The next morning, Bellamy woke up bright and early.
This dojo wasn't small. It had a front courtyard, a backyard, and the main building was a two-story villa. In Neon Town, it could be considered a luxurious residence. The Hyena's ruthless seizure of this place wasn't solely due to his depraved hobbies. It was just that the result of doing so was to give him an extremely vile reputation in Neon Town.
The original Bellamy, being a small-time crook, naturally didn't care, and was even quite pleased with himself.
"That's why small-time crooks will always be small-time crooks."
What's the big deal about bullying the weak? If he had any guts, he'd go plunder the pirates in town. Then Bellamy would have some respect for him. With the Hyena's terrible reputation, recruiting good crewmates wouldn't be easy.
Before long, his underling Ross found him and handed him a list. Looking at the names on the list, and carefully recalling his memories of these people, Bellamy realized with a headache that those who wanted to follow him were, indeed, all small-time crooks.
Although he had anticipated this, the result still disappointed him greatly.
"I don't want any of these guys." Throwing the list back to Ross, Bellamy thought for a moment. "Go to our treasure stash and take out all the money."
This wouldn't do. It seemed he had to go to the black market to buy some information.
Pirates wouldn't carry all their money on them. A secret treasure stash, known only to a few, was essential. Bellamy didn't have much money left after his trip to the hospital yesterday.
"Boss, take out all the money?" Ross hesitated, looking at Bellamy, somewhat puzzled by his order. They had quite a bit of money stored there.
"Take it all out." He had big plans recently, and this money might not even be enough.
"Money's a big problem, too. If it's really not enough, I'll just exchange those pirates' heads for bounties."
A ruthless glint flashed in Bellamy's eyes. Nine and a half out of ten pirates were garbage, anyway.
"Yes, Boss." After last night's bloody purge, Ross had submitted to Bellamy's violent authority. Seeing the hint of admiration unintentionally revealed in his eyes, Bellamy knew this underling could be trusted, for now.
Ross, this small-time crook, was worth some effort to cultivate.
"I hope you can keep up with me." Bellamy knew very well that having just acquired the Spring-Spring Fruit, he was about to experience a surge in power. If his underlings couldn't keep up, the outcome would be tragic. In intense battles, he wouldn't have much energy to spare to take care of them. But he also couldn't stop his own progress to wait for them. This was, after all, the Great Pirate Era.
"Bel... Bellamy-san." Just then, a slightly timid voice came from behind him.
"Hm? Mani, what is it?" Bellamy's tone was very cold, but this tone made Mani feel uncomfortable. Because the original Hyena would never have spoken to her like that. An exaggerated, perverted, even slightly neurotic tone – that was the Hyena. The current Bellamy, no matter how she looked at him, felt very unfamiliar.
She felt that from last night onward, Bellamy-san had changed. Just when Bellamy said he would return the dojo, she felt that the Bellamy in front of her was no longer the despicable Hyena of the past.
Mani didn't know what changes had occurred in Bellamy, but she understood that it wasn't a bad thing. At least for her, it wouldn't be a bad thing.
"Bellamy-san, about yesterday, I'm very sorry." She apologized to Bellamy very sincerely, begging for his forgiveness.
What Mani didn't know was that her actions made Bellamy feel incredibly wistful.
"It's not her fault, so why is she apologizing?"
That was the tragedy of the weak.
Bellamy didn't forgive her, because he didn't think Mani had done anything wrong. The fact that she had thought of using such a method to retaliate, and had even carried it out, made Bellamy think more highly of her. So he didn't speak, just waved his hand for her to leave.
Mani thought Bellamy wouldn't forgive her, and her heart immediately panicked. "Bellamy-san, please wait a moment."
She hurried into the inner room, seemingly to get something.
The girl was the true inheritor of the dojo; she was far more familiar with this place than Bellamy. And Bellamy had a guess as to what she was going to get.
"How naive." In the end, she was just an underage child.
After a short while, Mani came out with a yellowed book. "Bellamy-san, please accept this."
Bellamy took the book with interest. "Body-Forging Fist... So this is the dojo's legacy?"
"Yes. Our dojo used to be famous in town. Later, we lost in a competition and lost our title."
"Grandpa always hoped someone could reclaim that title. He originally wanted you to do it." She sneaked a glance at Bellamy, her expression full of panic.
Clearly, she was lying.
"Later, Grandpa's old illness relapsed, and he passed away before he could pass on the fist technique."
Remembering her deceased grandfather, the girl's mood became somewhat downcast.
But in Bellamy's memory, the old dojo master had never shown the Hyena a good face. The old master had long seen through the Hyena's true nature, and when teaching him martial arts, he had held back a lot. In short, he was unwilling to teach him his true skills.
But now, Mani had brought out the dojo's legacy. Regardless of her intentions, this was undoubtedly a good thing for Bellamy.