"Damn those Celestial Dragons!"
Lao G slammed down the Den Den Mushi and couldn't help but let out a stream of curses.
"What's wrong?" asked Gladius, who was co-commanding the pursuit mission. He couldn't imagine what could make Lao G this furious.
"In a few days, the fleet escorting the Heavenly Tribute is set to pass by Sun and Moon Island."
"What!"
Given the arrogance of the Celestial Dragons, the moment that fleet arrived at Sun and Moon Island, all of them would be driven away. If they couldn't ambush Bellamy on the island and that mad dog escaped to Carnival City, catching his tail again would be next to impossible.
"Dammit!"
Gladius echoed Lao G's curse. "Of all the damn times."
Now they were in real trouble.
"Lord Diamante has put a lot on the line for this. If we really let Bellamy get away, we'll be in for it too."
Diamante was one of the top officers of the Donquixote Family. Gladius and Lao G, as combat squad leaders under him, were technically Diamante's subordinates. If things went badly for Diamante, their lives would be hell. He'd make sure of it.
Even worse, their Young Master was paying close attention to this pursuit. If they failed, it wasn't out of the question that they'd be kicked out of the Donquixote Family. In the underworld, being kicked out was basically a death sentence.
If Gladius and Lao G wanted to live, they had to come up with a good plan, and fast.
The route and schedule for the Heavenly Tribute were actually fixed, but Diamante had clearly failed to account for this, causing their ambush to conflict with the escort's timing. It was an extremely serious oversight, but they were only just now discovering it.
"What do we do?"
The two men looked at each other, both at a loss for words. It was their superior who had screwed up, yet they were the ones being left to take the fall. And this was a heavy burden to bear. The reinforcements from the Gold Emperor had already arrived at Sun and Moon Island and were lying in ambush in the surrounding area. If they were ordered to withdraw now, there would be no calling them back. Those mercenaries were only in it for the money; they would shirk their duties and avoid conflict whenever possible. Getting them to give their all was impossible.
"There's no other choice. We have to inform Lord Diamante first."
Neither of them was known for their intellect. After racking their brains and coming up with nothing, they could only report the news up the chain of command.
The moment he received the bad news, Diamante's reaction was identical to theirs. "Damn those Celestial Dragons! Shit!"
Diamante was all too familiar with the wretched nature of the Celestial Dragons. The Donquixote Family often handled dirty work for them, and Diamante had even met them in person several times. Those disgusting creatures were each more arrogant than the last. To say their noses were in the air was an understatement; they acted as if they wished they could grow them right up into the sky.
Once the Heavenly Tribute passed Sun and Moon Island, his meticulously prepared ambush would be completely ruined. Unless he dared to defy the will of the Celestial Dragons—but was that even possible? They were the Celestial Dragons. Forget defiance, Diamante felt a pang of fear even cursing them behind their backs.
"What do I do? What do I do!" Diamante was so frantic he was about to burst into flames. "Wait a minute."
Suddenly, a brilliant idea seemed to strike him.
"That guy Bellamy... he isn't just your average madman. If he were to clash with the Celestial Dragons, then wouldn't that be...!"
Knowing the vile nature of the Celestial Dragons, they wouldn't try to hide their tracks while escorting the tribute. On the contrary, they'd make a grand show of it, wanting the whole world to know. According to their calculations, Bellamy should be arriving at Sun and Moon Island very soon, which meant he would run right into the tribute fleet.
"Will they fight?"
Diamante wasn't entirely sure if Bellamy would dare to make a move on the Celestial Dragons' Heavenly Tribute. That tribute was their ultimate taboo. If anyone touched it, the Five Elders would never let the matter rest.
If Bellamy chose to back down, and Diamante had already abandoned the ambush, then this entire pursuit could be declared a failure.
"Should I gamble on it?" Diamante hesitated. "But it seems it's no longer a question of whether I want to gamble or not."
What else could he do? It wasn't like he could defy the Celestial Dragons.
"There's no other way. This is what we have to do."
Diamante quickly dialed his subordinate's number and relayed his plan. "All units, withdraw from Sun and Moon Island immediately. Lao G, you and Gladius take the elite forces and lie in wait nearby. Act when the opportunity arises."
Other than the vague order to "act when the opportunity arises," Diamante gave no further instructions. This way, if anything went wrong, he could push the blame entirely onto them.
Ah, Lao G, it's not that I don't want to look out for you, but I can barely save my own skin right now, he thought. Who could have imagined that a little punk from the North Blue could stir up so much trouble? He must have been out of his mind when he accepted this mission. Now, watching the money he had painstakingly saved go down the drain, he knew that if this mission failed, he would surely lose his position as a top officer.
"They have to fight. They have to."
Diamante realized that, apart from praying, there was nothing he could do. Why did those damn Celestial Dragons have to show up at this exact moment? It never seemed to cross his mind that it was his own lack of thorough planning that had led to this embarrassing predicament. But given Diamante's intelligence, he probably wasn't capable of such self-reflection anyway.
"The fleet escorting the Heavenly Tribute is passing through Sun and Moon Island?"
"Excellent!"
In stark contrast to Diamante's mood, Vice Admiral Onigumo was ecstatic upon hearing the news. With the tribute fleet passing through, the area around Sun and Moon Island would be placed under lockdown. This meant Bellamy would be unable to dock and resupply for a short period. Onigumo had been in hot pursuit, closing the gap day by day. He was only a few days behind Bellamy's schedule. If Bellamy was trapped for even a short while, he would never escape his grasp.
"What perfect timing."
The long, hard chase had inevitably lowered the morale of the Marine soldiers. Even Onigumo himself had begun to wonder if his efforts were all for nothing. Now, with this rare piece of good news, he breathed a huge sigh of relief.
"All hands, discard non-essential supplies! I want us moving at maximum speed!"
Just a little faster, he thought, just a little faster and we'll have him.
He wasn't sure when it started, but capturing Bellamy had become an obsession for Onigumo. Perhaps from their very first encounter, the two men, standing on completely opposite sides, were destined to become mortal enemies.
Between them, only one could survive.