New bounties

At Lind's command, the Seventh Division officially began its second major expansion.

Officer after officer led groups of pirates to recruit on the various islands of the Orlan Sea, then brought the recruits back to Oran Island for centralized training.

Ships streamed in and out of Oran Port without end, with officers bringing fresh recruits into Lind's headquarters at every hour.

The original training camp expanded again and again. The open land north of Oran Port had become an enormous military camp, packed with all kinds of training facilities.

Thanks to his formidable reputation, Lind even received occasional reports of officer-level pirates joining his ranks.

Some were wandering pirates, while others were scions of local families who wanted to make a name for themselves.

With the various families of the Orlan Sea encouraging their younger members to serve under Lind, his number of officers had not increased by much.

But the ranks of his elite squads had swelled by nearly a thousand! They had almost doubled in size.

Unlike the families of the Four Seas, these New World families had almost all produced powerful fighters in past generations. They had no shortage of training knowledge in Haki, martial arts, or swordsmanship.

Few of their members could reach the strength of the Navy's flag officers, but plenty could match its field-grade officers.

Among the direct descendants of these families, anyone with a little talent and a willingness to work hard could generally reach that level by following the family's training manuals.

The increase in elite pirates gave Lind the idea of forming a supremely elite combat squad.

He wanted to select the hundred strongest members of his elite squads below Rear Admiral level and form a super squad.

By Lind's estimate, all of them would be at least as strong as Navy captains. With some focused training from him, they would have a good chance of reaching Rear Admiral level.

Unfortunately, to prepare for the previous battle, Lind had already gathered all the pirates at Commodore level for intensive training and pushed them up to Rear Admiral level.

Otherwise, having enough Commodore-level fighters would have made it feel more like an elite combat squad.

After all, Lind certainly had no shortage of pirates as strong as Navy captains. Even if he picked the hundred strongest among them,

before they received his special training, they would not be noticeably different from the ordinary elite squads.

Still, perhaps this would motivate his subordinates even more. Lind's division embodied the principle of the strong getting stronger and the weak getting weaker to the fullest.

Everyone knew what joining this super squad meant, especially since its captain would be Lind himself!

"To join the Kunpeng Squad, you'll need strength, luck, and cunning. You can't do without any of them!"

"Next, you'll spend a week surviving on Beast Island!"

"During that week, your task is to eliminate as many others as possible, earn points, and make sure you aren't eliminated yourselves!"

"After seven days, those remaining with the highest scores will become members of the Kunpeng Squad!"

"If only a hundred people remain before the seven days are up, those hundred will become the Kunpeng Squad!"

Standing aboard the Wanderer, Lind addressed the pirates on his ship and the vessels around it.

These were the pirates who had signed up for the selection trial. Just as Lind had expected, almost every member of every elite squad had applied.

Even those who were only as strong as Navy lieutenant commanders were no exception. Everyone wanted to take a chance.

As for security in the Orlan Sea, Lind was not worried. With his officers there, it would not be much of a problem. Any trouble they encountered would merely take a little longer to resolve.

Besides, most of the pirates specializing in administration whom Lind and his officers had gradually trained had not signed up for this trial.

"All right, head ashore! I look forward to seeing what you can do!"

At Lind's command, the elite pirates participating in the trial landed on Beast Island, each clutching a black token that identified them.

These tokens were the means by which they would earn points.

As the pirates landed one after another, Lind steered the Wanderer into the sky above Beast Island.

Since this was the selection trial for a squad under his direct command, Lind intended to oversee it personally. Any administrative matters that required Lind's attention could be left to his officers for now.

Watching the battles from above Beast Island also allowed Lind to save any pirates whose lives were in danger.

After all, the participants were close in strength, and there were bound to be times when they failed to control their power or pull their blows.

While Lind was busy consolidating his control over Oran Island, expanding his forces, and selecting pirates,

after more than ten days of discussion, the Navy and the World Government finally settled on the new bounties for the members of the Rocks Pirates.

Looking at the newspaper Great Kun had just delivered, Lind grumbled about the Navy's efficiency while privately marveling at the impact of this incident.

For the World Government and the Navy to deliberate for so long, the repercussions must have been enormous on every front. There had been too many considerations for them to reach a quick decision.

Finally, after weighing all the factors, the Navy issued the following new bounties:

Captain of the Rocks Pirates, King of Darkness Rocks D. Zebek. Bounty: 2.9 billion Beli. Guilty of heinous crimes. Wanted dead or alive.

First Division Commander of the Rocks Pirates, Whitebeard Edward Newgate, wielder of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. Bounty: 1.66 billion Beli. Guilty of heinous crimes. Wanted dead or alive.

Second Division Commander of the Rocks Pirates, Golden Lion Shiki, wielder of the Float-Float Fruit. Bounty: 1.88 billion Beli. Guilty of heinous crimes. Wanted dead or alive.

Third Division Commander of the Rocks Pirates, Charlotte Linlin, wielder of the Soul-Soul Fruit. Bounty: 1.59 billion Beli. Guilty of heinous crimes. Wanted dead or alive.

Fourth Division Commander of the Rocks Pirates, John. Bounty: 1.06 billion Beli. Guilty of heinous crimes. Wanted dead or alive.

Fifth Division Commander of the Rocks Pirates, Ochoku. Bounty: 1.03 billion Beli. Guilty of heinous crimes. Wanted dead or alive.

Sixth Division Commander of the Rocks Pirates, Silver Axe. Bounty: 1.02 billion Beli. Guilty of heinous crimes. Wanted dead or alive.

Seventh Division Commander of the Rocks Pirates, Hirt Lind. Bounty: 1.32 billion Beli. Guilty of heinous crimes. Wanted dead or alive.

Shiki's bounty had surpassed Whitebeard's for the first time. Clearly, the World Government and the Navy were furious about his earlier actions.

And Lind, the Seventh Division Commander, now had a bounty higher than the three division commanders immediately ahead of him.

Compared with Rocks's three followers, the Navy still considered Lind the greater threat.

If the strength Lind had displayed against Zephyr had not been somewhat lacking, his bounty might have been on par with Whitebeard's.

The bounties of Lind's officers had also been updated to match their current strength.

Even White Wolf Holt, who had the lowest bounty among the squad captains, now had a bounty of 150 million Beli.

Axel, whose bounty was the highest, was now worth a full 550 million Beli, surpassing even Chinjao, the leader of the Happo Navy.

That was the great pirate Garp had defeated after honing his fists on eight mountains.

The other four squad captains, each as strong as an elite Vice Admiral, also had bounties exceeding 300 million Beli.

Together with the many Rear Admiral-level pirates under Lind, these increases pushed his division's total bounty above those of the other divisions in one stroke.

Among the seven divisions of the Rocks Pirates, Lind himself did not have the highest bounty, but his division's combined bounty could now be said to lead by an overwhelming margin.

These bounties would likely cause quite a stir across the seas. After all, great pirates who would have been renowned elsewhere could only serve as section leaders under Lind, not even squad captains.

That was hardly Lind's fault. This was simply the organizational structure Rocks had given him, and Lind himself was only a division commander.

Once Rocks died and Lind struck out on his own, perhaps all his officers could move up a rank: squad captains would become division commanders, and section leaders would become squad captains.