The Heavenly Tribute typically refers to the annual offering that the member nations of the World Government present to the Celestial Dragons. Each year, one hundred and seventy nations must offer a massive amount of wealth to the World Government.
What many people might not know is that Doflamingo once hijacked the Heavenly Tribute. He used it to threaten the World Government, forcing them to publicly recognize his status as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea. Afterward, he went even further, compelling Marine Vice Admiral Tsuru to publicly pledge that the Marines would cease their pursuit of the Donquixote Family.
But could mere money truly threaten the World Government? After all, the vast majority of the world's wealth is in the hands of the Celestial Dragons. The right to print and issue Beli is held firmly by the World Government itself. To them, money is little more than a string of numbers.
The Heavenly Tribute was definitely more than just a pile of money.
"Sir, report! A suspected enemy has been spotted ahead!"
"Do you even need to report something like this? Sink them."
The fleet escorting the Heavenly Tribute was notorious for its arrogance. Any ship that appeared before them, if it wasn't fast enough to flee, would be sunk without reason. If any dared to fight back, they would be branded with the grave crime of attempting to steal the Heavenly Tribute.
Ordinary ships that encountered them would turn and run immediately. If they didn't run, they were considered suspicious of wanting to steal the tribute, and would be sunk all the same. Such a tyrannical style was certainly fitting for the lapdogs of the Celestial Dragons.
This time, however, the enemy they encountered seemed a little different.
The soldier delivering the report hesitated for a moment before relaying the crucial information to his plump, pale-faced commander. "Sir, the enemy is not fleeing! They are approaching at high speed from the air!"
"What did you say!"
How dare someone provoke the fleet escorting the Heavenly Tribute? What audacity.
Wait a minute.
The commander seemed to have a sudden realization, and a few drops of cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
Don't tell me I'm this unlucky!
The escort of the Heavenly Tribute had been going on for many years, and it wasn't without incident. On the contrary, their arrogant conduct had angered many a great pirate. While rare, it was not unheard of for the tribute fleet to be wiped out or robbed. If they ran into one of those lawless monsters, their status wouldn't matter in the slightest.
"You bastard! Why are you only telling me now!"
The commander slapped the communications soldier hard across the face, then shot up from his seat, intending to go to the deck to see for himself.
Just then, a massive explosion echoed from the front of the fleet.
BOOM!
"Enemy attack!"
"Sound the alarm! Sound the alarm, now!"
The alarm bells for an enemy attack were rung frantically, and the once-lax grand fleet instantly erupted into chaos. For the crews escorting the Heavenly Tribute, there was an interesting rule of thumb in this world: anyone who ran upon seeing them was a weakling who could be bullied at will. But anyone who actually dared to try and steal the Heavenly Tribute was almost always a terrifyingly powerful monster.
"We're doomed."
Watching the fleet descend into chaos, the commander's face turned deathly white. This particular shipment contained an extremely important cargo that absolutely could not be lost. If anything happened to it, the commander and his entire family would be killed. They would die horribly, and no one would be able to save them.
"Why did it have to be me!"
At this critical moment, the nominal supreme commander of the grand fleet, instead of directing the counterattack, was hiding in his room, questioning his life choices. The poor quality of these high-ranking officials appointed by the World Government was infamous even among the Marines.
Not far away, several pirate ships were lurking stealthily in the waters. Ever since the tribute fleet had arrived near Sun and Moon Island, Lao G and Gladius had dismissed all their reinforcements. They now trailed the fleet discreetly with only a few elite combat squads.
"They're fighting! They're really fighting!"
"That Bellamy... he's not just your average madman."
Gladius stared intently through his telescope, so excited he was practically jumping up and down.
"That guy's really something else. He just charged right in on sight," Lao G commented. "I've lived a long time, but I've never seen a madman like this."
It was as if he had absolutely no regard for the Celestial Dragons.
What they didn't seem to realize was that Bellamy had no idea this was a Celestial Dragon fleet. The Donquixote Family's influence spread across half the Grand Line. Publicly known information like the Heavenly Tribute route was trivial for them to obtain. Because it was so easy for them to get this information, they subconsciously assumed everyone else knew it too.
"Bellamy is a dead man."
After provoking the Celestial Dragons, no one could save him. By making a move on the Heavenly Tribute, the Marines would soon dispatch Admiral-level forces to hunt him down. He had also angered numerous black-market factions. There was no place for him in either the legitimate world or the underworld. Gladius couldn't imagine how Bellamy could possibly survive this.
"Should we still attack?"
In their eyes, Bellamy was already as good as dead.
"Of course we should," Lao G said. "What do you think we came here for?"
Bellamy's head was worth nearly 900 million Beli. There was no way they were going to let such a huge sum of money slip through their fingers. What's more, a good portion of that bounty was their superior's private money. Before they left, Lao G had been repeatedly instructed by his boss: it didn't matter how Bellamy died, but they had to be the ones to retrieve his head. The black market bounty recognized the head, not the killer.
"But I'm getting the feeling these World Government wastes can't handle Bellamy," Gladius noted.
They weren't actually sure how strong Bellamy really was. All they knew was that Trebol, a vital member of their family, had died a miserable death at his hands. Beyond that, concrete intelligence on Bellamy was scarce.
"No way. Don't tell me we actually have to step in?"
Lao G and Gladius wouldn't dare interfere in a battle like this, and neither would Doflamingo. If the World Government misunderstood their intentions, it would be a huge problem. Doflamingo had dared to hijack the Heavenly Tribute and use it as a threat because he knew many of the Celestial Dragons' secrets. But you could only pull a stunt like that once or twice. Anymore, and you were just asking to die.
"Wait, look!"
Through their telescopes, they saw Bellamy, his entire body glowing red, erupt with a punch and smash it into a large warship. In an instant, a force like a landslide and a tsunami combined broke the massive ship in two. Without a moment's pause, Bellamy turned and landed on another warship, unleashing a storm of slaughter.
The fiery red figure shot through the fleet, occasionally stopping to clash with the guards. After defeating them, he would immediately deliver a single punch, utterly sinking the warship.
"What devastating power in that fist."
Lao G couldn't help but flinch. He was a fist-fighter himself; he knew exactly how powerful Bellamy's punch was. "If a punch like that landed on me, these old bones of mine probably couldn't take it."
He was starting to feel like they had been screwed over by their superiors yet again.
"Maybe... we should call the reinforcements back?"