(Mani POV)
"For crimes against humanity, peace and order, the world government has seen to issue the following bounties…blablabla…Eustass Kidd, not relevant…blablabla…that idiot strawhat…ah, there we are. Drumroll please!"
This is something of a tradition now, Mani having taken on the role of a moderator and presenter whenever their crew got a new bounty. It happened only five times so far, thrice for Bellamy and two times for Sarquiss but this time things were going to get juicy.
She waits until Hewitt and Ross have finished their little percussion routine before continuing. "First on the chopping block, for the inhumane crime of treating a patient of his dysarthria…which means the inability to articulate words properly for the uneducated among us…"
Mani ignores the good-natured jeering from Ross and Rivers. "…Ahem…a bounty of 35 million belli is placed upon the head of the Hewitt the 'Hooligan'!"
Cheers erupt as Hewitt stands up to give a bow to his adoring fans before being pelted in the face by a tomato, much everyone's amusement.
"Moving on, for daring to steal the hearts and lives of men alike, and boy you better be thankful to me later for this intro…"
"Get on with it!"
"Geez, no sense of showmanship, this lot. Anyway, for being too gorgeous for mortal man and daring to be a celestial beauty, a bounty of 50 million belli is offered for the 'Fallen Angel' Laki. Only alive!"
Catcalls and whistles as Laki awkwardly imitates Rivers by standing up and bowing. She hasn't quite grasped what it means to get a bounty around these parts, but Mani will be sure to enlighten her later.
"Third and definitely third on the rankings is Rivers!" Quickly ducking to dodge an overripe tomato Mani continues on unperturbed. "For the sheer arrogance to look down upon the marines from his new perch, a reward of 16 million belli will be rendered for the head of the 'Sentinel of the Sky'!"
"Hey, that's a cool epithet! Much better than hooligan."
"Oh, screw you, Ross!"
"Nah, you're not my type." Ross flippantly replies. If he had a longer haircut, Mani is certain that he would have flicked it for dramatic effect. As is, he deliberately looks the other way in a manner clearly signifying disgust.
The crew erupts into laughter as Hewitt flings himself at Ross and begins to wrestle him to the ground. It takes several minutes and Muret stepping in for order to be restored.
"Next up we have someone really special! A true femme fatale and the number one girl Sarquiss would love to needle! Pun very much intended."
"Oi!"
"What? It's true." Sarquiss goes red in the face, but she does notice that he hasn't denied it. As has the crew which leads to some needling of their own causing the first mate to go from red to crimson. Fitting for the following epithet. "On account of the blood of countless enemies staining her fists, 21 million belli for 'Crimson' Lily!"
"Congratulations Lily!"
"You go, girl!"
Lily just basks in her moment of fame, bringing Sarquiss into a headlock when he tries to kiss her. It's nothing serious as he doesn't even look fazed by it, due to just how loose the hold is. He's probably enjoying having his face buried in her thigh…the pervert. He's next.
"And her lesser half!"
"Fuck you, Mani!" Sarquiss shouts, freeing himself from Lily's hold, but she has her rebuttal ready.
"I'd rather not. We don't want Lily getting jealous!" When he throws up his hands in mock-frustration, she inwardly congratulates herself on a job well done. He looks much happier than he was earlier.
"You walked right into that one, Sarquiss!"
"For being an avant-garde vanguard for male fashion and attraction for explosions of all shapes and sizes, his bounty is being raised. 55 million belli for our first mate! Give it up for Big! Knife! Sarquiss!"
He looks like he smelled something burning when she mentioned explosions, but Sarquiss soon was smiling with the best of them, even managing to wrap Lily up in a hug to whirl her around. Of course, she protested, feebly raining blows down upon his shoulders.
"Let me go, you big goof!" she giggles though Sarquiss just whoops and continues to twirl her around the deck.
"Our next contestant is the polar opposite of our resident brawler. Innocent vs vulgar, cute vs sexy and amazing vs whatever Lily is." Mani really is getting a lot of haki training done today, dodging all the objects being tossed her way. "For being the awesome angel that she is, a 100 million belli bounty is posted for the marvelous Aisa! Alive!"
A series of "Oohs" and "Aahs" are let out as the Crew lets that sink in. Only Laki and the captain are frowning, but they do clap along as well. Mani does understand their worries, but this was going to happen sooner or later. There isn't much they can do about the bounty, but they certainly can do a lot to prepare for the eventual bounty hunters. For now, its best to just enjoy it and keep morale up, she thinks.
"And this is the moment you've all been waiting for! The greatest of the new generation! The future of piracy! Conqueror of the sky and…"
"Laying it on a little thick, aren't we?" Hmmm, maybe? She could tone it down a bit…just a little.
"…and the very incarnation of humility! I present to you the best captain I've ever had!"
"He's the only captain you've ever had!" the navigator hollers from the side.
"Hey, I'm going to remember that one Eddy!"
"Eeep! Hide me, Muret!"
"The conqueror of the sky, scourge of the seas and our very own captain! Bellamy the Hyena with a whole 85 Million belli!" Mani proclaims, spreading out her arms like her old town preacher, but much prettier.
The following applause is positively thunderous.
(Bellamy POV)
Considering how relatively low key I've been in my activities in comparison to others (looking at you Luffy), it's a decent raise, probably due to me using a former rear admiral as a punching bag.
Everybody knows that a bounty isn't an accurate reflection of one's strength, I mean look at Aisa, but it is a rough measure of how much of a threat the world government sees you as. Although in Aisa's case, I think it's more about her logia fruit & origin than how dangerous she is.
A much smaller part of me is terrified that dangerous people are going to start coming after me, but rationality tells that part to shove it. Very few bounty hunters will dare to attack one of Doffy's subordinate crews and the marines won't actively hunt me down, leaving only the other criminal organizations. But then again, they likely won't send their big guns after me yet, meaning that we have time, a lot of time to get stronger.
As long as I'm not stupid and rush to join the war at Marineford or stick around Sabaody when Luffy punches the celestial dragons. Wonder if that will happen in this timeline. I'm not going to let it go to waste. OG Bellamy learned two forms of haki in that time. I will master both.
One of my first acts after breakfast the next day was to visit Galley-La to take command of my new ship. And a what a ship she was.
"She is without doubt the fastest vessel ever built by Galley-La. I guarantee you, nothing will catch this lady if she does not want it." Iceburg boasts as he shows me around. "We have installed thirty of those jet dials into the stern and the rest along the mast and sails. A lack of wind will no longer be an issue for you."
So I can traverse the Calm Belt? Well, if I can deal with the giant sea monsters but if one discounts that minor inconvenience I should be able to visit Amazon Lily. Maybe if I bring her one of Luffy's things, Hancock won't turn me to stone? Perhaps she'll even teach me busoshoku haki if I offer to 'take out' one of her 'rivals' for Luffy's 'love' by seducing Robin.
"All the wood used in her construction comes from the treasure tree, exactly as ordered. You could fire a broadside from a warship into her and not leave a scratch."
"Even from those giant marine guns?"
"Uhm…you still probably won't sink." At least he's honest about it. But then again, I'm not planning on going head to head with the marines in a naval battle. My new ship has only a few guns and even if I had more, I don't have the crew to man them. Its much more reasonable to run away and fight another day.
"This ship has enough storage capacity to house two dozen people and more cargo than your old ship without greatly increasing the size. All thanks to effective space management. Thanks to how strong the wood is, we also managed to reduce the thickness of the inner walls and thus increase the amount of space. We used some of that space to install an indoor vegetable garden using some of those heat and light dials as well as a significant storage system for fresh water."
That sounds really useful. I do believe that the old ming treasure fleet had gardens on their ship to provide fresh produce to the admiralty. This will definitely help against scurvy, much like Nami's tangerine trees…how does she have enough water for those without water dials? The grandline weather is chaotic as well, which can't be good for those exposed trees. At least my garden is indoors with dials to standardize growing conditions.
"In accordance to your wishes, we also installed a modern gym with all relevant equipment, a working bath with heating and an attached facility to filter seawater. It's not quite good enough to drink but bathing should be fine without the salt damaging your skin."
"Sounds like the girls will love it."
"Very likely. And that more or less concludes our tour of the ship. Do you have any questions or final remarks?"
"No complaints. I love her already."
"I'm glad to hear it. What will you name her?"
"The Black Pearl."
Unfortunately, even by the time we left Water Seven, I had failed to hire a shipwright from Galley-La for my crew. Paulie did look interested at one point, clearly wishing to accompany his masterpiece on her journey, but decided against it in the end. I think a large part of it was the current state of the company. I did mention it before but Galley-La did lose two of their foremen, their secretary plus a number of workers during the whole Enies Lobbie debacle. Paulie likely couldn't bring himself to abandon them now.
The other shipwrights on the island also refused to leave, fully committed to making Iceburg's plans for a floating island a reality. In comparison to that, maintaining a mere pirate ship was nothing special.
Thankfully, they did agree to teach Ross the basics during our stay at Water Seven and gave him a book for further study. Motivation was very high on Ross' part too, so much that he has already memorized half of his new reading material. Sadly, he's not as good at the practical side of things as he is in the theoretical side of things, but it's a good start.
Additionally, my new ship is an order of magnitude tougher than the New Witch's Tongue which makes his job easier too. Speaking of my old galleon, Galley-La bought her off me for a decent price so that's all good.
Against my initial assumptions, our time at Water Seven and her surrounding islands had been much more productive than I had expected. A world class ship, a rokushiki instructor, Funkfreed and a power up for Sarquiss. Despite some hiccups, Lady Luck did smile upon me this time. I just hope she continues to do so.
"Where are we headed now, Eddy?"
"Hannabal, captain. The isle of Hannabal."
Author's note:
A bit of a shorter chapter today before moving on to the first movie plot. Things are going to become slightly AU from here on in, but I hope you'll all suspend your disbelief a little .
Anyways, the crew is buoyed by the new bounties and their new ship. Life is real good...really.
P.S. this chapter and the following one were a bitch to write.
P.P.S. please feed the author more comments.