No matter how hostile these villagers were towards him, the things that needed to be done had to be done, and the path he'd chosen couldn't be halted.
In the evening, the Life Flower Nectar was finally completed, and Muret quickly brought the potion to him. With this potion in hand, Bellamy had achieved most of his goals in coming here. He could have just taken the potion and left, and the fate of these villagers would have had nothing to do with him.
But to explore the mystery of that cave, he decided to stay here for one night. At the very least, he would wait until tomorrow, when all the villagers had been relocated.
He entrusted the task of relocating the villagers to young Drake. Originally, Drake had been assigned to guard the ship back at the pirate base, but since they were short-handed, the job of guarding the ship was given to Chardin. With ten clone soldiers present, the slaves shouldn't be able to cause any trouble.
Since everyone was being moved out, the banquet that had been in preparation for most of the day was naturally canceled. The villagers' spirits were low. Everyone hung their heads, dejected, and some women were even quietly sobbing in the corners, making Bellamy seem like some kind of demon king. He was only asking them to move out for a day; was there really a need for this?
Even Bellamy couldn't understand their feelings, and Mia and Muret were even more clueless. They certainly couldn't comprehend the feeling of being uprooted and displaced.
All the villagers wanted was stability, safety, and peace of mind. Being forcibly relocated to the outside world, leaving their familiar surroundings, leaving their homeland, it was inevitable that resentment would arise.
But resentment was such a powerless emotion. If their hatred could harm even a single hair on a pirate, they wouldn't have been captured and enslaved in the first place.
Such was the fate of the weak. No one cared about their feelings, no one cared about their thoughts. In fact, no one cared about whether they lived or died.
This was the most realistic aspect of this world, this era – the Great Pirate Era. This era, personally ushered in by the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, had plunged the seas into chaos. The consequence of the breakdown of order was the increasingly rampant slave trade.
Whatever Roger's original intentions had been, ever since he uttered that famous sentence, the era had begun to spiral out of control. And to this day, there was no sign of it stopping.
Regardless of how resistant the villagers were, the relocation began. Drake's personality was cold and resolute, making him perfect for this task. If things went smoothly, these villagers could move back by the afternoon of the following day.
Late at night, in a certain room in the underground cave…
After a series of toxicity tests, Bellamy prepared to consume the potion known as Life Flower Nectar.
Life Flower Nectar, a special potion unique to Bird Dropping Island. It was said to be made by collecting the sap from the roots of a thousand different plants, then adding the nectar, pollen, and dew of three hundred different types of flowers, and finally using a special modulation method to concoct it.
This potion's recipe and ingredients alone were incredibly complex. The brewing method was even more bizarre, completely defying conventional potion-making.
Muret had originally wanted to make it herself, but after carefully studying the brewing method, she entrusted the task to an experienced elderly villager. Skill and experience were crucial when brewing potions. Especially when the ingredients were particularly precious, a single mistake often meant a significant waste of money.
This potion was the villagers' payment for their freedom. The village's accumulated materials were only enough for one batch. If the brewing failed, it would be a disservice to both the villagers and the Captain. Muret didn't want to be scolded, so she obediently assisted the elder.
Fortunately, the brewing of the Life Flower Nectar went unexpectedly smoothly. The most difficult part of this potion was actually gathering the ingredients. The Red Flame Pirates had occupied this village for so long, yet they had never managed to obtain more than a few bottles of Life Flower Nectar. It was quite lucky that Bellamy managed to get a bottle so quickly.
Since his ship's doctor had confirmed the safety of the potion, Bellamy had no further doubts. He picked up the pink potion and downed it in one gulp.
After swallowing the Life Flower Nectar, he initially felt nothing. He didn't feel particularly good, nor did he feel uncomfortable.
A few minutes later, his stomach suddenly started churning, as if a living creature had appeared in his stomach and was thrashing around wildly.
Enduring the discomfort, a long while later, Bellamy's expression suddenly changed, and he vomited a large amount of viscous liquid.
"Cough, cough, cough…"
Wiping his mouth somewhat messily, he quickly drank some water to suppress the itching in his throat.
"Captain, are you alright?" The ship's doctor, Muret, had been carefully observing him the entire time. Seeing his pained expression, she quickly inquired.
"I'm fine… wait, what's this?"
Bellamy was about to discuss his feelings with her when, suddenly, the lump of mucus he'd just vomited began to move on its own. Like a slime, this green blob of mucus had come to life.
Looking at this disgusting thing, Bellamy felt a wave of nausea. So there really had been a living creature moving around in his stomach.
This potion was seriously weird.
He stomped on the green blob, crushing it. Just as he was about to ask the doctor what was going on, Muret suddenly pointed at his head and exclaimed, "Captain, your hair is growing back!"
Ever since being half-cooked by Red Flame's fire, Bellamy had been completely hairless. His skin was also uneven and unsightly. His appearance alone was worth a bounty of at least 1 million Berries. He could scare children just by looking at them.
After Muret's exclamation, Bellamy quickly touched his head. It was fuzzy; his hair was actually growing back!
The effects of the Life Flower Nectar were starting to kick in, and this effect was far more potent than Bellamy had imagined.
Over the next few minutes, Bellamy felt a peculiar power emerging from within his body. This power wasn't life force; Bellamy had already vaguely grasped the essence of Life Return, and he was certain that this power was unrelated to life force. But the essence of this power was definitely not inferior to life force.
He could feel his body undergoing tremendous changes. Something seemed to be drilling out of his bone marrow, and his brain seemed to be operating at an accelerated speed.
Muret blinked beside him, but in his eyes, it appeared as a strange slow-motion action. It was as if the world around him had suddenly been put on slow-motion.
This feeling was difficult to describe. He searched through all the words in his mind, and finally found only four words to describe his current sensation:
Potential Unleashed.
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