"By the way, Law, I haven't asked you yet, what are you doing on this island?"
Around a bonfire, the group, who had been busy all day, sat together enjoying the food meticulously prepared by their cook.
Law hesitated for a moment, then revealed his objective. "I came here specifically for the Red Flame Pirates."
"Before heading to the Grand Line, I wanted to eliminate this pirate crew that has dominated the North Blue for so long."
He did not, however, reveal his true purpose.
"In that case, I should be thanking you, Captain Bellamy," Law said, about to stand up to express his gratitude.
Bellamy raised his hand, signaling him to sit. "Don't be so formal. Consider Red Flame Eggert's head as payment for my surgery."
"That makes us even."
"Now, is there anything else you need to do here?"
Drake had been gone for so long and still hadn't returned. Something must have happened inside the strait; Bellamy needed to go support the kid as soon as possible.
"Since Red Flame is dead, I'll be setting off for the Grand Line."
With that, Law stood up. "Captain Bellamy, I'll see you on the Grand Line."
After a simple farewell, the man turned and left without hesitation.
"We'll meet again. Soon."
As long as Law's ultimate goal was still Doflamingo, they would meet again very soon. Bellamy could easily guess why he had come, but there was no need to expose it just yet. Before learning Haki, Bellamy wouldn't confront Doflamingo directly.
"Alright, we've wasted enough time. That kid Drake must be getting impatient."
"Let's go. Let's see what's going on at the Red Flame Pirates' base."
Bellamy's guess was correct. Drake had run into trouble.
Initially, Drake hadn't taken the Red Flame Pirates seriously, either. Upon entering the cave, he'd rampaged through it, smashing all the pirates blocking his path into pieces with his dragon claws.
Just when he thought the mission would be a piece of cake, a sharp alarm suddenly blared from deep within the base, and the pirates began a coordinated retreat.
As he wondered what was going on, a group of strange humans, all wearing identical black suits and sunglasses, and all looking exactly alike, rushed out from the inner part of the base.
As someone from the North Blue, Drake instantly recognized them. This was the signature soldier unit of the Germa Kingdom: the clone army, Germa 66.
He hadn't expected the Red Flame Pirates to have dealings with Germa. This was a huge surprise.
The two sides clashed, and Drake quickly assessed their strength. They were a bit stronger than the pirates, but not by much. However, the clone army was never known for its individual power.
No emotions, no sense of pain, absolute obedience to orders. That was what made Germa 66 so terrifying.
Once surrounded by these clones, who had no concept of death, Drake was immediately locked in a fierce battle. The Germa army formed a large battle formation, trapping him in the center. Meanwhile, the Red Flame Pirates' vice-captain, boatswain, and numerous grunts fired relentlessly from behind with various firearms.
For a moment, Drake found himself completely pinned down. He'd never anticipated encountering such a crisis.
If this weren't a cave, he could have used Moonwalk to break through the encirclement. But although the cave had been dug out quite large, it was still just a cave.
After several failed attempts to break through, Drake made a decisive move and transformed. The physical strength of his Allosaurus Zoan form was even greater than Bellamy's current state.
Ignoring the bullets constantly fired from afar, Drake charged into the clone army and began a slaughter.
The Red Flame Pirates hadn't expected the attacking enemy to be so powerful. Seeing that even Germa 66 couldn't stop the formidable foe, the Red Flame Pirates' vice-captain quickly gave the order to retreat.
The cave's interior was a labyrinth of branching paths. Even if Drake was incredibly powerful, it would take him a while to kill them all. These pirates intended to wait for the battle outside to conclude before figuring out how to deal with this major threat.
They waited, and they did indeed witness the end of the battle. But what they awaited wasn't reinforcements, but an even more ferocious enemy.
"Shave."
Ross and Mia swiftly charged into the various tunnels, beginning to exterminate the remaining pirates.
Bellamy, meanwhile, arrived at the central area of the base and stared thoughtfully at the bodies strewn across the floor. The clone army's appearance was incredibly distinct; not only did they all wear the same clothes, they all looked exactly alike.
Like Drake, Bellamy instantly recognized the identity of Germa 66.
"The Germa Kingdom is also involved in this trade network?"
This Red Flame pirate crew was truly something else. He could imagine that after stirring up this hornet's nest, a massive storm would inevitably sweep through the North Blue.
But what did that have to do with him?
Bellamy wasn't worried about his situation in the slightest. The vast ocean was a place where even following a sea chart could lead to getting lost. Finding him in the middle of the ocean was no different from trying to find a needle in a haystack.
As long as he didn't want to be found, neither Germa nor Doflamingo could do anything about him.
"Where did that kid Drake run off to?"
After entering the base, Bellamy hadn't seen him. The base was somewhat complex, and running around randomly could lead to getting lost, so he simply waited in the main hall.
Chardin, who was following him, was extremely anxious but didn't know what to do. The current situation was a bit complicated; until the Red Flame Pirates were completely cleared out, no one knew what might happen.
After a long time, Bellamy's group finally finished eliminating all the pirates within the base. The slaves and Chardin's father were rescued.
The Red Flame Pirates' flagship, a medium-sized five-masted sailing ship, was docked in the drydock, waiting for him to take possession of it. There were also vast treasures, a massive amount of weaponry, various contraband items that were explicitly forbidden from being sold, and so on.
To Bellamy's pleasant surprise, Drake had also found the clone cultivation chamber and managed to secure ten unopened clones. The clone army produced by the Germa Kingdom was a rare and valuable asset. Bellamy had always been troubled by the lack of manpower in his pirate crew, and these clones were the perfect supplement.
As for the Red Flame Pirates' flagship, he planned to keep it for himself. This medium-sized sailing ship really couldn't be operated without these clones.
This annihilation of the Red Flame Pirates had been incredibly fruitful for the Bellamy Pirates. As long as they could successfully absorb these gains, Bellamy's group's strength would undoubtedly see a significant increase.
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