Big brother, I want to become the strongest pirate in the world!

Chapter 044 Bounty Order

Marine Headquarters, Marineford.

"They've all been killed?"

"Yes, there are a lot more troops coming from the West Sea."

"Well, let them fight like dogs. It just so happens that the Don Quixote family in the North Sea is in chaos again, so I can have a little less to worry about in the West Sea."

While looking at the messages coming from the various branches, Admiral Sengoku chatted with Borsalino, who was sitting next to him drinking tea.

"Wow, that's fast! This monster pirate crew has only been in the Navy's sights for three months, right?"

"Hmm~ They wiped out all the famous pirate crews in the West Blue in just three months... How terrifying~ However, this guy named Kazan, although he is the captain... has never made a move. But he did fight Doflamingo the year before last, and I heard he is slightly stronger."

"If his subordinates are all strong enough to be great pirates, then this 'Red Dog' should be no less capable. However, the one who is a little troublesome is this Logia-type 'Snow Woman'."

"Let's just raise the bounty a little to appease them. We can deal with them when we get to the Grand Line. They're just a few kids."

"Do you even know how many children they are? They're only a few years old and they already have this kind of strength? If we let them grow up, they might become a problem later. I just raised their bounty a month ago. Can't you just fly over and find out about them directly? Or bring them over for humane rehabilitation, since they haven't done anything bad yet."

"Hey, General Sengoku, are you sure you're talking to me, Borsalino? I just got off work, you can't treat me like this. Ah, Kuzan said he's been pretty bored lately, why don't you bring him over?"

"Hmph... If Kuzan hears this, he'll cause you trouble again. This is the price... I don't have time to deal with them lately. But that Don Quixote family recently got a very promising guy in jail, right?"

Sengoku casually wrote a few numbers on a piece of paper and pushed it to his assistant, glancing at Borsalino with a slight flicker in his eyes.

"Oh? Is that so? I didn't know that."

"Looks like it's another piece of fake news from who-knows-where."

Zhan Guo waved his hand and said casually.

……

The next day, the bounty posters for the Monster Pirates spread across the seas again, though not as widely as they did along the Grand Line.

West Sea, Huttonmar.

Inside a small tavern, a man carrying a huge black sword looked at the bounty poster in his hand.

The captain of the Monster Pirates, "Red Dog" Kazan, has a bounty of 79 million Berries, the same as that little girl called "Child of the Devil".

"So this is the kid Shanks was talking about... I think I ran into him before, but unfortunately he got away back then."

Dracule Mihawk, the future world's greatest swordsman, recently encountered Shanks, the Red-Haired, again in the West Blue and a battle ensued. During the fight, Shanks mentioned that there was a very interesting person in the West Blue.

Mihawk, there's a guy in the Western Sea named Kazan who has a ghostly hand and red eyes. He's a dual-wielder, and he's way better than you at swordsmanship!

These were Shanks' original words at the time, which Mihawk remembered. The reason why he stayed in the West Blue without leaving, besides searching for the 'Lost Country,' was also because of this guy, hoping to meet him again.

He was very curious about this man and longed to fight him in order to improve his swordsmanship.

"This position... I'm in."

Mihawk pulled out another newspaper, which reported the location of the Monster Pirates' last appearance.

……

Shanks, now back on the Grand Line with his pirate crew, looked at the bounty and newspaper in his hand and laughed heartily.

"Hahahaha, Mihawk, you're still too green, hahahahaha!!!"

"Hey Shanks, what did you do to Hawkeye this time?"

"Hahahaha, let me tell you slowly. This all started with the guy on this bounty poster."

Shanks waved the wanted poster in his hand, his face full of smiles, his eyes red with a not-so-unsurprising anticipation.

It's finally starting... Kazan.

So, now that Mihawk isn't bothering me for a while, I can finally take a good rest.

……

A large pirate ship is sailing towards the location reported in the newspaper in the West Sea.

"Hehehehe, there are such people in the West Sea? Perfect, they can strengthen my zombie army!"

"His men seem pretty good too, let's take them all in."

"Hehehe, if I had subordinates of this caliber back then, would I have ever lost to Kaido?!"

The bloated Moonlight Moria was laughing heartily, clutching several bounty posters in one hand and a bottle of liquor in the other.

Back in the day, he was the kind of guy who could go toe-to-toe with Kaido! If it weren't for his crew, how could he have lost? (The manga shows that they were evenly matched, and Moria lost because of his crew. Whether that's true or not is irrelevant; let's just go with Oda's interpretation.)

"I didn't realize the Shadow-Shadow Fruit had this potential before, but now that I have, Kaido, you'd better be prepared!"

Gecko Moria looked at the two or three hundred zombies at his feet and chuckled. Among them were several famous pirates from the Grand Line. Moria believed that with this kind of fighting power, dominating the West Blue would be no problem at all.

Of course, most of them were zombie subordinates that he had just taken in after passing through so many islands in the West Sea, but they were not ordinary people, and they were all bounty hunters.

"Hehehehe, I've already seen it!! When I return to the Grand Line from the West Blue, the whole world will tremble for me! Hehehehehe!!!"

……

In the West Blue, Kazan led his monster pirate crew back to the town where he had obtained the useless demon sword.

Of course, I returned unintentionally. After three months of continuous fighting, I was a bit tired, so after the last battle, I just randomly found a small island nearby and stopped.

It's quite a coincidence that this is the very place where I obtained the second knife.

"Who knows, this town might actually have some kind of destiny connection with me."

Kazan boasted to his younger siblings about the hardships he had overcome and how his personal charm had earned him the approval and favor of the demon sword, Wuyong.

"Alright, after we wiped out these pirate crews in the West Blue, they probably won't dare to act recklessly for a while. Everyone should take a good rest, especially you, Xiao Bei, you've been killing like crazy lately."

"Yes, boss! Uh... boss, look, our bounty has gone up again!"

Bellamy straightened up and answered Kazan's question forcefully, and then several bounty posters falling from the sky attracted everyone's attention.

After seeing the numbers clearly, everyone's eyes filled with smiles.

Captain of the Monster Pirates, "Red Dog" Kazan, has a bounty of 93 million Berries.

Monster Pirates' 'Snow Woman' Monet, bounty 7 million Berries.

The Monster Pirates' "Okama" Bon Clay, with a bounty of 75 million Berries.

The Monster Pirates' "Black Fist" Bellamy, with a bounty of 68 million Berries.

They live on the four seas, yet they have bounties that are only found on the Grand Line. Only the Monster Pirates could be like that!

As for these titles, apart from Kazan's, which was given to him by other pirate hunters and pirates in the West Blue when he was still a pirate hunter, the other three's nicknames are taken from their physical characteristics, which is quite in line with the Navy's style of doing things.

Chapter 045 The Calm Before the Storm

"Hmm... underground boxing, it's so good."

Kazan glanced at Bellamy's bounty poster; in the picture, Bellamy was wearing Seastone gauntlets and attacking the camera.

His own bounty poster just shows him standing there dumbly with a pair of red eyes. After all, he has never made a move, so there is no chance to take pictures of him in battle. But that's fine too, it gives him the feeling of being a behind-the-scenes boss.

He was quite envious of Bellamy's title. Although it didn't sound very appealing, it was straightforward and didn't have anything strange about it. It also easily reminded people of "Iron Fist" Garp and "Black Arm" Zeff.

As for this 'Red Dog', well, he's only similar to 'Akainu' Sakazuki, but a level below him.

This is also why the Monster Pirates frequently attacked the pirates during this period. If they hadn't been shouting and yelling, he might not have had this name.

"Time flies, more than half of 1505 has already passed."

"Well, there's nothing we can do, bro. We wasted several months in the Calm Belt, and after arriving in the West Sea, we wandered around and dawdled, taking several days to rest wherever we went. We also spent so much time entangled with Redhead. It's normal that we have no sense of time."

"By the way, my little Monet is starting to mature."

Kazan glanced down at Monet. At 13, Monet had already transformed from a little girl into a young woman, and at such a young age, she was already shouldering considerable pressure.

"Hehe, it's all thanks to my brother~"

"You flatter me."

"Kazan, what should we do for the next period of time? There are no more great pirates in the West Blue that we can kill. The Navy has suffered a few losses and basically runs away when they encounter us."

"Ah... I guess someone told them not to do anything pointless and risk their lives. Although I was thinking of taking a trip to the Grand Line, our ship is almost ready to be scrapped anyway."

"Hmm... Brother, you never lift a finger. The three of us can't possibly take care of such a big warship."

"Then let's stay on this island for a few more months. The weather is getting colder and colder, so let's not spend the New Year at sea."

"My older brother really enjoys Chinese New Year, is there a reason for that...?"

Bellamy looked at Kazan with curiosity; he was always very enthusiastic about anything related to Kazan.

"No particular reason, we're used to it... From now on, our monster family will have this New Year's tradition. I'll take you guys to set off firecrackers."

"What's so fun about setting off firecrackers..."

"How could a girl like Monet understand the joy we boys have? There are so many ways to play with firecrackers..."

Kazan happily told his younger siblings what they would do during the New Year, some about past lives and others about previous lives.

……

At the same time, in the first half of the Grand Line, there was a winter island where it snowed all year round.

A tiny fawn followed a large herd of deer at a distance.

It was only a few days old when it was shunned by its companions because of its strange blue nose. No one played with it, and some even chased it away.

The poor thing had no idea what it had done wrong; it didn't even understand why it was being disliked.

In its still-developing consciousness, this seems to be a very normal thing.

When it was being chased by other wild animals, the herd of deer just watched indifferently. It fled in panic, not daring to go far or get close to the main group.

It dares not eat with other deer; it can only wait for them to finish eating before it rushes up to eat, and it has to eat quickly, otherwise it will be left behind.

It was very sad, but it didn't even know that this emotion was called sadness.

How long will this last?

Its life has just begun; it has not yet entered a predetermined, preordained trajectory.

For it, the road ahead is still unknown...