"Seven hundred and seventy million Beli!"
Upon hearing this figure, Drake couldn't help but swallow hard. When Bellamy had inquired about his own bounty from the intelligence office owner, everyone in the pirate crew was stunned by the terrifying number. One had to remember, Bellamy was just a rookie who had recently entered the Grand Line. Even last year's Supernova, Fire Fist Ace, currently had a bounty of "only" 280 million. Bellamy's bounty was more than double Ace's. Although this was only his black market bounty – the Marines' current official bounty for him was still just 60 million – it didn't stop various factions from both the underworld and legitimate society from coveting Bellamy and his crew.
Just like now, the owner of this intelligence office had clearly recognized Bellamy's identity. Though he tried his best to conceal the greed in his eyes, how could Bellamy fail to notice?
"Give me information on the Boin Archipelago."
"Also, where can I get an Eternal Pose for the Boin Archipelago?" The intelligence Bellamy needed hadn't been obtained yet, so he temporarily spared the man's dog life.
"Please wait a moment." The intelligence office owner smiled at him, then turned and entered a secret room behind him. Bellamy's Observation Haki clearly sensed the intense, incomparable malice in his heart.
"Trying to call for backup, are we?"
"What a waste of my time."
"Drake." Bellamy beckoned behind him.
"Here, Captain."
"You follow him in. Take care of those small fry inside."
"Remember to leave a few alive. I haven't gotten what I want yet." The Boin Archipelago was a very important step in Bellamy's plan. No matter what method he had to use, he absolutely had to get an Eternal Pose to the Boin Archipelago.
"Yes, sir." Drake nodded and, with a savage charge, burst unceremoniously into the intelligence office's secret room.
"You guys follow him in too. Be careful not to let anyone escape."
"Yes, Boss." Ross and the others followed Drake into the secret room.
Bellamy himself moved a stool, sat down at the entrance of the intelligence office, and looked at the chaotic black market street, lost in thought. "My bounty is a bit too high." Combined with the Marine bounty, it was over 800 million Beli, approaching 900 million. Such a high bounty was already enough to attract Warlord-level experts. One had to know that Emperor Commander-level powerhouses under the Four Emperors generally had bounties around 1 billion. Bellamy's bounty was fast approaching those of these New World monsters.
"Can't find me, so they want to crush me with money?"
"What a great idea." With so much money placed on a newcomer's head, who knew what kind of storm it would stir up in the Grand Line.
Earlier, Bellamy had casually cleared out half the street, plunging the entire black market street into immense chaos. Even the ruler of Stilt Island had gradually taken notice of the disturbance here. Yet Bellamy seemed completely oblivious, sitting alone at the entrance of the intelligence office, lost in his own thoughts.
Before long, a troop of fully armed soldiers surrounded the place.
"You madman, how dare you cause trouble here!"
"Fire! Kill him!" These soldiers clearly hadn't recognized Bellamy's identity; otherwise, they would never dare to attack so casually. Bang, bang, bang! A series of gunshots rang out rapidly, hundreds of bullets forming a rain of projectiles that completely engulfed Bellamy. However, the scene the soldiers had imagined did not occur. The moment the bullets touched Bellamy's skin, innumerable sparks flew from his body. Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping… The crisp sound of steel clashing echoed throughout the entire street.
Bellamy tilted his head, snapping out of his reverie. "You lot, are you that eager to die?" He hadn't even gone looking for them, yet these people had come looking for him.
Bellamy extended his right hand, making a grasping motion in the air. A formless mass of air seemed to be caught in his hand. The distorted air mass was kneaded in his palm, transforming into a flattened current of air. He was applying the Fish-Man Karate technique of manipulating water currents to manipulate air. But evidently, manipulating air was much more difficult than manipulating water. The moment this flattened air current appeared, it began to rapidly dissipate.
Bellamy, gripping this fading air current, hurled it forcefully towards the crowd. The flattened air current traced a graceful arc through the air, then completely vanished, as if it had never existed. But the path this arc had traced happened to be precisely across the necks of this group of soldiers.
"So eager to die? Then I'll grant your wish." His voice hadn't even faded when the soldiers' heads, like dominoes, toppled off in perfect unison. Fountains of blood erupted from their necks, splattering all over the ground.
Precisely at this moment, Drake, having just dealt with the intelligence office owner, walked out of the secret room holding a pile of documents.
"Captain, I've discovered important intelligence."
"Speak." Bellamy turned and walked into the intelligence office, leaving the corpses on the ground behind him.
"The Gold Emperor and Doflamingo have colluded. They want to open up a new smuggling route between the New World and the Grand Line."
"They have already bribed the Celestial Dragons and established an arms factory on the Sabaody Archipelago."
"Are they only smuggling arms?" Although the profit from arms was high, it was still much less than certain other things.
"Unclear. This is all the documents say."
"Additionally, to show his sincerity in this cooperation, the Gold Emperor not only increased your bounty but also put out the word in the underworld."
"Whoever can take your head will become a VIP of Gold City."
"All expenses in Gold City will be discounted by 30%." Drake handed a document to Bellamy.
"Gold Emperor." Bellamy silently mouthed the name. "Very good. I have one more mortal enemy in this world." No matter what, things had already reached this point; there was no room for reconciliation between him and the Gold Emperor.
"Then what about information on the Boin Archipelago?" This island's information was actually what Bellamy cared about most.
"Very little." Drake flipped through his hand and produced a very thin piece of paper. "Regarding the Boin Archipelago, this is all there is." Only one sheet of paper clearly couldn't record much.
"Any news about an Eternal Pose?" Bellamy took the paper and quickly scanned it. The information on it was indeed scarce, and much of it was just rumor, not accurate. In fact, the information Bellamy himself knew was likely more complete than what was on this paper.
"What a headache." Being unable to travel to the Boin Archipelago would greatly affect his plans.
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