"Captain, there's a new discovery I need to report," Muret said, approaching Bellamy. With his help, their work on the potions had sped up slightly.
It was the twentieth day of their hunting expedition near the Calm Belt. Muret handed him a thick report.
Bellamy's brow furrowed the moment he took it. Far too thick.
"Just give me the summary. What did you find?" He casually tossed the report onto a nearby table, opting to trust the professional's judgment. Definitely not because he was too lazy to read it.
Muret couldn't help sighing internally. If she'd known he wouldn't read it, she wouldn't have bothered staying up all night writing the damn thing. "Regarding the potion component you urgently need—the one to help induce the state of internal awareness—I've identified it."
"Already?" Bellamy raised an eyebrow. It had only been a few days. Without proper control experiments, finding the specific active ingredient should have been difficult.
"Yes, because a few of the potential herbs were rather unique." Muret explained. "Take this one, for example." She produced a strange-looking herb she'd prepared earlier. "This is Hundred-Eye Grass."
Hundred-Eye Grass was indeed creepy-looking; its leaves were densely covered in patterns resembling eyeballs. "In ancient times, this plant was apparently used to aid mystics or shamans in achieving states of 'mystical vision'," Muret elaborated. "There are a few others with similar purported effects, but they didn't seem very potent. The Hundred-Eye Grass seems to be the key."
Handing the bizarre herb to Bellamy, Muret continued, "Right now, we only have the few stalks Mia gathered during our last trip to Bird Dropping Island."
Bellamy suddenly recalled Mia stuffing bags with all sorts of random plants back on Bird Dropping Island. He hadn't thought any of it would actually prove useful. He grasped her implication immediately. "So, to brew the finished potion I need, we require a lot more Hundred-Eye Grass?"
"Yes." Muret nodded. "I tried consuming a small piece directly." She indicated a nibbled edge on one of the leaves. "There was a definite effect, but it wasn't very strong. We'll definitely need to process it, concentrate it into a proper potion or pill. And after extracting the active compounds, it would be best to conduct thorough safety tests."
Since Bellamy himself would be consuming the final product, Muret felt extreme caution was warranted. That incident where the captain drank the Life Flower Elixir and coughed up... something alive... had thoroughly spooked her. Something like that happening once was terrifying enough; as the ship's doctor, she had absolutely no desire for a repeat performance.
"I see." Their supplies were running low anyway, and Bellamy had been planning their return voyage. He'd originally intended to resupply in Lvneel Kingdom, but it seemed his plans needed adjustment. "Alright then. We'll make another trip to Bird Dropping Island. This time, we'll gather as much of this grass as we can find."
As for the Revolutionary Army situation in Lvneel Kingdom... Playing the good Samaritan was fine if it was convenient, but the Hundred-Eye Grass was directly related to his power progression. Bellamy wouldn't derail his own growth for a side quest like that. Priorities.
"Pass the word. Prepare to weigh anchor," Bellamy ordered. "Our destination is Bird Dropping Island."
Muret voiced no objection to his decision; she understood the priorities as well. "Yes, Captain."
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Leaving Drake to guard the Sea Shark, Bellamy led the others ashore on Bird Dropping Island once more.
On their second visit, the island's rather unique inhabitants immediately 'welcomed' them with a generous offering of local 'produce'. Just as they stepped onto the shore, a massive flock of birds wheeled overhead. A torrential downpour of countless bird droppings rained down, covering everything. The faces of Bellamy's crew turned slightly green. Did the welcome really need to be this enthusiastic? They'd only just arrived!
Bellamy casually thrust out a palm, sending a wave of force—a basic 'Air Rend'—upwards to deflect the deluge directly above them. Just as he did, his left eyelid twitched involuntarily.
Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling? he thought. Was something unpleasant about to happen?
"Stay alert," he ordered aloud. His intuition was sounding an alarm, and Bellamy wasn't one to ignore such warnings. At the captain's command, everyone's expressions turned serious. Their primary goal was collecting herbs; combat wasn't on the agenda. Not that they'd shy away from a fight if one found them, of course.
Proceeding cautiously, Bellamy's group gradually made their way deep into the island's forest.
"It should be around here," Mia said, scooping up a handful of earth and sniffing it. "The soil's damper in this area. Hundred-Eye Grass prefers moist soil, so there should be some nearby. Let's spread out a bit to cover more ground."
Sticking together as one large group was inefficient for foraging. But given his earlier premonition, Bellamy felt uneasy about splitting up too much.
"Alright. Pair up, groups of two. And don't wander too far from each other," he instructed. He paired up with Muret, while Mia went with Ross. The two groups began searching the vicinity for the target herb.
Meanwhile, on another part of Bird Dropping Island, perched atop a high cliff overlooking a channel, a large, round man wearing a bib-like garment was scratching his head furiously.
"Doriki: 3000?!" he exclaimed under his breath. "Am I seeing things?"
Sentomaru and his unit had spotted the pirates the moment they landed, but he'd initially dismissed them as just another run-of-the-mill crew. That is, until the blond pirate had casually swatted the air, and the experimental 'Doriki Scope' had suddenly displayed a flashing number: 3000!
Sentomaru had nearly leaped three feet in the air. 3000 Doriki! What the hell did that even mean?! He clenched his fists, then aimed the cutting-edge piece of 'black technology'—freshly developed by the Marine Science Unit—at himself. Doriki: 800. The pirate's reading was more than three times his own.
Since when did the North Blue have powerhouses like this? Until he had more intel, Sentomaru knew he couldn't afford to act rashly. They were on Bird Dropping Island for an important mission this time. Dr. Vegapunk wanted a certain bizarre ancient book retrieved, and the Marine Science Unit considered it a high priority, dispatching an entire specialized team for the task. Sentomaru was the captain of that team.
"Oi! Have you reached the Intel division yet?" he barked at his subordinates.
"Sir! Trying now, sir!" came the flustered reply. They'd come loaded for bear, equipped with weapons, not prepared for sudden intelligence gathering. The abrupt need to contact Intel had caught the soldiers flat-footed.
"Well, move faster!" Sentomaru grumbled, dropping prone again and raising the scope to observe Bellamy's group. Just then, the dark-haired woman walking beside the blond pirate suddenly lashed out with a Finger Pistol, instantly killing a venomous snake slithering nearby.
Sentomaru's eye twitched again as the scope displayed her reading: Doriki: 600.
"What is going ON?!" What kind of pirate crew was this? Even a random crewmate was that strong? According to the Marine Science Unit's own metrics, anyone exceeding 500 Doriki was classified as superhuman! This ordinary-looking woman had casually executed a Six Powers technique registering 600 Doriki. And the blond man was even more absurd—a casual palm strike registering 3000 Doriki!
Sentomaru swallowed hard, sweat beading on his brow. "I... I am the most tight-lipped man in the world," he muttered, mostly to himself. "I am not scared. Not one bit."
Hearing their captain's 'inner' thoughts spoken aloud, his subordinates collectively panicked.
"He's saying it out loud again!" "What do we do?! The Captain's scared!" "Just who the heck are these pirates?!"
Sentomaru, still prone, seemed oblivious to his subordinates' hushed freak-out, his gaze fixed intently on Bellamy's group below. Whether this guy was ultimately reliable or completely unreliable... was anyone's guess.