"Hey, what's the name of the ship anyway?" I asked, suddenly realizing I'd never actually clarified.
"Didn't you ask Bean?" Sabo raised an eyebrow. "He told us."
"Didn't think to at the time... So?"
"The Golden Hind," Sabo said with a slight smirk. "Strange, I thought it'd be something like Blazing Dragon or Stormfang."
"Golden Hind sounds... unusual," Gin muttered, shrugging. "But it has something to it."
"As long as it floats, we'll get used to the name," Karina added.
Later that evening, we were all sitting around the mess table — each with our bowl of food, some sipping tea, others just starting dinner. The kitchen was still half-empty but already felt like the heart of the ship — warm, with the scent of cooking and sea salt in the air.
Sabo rested his elbows on the table, staring at me.
"I think it's finally time we design our crew's flag. What do you say, Captain?"
"Yeah," Gin chimed in. "We've been sailing for a while now, and we're still flying a plain old flag. That ain't right."
I set my cup down and rubbed my chin.
"You're right. We've put this off too long... But I already have a few ideas. I actually wanted to sketch something on the last ship, but never got the time."
"Just make sure it looks badass," Sabo grinned. "One glance should say: 'Don't mess with us.'"
"I'll draw something now," I said, grabbing a pencil and a sheet from a notepad someone had found in a drawer near the galley.
I sat down at the table and began sketching. My hand seemed to move on its own — the lines fell into place confidently, as if I'd done it a hundred times before. Surprisingly, it was turning out better than I'd expected. I used to only be good with rulers — diagrams, blueprints, straight angles, mechanisms. Art had always passed me by.
But now?
Maybe it had something to do with Bellamy becoming a flag painter in the future — was it a talent?
Maybe it had always been in me, I thought, tracing the last lines.
After a few minutes, I set the pencil down and looked at the result. Before me was an almost complete sketch.
Our crew's flag. ( The flag will be in the comments section of the chapter!)
In the center — a skull with messy, spiky hair in orange-yellow.
Eyes — big, black, and ominously hollow. The mouth stretched into a wide grin, and behind the skull — classic crossed bones, but the lower pair had been replaced with two tight, shiny metal springs.
Around the skull was a stylized compass rose — the symbol of freedom and direction.
"Whoa..." Karina said, looking over my shoulder. "Captain, you're actually a pretty good artist. Who would've thought?"
I smiled faintly, placing the page in the center of the table.
"That's it. This will be our flag," I said firmly, looking up from the table.
Gin and Sabo were silent, staring at the sketch. Their eyes were wide with surprise…
It had only been a few minutes since we found a rolled-up bundle of heavy black cloth and a couple of dusty cans of paint in the storage closet. In the corner, there was even an old but usable painting set — brushes, a fine awl, a spool of thread. Looked like this ship held more than it seemed.
A few minutes later, I stood and held the flag in front of me. Light from the porthole shone through the fabric, giving the skull and springs an eerie, almost living glow.
"This flag will be our mark," I said. "It will fly atop the mast of the Golden Hind and rise wherever we sail."
"And anyone who dares to take it down — they'll regret it," Gin added, crossing his arms with a proud smirk.
"Only one problem left," Sabo said, looking out the window.
"What's that?"
"Someone has to climb the mast and hang it."
A pause followed.
"Gin, it's not too hard for you, is it?" I grinned.
"No way," he shot back instantly. "I just got out of a fight. Let Sabo do it!"
"Me? Hey, I'm the navigator, not a monkey!" Sabo protested.
"I'll jump up," I said, heading for the deck with the flag in hand.
Karina turned around, arms crossed. "You'll crash through our deck!"
I smirked and waved her off. "After that fight with the chain guy, I've learned to control my fruit better. I won't break anything. Promise."
Without waiting for her reply, I bent my knees. The springs in my legs coiled tightly, creaking softly under the strain. The air around me seemed to thicken… and the next instant, I shot upward like a cannonball.
"Bane Bane no Mi: Spring Jump!" I shouted, rising past the mast.
Wind whipped across my face, my hair flaring wildly. From above, the whole ship stretched out — the smooth deck boards, the wind-blown sails, and the faces below, looking up.
I landed on the crossbar beneath the weathervane. The ship creaked slightly but held.
"See? Didn't break it!" I yelled down.
Karina rolled her eyes but smiled anyway.
The flag was in my hand, and now only one thing remained — to raise it. I tied the fabric's edge firmly to the pole and secured the knot tight.
Slowly, step by step, I climbed to the very top of the mast.
A moment — and the flag soared into the wind.
The black fabric stretched in the breeze, and our symbol — the skull with bright hair, springs instead of bones, and the compass rose around it — spread its wings above the deck.
Cheers rose from below.
"Hey, Captain, now we're real pirates!" Sabo shouted, gripping the helm.
"Yeah, but now let's get some sleep…" I muttered, jumping down the last steps of the mast and rubbing my neck. It was already close to eleven at night, and only now had we finished everything — the flag was raised, the crew was mostly settled, and the ship was ours.
The wind had quieted, the sea gently rocked the vessel, carrying us farther from port. Stars shimmered in the distance, reflecting on the black water.
Karina stretched tiredly. "Finally… I forgot what a pillow looks like."
"If a hammock counts as a pillow, you can refresh your memory," Gin smirked, limping toward the crew quarters, one hand holding his bandaged ribs.
Sabo checked the wheel, made sure the course was steady, and nodded to us.
"All under control. I'll stay up till dawn — you can relieve me after."
"If anything happens, wake me," I said, patting him on the shoulder as I passed.
"Got it, Captain," he grinned, gazing into the dark horizon.
We headed down the corridor, passing the kitchen, where it still smelled of fresh paint and the fried beans Karina had whipped up quickly.
Soon I reached the men's cabin. The wooden floor creaked softly, the inside almost dark — only moonlight coming through the round window.
I climbed into the top hammock, folded my hands behind my head, and began to drift off...
A day later
The morning was calm. The waves gently rolled beneath the ship, and a soft breeze carried us toward our next destination.
"Captain, we'll reach Loguetown in a couple hours," Sabo said, looking at the compass and map laid out before him on the deck.
I nodded and stretched. After all the training and the mess back on the last island, this trip felt almost relaxing.
Karina stood by the railing, handing a coin to a seagull that had just delivered a fresh newspaper. The bird pecked the silver neatly and soared into the sky.
"Prices for their service just keep going up," Karina grumbled, unfolding the paper and scanning the headlines.
Gin, his shoulder still wrapped in bandages, limped over, already looking better.
"Anything interesting in there?"
"Not really... Apparently they're rebuilding in the Kingdom of Oikot. Almost everything's been restored," Karina mumbled, flipping through the pages.
"Oh, here's something new—" she began, then suddenly froze. Her eyes widened as she stared at one of the pages.
"Captain!!" Karina shouted, tearing her eyes from the paper. "Your bounty is 32 million now!!"
Everyone froze. Sabo stopped flicking the compass, and Gin stood there with his mouth slightly open.
"What?!" I turned. "Show me!"
Karina ran over with the paper unfolded. There, in large letters, was a new wanted poster. My photo — that awful one where I looked especially rough — and below it:
"Wanted. Bellamy 'The Spring Demon'. 32,000,000 Beli."
"Well, you're officially on the list now, Captain," Sabo grinned.
"First the fights, now the poster… Just don't tell me you like that photo," Gin snorted.
"I'm more interested in what they wrote about me," I muttered, leaning closer to Karina to read the text under my picture.
She held the paper so we could all see. I squinted at the fine print beneath the portrait:
"A particularly dangerous pirate. Possesses powers of a Devil Fruit. Attacked a high-ranking officer — a Marine commodore, as well as the base commander on Rattaru Island. Involved in destruction of city infrastructure, arson, and the confirmed sinking of at least two Navy ships. Dangerous. Exercise caution."
"Attacked the commodore and base commander... well yeah, that did happen," I shrugged.
"'Attacked local civilians...'" Karina read aloud, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey, I did not attack civilians!" I protested, sitting up straight. "They're lying, obviously..."
"They're good at it — and love doing it," Gin chuckled, settling onto a crate beside us. "But 'sank a couple ships' sounds pretty badass."