Madman Lin Ye! Bounty of 87 Million

Judging from the current situation, it was very likely.

That was Lin Ye's conclusion. He had even considered finding Devil Fruits in the future, having someone eat them, then killing them to pick up traits containing the fruit's abilities.

But there was no rush for that yet.

"Hehehehe, boys, more fools who don't value their lives have come knocking."

They had just sailed out from beneath thunderclouds of raging wind and rain when the sky abruptly turned blazing bright.

Then Moria's wild laughter rang out.

In an instant, the Thriller Bark Pirates entered battle formation.

Lin Ye walked to the railing and looked into the distance.

Sure enough, more than ten pirate ships were charging straight toward them.

Lin Ye raised a hand to rest on the hilt of his sword, then turned to look at Moria standing at the bow.

The pirates beside Lin Ye saw the gesture, and a trace of awe flashed through their eyes.

Whenever Captain Lin Ye made a move, none of his opponents survived.

It had been that way from his first battle after joining the crew until now.

His methods were ruthless, and so was he.

But that was precisely why he had become captain of the combat division after only a year with the crew.

"Hehehehe, Lin Ye, don't be in such a hurry. Leave this captain to me."

Seemingly noticing Lin Ye's gaze, Gecko Moria rested the long blade in his hand on his shoulder and said with a strange chuckle.

A year ago, he had merely mentioned it casually in Loguetown. Who would have thought he would recruit such a little monster?

This brat's strength had grown quickly.

Moria glanced at Lin Ye from the corner of his eye and thought to himself.

But it did not matter now. Lin Ye was still far from reaching his level.

Otherwise, he might truly have had something to worry about.

Lin Ye did not know what Moria was thinking, and even if he had, he would not have cared.

After joining Moria's pirate crew, he had always used only swordsmanship and Armament Haki. He had never revealed any of his other abilities.

Lin Ye knew his own weakness: he lacked combat experience.

In the first half of the Grand Line, Armament Haki was already enough.

After entering the latter half, however, his combat experience and swordsmanship had both improved greatly.

Even so, he habitually kept his strongest abilities hidden.

With Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki, he could handle almost anything short of pirates worth hundreds of millions.

To him, encountering pirates meant harvesting Blank Traits.

It did not matter whether they were killed by others or by his own hand; traits would still drop.

Even if pirates on Moria's side died, the same was true.

Just then, the dozen or so pirate ships charging toward them began turning. After making a wide circle, they tried to flee.

"Boys, move in."

Seeing this, Moria gave a dark chuckle and swung his long blade toward the fleeing pirate fleet.

The massive Thriller Bark, as enormous as an island, turned around.

It gave chase after the pirate crews trying to escape.

"Damn it, it's Gecko Moria!"

On one of the ships turning to flee, a burly man with a face full of beard and sharp teeth cursed loudly.

Gecko Moria was a great pirate whose reputation had grown increasingly prominent over the past year or so.

Any pirate crew that encountered Moria, however, had never left survivors.

They had all been wiped out completely.

Not long ago, the Marines had issued Gecko Moria's bounty poster.

The bounty was a full 300 million.

Bounties had not yet skyrocketed in this era.

In the New World, great pirates with bounties over 100 million were already feared by everyone.

A bounty of 300 million placed someone in the first tier beneath the New World's overlords.

Not to mention his methods were exceptionally ruthless.

The fact that no one survived an encounter with him had made Gecko Moria's name even more terrifying.

Of course, the true culprit behind it was Lin Ye.

Even Moria found Lin Ye's killing intent horrifying, but it was difficult for him to stop it.

That was how the Thriller Bark Pirates' terrifying legend had been forged.

Compared to before, Gecko Moria and the pirates under his command were far more famous, though it was mostly infamy.

"Hurry! We'll be safe once we enter Wano Country's waters!"

Watching the gigantic Thriller Bark pursue them, the captains of the dozen ships roared one after another.

These ships were transporting supplies to Kaido, the overlord entrenched in Wano Country.

No matter how bold Gecko Moria was, would he really dare oppose Kaido?

"A bunch of cowardly trash."

Moria snorted coldly as he watched the ships flee in blind panic.

The Thriller Bark continued accelerating, its colossal island-like hull crushing directly over the slower ships.

The pirate ships it crushed sank straight into the sea, leaving only shattered planks floating on the surface.

Lin Ye frowned slightly.

He would not gain anything if this continued.

By now, he had thoroughly figured out the system.

Only people who died within a certain range of him had a chance to drop traits.

Only bubbles he could see could be actively collected by him.

The two pirate ships crushed just now had not contributed a single trait to him.

That was at least one or two hundred people. They should have contributed dozens of traits no matter what.

Thinking that, Lin Ye looked toward Gecko Moria.

This was not the first time Lin Ye had reacted like this.

Before Gecko Moria could speak, Lin Ye drew the long blade hanging at his waist.

The blade was dark and dull, faintly gleaming with black light.

His legs bent slightly, then he explosively pushed off. Lin Ye's body soared dozens of meters into the air.

He kicked off fiercely, causing the air to explode with a boom, and his figure shot toward the pirate ship ahead.

Cheers immediately erupted across Thriller Bark.

He was coming, he was coming.

Thriller Bark's number one battle maniac, the merciless Madman Lin Ye.

Watching Lin Ye charge out, Moria's eyelid twitched wildly, but he did not stop him.

Moria believed he had already understood Lin Ye's personality.

What Lin Ye had shown Moria was a bloodthirsty battle maniac who got carried away whenever a fight began, and who was utterly ruthless.

The Marine bounty poster and title bestowed upon Lin Ye were enough to prove that.

Madman Lin Ye, bounty: 87 million.

In this era, a bounty of that amount would have been equivalent to several hundred million twenty years later.

In the Marines' eyes, Lin Ye was already a figure on the level of a Supernova.

Since Lin Ye had made his move, Moria did not remain idle either.

His massive body leaped into the air. A black shadow spread like two enormous wings, carrying Moria toward another pirate ship.

As Lin Ye was about to land on the pirate ship, he turned and saw Moria's movement, immediately frowning.

He's stealing business again. But judging by the distance, it should be enough.

For now, five or six hundred meters seemed to be the limit. Beyond that distance, deaths did not yield traits.

Looks like I need to speed things up.

With that thought, Lin Ye's body became like a shooting Star as he crashed straight down onto the pirate ship beneath him.

The deck exploded. Several nearby pirates were sent flying by the shockwave, and before they even hit the ground, a dark blade flash swept past them, killing them on the spot.

After collecting the two bubbles that dropped, Lin Ye swept his gaze around.

"Madman Lin Ye, bounty of 87 million? This old man has a bounty of 93 million."

The pirate ship's captain recognized Lin Ye at once. He then said angrily.

He feared Moria, but Lin Ye was merely an officer under Moria, wasn't he?