Travel thousands of miles to give Charlotte Brûlée plastic surgery? Bellamy wasn't that bored. Let alone two billion, he wouldn't be moved even if she offered fifty billion Berries. This operation was a scam from the very beginning. Bellamy's true target was Charlotte Brûlée herself—the user of the Mirror-Mirror Fruit. His plan was to kidnap her from Totto Land.
It was impossible to do something like this without making a sound. Totto Land was not his territory; just getting in would require a lot of effort. So, Bellamy came up with a plan: use the pretense of cosmetic surgery to trick Brûlée into meeting him on Nuts Island. Nuts Island was located at the westernmost edge of Totto Land, the closest island to Kaido's territory. Choosing to meet there was also in preparation for his escape later. Bellamy had no intention of starting a direct war with an Emperor yet. If it weren't for his plan, he wouldn't be entering Totto Land at this time.
By the time he reached Totto Land, it would be around the year 1519 in the Sea Circle Calendar. In the original story, the Summit War began in July of 1520. Ace was captured by Blackbeard around June of 1520. This meant that from Ace's capture to the start of the Summit War, the Marines had less than a month to prepare. No, that's not right. The moment the World Government learned of Ace's true identity, the Summit War was likely already being prepared in secret. Both Whitebeard and Portgas D. Ace were figures the Five Elders wanted to eliminate.
"By my calculations, Blackbeard should be defecting soon," Bellamy mused. After his defection, Blackbeard would recruit four members: Laffitte, Doc Q, Jesus Burgess, and Van Augur, and form the Blackbeard Pirates. He would capture Ace about half a year after that.
However, due to Bellamy's influence, some of the key timelines in this world had already changed dramatically. Now, even Bellamy couldn't be sure if these events would still happen. But he had a feeling that if he waited patiently, whether it was Blackbeard or some other beard, the World Government would find a way to capture Ace. CP0 was filled with experts, and their intelligence network spanned the entire world. If they wanted something done, as long as they were willing to pay the price, even an Emperor could suffer a major loss. The hidden power of the World Government was far more terrifying than anyone imagined. They had given a ridiculously overpowered fruit like the Door-Door Fruit to a member of CP9. There was no way CP0 lacked various cheat-level Devil Fruit abilities.
"Captain, today's paper." A knock came from the door, and Ross walked in with a new newspaper.
"Mm, just leave it there," Bellamy said. "Oh, and tell Drake to get ready. We're setting sail."
"Yes, Captain."
"Go on. And have Franky come see me in a bit."
"Yes, Captain."
It would take a month to reach Nuts Island. During that time, Bellamy still had a lot of work to do. He picked up today's newspaper. The headline was his own name.
SHOCKING! Mad Dog Bellamy Kills Doflamingo!Warlord Position Vacant!Will Bellamy Succeed Doflamingo and Become the New Warlord?
The news was from half a month ago, but it was only now making the papers. It wasn't that the World Economic Journal was slow, but that Morgans was deliberately doing Bellamy a favor. Morgans knew Bellamy was working on some secret plan with the Golden Lion. The later this news got out, the better, as it would save him a lot of trouble. Although the major powers had their own information channels and would get the news soon enough even without the paper, a favor that cost nothing was still worth giving. It might come in handy someday.
Bellamy recognized this as a gesture of goodwill from Morgans and exhaled a puff of smoke noncommittally. "Those who play both sides never have a good end." The world's number one intelligence broker clearly didn't understand this point. Bellamy was not optimistic about his future.
He continued reading the paper and, in a small corner, saw news about the Straw Hat kid.
Straw Hat Luffy Defeats Buggy the Clown, Declares He's Entering the Grand Line.
The article was accompanied by a blurry black-and-white photo. In it were the figures of Zoro, Nami, and Sanji. However, Bellamy didn't see Usopp, and the first two members who had joined the Straw Hat Pirates were also gone. Not only that, but Luffy had a few new scars on his face. It seemed he had been through a lot.
Bellamy studied the photo carefully and read the few-hundred-word article over and over again. "Straw Hat kid entered the Grand Line more than a year early. Will those events still happen?" Alabasta, Skypiea, Water 7, Enies Lobby, Fish-Man Island... He felt as if some mysterious force was manipulating the fate of this world. If he was a year early, but these events still occurred, it would mean that it was all being manipulated by someone, not happening naturally!
"Does something like a Destiny Fruit really exist?" The only powers Bellamy knew of that could touch upon fate were Hawkins' Straw-Straw Fruit and Urouge's Karma-Karma Fruit. But neither of these could directly influence destiny. If a Destiny Fruit truly existed, the mere thought of it was enough to make one tremble. This was destiny they were talking about!
Bellamy had once suspected that his own transmigration might be related to a Devil Fruit user in this world. The Destiny Fruit was his prime suspect. "Perhaps I'll get the answer when I meet Luffy again." With enough information, Bellamy could often draw his own conclusions. For example, Luffy's future route. Having set sail more than a year early, the people and events Luffy encountered along the way should have changed dramatically. And yet, he still ended up meeting Zoro, Nami, and Sanji. Although there were some changes along the way, the end result didn't seem to have altered much.
"Will Usopp join the crew?" Bellamy was very curious. When Luffy entered the Grand Line, would Usopp be on his ship?
"Hey, Morgans?" he said into the Den Den Mushi. "Help me find someone. I want all recent intelligence on him."
"Usopp from Syrup Village in the East Blue? Alright, I understand."
"Keep an eye on him. Let me know the moment he makes a move."
"In that case, the intelligence fee will have to increase."
"Morgans."
"Yes."
"Money is an insignificant thing to me," Bellamy said, his tone sharp. "I don't want to hear such foolish talk again."
In this period, Bellamy had bought at least five hundred million Berries' worth of intelligence from the World Economic Journal. A client of his scale was beyond what could be described as a VIP.
"Understood, understood," Morgans quickly said with a placating laugh. "Your Excellency Bellamy, rest assured, I guarantee I will deliver the intelligence to you at the fastest possible speed." As the uncrowned king of the underworld, Morgans couldn't remember the last time he had been so humble. But Bellamy's spending was truly on another level. He would casually buy tens of millions' worth of intelligence at a time, and he was incredibly prompt with his payments. In all their time working together, Bellamy had never been late with a fee. If a couple of placating laughs could secure such a major client, Morgans wished he had a few more.