"See you on the seas, Bellamy!" The straw-hatted kid stood on the shore, waving his arms frantically at Bellamy and his crew. Bellamy stood by the railing, watching Luffy's figure, lost in a daze.
"Captain, what are you thinking?" Drake was somewhat curious about Bellamy's attitude towards this boy.
"Nothing much." Bellamy was just wondering if Luffy would become an obstacle to him in the future. Their personalities were somewhat conflicting. "Don't get in my way, Straw Hat brat." So what if he was the heaven-ordained protagonist? There was no one in this world he wouldn't dare to kill.
"Let's go. Our destination this time is Shimotsuki Village." After Shimotsuki Village, they should be heading into the Grand Line. Some matters, it was also time to deal with them.
In the evening, after dinner, Bellamy called his ship's doctor into his room.
"Muret, when I recruited you, I made it very clear: I will find a way to solve your brother's illness." Bellamy had indeed already thought of a solution, but the process would be extremely difficult. It was time to make some things clear to her; the dangers of the Grand Line were not comparable to those in the Four Blues.
"If you're only going to sea for your brother's illness, then there's really no need." To be honest, it was just some physical weakness; with proper care, living for a few decades wouldn't be a problem. For an ordinary person, what more could one ask for? Muret had originally been just an ordinary doctor; if she hadn't followed Bellamy, she might never have gone to sea in her entire life. If it was only for this reason, she truly didn't need to follow Bellamy into the Grand Line.
"Captain…" Muret actually understood her own problem. When the Bellamy Pirates were still training on the island, she was already finding it hard to keep up. Since setting sail, they had encountered several life-threatening dangers one after another. Muret herself didn't know how she had survived in such an environment. And given Bellamy's usual style of doing things, one could imagine that the path ahead would inevitably be even more perilous. Without a firm conviction to support her, it would be impossible for her to survive in such a pirate crew.
"You must clearly understand why you are going to sea."
"If you can't even do that, perhaps I'll have to find a new ship's doctor." Bellamy put it very plainly; it was better to have her leave the ship early than to watch her die tragically.
"I understand." Muret lowered her head, not daring to look at the captain. Though the words were said, a conviction strong enough to support a person all the way was not so easily found.
Bellamy waited patiently for a long time, but Muret just kept her head down, remaining silent. He shook his head in disappointment. "Forget it. You can go back."
"Think it over carefully yourself."
After the ship's doctor left, Bellamy's brow immediately furrowed tightly. "Troublesome." His original intention wasn't to replace her; a loyal subordinate wasn't so easy to find. Whitebeard had raised a "son" his whole life, only to be stabbed in the back in the end. Muret had a clean background and was prone to acting on emotion, making her a very useful subordinate. It was just that her strength was a bit lacking, and her personality a bit too soft.
"Should I get her a Devil Fruit?" Bellamy thought it over and over, and this was the only solution he could come up with in the end. If strength was insufficient, he could only make up for it with external power-ups. If he got her a Logia-type Devil Fruit, Muret wouldn't die so easily even if she wanted to. However, Logia types were too rare, almost impossible to obtain. Zoan types were much simpler; at large auctions, Zoan-type Devil Fruits were often the most common. Zoan types were good; their abilities were simple and crude, providing an astonishing physique without much development.
"Might as well get a Zoan type for everyone else too." It seemed this was truly the only way his companions could survive in the Grand Line. Bellamy was definitely going to enter the New World; merely knowing a few of the Six Powers made one just a common soldier in the New World.
Not only that, but the Summit War was only a little over two years away; he absolutely wouldn't miss this world-shaking battle. Without mastery of two types of Haki and proficiency in the Six Powers, Bellamy wouldn't dare take them out there. He actually really wanted to find some time for another major training camp. But the East Blue was clearly not a place to linger; once his whereabouts were discovered, the Marines would undoubtedly pursue him like mad dogs. The places Bellamy currently frequented were all very small villages in the East Blue. Including Shimotsuki Village, where they were about to go, these were all very inconspicuous places. As long as he didn't make too much of a scene, he wouldn't be easily recognized. Though, he wasn't particularly concerned about ordinary Marines anyway.
"Best to keep a low profile." He had just recently acquired Fish-Man Karate and hadn't had a chance to practice it properly yet; Bellamy rarely wanted to maintain a low profile like this.
Shimotsuki Village, East Blue. An inconspicuous little village. But those who knew its background might be very interested in this place. For example, Bellamy.
Shimotsuki Ryuma. The legendary dragon-slaying swordsman. Legend had it that no matter who his opponent was, he would cut them down in a single flash, a Great Swordsman who had never known defeat in his entire life. And this village was founded over 50 years ago by Shimotsuki Kozaburo. That's right, Kozaburo was Ryuma's direct descendant. This Shimotsuki Kozaburo was also a renowned master craftsman, having forged both "Wado Ichimonji" and "Enma." And his son, Shimotsuki Koushirou, was the current master of the Isshin Dojo, and Zoro's esteemed teacher.
Anyone interested in swordsmanship, upon learning the background of this village, would be unable to resist wanting to visit. Bellamy would be no exception. Furthermore, he was also very interested in Ryuo, the advanced Armament Haki technique passed down in Wano Country. If Shimotsuki Kozaburo were still alive, Bellamy would only need to offer some information to obtain this advanced Armament Haki technique. He just had to inform them that Ryuma's corpse was being desecrated by Moria, and the Shimotsuki family would surely be eternally grateful to Bellamy. Even in Wano Country, the Shimotsuki family was a renowned and prominent clan. Such great families had extremely strict codes of conduct. They valued the reputation of their family and ancestors above all else.
However, too much time had passed; Kozaburo was unlikely to have lived to be over a hundred years old. Bellamy could only try his luck with Koushirou.
"If I tell Shimotsuki Koushirou this news, how will he react?" This man named Koushirou seemed to be a hidden master. As a descendant of Ryuma, his swordsmanship couldn't possibly be poor.
"Feels like something very interesting is about to happen." Shimotsuki Village wasn't even in sight yet, but Bellamy was already looking forward to it.