"Should we tell the Captain about that incident?"
"I think we should. If we don't, I feel like the Captain will definitely be angry."
It seemed Mia and Muret had stumbled upon something peculiar during their time in the black market. They had hesitated for quite a while, still not having mentioned it to Bellamy.
"We probably shouldn't make decisions about this sort of thing on our own," Muret likely added during their discussion. After deliberating for a while, they finally decided it was best to inform Bellamy.
That evening, Bellamy was in his room reading, having just finished dinner. Footsteps approached his door. Bellamy's right ear twitched almost imperceptibly. "Mia? What is it, coming to see me so late?"
"Captain!" Mia pushed the door open and walked straight in. "I haven't even knocked yet, how did you know it was me?"
"I'm currently organizing my knowledge on Haki," Bellamy replied, glancing up briefly. "Once you lot have mastered the Six Powers, I'll gradually begin teaching you." Observation Haki was exceedingly difficult to awaken; in some respects, grasping it was much harder than learning Armament Haki. Bellamy himself had only managed to awaken it through a stroke of luck and circumstance; it was far too early for him to be teaching others.
Although intensely curious about Haki, Mia had come on official business. "Captain, when we were buying materials in the black market, we encountered a... suspicious person."
A suspicious person? What kind of individual would prompt Mia to seek him out specifically like this? Bellamy found it rather odd. Seeing the Captain put down his book and turn his full attention to her, Mia collected her thoughts and began recounting the strange encounter.
"It was a frail-looking woman. She was hiding in an abandoned warehouse with a group of children." Mia paused. "At first, we thought she might be a human trafficker. But then Muret and I followed her for a bit, and we realized... she might be part of the Revolutionary Army."
"Revolutionary Army!" Bellamy was genuinely astonished to hear the name. The Revolutionaries were daring to operate openly in the Four Blues at this time? The Four Blues were the Marines' home turf; the idea of the Revolutionaries successfully overthrowing a government here seemed utterly impossible.
Mia had anticipated her captain's surprise. "Should we... should we try to make contact with the Revolutionary Army?" she asked tentatively.
"Why on earth would we contact the Revolutionary Army?" Bellamy asked incredulously, baffled by Mia's suggestion. "We're pirates. What possible business do we have getting involved with them?"
"Captain~~" Mia suddenly grabbed Bellamy's arm, adopting a high-pitched, wheedling tone as she tried to appeal to his softer side. "Those children... they looked so pitiful! Can't we please help them, just a little?"
Bellamy seized her by the back of the neck and lifted her clean off her feet. "Don't try that crap on me," he growled. "There are countless pitiful people in this world. Are you planning to save every single one you come across?" This was the Great Pirate Era; playing the saint was a good way to end up dead. "The world operates according to its own currents. Extraordinary individuals can't simply change its course at will." Right now, they had absolutely no standing to pity anyone else. Only when Bellamy himself stood at the very pinnacle of this world might he, perhaps, possess the power to reshape it entirely.
He casually tossed Mia onto the floor, his expression stern. "Alright, stop dwelling on such useless matters. If you have this much free time, you'd be better off practicing the Six Powers."
"Hmph! Captain, you're just too cold-blooded!" Mia retorted, pouting, though she had known his likely reaction before she even came and hadn't held out much hope. Muttering under her breath, she turned to leave.
Suddenly, she stopped, remembering something else. "Oh, right, Captain! We also overheard some strange things. Do you want to hear about them?"
"Speak."
"Well, that Revolutionary woman seemed to be investigating some kind of... 'pig farm'," Mia recounted carefully, "and mentioned 'piglets'... anyway, they were terms we didn't really understand." She paused, then added, "Oh, and apparently, the buyer for these 'piglets' is named... Joker."
"Joker!" Bellamy froze. That was Doflamingo's underworld alias! The moment he heard the name, understanding crashed down upon him. Piglets... Of course. They weren't talking about animals at all. They had to be human children. What is Doflamingo doing buying so many children at this particular time? That bastard truly has his tentacles sunk deep, even here in the North Blue.
Wait a minute... 'Pig farm'...
"We have to resupply in Lvneel Kingdom next month anyway," Bellamy found himself saying, the decision forming almost against his initial judgment. "If we happen to encounter that Revolutionary woman again... I suppose we could offer her a little assistance." Even a man as hard-hearted as Bellamy couldn't help but let out a quiet sigh as he dimly grasped the likely horrifying truth behind Lvneel Kingdom's facade. "This world..." he murmured softly, "is truly far too cruel for ordinary people." He clenched his fist. "Those damned Celestial Dragons... death is too good for them!"
Mia had no idea how the conversation had suddenly leaped to the Celestial Dragons, but hearing her captain finally relent, she immediately jumped up, beaming. "Alright! Yay!" she cheered. "Then let's make sure to bring lots of Beli with us next time! We can give it to those poor children! They looked so terribly pitiful, Captain, honestly, skinny as rake handles!"
Bellamy shot her a weary, sidelong glance, not even dignifying her suggestion with a verbal response. "Alright," he said dismissively. "I will handle this matter. You may leave now." Giving money to starving children isn't saving them; it's harming them. Naive woman. If this situation was to be handled properly, it would rely on the efforts of that Revolutionary. The most they could offer was perhaps some targeted application of force.
I can't believe I'm actually softening over something like this, Bellamy thought wryly after Mia had happily skipped out of the room. He genuinely hadn't expected himself to agree. Seems I'm still just a mortal, after all.