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"The World Pirates?" Zechs said.
"The World Pirates?!" Katakuri repeated at the same time, but with a stronger tone.
Both of them immediately recognised the name.
"I see... So it's Byrnndi World... that makes sense." Zechs murmured.
He knew of the World Pirates, not because he had met them in this life, but from the newspaper reports he had read and from the special 3D2Y episode he had watched in his previous life. Even though that had been decades ago, he still remembered Byrnndi World and his crew.
'He was that guy with the green hair and beard who got cucked— ahem... betrayed by his own crewmates and ended up spending almost thirty years while being frozen in an Ice capsule in Impel Down, right?' Zechs thought.
He also remembered that Byrnndi World possessed an extremely powerful Devil Fruit: the Paramecia-type Moa-Moa no Mi, which allowed him to amplify things up to a hundred times.
"But why is Byrnndi World attacking us? We don't have any enmity..." Zechs muttered, even though he already knew the answer. Among pirates, there was rarely any need for a reason to attack another crew. Sometimes they did it simply because they wanted to. Sometimes, because their paths happened to cross.
"If it really is Byrnndi World and the World Pirates, we need to be careful," Katakuri said, looking noticeably more tense.
"You've fought him before?" Zechs asked, sensing that Katakuri seemed to have some history with these pirates.
"Yeah. Briefly," Katakuri replied. "I was fifteen at the time and out on a mission with Perospero when we ran into the World Pirates. It was a difficult fight. Even with Me, Perospero, Daifuku, and Oven all working together, we barely managed to retreat."
Katakuri's expression darkened slightly as old memories surfaced. "That guy is insane. He attacks everyone he sees; pirates, Marines, civilians, and even World Nobles. He's not afraid of consequences at all. In fact, this sort of cannon fire is usually how he greets people."
As he spoke, Katakuri faintly recalled the battle from almost thirty-four years ago. Now that he knew the enemy was Byrnndi World, those absurdly fast cannonballs that kept growing larger as they came closer made perfect sense.
World had used the same kind of attacks back then.
The difference was that, at the time, Katakuri had not yet mastered Future Sight, so they had suffered badly. Remembering that fight, a rare blemish on the perfect image he had, left him feeling both ashamed and irritated.
"I know," Zechs nodded before saying with a cold expression, "You already have a grudge against him. And now he's attacked us out of nowhere for no reason. That means he's offended me as well. Since that's the case... let's end the World Pirates today. Bring the ship over to their Ship."
Katakuri nodded. "Alright."
He did not personally go to the helm. Instead, he controlled his mochi clones to handle it, and they immediately took control of the wheel. The warship changed course and began sailing toward the direction from which the cannonballs were coming.
But the attacks did not stop.
More cannonballs continued to fly toward them, and Katakuri prepared another Burning Mochi fist to destroy the next one before it could get close.
Before he could throw the punch, however, Pudding suddenly shouted down from the crow's nest. "Onii-sama... leave it to me!!!"
Katakuri paused and held back his attack.
Pudding raised the rifle in her hands and pulled the trigger.
Bang!
The bullet shot out from the muzzle and struck the incoming cannonball with perfect accuracy.
Boom!
A huge explosion erupted in the distance, once again shaking the sea, sending waves surging outward, and creating another powerful shockwave.
But that was not the end of it. More cannonballs continued to fly toward them from the enemy ship.
It did not matter because Pudding calmly fired shot after shot, destroying every cannonball with flawless accuracy. Her aim was so precise that not a single cannonball slipped past her or even had the chance to get any closer to the warship.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
"Whew... that's some marksmanship… she really is talented at sniping," Zechs said with a whistle.
He did not know whether it was because of her third eye, her natural talent as a marksman, or a combination of both, but her skill with a rifle was truly exceptional.
"Yeah... I didn't realise she was this good with guns," Katakuri admitted, sounding slightly surprised as he lowered his fist.
With Pudding dealing with the incoming cannonballs, he relaxed a little and decided to conserve his stamina. A real battle was coming, and he would need to be at his best for it.
Although he no longer believed that the current him would lose to Byrnndi World, after all, that embarrassing retreat had happened when he was only fifteen, Katakuri still refused to take any chances.
And so, the ship sailed closer and closer to the World Pirates' ship.
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Aboard the World Pirates' ship—
"It's not working... forget it. Stop firing," World said as he pulled his hands away from the cannon's muzzle.
He had been using the power of his Moa-Moa no Mi to increase the speed and size of the cannonballs in an attempt to destroy Asmodeus Zechs' warship. It was his way of testing whether the other side was even worth subduing. If they could not handle a mere greeting, then that would be far too disappointing.
In truth, he had not expected much. Even a Vice Admiral would struggle to deal with this kind of attack. At least, the warship would have been destroyed.
Yet not only had the other side stopped the first cannonball, but they had also dealt with every one that followed. That proved they were not disappointing after all.
Since they could handle so many cannonballs, there was no point in continuing. Firing more would only waste cannonballs, gunpowder, and his own energy.
"Hmph... they managed to deal with that greeting. I suppose they're not bad," World said with a grin. "In that case... next comes the real fight."
"Captain World... we have to recruit them," Nightin reminded him from the side, trying to stop him from going too far.
To be honest, she had been worried earlier when World decided to greet the Asmodeus Zechs Pirates with cannon fire. She had been afraid Asmodeus Zechs might die.
Or worse, even if he survived, what if he got injured? What if that handsome face of his was ruined?
Fortunately, none of that had happened. The other side had dealt with the attack.
Otherwise... it would have been a real pity.
But she still needed to remind World not to overdo it.
World did not care what Nightin was thinking and replied casually, "That depends on whether they are willing to submit or not."
If they refused his invitation, he would simply kill them.
Nightin pouted, but said nothing aloud.
'I have to make sure Asmodeus Zechs doesn't get too hot-blooded and end up dead or injured,' she thought. 'A cute guy like him should know when to be humble and surrender. And if he doesn't know... I'll make sure to beat it into him.'
"By the way... who's that sniper?" World asked, glancing toward Byojack.
More than anything else, he was impressed by those sniping skills. After all, such accurate sniping skills… Even he, with more than a decade of sailing experience, hasn't seen someone like that.
Byojack, who was sitting on World's shoulders and peering through a special monocular Gairam had engineered, one powerful enough to see targets from kilometres away, answered, "It's that girl with the fifteen million berry bounty, 'Nutcracker Maid' Pudding."
"I see..." World nodded. He had no idea why she was called the 'Nutcracker Maid' and didn't really care either, but her marksmanship interested him. Someone with that kind of accuracy would be useful.
"Let's recruit her too," he ordered before turning toward the crew's doctor. "Nightin... capture that girl for me."
"Haaa? Why do I have to capture her?" Nightin protested immediately. "I'm helping capture Asmodeus Zechs!!!"
She liked playing with cute guys, not cute girls.
"It's probably because you'd act all annoying," Gairam said from the side with a laugh.
"Yeah," Sebastian snickered. "If I beat Asmodeus Zechs first, you won't even get to watch."
"You guys...!!!" Nightin snapped angrily.
What exactly was wrong with her not wanting to watch a cute guy get hurt by brutes like them? Cute guys should be treated carefully and gently, and they should be tied to a bed while being used properly. But these two self-absorbed, ugly brutes have no idea… they wanted to beat her next, cute toy… how could she be able to watch them?
"Alright... the three of you, stop arguing," World said before giving his orders. "Gairam, Sabastian, Nightin... go capture those three pirates. Take some men with you as well."
In his opinion, sending all three of them was already excessive.
After all, Asmodeus Zechs had reportedly been defeated by nothing more than a Rear Admiral. If that was true, then his crewmates would be even weaker. His three subordinates should be more than enough to handle them.
Each of them was stronger than a Rear Admiral. In fact, none of them was inferior to a Vice Admiral.
Sending all three at once was undoubtedly overkill, but World still chose not to underestimate his enemies.
As for taking action personally, he did not even consider it necessary. If he stepped in himself, he might accidentally kill them with very little effort.
Since Nightin wanted to recruit them, it would be better to let his subordinates defeat them first. Then he could offer them a place in his crew.
"You got it," Nightin, Gairam, and Sabastian replied together.
Holding his spiked mace, Sabastian leapt off the ship and landed in the sea with a huge splash and suspended half his body above the water.
Nightin and Gairam jumped down immediately after him and landed on his big back. Several more crew members followed, all crowding onto him as well. Because of being a Wotan, Sebastian's body was large enough to carry several dozen people with ease.
After everyone had climbed aboard his back, some of the weaker crewmen trembled slightly and complained, "It's slippery here..."
"Shut up and hold on," Sebastian snapped irritably, unhappy to hear those racist terms like 'slippery' or 'slimy,' and kicked his legs as he began swimming toward the opposing warship.
Byojack watched them leave and asked with some worry, "This will be alright, right?"
"Don't worry, brother," World assured him. "With those three, it shouldn't take more than five or ten minutes."
Then he folded his arms and waited for Nightin, Gairam, and Sabastian to finish the battle.
…
Aboard the Asmodeus Zechs' ship—
"Zechs-sama... Onii-sama... some of them jumped onto the back of that Wotan guy and are heading this way," Pudding immediately reported. "Byrnndi World isn't among them."
"Is that so...?" Zechs murmured. An unhappy smile appeared on his face. "It seems I'm being underestimated."
The fact that World had not even bothered to come personally made it clear that he did not think Zechs was worth dealing with himself.
"Should I go over there and deal with him?" Katakuri asked. He wanted not only to erase the stain of his earlier defeat, but also to prove that the captain of this crew did not need to take action either.
"Tempting," Zechs admitted, resting his hand on the hilt of the sword at his waist. "But I'm the captain, Katakuri. World is mine to defeat."
After a brief silence, Katakuri nodded. "Alright. Then I'll deal with these people."
"Yes, leave them to me, Zechs-sama," Pudding said, patting her chest confidently. She was eager to fight. Those people had dared to underestimate her master, her Onii-sama, and herself, and she wanted to defeat them herself.
The three of them waited as the ships drew closer.
Meanwhile, the World Pirates riding atop the false kelpfish Wotan's back finally reached the warship and one after another, they leapt aboard.
Nightin looked at Zechs, and a faint blush appeared on her face as she said, "Cutie... you look even cuter up close in person. Don't worry, I'm here for you, and I'll take good care of you."
Gairam rested his two-faced hammer on his shoulder and laughed. "Gairarara! Marine warships are as tasteless as ever... especially when pirates are using them. I'd better renovate this one."
Sabastian raised his spiked mace and growled, "Don't take too long! Defeat them quickly!!!"
Alongside the three cadres of the World Pirates were more members who leapt aboard the warship while shouting loudly, "Defeat Asmodeus Zechs pirates! Rob all the treasure!!!"
The World Pirates have arrived!!!!!
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