"They're here."
On the horizon ahead, a vast expanse of shadow slowly materialized. The Grand Fleet had finally arrived.
"Right on schedule." Bellamy lowered his spyglass and gave the immediate command, "Release the Blood Bait."
They hadn't been idle during the two-day wait. All medicinal herbs aboard had been processed into finished potions, the most crucial among them being, naturally, the potent Blood Bait. The sea area Bellamy had carefully chosen for this confrontation was situated a strategic distance from the Calm Belt—not too close, not too far. And the batch of Blood Bait they had prepared this time was larger than any previous one. According to Mia's calculations, its scent could potentially permeate an area covering hundreds of nautical miles. Once this potent concoction was dumped into the ocean... what kind of chaos it would unleash in the depths below, no one could predict. Which was precisely the effect Bellamy was counting on.
With pirates pouring in from East and West Blue, the Grand Fleet's numbers had swelled to over a thousand vessels. Confronting such a massive armada head-on... even if they simply stood still and let him slaughter them, he couldn't possibly finish them all off in three days and nights. Chaos was necessary.
"Alright, time to deploy the kids," Bellamy ordered grimly.
Ahead, the indistinct shapes on the horizon grew denser, more numerous. A dark, oppressive mass stretching as far as the eye could see, blotting out the horizon line. The fleet hadn't reached them yet, but the sheer imposing presence rolling off it was enough to make even Mia, Muret, and Ross's hearts pound with apprehension. If they felt it, it was needless to say how terrified Mani and Muret's younger brother were.
The two children were practically paralyzed with fear, their legs weak. Bellamy unceremoniously bundled them into the specially prepared large wooden barrels. For once, a rare, dark jest escaped him. "If I end up getting killed out there... remember to avenge me, yeah, kids?"
Two small strings of Seastone beads were attached to the outside of each barrel; Sea Kings detested the energy they emitted. Inside, rations of food and water were packed. Hope they make it, Bellamy thought grimly. Sealing the lids tightly, Bellamy personally heaved the barrels overboard into the rolling waves.
"Brother!" Muret cried out, unable to hold back her tears any longer. "You have to survive!" Despite her best efforts to remain composed, seeing her little brother cast adrift into the ocean like that broke through her control.
Bellamy's gaze locked onto his ship's doctor, hard and unforgiving. "Now is not the time for weakness. Stow those tears." His voice turned sharp, cutting through the tension like steel. "Bellamy Pirates! All hands, listen up!"
"Full sails!" Bellamy pointed towards the seemingly infinite shadow consuming the horizon. "See their main formation? Ram them! Straight ahead!"
The command stunned everyone into silence. For a long moment, no one moved, mouths agape. "...He's still just as crazy as ever," someone finally breathed.
At that moment, on the outskirts of this unnamed stretch of sea, the Grand Fleet was closing in, executing a pincer maneuver from all sides. Close to a thousand vessels, large and small, packed tightly together with less than half a nautical mile between them, converged rapidly, seeming intent on compressing the very sea around their target. Where the Grand Fleet advanced, a vast, unbroken shadow fell across the sky and sea. Only in the dead center of the closing net, where Bellamy's lone ship sailed, did a small patch of sunlight remain. But soon, that too would be extinguished, swallowed whole by the encroaching darkness.
And facing this terrifying, overwhelming encirclement, Bellamy's first command... was to charge headlong into the enemy's main force.
"As expected of the Captain!" Drake thought, feeling a surge of shame. He had to admit, the sheer oppressive presence of the converging fleet had momentarily intimidated even him. Yet, the Captain hadn't considered retreat for even an instant. Bellamy's audacious courage filled Drake with profound admiration. "Compared to true conquerors like him... I still have a long way to go." Drake straightened his posture, offering Bellamy a crisp, formal salute – a remnant of his past, perhaps, but offered with genuine respect. "Following your will, Captain." He turned to relay the command. "Target: Enemy main fleet! Full speed ahead!"
The net was closing fast. Soon, their lone vessel would be completely engulfed, with seemingly no chance of escape. Countless eyes watched their progress from the surrounding ships. Most held looks of morbid curiosity or outright schadenfreude, savoring the spectacle of the cornered prey. Only a very few might have wondered, fleetingly, if escape was even possible.
And then, under those countless watchful eyes, the small ship began to move purposefully. Wait... are they going the wrong way?! Before the disbelieving eyes of the entire fleet, the Sea Shark surged forward, sails full, heading directly towards the dense center of the Grand Fleet's main force.
"What is Bellamy doing?!" The question echoed in the minds of thousands watching the unbelievable maneuver.
Far behind the main body of the Grand Fleet, aboard a modern Marine warship, Captain Smoker lowered his binoculars, the same question burning in his mind.
"Bellamy... what the hell are you planning?" He instinctively pulled out the intelligence dossier on Bellamy again, scanning the familiar lines.
Hyena Bellamy. Male. Birthplace: Nion Town, North Blue. Devil Fruit: Spring-Spring Fruit. Unawakened. Proficient in Rokushiki. Proficient in Taijutsu.Kenbunshoku Haki: ??? Busoshoku Haki: ??? Temperament: Greedy, violent, disrespectful of authority, cruel, prone to killing.Intel Division Assessment: Extremely Vicious Criminal.
At the bottom, a small note indicated the bounty: 35,000,000 Beli. But that figure had already been crossed out with a pen.
"This intel is still too damn vague," Smoker growled, chewing on his cigars. The file told him almost nothing useful about the man's current actions.
"Captain," a voice interrupted his thoughts. Tashigi, his glasses perched on her nose, approached him looking concerned. "Is it really alright to let so many pirates congregate like this? What exactly are the higher-ups thinking?" The scale of the fleet was genuinely unnerving, yet the Marines had only dispatched ten warships to observe. With such limited numbers, they were effectively powerless to intervene.
"They specifically transferred me all the way from East Blue to the North Blue for this," Smoker grunted. "Isn't it obvious? They want me involved, but they clearly don't want me screwing up whatever larger game is being played here." But however much Smoker chafed under the ambiguous orders, he couldn't defy a direct command from HQ. What the Navy's ultimate objective was in this operation... even Smoker himself didn't know for sure.
"We wait. For now." He paused. "Let's see what that Hyena is really up to." Smoker raised his binoculars again, focusing on the distant, lone ship charging towards the heart of the enemy fleet. "I have a feeling," he muttered, "whatever he does next... it's going to surprise everyone."