
The battle was incredibly intense, with nearly ten Marine warships besieging the Silver Ax Pirates. Blood stained the seawater, and several pirate ships and warships were sunk.
The two sides fought for a night, ultimately ending with the Marine crushing the Silver Ax Pirates and declaring victory.
However, on the deck of the warship escorting the pirates...
Zephyr, facing east, wearing his Marine 'Justice' coat, with a cigar in his mouth, gazed into the far distance.
"Why are you still spacing out, Zephyr? We won this battle."
Sengoku walked over with firm steps, his leather soles making a "thud-thud" sound on the deck.
He held a bag of potato chips in his left hand, and his right hand reached into the bag, grabbed a handful, and put them into his mouth to chew.
"It's not our victory if we couldn't capture Silver Axe."
Zephyr's tone was flat, his gaze filled with melancholy, as he murmured, "Losing three warships and still letting Silver Axe escape, this is a failure for the Marine."
"In the vast sea, where can he escape to all alone?"
Sengoku looked at Zephyr and continued, "Silver Axe is no longer a threat!"
Zephyr didn't reply, simply staring silently at the vast ocean, the churning waves crashing against the ship's hull, sending up towering spray.
Silver Axe had escaped, his fate unknown; he could only hope he would be swallowed by fish, forever disappearing from this world.
On a certain uninhabited desolate island, a giant was washed ashore by the waves. The surf cleansed the dirt from his body, and the two axes on his back were particularly striking, gleaming coldly in the sunlight.
A hermit crab, carrying its shell, touched the giant's nose. The giant's brow twitched slightly, then he suddenly opened his eyes.
"Damn it, those Marine bastards!"
The man roared in anger, his eyeballs bloodshot.
He scrambled to his feet, and vivid, brutal scenes flashed through his mind: his subordinates fighting to the death, swinging swords at the Marine... his crew captured by Zephyr, their faces filled with disappointment and regret... The scene froze on the exploding flames, his ship hit directly by a Marine cannonball.
Silver Axe couldn't help but grieve, his face etched with pain, as he gritted his teeth and said, "Damn Marine! One day you will pay for this!"
He looked around; he was on a desolate island.
The island was overgrown with lush vegetation, vibrant with green, and rows of broad-leaved trees swayed in the sea breeze, making rustling sounds.
On the beach, a dozen red-shelled hermit crabs stared blankly at the stranger. The moment the stranger looked their way, the hermit crabs moved their claws, leaving footprints on the soft sand.
Silver Axe straightened his helmet, then stood up somewhat bewildered. His physique was extremely burly and robust, like a moving hill.
He looked around blankly, and a large question mark suddenly appeared in his mind.
Where is this?
He was indeed a pirate, that was correct.
But when it came to questions about navigators and other scientific and geographical matters, as someone solely focused on combat, he declared: I don't know either.
A big head, with a big question mark.
Don't be surprised; there are many such characters on the vast ocean.
Everyone has their strengths, and it is precisely for this reason that each crew handles different situations as they arise.
As for Silver Axe, he was completely clueless about science.
"So, where did the Marine send me?"
The sea was vast and boundless, land was scarce and scattered, and the magnetic fields and climate were unpredictable.
Silver Axe stood on the desolate, bleak island, listening to the roaring waves in his ears and the low, hoarse cries of the wild beasts on the island, falling into deep thought.