Entrance to the Grand Line.
Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Onigumo, Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral Doberman, and Marine Hero Garp had assembled sixty warships here.
"Bellamy has already entered the Grand Line, yet our spy hasn't sent any word." On the spacious deck of the flagship, the three Vice Admirals sat together for a meeting.
"Has he already betrayed us?"
"It doesn't matter. This time, our goal is to bury them completely at sea."
Whether it was Onigumo, Doberman, or the late Smoker, all were representative figures of the Marine's hawkish faction. This faction, headed by Admiral Akainu, represented the sharpest will of the Marines. Bellamy killing Smoker this time was akin to poking a hornet's nest. Onigumo had been on leave; to come and pursue Bellamy, he had directly canceled all his plans. Doberman had been on a mission in the New World; upon hearing the news of Smoker's tragic death, he immediately abandoned his current task and rushed over from the New World, sparing no distance. As for Garp, he had originally been entrusted by Sengoku to pursue Bellamy. Smoker's death was significantly related to him; if he didn't capture Bellamy, Garp would feel deeply guilty.
"If we can arrest him, let's try to arrest him." It wasn't out of mercy; Garp had been killing pirates his whole life, and his heart was long harder than iron. It was just that the image the Marines consistently projected to the outside world was always covered in a halo of justice. Under the shroud of justice, no matter how evil a pirate, they could be reformed. Catching pirates and throwing them into Impel Down, aside from certain undisclosed secret objectives, was mainly to maintain this glorious veneer for the Marines. The power represented by justice was immense; of this, there was no doubt. By periodically releasing news of criminals repenting and turning over a new leaf, they could easily win the support of countless people.
"Just locking him in Impel Down would be letting him off too easily." Onigumo strongly disagreed with this idea. Impel Down wasn't absolutely secure; a dangerous individual like Bellamy was best killed off early.
"It's alright. When the time comes, I will report to the World Government and have him imprisoned in Infinite Hell."
"Hmph." Since Vice Admiral Garp had spoken, Onigumo, even if dissatisfied, couldn't say much more.
"The intelligence department has already sent over the routes Bellamy is most likely to take."
"Next, you each choose one."
Onigumo and Doberman each selected a route they believed Bellamy was most likely to appear on. The remaining one naturally fell to Garp. After discussing the operational plan, the three Marine Vice Admirals immediately split their forces into three, each entering a different route to begin searching for the Bellamy Pirates.
Their actions naturally didn't escape the notice of Crocus, who was close by. "Even that old geezer Garp has come. This kid is in deep trouble." Although he didn't know what Bellamy had done to draw out an old timer like Garp, Crocus had followed Roger for many years; what kind of storms and waves hadn't he seen? Such a large commotion surprised him a little, but only a little. "May fortune favor you, kid." Bellamy hadn't left any contact information; Crocus couldn't even send a warning. "Regarding Brook's matter, I'd better find another young person to help." Bellamy's fate this time was unknown; there was no telling when they might meet again. Perhaps they would never have the chance to see each other again; Crocus had encountered such situations far too many times.
Grand Line, Unknown Sea Territory.
"Boss, the Sea Kings here are so active." Since entering the Grand Line, Bellamy and his crew had successively encountered fire rain storms, raging sea currents, and three Sea Kings that suddenly shot up from the seabed.
"It's alright. The ones in the New World are definitely even more active." Under the perception of his Observation Haki, Bellamy could always detect these crises in advance. All in all, they had passed through with scares but no actual harm.
Guided by the Eternal Pose, their voyage was a straight line. But after sailing on the sea for over half a month, the area ahead was still a vast expanse of ocean, without even a shadow of land in sight. The awkwardness of not having a sea chart now became apparent; Bellamy couldn't tell when they would reach the next island. Bellamy didn't even know where they were now; he could only vaguely guess that they should be arriving soon.
There were enough supplies on board, but their ship was now quite badly damaged. It was originally a commercial sailboat, not built as sturdy as a warship. After encountering several crises in the Grand Line, it was starting to show signs of failing. Next time they reached an island, if they could, they should switch to a new ship.
"Captain, I think I see land!" First Mate Drake suddenly lowered his binoculars and told Bellamy the good news.
"Let me see." Bellamy immediately took the binoculars from his hand and looked ahead. Sure enough, a black shadow had appeared on the horizon. "That's right, it's Stilt Island." According to their calculated voyage, they should indeed have arrived.
"Huh? There's a ship coming towards us?" Judging by the ship's movements, it was specifically looking for them. They hadn't even docked yet, and someone from Stilt Island was already coming out to meet them. "A bit interesting. What are they trying to do?" Stilt Island was the first island on this route; the Bellamy Pirates, coming from the entrance direction, were clearly identifiable as newcomers to the Grand Line.
"Drake, go check it out."
"Your will, Captain." Hearing the command, Drake immediately used Moon Walk and flew out. Bellamy couldn't be bothered to wait for them to come over and directly dispatched his first mate to assess the situation.
At this moment, Foxy the Silver Fox, captain of the Foxy Pirates, had just lowered his own binoculars.
"Fehfehfehfeh! Lads, someone's coming over from the other side!"
"Prepare for battle!" This fellow named Silver Fox seemed extremely confident in his own strength. Even though Drake was flying over, he didn't care in the slightest.
Just then, a pirate handed Foxy a cannonball. After Foxy took the cannonball, he stroked it a few times, and a strange light wave shot into it. In an instant, a grotesque fox-like face actually appeared on the cannonball. Foxy let out a smug laugh and fiercely threw the cannonball out. "Behold my Slow-Slow Fox Face Bomb!"
This peculiar cannonball almost instantly arrived in front of Drake, its movement so fast that it actually surpassed Drake's neural reflexes.
"Not good!" By the time Drake sensed trouble, the Slow-Slow Fox Face Bomb suddenly exploded with a BOOM.
"Hmm?" Seeing this, Bellamy frowned, instantly realizing something was amiss. "Is that instantaneous movement?" That cannonball just now had flown to Drake's front almost as if it had appeared out of thin air. Even Bellamy hadn't completely seen how it moved. Such a level of speed should logically bring with it terrifying impact force. But Drake, after being hit by the cannonball, hadn't even been blown away. Clearly, there was definitely something wrong here.