New World - The Sea of Fire.
A boundless expanse of flames burned fiercely upon the sea. What a breathtaking scene. Seeing such a wondrous sight for the first time with his own eyes, even Bellamy felt his horizons broaden.
"This world is constantly challenging my understanding of reality. Is there a massive active volcano beneath this Sea of Fire?"
Besides a volcano, the only other things Bellamy could think of were leaking natural gas and oil. With a large enough quantity, burning oil and gas could indeed set a stretch of sea ablaze. Such incidents occasionally happened on his home planet. But compared to the endless sea of fire before him, the area ignited by an underwater oil field would be the size of a fingernail. Bellamy simply couldn't imagine what could cause such a vast expanse of sea to burn.
The most absurd part was that he had just seen a completely red fish leap out of the fiery sea. There were living creatures beneath this burning ocean, and they seemed to have formed their own ecosystem. This meant that the Sea of Fire had existed for at least hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of years. The nearby creatures had already adapted to this ultra-high-temperature environment.
"That fish... looks like it would be delicious."
Why was his first thought food? Bellamy himself wasn't quite sure. Nevertheless, he followed his gut, took a trip out onto the Sea of Fire, and forcibly caught a few large, crimson fish.
"Mia, extra dish for lunch."
"Got it, Captain."
The chef herself was extremely interested in this miraculous ingredient. If she hadn't come to the New World, she might have gone her whole life without knowing such creatures existed in the sea. At this thought, she felt incredibly lucky. She had boarded Bellamy's pirate ship in a daze, enduring countless hardships along the way, and now, she was finally seeing the rewards. For a chef, what could be more exciting than discovering a new ingredient?
Mia carried the two unfamiliar fish and skipped into the kitchen. Muret, however, looked on with some concern. "Captain, is this thing really edible?" The fish had sharp teeth, a fiery red body, and looked extremely ferocious. It didn't look like something you could eat.
"What's there to be afraid of? We'll have the clone eat it first."
"If the clone is fine after eating it, then we'll eat."
The internal organs of the clones were identical to humans, making them perfect for testing for poison.
"Oh, I see. Then it's fine." The ship's doctor was relieved.
"Captain, are we stopping here to wait for someone?"
Bellamy hadn't yet told them about the alliance with the Heart Pirates. Law was still on his way; he had plenty of time to discuss the matter with his crew. As for the plan to attack Dressrosa, the objectives he had set for his own crew were relatively simple. This was, without a doubt, favoritism, but as the captain, he had to favor his own people. What else was he supposed to do? Favor a stranger he had only met once? Bellamy wasn't an idiot; he would never do something so foolish.
"We'll have a meeting after lunch to discuss how to attack Dressrosa."
Although he already had a plan in mind, he still wanted to hear his crew's thoughts. Brainstorming was always a good idea.
The moment he heard "attack Dressrosa," Drake couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. After waiting for so long, his revenge could finally begin!
"The captain didn't go back on his word!"
After entering the Grand Line, Bellamy had taken them to the Boin Archipelago and stayed there for a whole year. To be honest, Drake had been slightly dissatisfied. He had thought that the moment the captain declared war, they would immediately head for the New World. He never expected to wait for a full year. Now, Bellamy was finally making his move. How could Drake not be excited?
Today's lunch was a simple roasted meat, with a large basin of a potato-like vegetable. The two extra fish were ultimately found to contain a strong fire toxin that would cause some harm to the body if consumed. Bellamy insisted on taking a bite and ended up with a large blister in his mouth. But the taste was truly excellent, a unique delicacy he had never tried before.
After lunch, the entire Bellamy Pirates crew remained in the dining room for an important meeting. The topic: how to attack Dressrosa.
Dressrosa was a major kingdom in the New World, nominally under Kaido's rule. Doflamingo was currently serving as its king, with his four card-suit executives as ministers, completely controlling the country. The army of the original royal family, the Riku Kingdom, and anyone who opposed the Donquixote Family had all been turned into toys.
With the fall of the Riku family, the surrounding countries had plunged into the turmoil of war. By selling arms, auctioning Devil Fruits, and exploiting slaves, the Donquixote Family had made a fortune from the conflict, making the entire kingdom of Dressrosa very wealthy.
King Riku had been a reasonably benevolent ruler, but under Doflamingo's rule, the people of Dressrosa were actually living better than before. Yes, reality was just that messed up. The underworld business brought in money so quickly that Doflamingo had no interest in exploiting the common people. The new ruling class, the Donquixote Family, was extremely rich and spent money like water, which greatly stimulated the country's economic development. So, Dressrosa was now much more prosperous than before. Trying to overthrow the Donquixote Family through a popular uprising was almost impossible.
The plan Bellamy had formulated was a direct assault. Find Doflamingo's location and kill him in a single, decisive blow, giving him no chance to react. To be more specific, he wouldn't even let him activate his Birdcage.
Doflamingo was an absolute genius when it came to developing his Devil Fruit abilities. A single Birdcage could easily slice an entire island to pieces. Even an Admiral-level fighter like Fujitora couldn't cut through its strings right away. When Bellamy attacked Dressrosa, the first threat he had to consider was the Birdcage. If they were trapped inside, who knew what kind of accidents might happen.
Therefore, preventing Doflamingo from having the chance to release the Birdcage became a crucial point. After careful consideration, he had already come up with a relatively complete plan. After listening to some suggestions from his crew, Bellamy made a few more modifications. Now, all they had to do was wait for Law's submarine to arrive, and they could set out for Dressrosa immediately.