(Mani POV)
"Hey Captain, the new bounties are up."
The air was filled with the crackling of anticipation, as every eye found itself glued to the sight of Mani riffling through the bounty posters. It was not quite the sort of attention she lived for, but it would have to do. However, where there was an audience there had to be a show, and Mani was determined to put on a performance worthy of a standing ovation.
“For crimes against humanity, peace and order, the world government has seen fit to issue the following bounties…blablabla…Eustass Kidd, not relevant…blablabla…that idiot strawhat, boring…ah, there we are. The Bellamy Pirates. Drumroll please!” Mani demanded, to which the idiot duo started banging away at some bongos they had pulled out of...somewhere.
This was turning into something of a tradition now, Mani having taken on the role of a moderator and presenter whenever their crew got a new bounty. It was something that had only happened a grand total of five times until now, thrice for Bellamy and two times for Sarquiss, but this time things were going to get juicy.
After waiting for Hewitt and Ross to finish their little percussion routine, Mani raised the metaphorical curtains. “First on the chopping block, for the inhumane crime of treating a patient of his dysarthria…which means the inability to articulate words properly, for the uneducated among us…”
"Oi, who're you calling uneducated, you smartass?"
"Yeah, you're just as plebeian as I am!"
As any true performer would do in her position, Mani ignored the good-natured jeering from Ross and Hewitt. “…Ahem…a bounty of 35 million belli is placed upon the head of the Hewitt the ‘Hooligan’!”
Cheers erupted from all sides as Hewitt stood up to give a bow to his adoring fans, before being pelted in the face by a tomato, much to everyone’s amusement. Sarquiss did look slightly put off that Hewitt had gotten a much higher starting bounty than he'd had, but smiled wider than anybody else once Lily pinched his side.
“Moving on, for daring to steal the hearts and lives of men alike," Mani said, slightly paraphrasing the text on the bounty poster, before muttering under her breath, "and boy you better be thankful to me later for this intro…”
“Get on with it!” Rivers called out, tossing another tomato up and down in his left hand.
“Geez, no sense of showmanship, you lot. You guys are a terrible audience, you know that?" Actually, fuck being a true performer, Mani didn't have the patience for that. She was just going to have fun, like everybody else, and go with the flow. "Anyway, for being too gorgeous for mortal men and daring to be a literal celestial beauty, a bounty of 50 million belli is offered for the ‘Fallen Angel’ Laki. Wanted only alive, mind you!”
Catcalls and whistles flew through the air as Laki awkwardly imitated Hewitt by standing up and bowing. She hadn't quite grasped what it meant to get a bounty around these parts, but Mani would be sure to enlighten her later. After all, it wouldn't do for the girl not to enjoy that feeling of pride, which inevitably followed the realisation that the world had acknowledged your strength. It wasn't an objective measure by any means, but it did serve as an unofficial ranking system amongst pirates and Laki had now entered the lists.
“Third and definitely third on the rankings is Rivers!” Quickly ducking to dodge an overripe fruit, Mani continued unperturbed. “For the sheer arrogance to look down upon the marines from his new perch, a reward of 16 million belli will be rendered for the head of the ‘Sentinel of the Sky’!”
“Hey, that’s a cool epithet! Much better than hooligan.” Ross commented, elbowing Hewitt in the flank...repeatedly. "Right? Right?"
“Oh, screw you, Ross!” Hewitt exclaimed, trying to slap the sailmaker over the back of his head, who simply swayed back to dodge the incoming blow.
“Nah, you’re not my type.” Ross flippantly replied. If he had a longer haircut, Mani was certain that he would have flicked it for dramatic effect. As he didn't, Ross deliberately looked the other way in a manner clearly signifying disgust.
The crew erupted once more into laughter as Hewitt flung himself at Ross and began wrestling him to the ground. It took several minutes and Muret stepping in for order to be restored, and by that time, both members of the idiot duo were sporting several large lumps on their heads.
“Next up we have someone really special!" Mani declared, garnering some expectant ooohs and aaahs from the crowd. "A true femme fatale and the number one girl Sarquiss would love to needle! Pun very much intended by the way.”
“Oi!”
“What? It’s true.” Mani smirked, before poking her tongue out at the first mate. Sarquiss went red in the face, but she did notice that he hadn't denied the accusation. As had the crew, which prompted them to do some needling of their own, causing the first mate to go from red to crimson. Lily on the other hand seemed perfectly comfortable, waiting patiently for the reveal of her own bounty. Which, when one thought about it, didn't quite match the fearsome implication of her new epithet. “On account of the blood of countless enemies staining her fists, a bounty of 21 million belli is issued for ‘Crimson’ Lily! Dead or alive!”
“Congratulations Lily!” Eddy called out, while Sarquiss launched himself at her, arms opened wide for a hug.
“You go, girl!”
Lily basked in her moment of fame, smoothly bringing Sarquiss into a headlock when he tried to kiss her. It was nothing serious as he didn't even look fazed by it, likely due to how loose the hold really was. In fact, he was probably enjoying having his face buried in her waist…the pervert. Then and there, Mani decided that he deserved to be next.
“And her lesser half!” she continued, much to the first mate's immediate objection.
“Fuck you, Mani!” Sarquiss shouted, freeing himself from Lily’s hold, but Mani had her rebuttal ready for just this reaction.
“I’d rather not. We don’t want Lily getting jealous!” she teased and when he threw up his hands in mock-frustration, she inwardly congratulated herself on a job well done. He looked so much happier than he had earlier, his slight annoyance having been turned fully into hopeful excitement.
“You walked right into that one, Sarquiss!” Bellamy laughed, slapping his own knees in amusement and getting a smiling shrug in response from his first mate.
“For being an avant-garde vanguard for male fashion and attraction for explosions of all shapes and sizes, his bounty is being raised, until a price of 55 million belli is now being offered for our first mate! Give it up for Big! Knife! Sarquiss!” Mani proclaimed, her right index finger pointing at her friend. It was a pity that they didn't have a spotlight.
Sarquiss looked like he smelled something burning when she mentioned the explosions, but soon enough Sarquiss was smiling with the best of them, even managing to wrap Lily up in a hug and whirl her around. Of course, she protested this, feebly raining blows down upon his shoulders, which her boyfriend ignored completely.
“Let me go, you big goof!” she giggled while Sarquiss just whooped and continued to twirl her around the deck in an impromptu celebratory dance.
“Our next contestant is the polar opposite of our resident brawler. Innocent vs vulgar, cute vs sexy and amazing vs whatever Lily is.” Mani really was getting a lot of haki training done today, as she had to keep dodging all the objects being tossed her way. “For being the awesome little angel that she is, a whopping 100 million belli bounty is posted for the amazing Aisa! And like her guardian, she is wanted only alive!”
Another series of “Oohs” and “Aahs” were let out as the Crew let that sink in. Aisa meanwhile flew several loops in the air, twirling a bit and bowing like a little star. Only Laki and the captain were frowning, but they did clap along as well. Mani did understand their worries, but this had been inevitable as long as Aisa kept sailing with them. Not least, because all it would take was for a single noble asshole to set his sights upon her for every bounty hunter in the world to come running. There wasn't much they could do about the bounty, but they certainly could do a lot to prepare for the eventual clash. For now, it was best to just enjoy it and keep morale up, at least in her opinion.
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And what better way to do just that, than with the grand finale.
“And this is the moment you’ve all been waiting for! The greatest of the new generation! The future of piracy! Conqueror of the sky and…”
“Laying it on a little thick, aren’t we?” Bellamy dryly asked, causing her to briefly reconsider. Hmmm, maybe? It wouldn't hurt to tone it down a bit…just a little.
“…and the very incarnation of humility! I present to you the best captain I’ve ever had!”
“He’s also the worst and only captain you’ve ever had!” their navigator hollered from the side.
“Hey, I’m going to remember that one Eddy!” the captain guffawed, swinging his fist in Eddy's vague direction. The (not at all) scared navigator immediately used the opportunity to scamper to safety.
“Eeep! Hide me, Muret!” Muret was of course merciless, the doctor simply grabbing Eddy and physically moving him to sit between herself and the captain, all with a small smirk gracing her lips.
“The conqueror of the sky, the scourge of the seas and our very own captain! Bellamy the Hyena with a whole 85 million belli!” Mani finished, spreading out her arms like a much prettier version of her old town preacher.
The following applause was positively thunderous.
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(Bellamy POV)
Considering how relatively low key I’d been in my activities in comparison to the others (looking at you Luffy), my bounty had received a decent raise, probably because of how I had used a former rear admiral as a punching bag. And while a bounty wasn't an accurate reflection of one’s strength, it was a rough measure of how much of a threat the world government saw you as. As such, it was a gratifying feeling to see my progress being acknowledged. Although in Aisa’s case, I think her bounty was less about her danger level, but more about her logia fruit & origin.
A much smaller part of me was terrified that stronger individuals were going to start coming after me, but rationality told that part to shove it. Very few bounty hunters would dare to attack one of Doffy’s subordinate crews and the marines were not going to actively hunt me down, leaving only the other criminal organizations. But even they were not going to send their big guns after me yet, as that would break one of the unwritten rules of the underground, meaning that we had time to get stronger.
That was, as long as I was not stupid and rushed to join the war at Marineford or stuck around Sabaody long enough for Luffy to punch the celestial dragons in the face. I did briefly wonder if that would happen in this timeline, but that's really wasn't anything for me to concern myself with right now. Instead, it was far more important that I did not let the time I had go to waste. The OG Bellamy had learned two forms of haki during the timeskip period. I would master both.
One of my first acts to prepare myself, was to visit Galley-La after breakfast the very next day in order to take command of my new ship. And what a ship she was.
“She is without doubt the fastest vessel ever built by Galley-La. I guarantee you, nothing will be able to catch this lady if she does not wish it.” Iceburg boasted as he showed me around. “We have installed thirty of those jet dials into the stern and the rest along the mast and sails. A lack of wind will no longer be an issue for you.”
Which meant that I could traverse the Calm Belt. Well, as long as I could deal with the giant sea monsters looking to make my ship an afternoon snack, but if one were to discount that minor inconvenience, I shouldn't have any trouble and may be even able to visit Amazon Lily. Maybe if I brought her one of Luffy’s old things, Hancock wouldn't turn me into stone. It was an idle thought, but perhaps the Pirate Queen would let me convince her to teach me armament haki, if I offered to ‘take out’ one of her ‘rivals’ for Luffy’s ‘love’ by seducing Nico Robin. I was hoping to do that anyway, so...yeah.
“All the wood used in her construction comes from the treasure tree, exactly as ordered. You could fire a broadside from a warship into her and not leave a scratch.”
“Even from those giant marine guns?” I asked him and for the first time, Iceburg looked somewhat hesitant.
“Uhm…you still probably won’t sink.” he told me in the end, wiping a sweaty brow. At least he was honest about it, but then again, I was not planning on going head to head with the marines in a naval battle. My new ship was armed with only a few guns and even if I had more, I didn't have the crew to man them. Hence, the much more reasonable option was to run away and fight another day...or simply board the enemy vessel to beat the crap out of everybody.
“This ship has enough storage capacity to house two dozen people and more cargo room than your old ship, all without significantly increasing the size. If I dare say so myself, it's a marvel of effective space management and thanks to how strong the wood is, we also managed to reduce the thickness of the inner walls and thus increase the amount of space even further. We used some of that space to install an indoor vegetable garden using some of those heat and light dials you provided, as well as a very large water tank.”
I did believe that the old ming treasure fleet had gardens on their ship to provide fresh produce to the admiralty. In a similar vein, these facilities would definitely help prevent scurvy, much like Nami’s tangerine trees did for the Straw Hats. Speaking of Nami's tangerine grove, how did she have enough water to keep her trees alive without water dials? The Grand Line weather was chaotically violent as well, which couldn't be good for those exposed trees. At least my garden was indoors with dial installations providing standardized growing conditions.
“In accordance to your wishes, we installed a modern gym with all relevant equipment, a working bath with indoor plumbing and an attached facility to filter seawater. It’s not quite good enough to drink but bathing should be fine without having to risk the salt damaging your skin.”
“Sounds like the girls will love it.” I mused with Iceburg nodding in agreement.
“Very likely. And that more or less concludes our tour of the ship. Do you have any questions or final remarks?”
“No complaints. I love her already.” And I did. I had never understood why some sailors fell in love with their vessel, but I think I got it now.
“I’m glad to hear it. What will you name her?” Iceburg asked me.
Well, as she was the fastest ship on the high seas, there really was only one option.
“The Black Pearl.”
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Unfortunately, even by the time we left Water Seven, I had failed to hire a shipwright from Galley-La for my crew. Paulie did look interested at one point, clearly wishing to accompany his masterpiece on her journey, but sadly decided against it in the end. I think a large part of it was due to the current state of the company. I did mention it before, but Galley-La had lost two of their foremen, their secretary plus a number of workers during the whole Enies Lobbie debacle. Paulie likely couldn’t bring himself to abandon them now.
The other shipwrights on the island also refused to leave, fully committed to making Iceburg’s plans for a floating island a reality. In comparison to that, maintaining a mere pirate ship was nothing that tickled their fancy.
Thankfully, they did agree to teach Ross the basics during our stay at Water Seven and gave him a book for further study. Motivation was very high on Ross’ part too, so much that he had already memorized half of his new reading material. Sadly, he wasn't as good at the practical side of things as he had proven to be in the theoretical aspects, but it was a good start.
Additionally, my new ship was an order of magnitude tougher than the New Witch’s Tongue which did make his job easier. Speaking of my old galleon, Galley-La had purchased her off me for a decent price, so that was all well and good.
Against my initial assumptions, our time at Water Seven and her surrounding islands had been much more productive than I had dared to expect. A world class ship, a rokushiki instructor, Funkfreed and a power up for Sarquiss. Despite some hiccups, Lady Luck had smiled upon me this time and I could only hope that she continued to do so in the future.
“Where are we headed now, Eddy?”
“Hannabal, captain. The isle of Hannabal.”