Capone 'Gang' Bege. User of the Castle-Castle Fruit. His ability allowed him to store countless things—weapons, soldiers, even himself—within his own body, which effectively functioned as a pocket dimension. Anything entering Bege's internal 'castle' space shrank significantly, returning to its normal size only upon exiting his range. This resulted in a bizarre and unique fighting style. For Capone Bege, as long as he had enough men and munitions stored inside him, he felt confident enough to challenge even one of the Four Emperors. Whether he could actually win such a fight was, of course, another question entirely.
Bellamy's brutal rampage through the sea area had sent countless pirates fleeing in terror. And this chaos? It suited Capone Bege just fine. Opening the 'gates' to his internal castle dimension, he began actively 'recruiting'—absorbing the fleeing pirates into his own forces. Countless desperate pirates scrambled into the offered refuge within his body, dramatically increasing the firepower Bege could command from within his 'castle'.
How could Bellamy possibly fail to notice such a large-scale consolidation of forces? But upon seeing the pirates clustering around Bege, a different thought sparked in Bellamy's mind. "Everyone conveniently gathering in one place? Isn't that perfect for wiping them all out together?" Chasing down scattered small-fry pirates across the ocean was like using a cannon to shoot mosquitoes. A waste of time and energy. Now, someone was helpfully gathering them all in one spot for him. Bellamy almost felt like thanking the man.
And so, after noticing Bege's 'recruitment drive,' Bellamy adjusted his tactics. He accelerated his cleanup of the other sections of the battlefield but deliberately left the area around Bege untouched.
Human survival instinct is a powerful thing. With no communication or coordination, as Bellamy systematically cleared out other areas, the remaining desperate survivors instinctively began fleeing towards the one area Bellamy seemed to be avoiding: Capone Bege's position.
"Excellent." Bellamy watched from the air, taking in the entire unfolding scene. "Time for the final act." After dealing with this last major concentration of enemies, this whole bloody campaign could finally be considered over. If things proceeded smoothly with the Vinsmoke ransom, he'd get the King Punch technique, and then it would finally be time to leave the North Blue behind.
"The Castle-Castle Fruit..." The ability had a certain flavor reminiscent of the 'pocket dimension' or 'grotto-heaven' concepts from the cultivation stories of his past life. An ability involving spatial manipulation... used correctly, it could be terrifyingly powerful. Such a waste. Watching Bege conjure a massive castle gateway out of thin air, swallowing up refugees into his body, Bellamy couldn't help but sigh internally. It was a pity this gangster boss only seemed capable of using the fruit as a glorified mobile fortress. Such incredible potential, wasted on him. He thought of other potentially reality-bending spatial fruits, like the Door-Door Fruit or the Mirror-Mirror Fruit. Amazing abilities, but often limited by the users' shallow understanding of their true potential.
"Well then," Bellamy thought, focusing back on Bege, "Let's see what else you can do besides unleashing a barrage of gunfire."
Capone Bege, for his part, had sensed early on that Bellamy was deliberately 'herding' survivors towards him. Bellamy's movements had been too obvious, showing no intent to conceal his strategy. Eventually, even an idiot would have realized something was amiss. "Hyena Bellamy... just as brutally cunning as the rumors claimed," Bege had concluded. "He intends to wipe us all out in one go. Cocky bastard, looking down on us."
But Bege didn't feel discouraged or angered by this realization. Instead, he felt a thrill of excitement. Since setting sail, Bege had discovered the seas were filled with exactly these kinds of lawless, powerful, unpredictable brutes. And that was precisely what made the Grand Line so captivating! "If only those weak-kneed cowards back on land had even a fraction of this Hyena's audacity," Bege mused.
Bege knew his Castle-Castle Fruit abilities weren't perfectly suited for naval combat. Transforming into his full 'Big Father' castle form required stable, spacious ground. While confined to a ship at sea, Bege was actually at his most vulnerable. Even now, just manifesting the castle entrance passageway took up almost the entire deck space of his current vessel. If land-based power struggles hadn't become so utterly dull—with the so-called 'mafia families' proving more pathetic than the last—Bege might never have chosen the pirate's life.
This standoff, with survivors flocking to Bege, continued for some time until the number of remaining vessels outside Bege's protection reached a critical low point. Then, Bellamy finally turned and began flying slowly towards Capone Bege's position.
"Everyone inside, prepare yourselves! He's coming!" Bege relayed the warning to the men within his castle-body. By now, over two thousand pirates and mercenaries had crammed themselves inside Bege's internal castle dimension. Two thousand armed men. It sounded impressive. And indeed, while their individual skill levels might vary, two thousand pirates and mercenaries, concentrated together, represented enough force to potentially overwhelm a small kingdom. However, Bege's internal castle wasn't normally equipped with heavy artillery sufficient for thousands of men. He hadn't anticipated needing to shelter such a massive force, so most of the men inside were armed only with standard firearms—rifles, pistols, maybe a few machine guns.
Seeing Bellamy approaching steadily through the air, even Bege, a man accustomed to violence and death, felt a knot of tension tighten in his gut. "Will small arms fire alone be enough to take down this monster?" Bege's own combat strength relied heavily on the firepower he could deploy from within his castle body, and the defensive capabilities of the fruit itself. His personal physical abilities were rather unremarkable; in pure taijutsu, he likely couldn't even match a standard Marine elite trooper. But if he could deploy his full castle transformation, his "Big Father" form... then Bege was confident Bellamy would be no match for him. But that required solid ground.
Bellamy, hovering nearby, pulled out a compressed ration bar and took a hard bite, grimacing. He'd prepared supplies, but lacked water. Chewing the dry, hard biscuit felt like gnawing on rock. The sky was slowly darkening; the battle had raged from morning till dusk. By pacing himself, fighting and recovering intermittently, Bellamy's physical stamina was still holding up reasonably well. However, maintaining Observation Haki for such an extended period had left him mentally drained.
"Almost done," he thought, scanning the remaining ships clustered around Bege. "Everyone who deserved to die today is likely dead already. And those who managed to survive... have conveniently gathered themselves in one place." Time to end this.
A thin layer of Armament Haki coated the surface of his fists—just enough. Bellamy's hands coiled back, morphing into tight spring shapes. Under Capone Bege's wary gaze, Bellamy's figure suddenly vanished, reappearing instantly directly above Bege's ship. A torrent of fist shadows rained down like a hurricane.
"Armament: Spring Gatling!"
It was a move inspired by Luffy's Gum-Gum Gatling—a furious, seemingly random barrage, relying purely on Devil Fruit mechanics rather than refined technique. Coil, compress, release—unleashing the stored elastic energy within his arms in a continuous, overwhelming storm of punches. And most terrifyingly, each fist in that blinding barrage was coated in a thin layer of Armament Haki. A Logia user like Smoker, caught directly by this attack, would likely be pulverized into oblivion on the spot.
Bege, however, likely didn't fully grasp the devastating implications of Armament Haki combined with such speed and volume. He probably thought Bellamy was just trying to match his internal firepower. And competing with firepower? Bege feared no one!
"Castle Fortress: Full Barrage!" Bege roared. Thrusting his hand skywards, Bege unleashed the combined firepower of the thousands of men stationed within his castle dimension. Countless minuscule projectiles—bullets, cannonballs shrunk by his power—erupted from his body, streaking towards Bellamy. The moment they left the immediate range of his ability, the projectiles instantly expanded back to their original, deadly sizes. Bellamy noted with surprise that despite the drastic size change upon exiting Bege's field, the projectiles' velocity seemed largely unaffected.
At such close range, the two opposing barrages met in a cataclysmic explosion of force. But the moment Bellamy's Haki-coated fists met the incoming bullets and cannonballs, the difference was clear. His fists, harder than steel, punched through the ordnance effortlessly, batting aside or shattering everything in their path without resistance.
Caught completely unprepared for his own barrage to be nullified so easily, Capone Bege took the full brunt of Bellamy's Spring Gatling directly. Bege's expensive suit jacket disintegrated instantly into ash. Dozens upon dozens of Haki-infused fists hammered into his torso in the blink of an eye. "ARGH!!" The agony of shattering bones and torn muscle forced a choked roar of pain from Bege's lips.
"Is that all?" Bellamy commented, a hint of disappointment in his voice. The opponent's apparent fragility was anticlimactic. Couldn't even withstand the first proper assault? What a waste of a potentially powerful Devil Fruit.
"Don't... underestimate me!" Capone Bege, reeling under the relentless assault, suddenly roared in defiance, enduring the incredible pain. Even after taking such a brutal, direct hit, he still had the strength to resist? Bellamy felt a flicker of genuine surprise, mixed with a dawning interest.
"Heh. Alright then! Try this one on for size!" Before the words faded, Bellamy's body flushed crimson again as he pushed his First Gear state even further. An enemy who could actually take a punch? Now this was getting satisfying! Pushing First Gear to its absolute limit, scorching heat radiated from Bellamy, seeming to warp the very air around him.
"Armament: Spring Bazooka Barrage!" A storm of punches, several times more powerful and faster than the last, rained down like covering the sky and earth.
"Are you kidding me?! That was just a warm-up?!" Capone Bege spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes blazing red with fury and desperation. "Screw this! If I don't transform now, he'll beat me to death!" He roared, "Castle Transformation: Big Father!"
In an instant, a colossal stone fortress materialized seemingly out of nowhere, centered around Bege's body. Bellamy's relentless barrage hammered against the massive stone walls, but now only managed to chip away fragments and create shallow craters.
The instant Bege completed his transformation into the giant castle, the warship beneath them groaned under the immense weight and began sinking rapidly. The full "Big Father" castle form was easily over eighty meters tall and weighed hundreds of tons. A large, sturdy cargo ship might have supported such weight. But Bege's current vessel, though a warship, wasn't designed for such a load, especially not after sustaining battle damage. He couldn't maneuver effectively here.
"Damn it!" Bege realized. "Fighting like this, my ship's going under!" And if he fell into the sea in this state, he was finished. Unlike Bellamy, he couldn't just fly away.
"Bellamy! You really want to continue this?!" Bege roared from within his stone fortress. In his full Castle form, Capone Bege's defensive power was indeed frighteningly high.
Bellamy paused his assault, rubbing his knuckles which now throbbed slightly from impacting the enchanted stone. He regarded the massive structure with renewed curiosity. "How much power," he wondered with a predatory grin, "would it take... to blast this thing wide open?"