Chapter 128: Familiar

"Captain, your eyes are glowing blue!"

Having absorbed too much spiritual energy at once, the uncontrollable, excess power burst forth from Bellamy's eyes.

"I know." Bellamy took a deep breath and slowly retracted his extended Observation Haki. As all the power returned to his body, he felt the world before him change. The flow of air, the falling dust motes, the ripples of magnetic fields, the emotions of living beings… everything became incredibly clear. It seemed as if the world held no more secrets from him.

But Bellamy knew this was merely an illusion – the kind produced by leveling up too quickly, by leaping across too many tiers at once. He absolutely could not trust this feeling. In this world, human beings alone, even if evolved to their peak, could never truly see everything.

After calming himself for a moment, Bellamy turned and gave orders to his crew. "Get a cloth and make a rubbing of the inscription outside." "Make it clear. The value of these characters might be far beyond your imagination." Behind the Poneglyph might lie a secret capable of overturning the current world order. But it was only a possibility; aside from the Roger Pirates, no one knew the true extent of its value. In any case, taking a copy back would definitely not be a mistake.

After making the rubbing of the Poneglyph, the cavern seemed to hold no further value for Bellamy. Just as he was thinking of returning, a thought suddenly leaped into his mind.

"What exactly are these roots?" Those strange roots entwined around the stone platform all emerged from deep underground. Even now, Bellamy hadn't figured out what this stuff was. Since his Observation Haki could perceive their existence, he might as well try probing deeper underground.

Bellamy activated his Observation Haki and began exploring downwards. One thousand meters. Two thousand meters. Three thousand meters.

He probed three thousand meters straight down, and his Observation Haki was nearing its perceptual limit, yet Bellamy still hadn't found the base of these roots. In other words, these seemingly thin, small, root-like tentacles were at least three thousand meters long.

"Something's wrong!" This was too strange. Where did the insignificant Lvneel Kingdom get something like this?

Bellamy suddenly thought of a very interesting question: did the World Government know about everything happening here? He believed the Marines were likely unaware. Otherwise, given the tempers of Sengoku and Garp, this country's leadership would have been wiped out long ago. So, what about the World Government itself?

With this doubt in mind, Bellamy continued probing downwards for a while longer but still couldn't find the roots' origin. His Observation Haki had reached its limit; he had no choice but to give up.

"The World Government, a World Government member nation…" "It shouldn't be what I'm thinking." If it was, then Bellamy truly had to say on behalf of the common people of this world: being born in such an era was truly unfortunate.

"Let's go. We're done exploring here."

Next, they needed to acquire some money, then a large ship, gather plenty of supplies, rest for a bit, and then change course for the East Blue. A whole heap of tasks awaited Bellamy.

"I'll go rob the inner city." "Drake, you head to the port district and commandeer a good ship." "The rest of you, go buy supplies at the black market together. Be careful, don't screw up."

Bellamy wasn't particularly inclined to pay for things bought at the black market. However, preparing supplies took time; relying on robbery wouldn't get them the specific goods they needed. Since that was the case…

"When we leave, let's just slaughter the entire black market on our way out."

Bellamy navigated his way to the royal palace of the Lvneel Kingdom with practiced ease. It was his second time here, and it felt like nothing had changed. Just like last time, the exterior looked magnificent, while the interior held an undisguisable stench of decay. He was mainly here to steal money this time, so he had no interest in wandering around.

Bellamy moved through the palace, casually killing dozens of guards along the way, and quickly looted a large bag of gold and silver jewelry, probably worth several million Beli.

"Too slow." After looting for a while, he only had this much. At this rate, how long would it take? When it came to robbery, Bellamy admittedly wasn't a professional; after all, killing and arson were his strong suits. He needed to think of a faster method.

Soon, news that a pirate had broken into the royal palace spread throughout the inner city. After Bellamy's previous rampage, the inner city's defenses had been significantly strengthened. Before long, a large contingent of fully armed soldiers surrounded the palace.

His height and build had shrunk considerably, changing his entire appearance. Until now, no one knew that the intruder this time was still Bellamy.

When Bellamy found the king again within the palace, the man was actually putting on an angry facade, shouting about teaching him a lesson. Bellamy casually tossed the bag in his hand onto the ground. "You must be the new king." "Where do you hide your money?" This palace should have a treasury, but he hadn't found it after searching around.

"Pirate, don't be so arrogant! This is my royal palace!" This was the second time the king had encountered such an audacious pirate. Wait, why the second time? Thinking of the pirate from last time, a sense of foreboding suddenly crept into the king's heart.

Words clearly wouldn't solve the problem. Just as Bellamy was about to make a move, he suddenly felt something was off.

"Strange, why do I have a very familiar feeling?" His Observation Haki had long since detected the assassin hidden in the shadows. But why did this assassin feel so familiar? Also, this king, although appearing younger than the previous one, gave him a sense of familiarity in both tone and demeanor. His perception wouldn't be wrong about something like this.

Bellamy flashed beside the king, grabbed his head, and lifted him into the air. "What's your name? I remember last time it was something-something the Third?"

"Guards! Guards, save me!" This fat pig didn't answer Bellamy's question at all; captured by the enemy in the blink of an eye, he was about to wet himself from fear.

Such a familiar pig-like squeal. Now Bellamy was even more certain of his judgment. Appearances could be similar, mannerisms could be imitated, but one's fundamental nature wasn't so easily changed.

The assassin hiding in the shadows wanted to act several times. But her intuition screamed warnings at her: the moment she moved, she would die instantly. Her rich combat experience told the assassin this wasn't just a feeling. The enemy had already detected her presence and predicted all her actions.

"This pirate looks so much like Bellamy… could he be Bellamy's son?" The Bellamy from last time was already terrifying enough. Now a smaller version had arrived, and he was even stronger than before. Was the Lvneel Kingdom cursed?