"Hopefully, it doesn't fall into the hands of the Marines." The Marines definitely possessed a Devil Fruit Encyclopedia. An unremarkable Devil Fruit like the Spring-Spring Fruit might not attract special attention. However, the Slow-Slow Fruit was enough to make many people take particular notice.
"Bring the ship over." They hadn't even had a chance to set foot on the first island of the Grand Line, and a pirate crew had already come looking for trouble. Could it be a coincidence?
After dealing with Foxy the Silver Fox, Drake had casually killed off the remaining pirates on the ship, leaving only the first mate and the Foxy Pirates' navigator, awaiting the captain's interrogation.
The moment Bellamy steered their ship alongside, Drake came over, dragging the two men. "Captain, I've already gotten the information."
"The attackers were the Foxy Pirates. Captain: Foxy the Silver Fox, bounty 24 million Beli."
"Well done." Bellamy didn't hold back his praise; Drake's actions were clean and efficient, saving him a lot of effort.
"Who are these two?"
"Forget it, I don't want to know." Bellamy waved his hand dismissively. "I'll leave this whole matter to you." For such minor issues, there was no need for him to get involved personally.
"Dig out everything they know."
"Leave it to me, Captain." Drake nodded, then grabbed the two captives and headed towards the ship's interrogation room.
"Go search that ship. See if you can find any sea charts or Eternal Poses." After casually giving Ross an order, Bellamy looked at the nearby Stilt Island, his eyes narrowing slightly. His intuition told him that this attack was probably not that simple.
"Let's anchor nearby for now." Bellamy thought for a moment and decided to wait until Drake had finished interrogating those two.
The result was as he expected. Soon, Drake brought him bad news. "Captain, someone has posted a mission in the black market."
"To hunt down all rookies who have entered the Grand Line during this period."
Not many rookies had entered the Grand Line this year, and there were even fewer famous pirate crews. As for Supernovas – pirates with bounties exceeding 100 million – there wasn't a single one. Bellamy's current public bounty was only 60 million; although his strength had long surpassed this figure, he was clearly not on the list of Supernovas.
"So, they're specifically targeting me?" If Bellamy wasn't mistaken, the only one who would resort to such methods should be Doflamingo. Deploying personnel on the first island of each of the seven Grand Line routes to hunt down newly entered rookies… "Is he afraid I'll secretly slip away?" Although this method was both time-consuming and laborious, it was indeed effective. As long as he blocked the first island, no matter who entered the Grand Line, they couldn't escape his notice. The price was merely sacrificing a bit of money.
"He doesn't want to give me even a moment's respite." They were so close to Stilt Island; news of Foxy the Silver Fox's death must have already reached it. Upon learning of his arrival at Stilt Island, Doflamingo would surely have follow-up measures. Bellamy understood that an opponent of this caliber wouldn't easily make useless arrangements.
"The simplest way to deal with me is to set up manpower on the next island and then wait for me to walk right into it." As long as Bellamy wanted to continue along this route, he would inevitably have to dock at the next island to resupply. If they couldn't catch him at sea, then they would just guard a checkpoint tightly and wait for him to stumble in.
"That Flamingo fellow, will he make a move personally?" This possibility was actually quite high. After all, traveling from the New World to this route via the Sea Train would only take about two months. As long as a large number of personnel were deployed on these islands, the moment Bellamy appeared, Doflamingo could immediately get on his tail.
With Bellamy's current Armament Haki, it was still a bit too early to confront a Warlord of the Sea; his only reliance was his Devil Fruit ability. If he couldn't further improve his Spring-Spring Fruit in a short amount of time, Bellamy might be in danger when he reached the next island.
Even now, Bellamy was still unaware that the Marines had already dispatched three Vice Admirals, including a monster like Garp whose strength far surpassed that rank, into the Grand Line to pursue him. The informants he had arranged in the Four Blues became useless the moment he entered the Grand Line. The Bellamy Pirates were about to face a terrifying crisis.
"Captain, what should we do with these two?" Drake dragged the two prisoners of war and threw them before Bellamy.
"Feed them to the sharks." Bellamy didn't even bother to lift his eyelids, casually deciding their fate.
"Wait a minute!" Hearing this decision, the two pirates' faces turned pale with fright. "I work for the Gold Emperor! You can't kill me!"
"Hmm? Gold Emperor?" Hearing this name suddenly, Bellamy was quite surprised. "Someone from the Gold Emperor, why would they be on Foxy's ship?"
"That fellow Foxy is a complete waste."
"I was sent by the Gold Emperor to help him sail the ship and, incidentally, monitor his actions." This man, who had originally claimed to be the Foxy Pirates' first mate, was forced to reveal his identity under the threat of death.
The Gold Emperor was a renowned magnate in the underworld, rumored to possess 20% of the world's Beli. Using the power of money, he played both sides of the law and could even mobilize the World Government's forces to some extent.
"So, are you trying to tell me that the Gold Emperor is also involved in this operation?" As far as Bellamy knew, Doflamingo and the Gold Emperor had a cooperative relationship.
"No, no!"
"How could that be!"
"I don't know anything! It was all Foxy acting on his own!" Upon hearing Bellamy's questioning, the pirate hurriedly denied it repeatedly. However, Bellamy's Observation Haki clearly sensed the extreme panic in his heart. Obviously, he was lying.
"I see." So the Gold Emperor was also involved. Bellamy casually flicked out two Finger Bullets, which shot into their foreheads. The residual force carried their corpses into the sea.
"Captain, we're in big trouble." The Gold Emperor's influence in the underworld was so vast that even Doflamingo was somewhat inferior.
"It's alright. We have no direct conflict with the Gold Emperor. At most, he just contributed some money." Although this matter wasn't fully confirmed, it wouldn't be difficult for Doflamingo to pay a price and ask the Gold Emperor's people to help deal with a rookie who had just entered the Grand Line, especially since they were already partners.
"Prepare to dock." Bellamy just needed to ask around in the black market what his current bounty was there, and he could basically confirm the Gold Emperor's stance. After all, if there was one thing that fellow didn't lack, it was money.