– Bellamy –

According to the movies, the Pure Gold was a legendary metal with near mythical value, though it wasn't surprising that an object whose light granted eternal youth would be priceless. As such, it was a greatly desired treasure with many scientists and alchemists having devoted their lives to the near impossible quest of replicating it. Most of the world had called it a fruitless endeavour but nevertheless, fuelled by the desire of the rich and powerful for eternal life, the attempts never ceased.

Until one fateful day two hundred years ago.

The news that a researcher on the Island of Alchemi had succeeded in this age-old quest sent ripples through the world, with people smashing up their labs and burning their experimental logs in frustration and envy. Dozens threw themselves into the sea as their life's purpose was taken from them or when their funding dried up, their patrons having decided that using the money to procure the existing Pure Gold was a more efficient use of resources than paying someone to try and make more.

Marines, pirates, bounty hunters, treasure hunters, hobby adventurers…all of them converged upon the suddenly famous island, turning it into a hellscape. Most of the local residents fled their homes while those few who remained were slaughtered. Yet, by the time the first wave of raiders pulled back from the island, the Pure Gold eluded them still with its creator having gone into hiding. Naturally, the second wave was far larger than the first, including enough bodies to cover every inch of the island thrice over. However, when this massive armada arrived, the island was nowhere to be found, only an underwater plateau marking the location where Alchemi had once been.

Thus, the Pure Gold slipped back into obscurity and out of the public eye for two full centuries.

Then the marines began to move once more.

Like the rest of her peers, Elisabeth Bathory had numerous feelers in almost every echelon of society and the marines were no exception. As having the marines actively do their jobs was usually bad for business, the Bloody Countess had immediately mustered her considerable network of informants to find out why the marines had broken the silence they'd maintained since the Summit War. The answer wasn't long in coming.

A descendant of Alchemi had been found and not just any descendant at that, for the name Myskina Olga implied familial relations to the creator of the Pure Gold himself. Furthermore, if the girl was to be believed, she possessed the knowledge of how one could reach the lost island, when even the eternal poses set for Alchemi had stopped working centuries prior.

Thus, the hunt began anew.

"I get that, and I also get that this is a race against time." Law said, raising a hand in my direction. "What I don't get is why you're covering your ship in copper plating. She is already made from the wood of the Treasure Tree and can withstand broadsides by your own admission. Adding a bit of copper isn't going to help that much."

"Would you believe me if I claimed it was to prevent barnacles?" I asked but received a flat look in return.

"If this were any other time? Maybe, but with the marines closing in on our target as we speak? No." Law told me, tapping his fingers against his crossed arms. "Definitely not. Pull the other one."

"Alright." I sighed, deciding to come clean for once. "The reason for the modifications are to prevent my ship from being dissolved by the stomach acid of a giant fish in the event we ever get swallowed by one."

Law said nothing for a while, though there were probably a lot of things he wanted to say to me if how his face kept contorting in all manner of ways was any indication. In the end, he settled for the following.

"Are you pulling my leg?"

"Nope." I answered, popping the p. In response, Law began massaging his own forehead as if to drive away the incoming migraine. "It's not that unlikely, if you think about it."

"Oh, really?" he scoffed, leaning back in his seat and covering his eyes with his forearm.

"Just ask Luffy. He sailed his ship into a whale's gut." I pointed out, which caused Law to groan in resignation but also in understanding. It said a lot, I felt, that someone who barely even knew Luffy, wasn't surprised to hear about him pulling stunts like this. "By comparison, being involuntarily swallowed seems like a far more reasonable concern."

"Does this have to be done now of all times though?"

"Oh, absolutely. In fact, I'd even go as far as to say that it's rather late, but better late than never." I grinned, drawing a frustrated growl out of his throat. People, eh? Refused to believe you even when you told them the truth. "Don't worry about it. Everything is going to be just fine."

My ally didn't look very reassured by my words, burying his face in his hands and muttering dejectedly.

"I swear, if we miss the marine convoy because of this…"

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We did, in fact, almost miss the marine convoy, but that had less to do with us being late to the party and more to do with the marines being ambushed before they could reach our position. For a moment, all of us had wondered if the intel provided by the Bloody Countess had been inaccurate, but those concerns were laid to rest when we saw the pillars of smoke rising into the sky. Upon following it, we found the burning wreckages of what had once been several battleships, in addition to their listing command vessel which was currently in the process of being boarded.

"Geez, those guys are being slaughtered." Sarquiss commented from beside me, both of us looking at the massacre happening before us. "Is this seriously the best the marines have to offer?"

"No, but it's what they had available in the short term." I answered him. "According to Bathory, they did send a rear admiral and one of the CP0 along as a protection detail."

"Who the fuck are the CP0?" Lily interjected, coming up to join the conversation. "Are they anything like those shitheads we fought on Tequila Wolf?"

"More or less." I nodded. "Though apparently these guys are even stronger and more secretive."

"Fantastic." My quartermaster muttered under her breath. "Absolutely fantastic. Hey, Nero! Did you know about them?"

"No, I didn't." Nero called back as he finished tying a couple of knots to stabilize our sails. "Then again, barely anyone was supposed to know about the CP9 either, so it wouldn't surprise me that the World Government had more cards up its sleeves."

"Guess that's something for me to look into when I'm a Warlord." Law mused, dropping down from the mast and reaching out to take Sarquiss' binoculars. My first mate didn't resist all too much. "Still, the amount of intelligence the Bloody Countess has access to is rather frightening."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she had dossiers on all of us as well. If Disco knew how Sarquiss' first date went, I think it's a fair guess to assume she does too." I replied, before glancing at him. "By the way, please do remind me again. Why are you on my ship?"

"Your ship is faster than my sub." Law shrugged. "Considering how much time we lost because you insisted on being prepared for a very unlikely scenario, it was only logical to use the quickest means at our disposal. Which happens to be your ship."

"Why are you still miffed about that? We found them, didn't we?"

"Springtrap-ya. I have dedicated my life to seeing Doflamingo put into the dirt six feet under and this operation has the potential to do more damage to him than I've done in my entire life." Law said, turning his very intense gaze upon mine. "I would be very upset if we messed this up."

"Uhh…guys? Don't you think we should do something about that?" Sarquiss asked, pointing at the battle and interrupting the two of us before we could properly butt heads.

"Probably?" Lily shrugged. "How else are we going to fucking secure our target, dickhead?"

"It's not like our target is going to come to us if we wait, is it?" Law added, readying his blade as most of my crew assumed combat stations. Much to the confusion of my crew, I just waved at them to stand down, pointing to where Myskina Olga was racing towards us on her prehistoric reptile. Like literally. It was running towards my ship across the ocean on its two webbed feet with the young girl slumped across the saddle.

"Actually, Law-buddy. I think that's precisely what she just did."

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– Laki –

Perhaps it was her inexperience showing, but there was something decidedly off about Olga. Despite looking like she was barely six years old, her playful eyes were unable to hide the world weariness behind them. Well, it was either that or the fact she tried to take her captain hostage as soon as she woke up… while wielding only a single kitchen knife. All because Bellamy, a pirate whose head was worth hundreds of millions of belli, looked quote stupid unquote. She failed as a matter of course, but as her captain was notorious the world over, the fact Olga didn't recognize him just added to the oddness.

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Then again, she was now throwing a small temper tantrum and hollering at them to feed her meat all while dangling upside down from Bellamy's grip, so maybe Olga wasn't as mature as Laki's first impressions had led her to believe?

In the end, the Crew took pity on her and Hewitt prepared some food, which the young girl scarfed down without abandon before declaring it to have been the best meal she'd had in like forever. From there, they managed to tickle out further information, including that she had been living on her own for years by gathering her own food or that she'd been born on Alchemi. Normally, Laki would have been disinclined to believe such claims, as foraging without guidance wasn't a feat easily achieved by children, even those from her own tribe. However, the way Olga described the process was all too real for her to not have experienced it herself, even if the timeframe seemed unrealistic at best.

Perhaps unsurprisingly though, when it came to how one would actually reach her home island, the girl's lips clamped shut tighter than a clamshell, only replying that she didn't like pushy guys. Laki could sympathize with Olga not wanting to give up her island's treasure so easily, but the Bellamy Pirates arguably needed the Pure Gold more than Olga did. And no matter how hypocritical it may have been of her, when it came down to it, Laki would always put her friends and family first.

"I'd say it has something to do with her ring." Nero guessed, after having remained a silent observer the entire time. And with the way Olga startled before trying to hide her hands behind her back, it didn't take a secret agent to know that the rokushiki instructor had hit the nail right on the head. Soon enough, in the face of Nero's knowing smirk, the only thing the girl could do was sigh in resignation and glare.

"How did you know?"

"I didn't, but you just told me." Nero replied, looking very pleased with himself.

"Oh." the girl realised, bringing her tiny fist down into her palm in an "Aha!" moment.

"Yep."

Laki wasn't so certain that outsmarting a six-year-old was an achievement worth being so smug about, but to each his own she supposed. Though, considering Nero's background, one couldn't be certain it wasn't all an act. Intentionally revealing a weakness or a flaw to lead a desperate someone into a verbal trap would be par for the course as far as a secret agent was concerned. Plus, with that little exchange, Nero had effectively taken away her biggest bargaining chip and brought the initiative completely over to their side. An edge Bellamy didn't hesitate to take full advantage of.

"Look Olga, I'll cut you a deal." He began, drawing the girl's attention back to himself and offering her a compromise. "I'm not certain what sort of obstacles you'll need to overcome in order to find the Pure Gold, but I know you'll need help."

"Yeah? What makes you so sure?" Olga asked defiantly.

"You don't have the Pure Gold for one, despite having been on Alchemi." Law stated in her captain's stead, as if that explained everything. When it became obvious that it didn't, Law sighed and elaborated. "Look Olga-ya, if it were possible, you'd have already recovered the Pure Gold, sold it and be living a life of luxury somewhere. But as you're not, I think we can safely conclude that you couldn't for one reason or another. Plus, the World Government clearly wanted you to lead them to its hiding spot. I think that's enough, don't you think?"

"I guess you guys are not as stupid as you look." Olga said, before placing both her hands on her waist. "But what will you do if I refuse to tell you how to find Alchemi in the first place?"

"We can always just take the ring off you." As Eddy told her this, Olga's reaction wasn't to panic. Rather, Laki would describe it as a lightbulb turning on behind her eyes. "I'm sure we can figure something out, but because I don't want to rob a child, we're offering to work with you."

"Very well. I'll help you reach Alchemi, but in exchange we split it fifty: fifty." Olga offered, perkily holding out a hand for Bellamy to shake, which he did with no hesitation.

"Deal. And after you've used us to get the Pure Gold, you can always betray us for the rest later." Bellamy smiled just as Olga began speaking very audibly to herself.

"And after I've used them to get the Pure Gold, I can always betray them for the rest…hey!!" Of course, when the captain's words registered, it drew out a rather indignant hey from the diminutive girl, much to the amusement of the Crew.

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Things went quite quickly after that with Olga activating her ring without much pomp or fanfare. This was, of course, contrasted quite sharply by the reactions of most of the crew to its effect. Laki herself had let out a rather embarrassing shriek when a giant fish had broken through the surface of the water to try and eat them... despite their abundant experience in cooking and eating various sea kings.

"EDDY, GET US THE HELL OUT OF HERE!!!!" Sarquiss screamed at their navigator, who was already turning the wheel like a madman to bring the Black Pearl about. Meanwhile, Ross and Hewitt were dashing below deck to activate their jet dial propulsion systems at the same time that Mani and Lily were furling their sails to reduce air resistance, aided by an entire crew's worth of extra hands on deck provided by Robin.

Others were more collected.

"That's a big fish." Aisa breathed out, staring at the ship-sized teeth in fascination.

"And no doubt with a big stomach to match." Robin mused, "I wonder if there'll be anything left of us after we're digested."

"Eeep!"

"Robin, do please refrain from scaring my crew."

"Miss Robin, I'm beginning to see why you were on the same crew as Ace's little brother." Izou commented dryly, idly polishing one of his many pistols. "Are the rest of you as unique as you two are?"

"Fufufufu." the archaeologist chuckled, "Why, I'm not sure what you could possibly be talking about, Izou-san."

"Of course, you don't, Miss Robin. Of course, you don't."

That these individuals happened to be amongst the strongest members on the Crew was surely just a coincidence. Either way, their attempts to get their ship, and hence themselves, to safety were halted by Olga hollering at them not to.

"Wait, if you guys truly want the Pure Gold, you will have to sail into the fish." Olga claimed, grinning (maniacally) at them from the prow of the ship.

"I'm not sure I want to know, but what do you mean by that?" Sarquiss asked Olga, his eyes doing their best to imitate a dead fish.

"Simple, Bonbori-sama swallowed Alchemi two hundred years ago."

"Why am I not surprised?" Sarquiss groaned, throwing his arms into the air. "Alright, I can see the writing on the wall. You heard the little lady, Eddy. Take us in!"

"I hope you know what you're doing…" Eddy called back, setting them all on course into the giant maw once Bellamy signalled his agreement with a thumb's up. To be honest, Laki had no idea where her captain got his confidence from to dive headfirst into the unknown like this. Amongst her people, you called such individuals reckless fools, idiots without the most basic knowledge of the huntsman's craft. Down here, it seemed to be a virtue.

"You know, out of everyone on this ship, I was certain you were the sane one." Nero commented to their first mate. "I'm not so sure anymore."

"Eh, to be honest, I think I went crazy a long time ago." Sarquiss sighed, before a slow grin began spreading across his face. "It just took me until now to acknowledge it. Plus, with a captain like mine, it was inevitable anyway."

"Because he is a madman?"

"Because he is a great man."

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Author's note:

So we get started with the events of Heart of Gold. Some things will stay the same, others will not and some new (and relevant) bits will be added.

I somewhat question whether Bellamy is ready for Mad Treasure, but we'll see when we get there.