Chapter 88

*BOOM* *BOOM* *BOOM* The booming noises repeatedly resounded beneath Prominence, which was flying at a blinding speed.

"...What sorcery is this?" Robin voiced her surprise as she held onto the rail, gazing at the vast sea that they were bypassing with ease.

"Heh, our teamwork makes dream work." Rowan grinned in response to Robin's exclaim, before asking to Carina, "How much longer?"

"We've been travelling at a constant speed for around ten hours by now. At this rate, I suspect that we need to endure another ten." Carina replied as she held out her right hand, feeling the pressure of the wind. "Turn left by fifteen degrees!!"

"Got it!!" Dan's voice was heard from beneath, in the anchor room, as he and Cavendish carefully turned the secondary steering wheel stationed in there.

On the other hand, Carmen was seen to be relaxing on the nearby chair, with her left hand extended to fuel the engine with her flame.

Alfred was stationed next to her, thoroughly checking if any issues, in regard to the functions of Prominence, arose. After all, he was the one who was mostly responsible for adding and modifying various features onto the ship.

With baffled Robin standing on the deck, not knowing what she should do to help the crew, Prominence continued to blast off like a rocket, in the northward direction.

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[Mock Town, Jaya]

*SLAM* A table broke, as one young-looking man with short blond hair slammed his fist onto it.

"You can't be serious!!" The man shouted in anger with the veins popping out on his forehead. In his hands, there was a newspaper that indicated Crocodile and Onigumo's defeat in Alabasta. "Someone with the title of Warlord like Doflamingo, lost against a rookie?!!"

"Calm down, Bellamy." Another man with long cyan-coloured hair, Sarquiss, stated while chugging down a beer. "How can Crocodile compare to Doflamingo in any way?"

"Tch," Bellamy clicked his tongue with a deep frown on his face. Flipping the newspaper in his hand, he was met with Rowan's newest bounty poster, which indicated his 850 million Beli bounty. Gritting his teeth, Bellamy snarled in a cold sweat, "Just how can the marines assign a bounty as high as this?! It's over twice the size of Doflamingo's before it was frozen!!"

"Jararara, I wonder why?" Suddenly, another voice was heard near Bellamy and Sarquiss, causing them to turn their heads to the source. In front of them, Mad Treasure was seen to be casually sitting down on a chair with one leg crossed on top of another. "Last time I remembered, Grimheart was a weakling who let himself get caught by the marines. Jarara, quite a growth if I were to say!"

"Huh?" Bellamy raised his eyebrow as he stood up from his chair and walked up to Mad Treasure with irritation, "And who are you?!"

"B-Bellamy!" One of Bellamy's crewmates shouted fearfully, "That man is Mad Treasure, wanted for 85 million Beli!!"

"W-what?!" Bellamy turned with a shock on his face, "85 million you say?!"

Bellamy initially believed that in Mock Town, he was the strongest, seeing how there was no one who held a bounty higher than him—up until now.

With the shadow of Bellamy's huge body looming over Mad Treasure, the latter expressed his displeasure with a frown, as he took off the sunglasses on his face and stood up, towering over Bellamy with his superior height.

"Bellamy, hmm," Mad Treasure stared at Bellamy ferociously, "never heard of you."

"85 million..." Bellamy slowly backed away from Mad Treasure, with wariness written on his face, "That's the highest amount I've ever come across, apart from the Donquixote family."

Unamused, Mad Treasure lifted up the glass mug he was holding, and shattered it on top of Bellamy's head.

Bellamy stood frozen as the beer drenched his head and dripped down onto his face, with a mix of shock and fury.

"B-Bellamy." Sarquiss seemed startled with his jaw dropped and eyes widened.

"F***." Bellamy clenched his fists in anger, as he lifted up his face and met Mad Treasure's glare with his own, "So what if you are 85 million? I'm the bearer of Doflamingo's jolly roger. If I stand down, this symbol will be tainted!"

Realizing that a fight was about to begin, many fled from the bar, leaving only Mad Treasure, Bellamy, and his crew on the scene.

Sarquiss grimaced as he unsheathed his big knife, and the other members also took out their respective weapons, ready to come to Bellamy's aid.

Meanwhile, on the outside of the bar, one huge man, Baten, was seen to be sitting on the rooftop, uninterested in what was going on around him.

"So this is Mock Town." Baten remarked, "In proximity to the Maple island and Alabasta."

*BOOOOM* Suddenly, the bar exploded into pieces and the clouds of dust rose, earning Baten's attention.

Bellamy was flown out of the bar and crashed into another building nearby.

"Ugh..." Bellamy groaned and wobbly stood up from the spot, with his eyes cautiously staring at the clouds of dust.

*Boom* In the next moment, Mad Treasure was seen to have jumped high up in the sky with a wild grin on his face. As he locked his gaze onto Bellamy, who was staring at Mad Treasure with a mix of fright and helplessness, his fist cocked back, ready to strike Bellamy.

"Jararara, I think I found my new favourite punching bag." Mad Treasure exclaimed as he began to drop towards Bellamy.

Bellamy grimaced before turning his legs into springs, before blasting himself away from Mad Treasure.

*BOOOM* Mad Treasure's fist crashed onto the spot Bellamy was previously standing on, causing the area of impact to crack.

*Boing* *Boing* *Boing* At a rapid speed, Bellamy began to bounce all over the buildings of Jaya. As the bounce continued, he gained enough momentum to make it seem as if he disappeared, although Mad Treasure, who stared at such a sight in annoyance, could see Bellamy just fine.

*Boing* With the final bounce on the wall, Bellamy propelled himself to Mad Treasure at a great speed.

"Spring Hopper!!!" With a determined gleam in his eyes, Bellamy threw his punch towards Mad Treasure, who gazed right back at him without any hint of panic.

Mad Treasure snorted at Bellamy's fist approaching him, before he held out his right hand, "Jarara, Chain Hammer!!"The chains grew from Mad Treasure's arm and wrapped around it, encasing his entire right arm and hand with chains.

"B-Bellamy..." Away from the site, Sarquiss gulped as he witnessed Mad Treasure's brutality, wondering for the first time if Bellamy can win.

*BOOM* Bellamy and Mad Treasure's fists collided with one another. And to Sarquiss's surprise, Bellamy was instantly blasted back without any resistance.

*BOOOM* Bellamy crashed into another building yet again, except that when the dust cleared, he was seen to be unconscious.

"Bellamy!!!" The other crew members of Bellamy cried out in shock.

Staring at the fallen Bellamy with amusement, Mad Treasure turned his head to Sarquiss and the other members of Bellamy's crew. Watching how Mad Treasure shifted his attention to them, they couldn't help but freeze in their spots.

"Psycho P, Naomi," Mad Treasure spoke up, "finish them."

Immediately after Mad Treasure's command, three arrows were immediately shot from some distance away, impaling three members of Bellamy's crew.

"What-" Sarquiss's eyes widened as he shakily lifted up his big knife in fright, but before he even realized, he found himself slashed by a short man wearing a pink jacket, and powerlessly fell on the ground with a thud.

"Jararara, as always, you two are quite useful as tools." Mad Treasure stared at his crew members' massacre with a grin, "No one gets away alive after mocking me-"

"Mad Treasure." A sudden calm voice intruded Mad Treasure's words, causing the latter to frown once more. Turning his head up, he was met with a sight of a huge man, Baten, staring at him impassively.

"And you are?" Mad Treasure growled in a displeased tone.

"Almost four years ago, you clashed against Grimheart. Managed to outsmart him, and placed him in a grievous position." Ignoring Mad Treasure's question, Baten continued in a cold tone, "And now, you are here—the place I may be suspecting for Grimheart's arrival. Is this a mere coincidence?"

"Jararara," Mad Treasure cracked his neck and glared at Baten, "Grimheart here, Grimheart there, talk about being obsessed. I frankly don't care what you think of him, but leave me out of your fanboying."

"If you aren't willing to speak," Baten slowly stood up from the rooftop, "force is the only available option."

The atmosphere became very intense, with two formidable individuals about to clash against one another. However, before either of them could begin,

"Zehahahaha!! Quite a scene here, is it not?" A boisterous laugh was heard from the side, causing both Mad Treasure and Baten to turn to the source of the voice in a frown.

There stood a man around the height of around 3.5 meters. He had long woolly black-coloured hair, a small scruffy black-coloured beard, a large mouth with missing teeth, and a round body shape with a sizeable belly.

Around the man, three men, each with unique appearances, were sighted. One was holding a sniper, another had a champion's belt strapped on his waist, and the last was riding on a sickly-looking horse with abnormally large size.

"You..." Baten's eyes sharpened as he muttered in a cold sweat, 'Who is this man? I've never seen or heard of him, and yet, his Haki...'

"Jarara, what a weird day," On the other hand, Mad Treasure spoke out casually and slammed his fists together, "so many to kill."

"Captain." A man with sniper, Van Augur, said in a monotone, "they are Baten and Mad Treasure. Wanted for 95 million and 85 million."

"Come on, so close to 100 million!!" The man in the center, Blackbeard, clenched his fist and complained, " Hmm... maybe catching two of them at once will work as well?"

"Perhaps." Van Augur nodded without any hint of emotion on his face.

Watching how the situation turned, Psycho P and Naomi positioned themselves next to Mad Treasure in caution.

Baten slightly lowered his posture, ready to strike at any moment.

As three forces were gathered in the middle, all the other pirates and lawless residents fled from the scene without any hesitation.

"Jarara, better make this quick." Mad Treasure stated as the chains began to rise around him, "I got a treasure to hunt."

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"*Cough* *Cough*" The dry coughs were heard from Urouge, who abruptly opened his eyes. He felt pain all over his body, and as he weakly raised his head up, he found bandages wrapped all over his body.

"Grandma, he's awake." A young boy, Mob, said in a monotone, earning the attention from the old woman, who was busy looking at the renewed bounty posters.

Upon hearing Mob, the old woman immediately placed the bounty posters aside and brought a glass of water to Urouge, who greedily gulped it in.

"Thank... you." Slightly nodding his head, Urouge grinned and expressed his gratitude in a hoarse voice, "Where am I?"

"Karakuri island." The old woman replied as she pushed Urouge down, who was struggling to sit up. "Stay down. Your body suffered a great amount of damage; it's a miracle that you made it alive."

"My... my crew. I have to go see them." Urouge said weakly, with his eyes half-lidded in exhaustion.

"Sorry to break this to you, but," The old woman looked at Urouge with a grim visage, "they are gone."

"Gone...?" Urouge muttered weakly, and for the first time, his grin faltered.

The old woman sighed and continued, "Baten. Remember him? Unlike you, your crew members were unable to handle his strength."

Urouge's eyes lost a bright gleam, and his mouth parted slightly, unable to comprehend what he just heard. Eventually, he slowly lied back down without any resistance.

"Dead." Urouge whispered, "Kehta, Kamazo, Drown, everyone."

Urouge closed his eyes as the tears began to fall from them. Lifting his arms up with difficulty, Urouge pressed his palms together and silently sent his condolences to his dead crew members as calmly as possible.

"Grandma, what is he-" Mob asked in curiosity, but was stopped by the old woman, who placed her hand on top of his mouth.

"Thank you, for sailing together with me. I hope that all of you pass on without any regret." Urouge spoke quietly, "And I promise you. This man named Baten—he will face the retribution."

Letting his hands drop back to the sides, Urouge opened his red eyes and turned to the old woman.

"Where is Rowan—Grimheart pirates? I need to find them, right now."