With a long blast of its horn, the Redwood Treasure Ship began its new journey. This time, their destination was Nuts Island, the westernmost island of Totto Land.
In the captain's quarters, Drake sat at the helm, steering the ship. Bellamy held a sea chart, measuring the course. "If all goes well, we can reach Nuts Island in less than a month." He drew a straight line on the chart. According to his calculations, if they didn't encounter any storms or other natural disasters, they would reach Totto Land soon. But after that, he still needed to calculate an escape route.
Yesterday, Bellamy had already spoken with Franky. He needed a way to make the Redwood Treasure Ship sail faster, even if it meant sacrificing the ship's lifespan. As a top-tier shipwright, Franky naturally had many ways to increase a ship's speed, but Bellamy had only given him a month. It was impossible to make major modifications to the ship in that time. Franky's only option was to add a jet propulsion device to the stern. This would give their ship a significant speed boost for a short period. The downside was that the boost wouldn't last long.
Bellamy, however, was very satisfied with this plan. What he needed was to get out of Totto Land's territory as quickly as possible after capturing Brûlée. Following his instructions, Franky had already begun modifying the ship in the hold. In about half a month, a brand-new jet propulsion system would be installed.
"Purururu... Purururu..."
In the cockpit, a Den Den Mushi suddenly rang urgently. Bellamy looked at it and saw that the call was from Dressrosa. By my calculations, Kaido's men should have arrived by now. Dressrosa was Kaido's territory; with such a major incident, how could he not react?
"Hello, is this Your Excellency Bellamy?"
"It's me." It was, as expected, a call from Viola.
"The day before yesterday, Kaido's subordinate, Jack the Drought, arrived in Dressrosa," Viola said, recounting everything that had happened. "Also, I only just found out that Dressrosa has an underground port! As a user of the Glare-Glare Fruit and a princess of the Riku Royal Family, to only learn of this now..." Viola herself blushed a little. Using her ability, she had already scouted the entire underground port. She had even quietly explored Jack's mind. From this, Viola had obtained a top secret that could shake the world.
"Tell me everything," Bellamy said. He had some knowledge of this underground port, but he wasn't clear on the specifics.
Over the Den Den Mushi, Viola slowly explained everything she knew. After hearing the information, Bellamy was also incredibly shocked. It turned out that the weapons the World Government had been using to fight pirates for the past twenty years were purchased through Doflamingo's underground channels.
Ever since Kaido occupied Wano Country, he had turned it into a giant weapons factory. Wano had the world's largest Sea-Prism Stone mines and a large number of highly skilled craftsmen. Using these advantages, Kaido continuously produced countless weapons. But just producing them wasn't what he wanted; he also needed a channel to sell them. And so, he approached Doflamingo.
The reason the Donquixote Family had been able to so easily usurp the throne from the Riku Family was not only due to Kaido's will, but also because the World Government was pulling strings from behind the scenes. Kaido, Doflamingo, and the World Government—these three forces formed an enormous underground arms trade chain. The volume of transactions in this chain was so large that the World Government had even given up on producing its own weapons and was buying them directly instead.
Now, with Viola having taken over Dressrosa, it meant that she had suddenly appeared in the middle of this arms trade chain. This was an extremely dangerous situation for her. One wrong move, and she could be crushed by two superpowers. Viola was well aware of her current predicament; she had even considered fleeing the country. But her responsibility as a member of the royal family forced her to bear this heavy burden. If she ran, what would happen to the people of Dressrosa? She had called to tell Bellamy all of this in the hopes of gaining his protection.
Heracles, the bodyguard Bellamy had left with her, had protected her from countless dangers during this time. When Jack first arrived in Dressrosa, he had wanted to kill her. If Heracles hadn't managed to withstand several of Jack's attacks, Viola would have likely been reduced to a pile of mush.
"What's Jack's situation now? Has he stopped making moves?" Bellamy asked. Kaido must have sent Jack with a purpose to fulfill. He wouldn't just stop because of a few interruptions from Heracles. And in a real fight, Heracles was definitely no match for Jack. However, Heracles could fly, so he could leave whenever he wanted, and Jack might not be able to stop him.
"That brainless bastard Jack met with me once and then went straight into the underground port," Viola said with a bitter smile. "If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have even known such a place existed." To have only just discovered the underground port now, Viola felt she had failed her ability. But considering her previous circumstances, Bellamy could understand.
"Don't worry. Heracles will protect you," he reassured her. "If it comes to it, just have Heracles fly you away. Jack and his men won't be able to catch you." With Heracles around, Viola's life wasn't in immediate danger. But the big trouble that was Jack had to be dealt with, or Viola's rule would come to an end. Bellamy had no intention of letting his newly established intelligence organization be destroyed.
"Viola, how strong is Jack's killing intent toward you?" With her ability, Viola had surely peeked into Jack's heart.
"In Jack's eyes, I'm not even as significant as an ant," she replied. "He is, however, very interested in Heracles." If Heracles hadn't been there, she would have been in real trouble.
"I see." Bellamy suddenly had an idea. "I've got a plan. Put Heracles on the phone." Kaido had been collecting all sorts of Zoan-type Devil Fruit users. In the grand scheme of things, Heracles now also belonged to this category. In that case...
"Heracles, it's me."
"Captain, what are your orders?"
"The next time that Jack fellow comes, I want you to do this..." Bellamy gave Heracles a mission: pretend to submit to Kaido in exchange for Viola's rule over Dressrosa. Bellamy had no doubts about Heracles' loyalty. Heracles had grown up on an isolated island and had a relatively simple and straightforward personality. As long as Bellamy didn't betray him first, Heracles would never betray Bellamy.
"Viola," Bellamy said, "your next task is to make Jack believe you can manage this country. That shouldn't be too difficult for you." Viola could easily see Jack's thoughts. As long as she had an opportunity to speak, fooling him would be incredibly simple.
"That's easy, but what about the arms trade chain?"
"Take it over!" Bellamy's tone became heavy, though he wasn't shouting. "Viola, listen. If you want to continue ruling this country, you must handle this matter properly. Otherwise, neither Kaido nor the World Government will let you off the hook."
"But!" Once she touched something like this, there would be no getting out. Viola understood that once she was involved, she might never be able to escape.
"No buts," Bellamy said firmly. "Do as I say. This is your country. You are the Riku Royal Family."
His words made Viola feel deeply wronged. "I understand."
"It won't be for long. Just wait patiently," Bellamy said, leaving her with a cryptic remark before hanging up the phone.