"Hey, hey, hey, could you be a little gentler?" This doctor's technique was... indescribable.
Thankfully, it was the last stitch. After taking some painkillers, the pain from his injuries finally eased considerably. Bellamy slowly got up and walked over to the female doctor, examining her closely.
"Hey, you're Muret, right?"
"Join my crew."
The extremely sudden invitation startled the doctor. "What are you talking about?"
Bellamy was definitely going to sea, and a reliable ship's doctor was essential for that. Thinking of this, a gleam flashed in his eyes. He vaguely remembered that the doctor of the Bellamy Pirates in the original story was also named Muret. Could it be the same person?
If it was, inviting Muret to join his crew should be easy. "Come with me. I'm setting sail, and I need a doctor on board."
Unfortunately, his guess was wrong. Muret had a terrible impression of him and had absolutely no intention of joining his crew. The Hyena had done some truly awful things in this town, and the doctor had heard plenty of bad things about him.
Did Bellamy think he could recruit her with just a few words? He was dreaming.
"I'm sorry, but my little brother is only six years old. I have no desire to go to sea." The red-haired doctor's expression became somewhat tense. "If you need a ship's doctor, maybe you should look elsewhere."
Although she was terrified of the Hyena causing trouble, there was no way she could agree to something like this.
"Because of your brother?" Hearing the reason for her refusal, Bellamy thought seriously. It seemed he had heard that Muret had a sickly younger brother, and she had learned medicine in hopes of curing him.
Thinking of this, Bellamy had a few vague ideas.
"I understand. If you ever need anything, you can find me at the town's dojo. I'm staying there."
Without any lingering attachment, he left.
The fact that the Hyena didn't get angry or press the issue further surprised Muret. Based on the town's rumors, this wasn't like him at all. She had even been prepared to call for help.
Muret's opinion of him shifted slightly. "This Hyena... he's not quite like the rumors say."
The failure to recruit a ship's doctor was a minor setback for Bellamy, but only a minor one. He'd already obtained what he wanted from their conversation. Once he got some crucial information, Muret wouldn't be able to escape his grasp.
"Next up is the cook. For now, anyone who can cook will do."
Ross's name flashed through his mind. If he didn't need an exceptional chef, this small-time crook would be sufficient.
"The smallest sailing ship needs at least a captain, a first mate, a navigator, a doctor, a cook, and two sailors."
The captain and first mate would take turns at the helm, the navigator would compare sea charts to determine the ship's position, and the roles of the doctor and cook were self-explanatory. The two sailors would handle miscellaneous tasks, clean the deck, and assist with docking and leaving port.
That meant a minimum of seven people.
If he was going to sea, he wanted to find capable and, ideally, trustworthy people. After all, a single voyage could take at least a week. If they went off course, drifting at sea for a month or more was not uncommon.
In such an environment, it was common for crew members to experience mental problems. Drifting at sea for extended periods could lead to mental breakdowns, delusions, and incoherent rambling – all extremely common occurrences. Therefore, choosing companions was something that had to be done with extreme caution. Bellamy didn't want to be stabbed to death in his sleep by his own crew.
"Well, I'll take it slow. I have time."
He felt it was still a while before Luffy set sail, so he could take his time planning the recruitment of his crew. There were more important matters to address first.
For instance, there was a rather troublesome issue waiting for him at his current residence – another mess left behind by the Hyena.
"That Hyena couldn't even do bad things properly. No wonder he was just a small-time crook his whole life."
But most pirates were like him. Greed, cruelty, viciousness, bullying the weak, and being neurotic – these were the defining traits of pirates.
"Solving this problem might yield some unexpected rewards."
As he thought, the dojo came into view. Looking at the sky, it was already late at night, but the dojo was still lit, indicating that the occupants hadn't gone to sleep yet.
Bellamy pushed open the door heavily, announcing his return. As expected, a young girl with pink hair hurried out a moment later. "Dinner's gotten cold. Should I heat it up again?"
The girl kept her head down, her small hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes, not daring to look at the Hyena's expression.
After a while, the expected storm didn't come. She peeked up cautiously, only to find that Bellamy wasn't even looking at her.
This dojo had once been the girl's home. Bellamy was one of the dojo's apprentices. One day, the elderly dojo master passed away, and the Hyena forcibly took over the place, leaving the girl behind and forcing her to do laundry and cook.
How utterly foolish. Anyone with a bit of sense wouldn't do something so stupid. Bellamy couldn't help but shake his head.
"Mani, I'm going to sea. After I leave, this dojo will be yours."
Although it was originally hers, things had already happened, and Bellamy wasn't going to dwell on it. If he returned it to her now, a young girl with no strength wouldn't be able to protect such a large piece of land.
"What?!"
Mani never expected this despicable Hyena to return the dojo to her. A sudden shock ran through her. "Did he find out about that?"
By the time she came back to her senses, Bellamy had already entered the room and was about to eat the food on the table.
"Uh..." Mani's expression became conflicted.
Unbeknownst to her, Bellamy hadn't swallowed the food in his mouth but was secretly observing her expression.
"Just as I thought."
He had seen what he wanted to see. Bellamy looked at the roasted meat in his hand, then at the conflicted girl, and suddenly felt like cursing.
Spitting out the food, Bellamy took a deep breath, but in the end, he didn't say anything. "Good, that's one hole filled in time."
There were still two more major messes left behind by the Hyena. Once his injuries healed in a few days, he'd find an opportunity to fill those remaining holes.
There were gains and losses. A Spring-Spring Fruit in exchange for a few minor troubles – it was a win any way you looked at it. Thinking of it this way, he suddenly felt much better.
"Mani, you don't need to cook for me anymore." After what had happened, Bellamy not beating her to death was truly merciful. Starting tomorrow, Ross's cooking skills needed to be honed quickly.
Seeing Bellamy's icy expression, Mani finally realized that her actions had been discovered. She lowered her head, her body trembling, awaiting her punishment. But after waiting for a long time, when she looked up again, she found that Bellamy had already left, leaving only a table of cold food sitting silently in place.
Back in his room, Bellamy lit a lamp and carefully reflected on everything that had happened today.
Back in the tavern, it was actually the first time he'd killed anyone in either of his lives.
"But, why didn't I feel any discomfort?"
Could it be that his true nature had always longed for chaos?
He had inexplicably transmigrated here. Logically, he should have missed the peaceful world of his previous life. But he didn't. Not even a little bit. In fact, there was a faint excitement in his heart.
In his previous life, even the strongest individual wasn't that much stronger than an ordinary person. An injury, a serious illness, a car accident – even the strongest could die in an unexpected event.
But this world was different!
The strongest in this world possessed the power to easily destroy an island. All power resided within oneself, not relying on external objects or others. With one's own strength, one could influence the course of the entire world and control the fate of countless people.
To be able to transmigrate to such a world was truly fortunate!
So, why would he miss his weak and powerless self from his previous life?
Wasn't this much better?
Bellamy extended his right hand and slowly clenched it into a fist. The immense power surging within him made it clear that he wasn't dreaming.
"This is... fantastic."
This unprecedented sense of security shattered the confusion in his heart. On his first night in this alternate world, Bellamy had found his purpose in life.
From now on, he only had one thing to do.
And that was to get stronger.
By any means necessary, get stronger!