Ever since Mia brought back that basket of peacock mantis shrimp, everyone had noticed a change in Bellamy. Something was… off.
How off, you ask?
Well, for starters, he'd started clutching a mantis shrimp during meals, muttering things under his breath. He'd stopped reading, abandoned his Six Powers training, and even cut back on his daily physical conditioning. But he always had a mantis shrimp in hand, and nobody could figure out what he was up to.
Naturally, the crew was worried sick.
Ross, in particular, had secretly contacted the town's old doctor, hoping to get Bellamy checked out.
As time went on, Bellamy's "condition" seemed to worsen. He stopped doing everything except cradling a mantis shrimp, acting like a man possessed. When anyone spoke to him, his answers were often completely unrelated to the question.
The most chilling part? Bellamy even slept with a mantis shrimp. It was as if the creature had stolen his soul.
He'd nearly bought out the entire supply of mantis shrimp at the Niyon Town fish market, driving prices sky-high.
Ross was now utterly convinced that the captain had gone mad, and he promptly fetched the doctor.
Muret was secretly fuming that Ross didn't trust her medical skills. She'd examined Bellamy thoroughly, and he was perfectly healthy! The old doctor's diagnosis matched hers: Bellamy was in peak physical condition.
The crew could only sigh in helpless frustration, their spirits sinking by the day. The Bellamy Pirates were facing the biggest crisis since their formation.
Drake, who secretly considered Bellamy his rival, was initially disappointed. But after thinking it over, he couldn't believe someone like Bellamy would just suddenly snap. If he were that fragile, would he even be Bellamy?
Drake chose to trust his gut, ignoring everyone else's worries and patiently waiting for Bellamy to "wake up."
The young man's intuition was spot-on. Bellamy hadn't gone mad; he was simply captivated by the mantis shrimp's incredible bicontinuous structure.
After dissecting hundreds of mantis shrimp and delving deep into their anatomy, Bellamy realized he'd severely underestimated these little "shrimp uncles." Before understanding this remarkable structure, he could never have imagined that a creature barely a dozen centimeters long could possess such a perfect body design. The wonders of nature were truly beyond human comprehension. How else could he have become so utterly engrossed?
Peacock mantis shrimp... no, Bellamy now preferred to call them "Oceanic Mecha Warriors."
This new name stemmed from a recent discovery. When a mantis shrimp strikes underwater, it creates a supercavitation bubble. The collapse of this bubble generates an incredibly powerful shockwave. Bellamy used various methods to measure it, and the results were astonishing: the light and force produced by the bubble's collapse were frighteningly powerful.
A tiny mantis shrimp strikes countless times throughout its life; it's how they hunt. With such terrifying instantaneous acceleration, how did their fists remain intact?
The answer lay in the mantis shrimp's body structure.
Why else would Bellamy be clutching a mantis shrimp even in his sleep? He was craving its body, naturally. Especially those massive chelae. He dreamt of perfectly adapting the mantis shrimp's claw structure to a human arm. To achieve this, he abandoned everything else and threw himself entirely into his research.
And, consequently, everyone thought he'd lost his mind.
Mantis shrimp, mantis shrimp, mantis shrimp... Bellamy's mind was completely consumed. He wished he could become a mantis shrimp and personally experience the supercavitation strike.
Three months. This state lasted a full three months.
Just as everyone was starting to get used to Bellamy's erratic behavior, a massive explosion suddenly rocked the dojo.
"What happened? What blew up?"
The crew, thinking they were under attack, quickly assembled. The sound seemed to have come from upstairs – Bellamy's room.
Everyone exchanged uneasy glances. The atmosphere turned strange.
A lot had happened in those three months.
First, Mia began to waver. She'd set out to sea to pursue her dreams, and she couldn't stay here indefinitely.
Then there was Muret. She needed to find a cure for her younger brother, but Bellamy's current state seemed even more severe than her brother's illness.
Finally, there was Ross. The small-time thug who had submitted to the Hyena's brute force was starting to feel lost and uncertain about his future.
Only Drake remained steadfast in his belief that Bellamy wouldn't fall so easily.
They hadn't left because the time they'd spent following their captain had instilled in them a deep respect. But that respect was now rapidly fading.
After a while, Mani, who was a little slow on the uptake, finally ran out of her room. Realizing what had happened, she immediately tried to rush upstairs to check on things. After all, the dojo was her home; she cared about it more than anyone.
"Be careful! We'll go up with you."
Drake grabbed the young girl, taking the lead.
Stepping upstairs, the first thing they saw was a pile of shattered wood. What caught their attention was that the wood was scorched, as if it had been blasted by a cannon. But how could there be a cannon in the dojo?
Just as everyone was utterly bewildered, Mani suddenly screamed, "Ah! My home!"
It was then that they noticed the gaping hole where Bellamy's room had been. Judging by the shape of the hole, something had clearly flown out of the room and caused a huge explosion.
Through the hole, they could see Bellamy sitting disheveled on his bed, muttering to himself.
At that moment, Drake's pupils contracted violently. As an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit user, his animal instincts were screaming danger. He didn't understand why, but he trusted his gut.
"Everyone, get down! Be careful!"
After shouting this inexplicable warning, Drake unhesitatingly dropped to the floor, instantly transforming into his Allosaurus hybrid form, using his claws to shield his head.
The others in the hallway were still completely stunned, having no idea what was going on.
But, as it turned out, Drake's judgment was correct.
Just as he yelled, Bellamy, sitting on the bed, suddenly clenched his fist in a peculiar way.
The instant his fist tightened, the surrounding air seemed to tremble.
Then, a terrifying shockwave ripped through half the dojo, reducing it to dust.
Clatter, clatter… clatter…
Countless burning pieces of wood rained down from above. In the blink of an eye, the second floor of the dojo vanished completely.