"Huh?!" Bepo suddenly felt a powerful gust of wind and turned his head without warning, only to see a fist the size of a pot rapidly filling his vision.
"Look out!" Carrot shouted, countless electrical arcs bursting from her hands almost instantly.
Sensing the attacker's hostile intent, Carrot instinctively deployed one of her most reliable techniques.
"Ow!" Bepo let out a pained cry.
Caught completely off guard, he took a fierce punch directly to his eye socket and flew backward with tremendous force. The impact was so severe it nearly transformed him from a polar bear into a giant panda.
However, the attacker paid a steep price for his aggression.
Carrot's counterattack came almost by pure reflex. Though she couldn't unleash her technique's full power due to the time constraints, the blonde man who'd launched the surprise assault still suffered serious injuries.
Chaotic electrical currents exploded simultaneously as Carrot moved like lightning to intercept the attack. While she couldn't prevent Bepo from being hit, she successfully struck their assailant at the same moment, sending him crashing heavily to the ground.
"Who are you? Why did you attack us?" Carrot demanded, rushing over to help Bepo to his feet before turning to glare sternly at their attacker.
The man had short blonde hair and a stitched scar above his right eye. Blood was seeping through the tight vest covering his ribs where Carrot's electrified strike had connected.
This uninvited guest was none other than Bellamy the Hyena, a devoted admirer of Doflamingo.
"Hehe, so you brats actually want to destroy the Donquixote Family's business!" Bellamy pressed his injured ribs tightly and slowly struggled to his feet.
Since the shaved ice shop where Bepo and Carrot had been eating was open to the street, Bellamy had happened to pass by and overheard Bepo's inadvertent slip about sabotaging operations.
Bellamy had immediately recognized this as a golden opportunity to serve his idol and leader. If he could make a significant contribution, he might earn a promotion and the chance to work directly alongside "Young Master" Doflamingo.
It was precisely these ambitious plans that had driven him to launch the sneak attack on Bepo. He'd even been planning to capture the polar bear's entire pirate crew after defeating him, based on the restaurant Bepo had mentioned.
As a user of the Paramecia-type Spring-Spring Fruit, Bellamy had grown increasingly arrogant since joining Doflamingo's organization. He was confident that in North Blue, apart from the Donquixote Family's officers and a very limited number of other individuals, he could essentially do whatever he pleased.
What Bellamy hadn't anticipated was that while he'd guessed correctly about there being opposition, he'd completely misjudged his opponents' capabilities.
"Donquixote? What's that?" Carrot tilted her head with a confused expression. She generally didn't pay attention to such minor organizations.
Bepo stood up with his fresh black eye and said quietly, "They're a pirate crew that originated in North Blue. This has nothing to do with you, Carrot. Thank you for saving me."
"Oh, I see!" Carrot placed her hands on her hips with complete confidence, thinking she was now quite worldly and experienced. "Well, if it's not a really famous pirate crew, it can't be that impressive. I mean, I've heard of groups like the Whitebeard Pirates and others!"
"What did you say?!" Veins bulged across Bellamy's forehead as fury burned in his eyes. He would never allow anyone to disrespect the Donquixote Family—they were the pride of North Blue in his mind.
Bellamy assumed a combat stance, his face twisted with rage as he quickly gathered his strength and launched himself toward Carrot with spring-powered velocity.
Clearly, at this moment, Bellamy's hatred for the insolent rabbit mink far exceeded his anger toward Bepo.
"Hmph!" Carrot casually sidestepped, easily avoiding Bellamy's attack.
With a tremendous crash, Bellamy's spring-enhanced assault destroyed a decorative statue in the middle of the street, but within seconds he was ricocheting back toward Carrot like a human bullet.
"Watch out, Carrot!" Bepo exclaimed, starting to rush forward before realizing his assistance wasn't needed.
Bellamy's accelerated attacks using his fruit's full spring tension could indeed overwhelm weaker opponents who couldn't react in time. However, what he was facing now was Carrot, who already possessed reflexes far beyond ordinary people.
More importantly, after extensive training, Carrot had mastered basic Observation Haki more than a month ago.
Bright electrical energy wrapped around Carrot's entire body as she kicked off the ground lightly, her small form becoming airborne. Her compact body rolled and twisted through the air, gracefully avoiding Bellamy's heavy punch by mere inches.
At the same time, a cold gleam flashed in Carrot's eyes as the electrical current surrounding her body suddenly concentrated in her hands.
Using the kinetic energy from her aerial maneuver, Carrot's clenched fist traced an arc through the air and struck down hard at Bellamy, who happened to be positioned directly below her.
The entire sequence happened so quickly that these actions were completed in the instant Bellamy had committed to his attack.
"Ahhh!" Bellamy now had to endure not only the devastating impact from Carrot's electrified fist, but also the electrical discharge spreading throughout his body with an ominous buzzing sound.
The thunderous impact echoed through the street, leaving all the witnesses deeply shaken by what they'd just observed.
Keeping in mind the teachings of her elders and everyone aboard their ship, Carrot generally avoided initiating conflicts. But when someone came looking for trouble, Jerry had taught her not to hesitate in defending herself and taking necessary action.
Therefore, Carrot felt no psychological burden about counterattacking Bellamy, who had struck first and continued his aggressive assault.
"Bepo! Are you alright? Didn't you just go out for shaved ice?"
"Carrot! What happened? Didn't you just go for shaved ice?"
Concerned voices rang out almost simultaneously from the doorways of two different restaurants along the street.
"I'm sorry!" When Bepo saw his captain—the person he cared about most—Trafalgar Law appear with their other friends, he instinctively apologized out of habit.
Carrot first turned to wave at her crew, then pointed righteously at Bellamy, who was lying unconscious in a small crater with his eyes rolled back.
"Sister Carina! Little Bonney! You guys came out too? I'm fine—this guy attacked us first! We were just defending ourselves!"
When Law, Carina, and the others heard Carrot's clear explanation and then looked at the attacker who was charred on the outside, tender on the inside, and still occasionally twitching in his ground-crater, they found themselves momentarily speechless.
Of course, Carina and Bonney wouldn't doubt anything Carrot said, but they wanted to understand the situation more thoroughly.
Just as Carina was about to ask for details, she heard a familiar voice coming from nearby.
"Oh? That's Bellamy the Hyena, a subordinate under Doflamingo. I know him."
Skull, Deuce, and Brook walked slowly along the street. Skull had noticed the person Carrot had defeated from a distance, and after taking a closer look, he directly identified their attacker.
"My, my, quite the commotion!" A fisherman descended from above with a medium-sized fish dangling from his fishing line.
"Brother Jerry! You're here too!" Carrot looked up at the figure who'd landed beside her, greeting him joyfully while extending her right hand expectantly.
"Uh... were you just thinking about carrots this whole time? I was fishing for actual fish, not carrots..." Jerry said with amusement, though a fresh carrot suddenly appeared in his hand as he smiled and handed it to Carrot.