– Bellamy –
Once Bill and his Silver Alliance were neutralized, securing Silver Mine became a trivial matter. Most of the newly freed prisoners in the underground mines either accepted the offered safe passage home, or as was usually the case, agreed to work for the Revolutionary Army in some capacity. Ironically enough, this usually involved doing pretty much the same thing they had been doing as part of the Silver Alliance's efforts to extract silver from the mines.
Bill himself was taken into custody by Sabo's men, though the chief of staff remained tightlipped about his intentions for his new prisoner. Despite having been taken down fairly easily by my first mate, Bill's devil fruit could certainly prove useful in easing the Revolutionary Army's logistics. Either way, I didn't particularly care what his fate would end up being and so I didn't pry.
Instead, I focused my attention on a new pet project of mine. Recently, Byron had let me know that he'd expanded the Bellamy Armada – pending a better name – by another ship and five hundred bodies. He'd done it by accident too, if his account of events was to be believed. While Foxy's crew weren't the most glamorous of recruits, they nonetheless had the potential to be valuable allies in my fight against Doflamingo.
In the canon timeline, Luffy had received a lot of help in storming Dressosa's palace from many individuals, most of whom would later go on to become the founding members of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. Which had also been the reason why I'd been gathering allies whenever and wherever I could. Allies like Urouge and Moria. And Byron.
However, if one looked at the trend I'd been following, my recruitment efforts had been disproportionally focused on small crews with a high degree of individual competency. Quality over quantity, as it were. Thing was, quantity had a quality all of its own and unless I wanted to exhaust myself taking out Doffy's foot soldiers, I would need some of my own. Or at least a method to tie them down.
Foxy's crew were godsent in that regard. They'd require quite a bit of work to be brought up to par, but by joining me they had easily quadrupled our numbers. Maybe I should dispatch Nero to help speed their progress along?
But regardless, now that I had two affiliate crews the natural thing to ask was… why not three?
Desire's crew was nowhere close to being as large as Foxy's, but it was still three times the size of my own. Add on their speciality and they had all the markings of a highly mobile strike force possessing firepower very much above their weight class. They weren't there yet and it would take soooo much effort to get them up to snuff, but the potential was there.
We even helped her get set up with a mid sized galleon to serve as the mother ship and new lauching pad for her fish riding crew. Similarly to how aircraft carriers would act as berths for fighter jets, the newly christened Sweet Desire would hold the thirty battle boats we'd looted from the Silver Alliance. Having experienced first hand how helpless her crew had been in the face of Bill's battleship, it had been an easy task to convince her to change her main mode of transportation. After all, like my crew had noted earlier, the back of a fish was no way to travel on the Grand Line.
Which made it disappointing when Desire declined my offer to become my affiliate captain.
I admit that her choice surprised me, as according to my memory of the show she had joined Bill with no questions asked. Then again, the situation wasn't the same as it would have been then. For one, Desire hadn't lost most of her crew nor been in a despondent state of mind after the ambush. Quite on the contrary. Her crew was alive and she had played a – minor – part in knocking Bill down a peg or two. As a consequence, her self-confidence was fractured but intact.
Though, now that I thought about it… this was also the person who had seen Luffy curbstomp Bill into the ground and then declared that she would reach the top by herself. Despite knowing perfectly well that it was an unrealistic proposition.
At least she wasn't bullheaded enough not to recognize that her friends were in danger of getting seriously hurt if she continued along as they'd been doing until now. Hence, why she didn't refuse my suggestion to accompany us for a bit and get some pointers along the way. Which provided me with just enough of an opening to postpone her final decision until a later date.
Was Desire worth the amount of effort I was putting into her? Especially considering the favor I was going to ask of a certain someone on her behalf? Probably not. But she was at least a cut or two above the normal riff-raff I could recruit in Paradise and I needed to visit Amazon Lily anyway.
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Amazon Lily was an island famous for two things in particular. One, it was a jungle island in the middle of the Calm Belt, home to a tribe of haki wielding warrior women who called themselves the Kuja. And two, it was the home base of a Royal Warlord who laid claim to at least two rather pretentious titles at the same time.
Admittedly, neither of the two were really her fault. What was she to do when the world saddled her with the epithet the Pirate Empress when Big Mom was a thing? Refuse? Offer a formal rebuttal of her own unworthiness in the newspaper? Yeah, that hadn't been a viable option so the title had stuck.
As for being called the most beautiful woman in the world… I could concede to being a tad biased on that front. Nonetheless, it was a canon fact that the mere sight of her stirred up lustful thoughts in almost everybody regardless of gender, though how much of that could be attributed to her natural charms was up to debate. Honestly, being able to turn a shipload of hardened, veteran marines into simpleminded simps with a flick of her hair... that wasn't normal.
I was much more of the opinion that her devil fruit – the Love Love Fruit – was the cause of an effect quite similar to Veela Allure from the Harry Potter books. A subtle form of mind manipulation which provided the basis for her other, more petrifying powers to work. And now that I was faced with the full brunt of her charms, I could appreciate why Vice Admiral Momonga felt it necessary to go as far as mutilating himself to break out of its grip. Thankfully, I didn't need to go quite as far. As it turned out, pinching myself was good enough.
"That was quite rude you know? Is this how you greet guests around here?"
"But you will forgive my actions. Why, you ask? Because, I am… beautiful." Hancock declared with absolute confidence, complete with her trademark pose, prompting the peanut gallery to react as they usually did.
"She's looking down so much that she's looking up!"
image [https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/One-Piece-Hancock-looking-down.jpg]
"…that's not how this works, lady."
Hancock for her part, seemed rather miffed that I refused to bend over backwards and forgive her attempt to petrify me the moment we met. Nearly as much as she was about my failure to be a good simp and be turned into stone in the first place. At least, having probably built up a bit of an immunity from Luffy's unwillingness to fall in love with her, Hancock didn't swoon and collapse in an overly dramatic fashion when I did something similar. Her subordinates on the other hand were much more vocal.
"Male! How dare you talk to her like that!"
"You impudent, insolent, impertinent… eh, man!"
To be honest, I had no idea why they seemed so upset with me. It wasn't as if I was the only male specimen of our species they had come across and I was friends with Luffy. With how infatuated Hancock was with Luffy, one would think that saving the guy would garner me a warmer welcome. As unlikely as I thought it to be, maybe they didn't know? It was worth a shot.
"Eh… I'm friends with Luffy?" I tried, but the response was frankly speaking, ridiculous.
"Liar! I know who you are, Springtrap Bellamy!" the Pirate Queen proclaimed in an accusing tone "Luffy called you his rival!"
"Miss, those are not mutually exclusive." I deadpanned. She ignored me.
"I would do anything for Luffy." Hancock intoned, hunching slightly and allowing her bangs to cast a shadow over her face. "Anything."
"Are you even listening to me?"
"I will not allow his enemy to exist!" she declared, straightening up to her full, impressive height. And, how could it be otherwise, my protests went unheard.
"Lady, I am NOT his ENEMY!"
"This is for love."
"You cannot be serious right now." I muttered, palming my face. "Look, I did not want to do this yet but lady, you are leaving me no other choice."
"Love…"
"I've brought one of your potential in-laws along." I stated, thoroughly disturbing Hancock's rhythm and taking the wind out of her sails. "The blond dandy back there is Luffy's long lost older brother."
Stolen story; please report.
"…arrow-eh?" As a result, her arrow went flying way off course to punch through a Sea King several hundred meters to the side.
"Can you tell me where Luffy is please? This family reunion is way overdue."
"But… wasn't Ace his brother?" Boa Marigold asked in lieu of her speechless sister.
"He is. But I'm talking abou the other one."
"I'm meeting my brother-in-law?" Meanwhile, Hancock was barely refraining from squealing with excitement and muttering to herself, her blushing cheeks covered by her own two hands.
"Wait male, how do we know you're telling the truth?" Boa Sandersonia interjected, wrapping an arm protectively around her daydreaming elder sister.
"Simple. We just need to go see Luffy."
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The good thing about having a capable navigator was that the captain could take some time off as long as the course was set. Which meant I could afford to take the occasional break here and there. Sitting at the kitchen counter while sipping a much deserved cup of coffee, I tried my best to ignore the stare coming my way.
The stare got more insistent. I took another sip.
In the end, it turned out that I wasn't the one who wanted to speak more.
"Bellamy. To tell you the truth, when you told me that you had a plan to deal with the Kuja, this wasn't what I was expecting." Sabo deadpanned, giving me a very unimpressed look.
"Everything turned out fine, didn't it?" I shrugged noncommittantly.
"Everything did not turn out fine." Sabo groused. "I want it officially on record that I opposed this plan."
"What's your problem with it? They didn't attack us, I get to deliver my letter and we'll score a few browny points with the Kuja." I replied, ticking off my fingers. My friend seemed unimpressed.
"And you don't think that lying to the Pirate Empress to get out of a tight spot might potentially… I don't know… backfire? Like really soon?"
"Why does everybody think I'm lying? I'm an honest person."
"You're Springtrap Bellamy. A notorious pirate known for being a tricky bugger with a silver tongue." He said, before vaguely gesturing in my direction. "Your face doesn't exactly help either."
"Excuse me?" I exclaimed, putting on an affronted air. "What about my face? I've got a trustworthy one, don't I?"
"Have you looked in the mirror lately? That smirk doesn't exactly scream integrity." He pointed out. "You constantly seem like you're planning a prank or something."
"Ouch. That hurts you know."
"Plus… regardless of how you convinced the Kuja that I'm apparently Straw Hat Luffy's long lost brother, we both know that I'm really not."
"I'm not sure how to tell you this, but you really are."
"Bellamy, I get that you want me to play the part but your insistence on this charade is odd to say the least." Sabo replied, crossing his arms. "My memory of my childhood is a bit spotty I'll admit, but Dragon investigated my family for me."
"Former noble of Goa Kingdom in East Blue, whose younger brother is currently scheming to take over the throne?"
"…I'm surprised that you know that much, but then you'd also know that I only have that one sibling. I have no relations to the Monkey family at all."
"That you know of."
"That I know of." Sabo nodded but not without throwing out a verbal jab. "Still, don't you think the notion that you know my family better than I do might be a little bit ridiculous?"
"Your memory is spotty by your own admission." I countered. "And do you honestly think that I would have told such a bold-faced lie in the first place? When Luffy refuting our claims would be all it would take for it to explode in our faces?"
"Pardon me, but… our claims?"
"I didn't hear you tell the Kuja otherwise when I was talking to them earlier. Which means you're at least complicit."
"Bellamy…"
"If it helps, they probably won't kill us?" I joked, playfully warding off Sabo's attempts to strangle me. "I do have a letter for Hancock and if the worst comes to worst, Robin can probably put in a good word for us."
"Remind me again, how did I let you convince me that accompanying you was a good idea?" Sabo groaned, giving up his attempts to cut off my airflow and electing to bury his face in his hands instead.
"I didn't. That was all you." It had been too. Something about Boa Hancock being too good of a prospective ally for the Revolutionary Army not to approach. Especially now that her relationship with the World Government was fraying very rapidly. Already rumblings were being heard that the big brass wanted to do away with the Royal Warlord system in its entirety, Akainu in particular being a vocal supporter of such a policy change.
"Sigh …there goes making a good first impression."
"Wanna bet on it?" I grinned.
"No."
"Are you sure? What do you have to lose?" I argued, causing Sabo to relent.
"What are the stakes?"
"A favor to be cashed in in the future?"
"It's your funeral."
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Our wager ended up being resolved decisively in my favor, not that I had expected otherwise. No sooner had Ace and Luffy laid eyes upon the tophat wearing blond, did the tears start flowing. Both those of joy and relief, as well as those of pain from how tightly a certain rubber human was wrapping around and squeezing a certain non-rubber human. Ace adding his own blazing emotions to the mix probably didn't help.
"SABO?!?!??!?"
"YOU'RE ALIVE!!! I'M SO HAPPY THAT YOU'RE ALIVE!!!"
"Get off me! Bellamy, don't just stand there grinning like a loon and help me!"
Nope. I was not getting in between an emotional sun, his limpet brother and their mutual victim. Sabo could enjoy being the centre of Luffy's literally breathtaking hug for a little while longer. And honestly, I wasn't even sure how I'd go about prying Luffy and Ace off of him without a crowbar. Hence, seeing as Sabo wasn't in any real danger, I did the sensible thing and left the premises, inwardly promising to return in an hour.
Or two.
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The Largesse of St. Camael
Welcome to Marineford Daily News, your only source of accurate and unbiased truth.
Months after the spark was lit to one of the greatest dangers to civlized society, the world can now breathe easily again. The speaker of the World Government announced only yesterday that the most severe jam shortage in living memory has now been resolved. The harvests are not quite bountiful, the production somewhat short of plentiful and the supply lines are a little less than secure. However, with Big Mom and Kaido sated for now, pirates have not been sighted in the vicinity for days at this point.
But the most important thing is that the breakfast tables of the World Nobles are complete once more. In a show of global unity and cooperation, the precious resource was gathered and delivered to the place where it was needed most.
Graciously, St. Camael even handed out high praise for all the obedient and diligent citizens of the world. In his own words, "It is good that the commoners know act in accordance to their station, knowing when to serve and when to offer their betters what they are due. But I am a generous soul so let this jar of jam be the reward for good service."
image [https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BN2ZmNGJkODQtMTZiOS00MzYwLTkxZjMtOTYxMzhlNzdiZmU2XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTc5MDI5NjE@._V1_.jpg]
It is an exceedingly rare occasion when we are referred to by the World Nobles as anything other than bugs, so this marks a monumental occasion. Even rarer is the day when a World Noble will part with a non-negligible portion of his property. Surely, with the support St. Camael has shown towards the furtherment of human rights, we'll be able to spread the light of civilisation to the furthest reaches of the world.
In other news, a fierce debate has sprung up in the middle management of the World Government as to how they should go about distributing the largesse of St. Camael amongst the wider populace in a just and fair manner. Apparently, it will be a slow process due to unspecified logistical issues, but the government speaker has assured us that the matter will be given its due diligence.
However, until the time comes where we will all be able to enjoy the sweet taste of jam for breakfast once more, there is nothing to be done except expectantly wait in eager anticipation. And ignoring the rumors of the dastardly revolutionaries sniffing around the Isle of Jam. Because it's not true.
Really.*
This was Marineford Daily reporting.
And as always, please follow us to never miss an update on the best news reports this side of the Red Line.
*This statement by Vice Admiral Aramaki was dependently verified by dependent sources within the marine corps, who depend upon their goodwill to live their very much dependent lives. As such, it is the most independent source available.
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Author's note:
Ok, some of you may have read my comments, but the Payback War is next after our stop at Amazon Lily. I've got most of it planned out, though I do want to ask how you guys feel about chapters with Whitebeard Pirate POVs. I.e. Marco, Izou, Ace, Vista and the like.