"He's caught already? This Vander Decken guy is weaker than I thought." Enel looked utterly unimpressed. He had expected someone who could elude the entire Fish-Man Island to have a few tricks up his sleeve, but he was captured with pathetic ease.
Enel shot Fukaboshi a look that clearly said, You guys couldn't even catch someone this weak?
Fukaboshi's face flushed with embarrassment. "Vander Decken is very cunning!" he argued. "It's not that we couldn't catch him; we could never find him!"
Enel just rolled his eyes. "And yet, we found him without breaking a sweat."
That shut Fukaboshi up. He hung his head in shame.
With a thought from Bege, Vander Decken IX shot through the water like a beam of light. As he neared, he shrank rapidly and was pulled into the internal castle. At the same time, the enormous body of Wadatsumi floated up from the rubble, shrank, and also flew into the castle.
Bege immediately extended his Observation Haki, scanning the cave where Vander Decken had been living.
"Hoh, quite a lot of good stuff in here," he said, a pleased look on his face. The cave was filled with mountains of gold and treasure, enough to catch even his eye. As an Emperor, Bege was used to wealth, so for a treasure to impress him, it had to be of a staggering amount.
He shot out from the Sea Patrolling Beast's mouth and flew into the cave. It was quite spacious. In the deepest part, a large area was sealed off by a bubble membrane, and inside was a mountain of gold and jewels, glittering so brightly it was dizzying.
Over the years, Vander Decken and Wadatsumi had plundered countless ships on their way to Fish-Man Island. They had also salvaged treasure from numerous shipwrecks on the ocean floor. This mountain of wealth was the result of more than a decade of hard work. Unfortunately for him, he had the money but no chance to spend it. Now, it all belonged to Bege.
The gold and jewels flew into the air and were absorbed into his internal castle.
Once he had collected everything, Bege left the cave, satisfied, and returned to the Sea Patrolling Beast. With Vander Decken and Wadatsumi captured, their mission was complete. They prepared to head back.
On the return journey, however, a message came from within his castle. A new smile spread across Bege's face, and he ordered the Sea Patrolling Beast to halt.
"Jinbe, Fukaboshi, you two head back first. I have some other business to attend to," Bege told them.
Jinbe frowned. "You Devil Fruit users are in great danger in the sea. I should accompany you, Lord Demon Dragon," he said seriously.
"Yes, we should stick together for safety," Fukaboshi added quickly.
But Bege waved them off. "No need. This is a private matter. It wouldn't be appropriate for you to come along."
Jinbe understood immediately. There were some things Bege didn't want them to know. "Very well. We will wait for you at the port," he said with a nod. He then pulled Fukaboshi along, and they, along with the remaining Neptune Army soldiers, swam out of the beast's mouth.
The Sea Patrolling Beast immediately turned and sped off again into the dark abyss.
"Godfather, where are we going now?" Enel asked, confused.
"Black Ice has extracted some very valuable information from Vander Decken." Bege gazed into the deep, black sea, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Vander Decken discovered an underwater gold mine. And it's not a small one."
"A gold mine!" Enel and Wiper's eyes lit up. A gold mine meant an astonishing amount of wealth.
The Sea Patrolling Beast swam for another full day, weaving through a dense range of underwater mountains.
Suddenly, the seabed began to tremble. In the distance, a massive, fiery red mushroom cloud erupted, dyeing the surrounding water a brilliant crimson. It looked like an underwater volcanic eruption.
"An underwater volcano. This is the first time I've seen one erupt," Enel said, as he and Wiper watched the spectacle from between the beast's teeth. The immense heat quickly boiled the surrounding water, forcing the Sea Patrolling Beast to detour around the eruption zone. Finally, it stopped in a range of pitch-black mountains.
The internal castle opened, and Bege dragged out the battered Vander Decken IX. "Is the gold mine here?"
"Yes, yes, that's right! It's in that direction!" Vander Decken stammered, his face a mask of terror. It seemed the interrogation methods of Black Ice had left him with severe psychological trauma.
The Sea Patrolling Beast swam over, and with Vander Decken's guidance, Bege found the location of the mine.
He activated his external space, and an invisible force ripped away the coral covering the surface of a seamount, revealing a brilliant golden gleam.
"It really is a gold mine! We're going to be rich!" Enel exclaimed excitedly.
The exposed surface of the mine showed signs of excavation, likely Vander Decken's work. This explained the irregularly shaped gold nuggets found in his cave.
"Enel, Wiper, blow this mountain open," Bege ordered.
"Leave it to me!" Enel puffed out his chest and stepped forward, tapping one of the beast's teeth. "Big guy, open wide."
The Sea Patrolling Beast obediently opened its massive jaws, and seawater rushed in. Lightning crackled around Enel as he raised his golden staff, immense electrical power coiling around it.
Before he could act, however, a massive bolt of lightning shot past him, transforming into a ten-meter-long lizard of pure electricity. It slammed into the gold-veined mountain, and with a deafening roar, the mountain cracked apart.
"Hey! I was supposed to do that!" Enel shot an annoyed glare at Wiper.
"You were too slow," Wiper retorted coolly, electricity still crackling around him.
A brilliant blue bolt of lightning erupted from Enel's staff, striking the fractured mountain like a divine thunderbolt. It completely shattered the rock, leaving behind a crater five or six meters deep. The bottom of the crater shone even more brightly, completely covered in gold.
Another massive thunderbolt crashed down, widening the crater. After more than a dozen strikes, the pit was over twenty meters deep, and the golden layer continued still deeper.
"This is at least a medium-sized gold mine. The gold from this could cover our expenses for several years," Wiper said happily.
Bege's face was wreathed in smiles. He expanded his external space, his Observation Haki blanketing the area.
Thousands of gold-laced fragments scattered across the seabed began to float up. In the dark water, they glittered like a starry sky. The fragments flew toward him, transforming into a stream of golden light that poured into his internal castle.
He was going to take the entire mine with him.