Sea Calendar 1519, January.
The Bellamy Pirates arrive in the New World.
"So this is the New World? It doesn't seem that different," Mia said with a hint of disappointment after looking around the deck.
"Don't underestimate this place. The seas of the New World are unlike anywhere else." This was the most dangerous sea in the world. Without a certain level of strength, you didn't even have the right to sail here. Although this was Bellamy's first time here as well, his understanding of the New World was far beyond anyone else's.
"Captain, where is our next destination?"
The magnetic fields of the New World were even more chaotic than in the first half of the Grand Line. Without a permanent log pose, it was extremely difficult to navigate. Bellamy, of course, had come prepared. He had obtained a permanent log pose for Dressrosa long ago.
"First, let's find a place to rest and regroup."
His plan was to find a nearby island to rest for a while and then notify Law to rendezvous with them. During this time, they would modify the ship to better adapt to the harsh environment of the New World. Therefore, the choice of the first island was very important. Bellamy chose a reef island closest to the Red Line. On the sea chart, this reef area was marked with only a tiny black dot, barely visible if you weren't looking closely. Since Bellamy just wanted a place to regroup, a location like this was perfect. The ship had a cold storage, and their supplies were enough to last for a long time. They could afford to slow down and make more detailed preparations for the journey ahead.
The reef island wasn't far from the Red Line, just off the main shipping lanes, making its location somewhat remote. Bellamy navigated by comparing the sea chart and constantly scouting from the air. After two days and two nights, they finally found it.
Upon landing, they immediately dragged the entire ship ashore. Franky personally began the modifications on the Redwood Treasure Ship. Meanwhile, Bellamy immediately contacted Law. "I've reached the New World. Let's find a place to meet as soon as possible."
"No problem, Bellamy," Law replied. "I'm in Kaido's territory right now. It's a bit of a mess here. How about we meet at the starting point of the New World?"
The starting point of the New World was exactly where Bellamy was now.
"That works. Get here as soon as you can."
They didn't mention the specific location over the Den Den Mushi. After contacting Law, Bellamy wasn't idle. He still needed to scout the surrounding area. This was, after all, Marine territory. Although it was a New World fortress branch, the Marines stationed here were undoubtedly a notch below the elites at Headquarters. Still, they had to be vigilant. If these branch Vice Admirals were to team up, they could cause him a great deal of trouble.
The Marines' layout in the New World was like a long wall. Starting from the G-1 branch at the beginning, all the way to G-9, these nine fortresses were lined up, enclosing all the areas around the Red Line. Bellamy's current location was still within this fortress encirclement. Outside the circle was all territory of the Four Emperors; inside was under Marine jurisdiction. There weren't many islands within the circle itself; even the nine fortresses had been built by the Marines through land reclamation.
Bellamy had stolen the Celestial Dragons' personal vessel. By now, the Sabaody Archipelago must be in an uproar. Those Celestial Dragons were used to being arrogant tyrants. It was always them bullying others; when had anyone ever dared to bully them? To them, a single Redwood Treasure Ship being stolen by pirates was not a significant loss. Anything that could be bought with money was of little value to the Celestial Dragons. What they cared about more was the loss of face.
Because Bellamy had deliberately hidden his tracks this time, apart from Rayleigh and Shakky, no one knew he was the one responsible. Now, in the black market of Sabaody, almost every bounty hunter was in a frenzy. The Rosward family, whose ship had been stolen, had placed a bounty of a staggering one billion Beri in the black market, asking only for someone to find out who did it and expose them.
That's right. This bounty required no fighting. The Celestial Dragons only wanted the person and the ship found; they would handle the rest. A deal this good came once in a blue moon. Not just the bounty hunters, but even the pirates on the island had mobilized, searching the vicinity of Fish-Man Island. Some of CP0's top agents were even recalled on an emergency basis, ready to be dispatched the moment someone found a trace of Bellamy's crew, to destroy them with thunderous fury.
Not long after the Bellamy Pirates had settled on the reef island, an urgent call came in. Their temporary informant, Lao G, called to report the situation. It seemed that in just a few short days, this astonishing bounty had spread throughout the entire underworld.
At this time, the modification of the Redwood Treasure Ship had just begun. Franky's main task was to convert the ship's power source to run on cola. Other minor modifications were being handled by Ross. The ship's original power source burned a special fuel that looked a lot like gasoline. This was a fuel Bellamy obviously couldn't buy. Switching to cola as fuel was a move born of necessity.
As for the source of the cola, that involved a piece of black technology: seawater conversion. Franky, using some unknown technique, could actually convert seawater into cola. Don't ask how he did it; who the hell knows. It was pure black magic. The one thing the sea would never run out of was seawater. With an endless supply of cola, the ship's power problem was easily solved.
As for the sails, Bellamy kept them all. Hybrid power, even on his home planet, was a very advanced field of research. How to use wind power to accelerate a mechanically powered ship was a high-tech domain. Although for now, it was just a matter of adding a few sails to the ship, it could still provide a significant boost to their speed, even if it was more troublesome to operate.
"Looks like we might run into a few small fries soon."
Bellamy had long since experienced the greed of bounty hunters. This time, the Celestial Dragons' bounty didn't even require them to fight, only to find the culprits. It would be a miracle if this pack of greedy hyenas didn't go crazy. One could imagine that in the next few days, Fish-Man Island would be swarming with people who had found their way there by various means. It was very likely that Bellamy's crew's tracks had already been discovered. Even Bellamy's own identity might have been exposed.