After capturing Vander Decken IX, Bellamy's crew left Fish-Man Island without a second thought and headed for the nearby Sea Forest. The Sea Forest was located not far from Fish-Man Island, an underwater forest composed of dense seaweed. In a corner of this forest lay a Poneglyph.
Bellamy's purpose for this trip was, of course, to make a rubbing of it. No matter which Poneglyph it was, the contents held immense value. Since it was on their way, Bellamy certainly wouldn't miss it. The Sea Forest was large, but it could eventually be searched. After wasting a little time and effort, Bellamy easily made a copy of the Poneglyph.
This particular Poneglyph was the one whose location was most clearly known to Bellamy and the easiest to find. There was another one on Skypiea, which could also be obtained with a little effort. However, the Poneglyph on Skypiea recorded the location of Poseidon, which was a bit of a letdown. It wasn't necessary to make a special trip for it. Bellamy had already interrogated Vander Decken IX and extracted a great deal of information related to Poseidon, including various speculations about her birth and other important details. The information recorded on the Skypiea Poneglyph might not even be as detailed as the legacy passed down through the Vander Decken family.
The Poneglyph in the Sea Forest was said to contain "Joy Boy's Letter of Apology." What was written in the letter, no one knew. Bellamy guessed it was most likely related to the destruction of the Great Kingdom. In any case, it was almost certainly very important content, the kind that would cause a massive uproar in the world if it were ever revealed. The fact that the World Government was willing to launch a Buster Call to destroy Ohara showed just how much they feared the contents of these Poneglyphs.
After obtaining the Poneglyph, there was nothing left near Fish-Man Island to keep Bellamy there. The Redwood Treasure Ship went full throttle, speeding ahead. At this moment, the Red Line was directly above them. Once they passed through the area covered by this continent, they would officially enter the second half of the Grand Line, the New World.
Entering the New World was entering a pirate's paradise. Here, the influence of the Marines was infinitely compressed. Apart from a few frontline fortresses, the Marines had no power here. The Four Emperors were the absolute rulers of the New World; pirates were its true masters.
The Marines had always tried to expand their influence in the New World, but their overall forces were too spread out. The Four Blues alone diverted a large amount of their energy and troops. The first half of the Grand Line constantly produced Supernovas, causing endless headaches for the Marines. And in recent years, a madman like Bellamy had emerged, acting without any restraint, causing chaos wherever he went, and greatly disrupting the Marines' layout in the New World.
Currently, the Marine forces deployed at the New World fortresses consisted of only one Vice Admiral in command, assisted by two Rear Admirals, along with a large number of heavy cannons, snipers, and super-large-yield explosives. Such a setup was more than enough to deal with ordinary pirates. After all, Mary Geoise was right behind them. If these fortresses really couldn't hold, they could request support at any time.
With the current strength of the Bellamy Pirates, they no longer needed to pay any mind to these Marine frontline units. So what if they sailed right past their fortresses? A single branch Vice Admiral no longer posed a significant threat to them.
After sailing underwater for nearly ten hours, they finally passed through the dark, continent-covered area. A faint light began to appear on the sea's surface ahead.
"Captain, should we begin to surface?" Drake lowered his binoculars and asked for Bellamy's opinion.
"Let's surface. The New World is waving to us."
The Redwood Treasure Ship was not a simple sailboat; it had a hybrid power source of wind and machinery. Underwater, the sails provided no power; they were currently being propelled by the simply modified mechanical engine. In the engine room below deck, Franky, wearing a pair of goggles, was constantly moving around a roaring machine. This machine was the ship's most important power source. If it failed, the entire ship would sink to the bottom of the sea. Bellamy took this extremely seriously and had dispatched Franky to stand guard here 24/7.
Upon entering the New World, their most urgent task was to immediately find a small island and give this ship a proper overhaul.
The sea chart of the New World was actually much simpler than that of the first half of the Grand Line. The seven routes in the first half made the chart extremely complex. The New World was much simpler: a large, single sea with numerous islands scattered throughout. But there was one thing that made the New World different from anywhere else: ninety-five percent of the islands in the New World were, in name, under the rule of the Four Emperors. This included Dressrosa, which had been usurped by Doflamingo; in name, it was still under Kaido's territory.
Only the starting area of the New World, the small sea closest to Mary Geoise, was not within the Four Emperors' sphere of influence. The Marine frontline fortresses were all deployed here. Even so, Fish-Man Island, located ten thousand meters below the sea, had not escaped the rule of the Four Emperors. The flag currently flying above Fish-Man Island was that of Whitebeard.
The power of the Four Emperors was so great that if they could unite, they would be able to completely crush the Marines. But the possibility of that was almost zero. Whitebeard wasn't interested in anything; all he wanted was a family at sea. Big Mom was the same; her dream of building Totto Land was more important to her than anything else. Shanks was the pirate emperor who was least like a pirate; his actions were bizarre in every sense, making it impossible to figure out what he really wanted.
Only Kaido was ambitious, constantly wanting to rule the world. But the Beasts Pirates alone couldn't even defeat the Marines, let alone challenge the World Government. So Kaido had been trying to collect the four Road Poneglyphs, wanting to reach Laugh Tale and find the power to overturn the world.
The moment the Bellamy Pirates entered the New World, it meant they would inevitably cross paths with the Four Emperors. This was absolutely unavoidable. And Bellamy's main goal in coming to the New World was to invade Dressrosa, defeat Doflamingo, and seize the user of the Heal-Heal Fruit.
Their conflict with Kaido was inevitable. But Bellamy didn't care much anyway. Toppling the Four Emperors was a goal he had set for himself long ago. And he had been working desperately towards it, never slacking off.