Armament Haki attacks had proven ineffective.
Even after her head was crushed, her body could still move freely.
But once Nereus switched to attacks infused with Conqueror's Haki, the situation changed.
The Celestial Dragon of the Manmayer family no longer moved as she had before after losing her head; instead, her body collapsed directly to the ground.
Yet Nereus could still sense that the headless corpse before him remained alive—only its regeneration had slowed drastically.
Previously, the Manmayer Celestial Dragon had completed full regeneration in just three seconds.
This time, a full thirty seconds passed before the severed head even began to regrow.
And unlike before, when regeneration happened almost instantly, the process now unfolded slowly.
"No problem. Conqueror's Haki suppresses this regenerative ability. In theory, the stronger the Conqueror's Haki, the stronger the suppression, and the slower the regeneration should become.
This level still isn't enough. Increase it and test again."
That was Nereus's conclusion.
So instead of continuing to attack immediately, he waited for her to finish regenerating.
"You bastard... are you treating me like a toy?!"
Although her regenerative ability had not been nullified, its speed had clearly slowed compared to before.
And she could distinctly feel that the quality of Haki contained in his strikes was steadily increasing.
After countless years of privilege, arrogance had long become engraved into the bones of the Celestial Dragons.
The God's Knights were no exception—they were the proudest among the proud.
The only difference was that their minds had not rotted into the stupidity of ordinary Celestial Dragons.
Humiliated like this, fury and unwillingness flooded her mind.
But if emotion alone could change reality, then the Celestial Dragons would have been the first group to vanish from the world.
"Didn't I already say this? Just a simple test."
"You—"
Boom!
Another devastating straight punch exploded forward.
This strike was far more powerful than the previous ones.
The upper half of the Manmayer Celestial Dragon's body was blasted apart instantly, even carving a trench through the land behind her.
"Just as expected—strong enough Conqueror's Haki suppresses regeneration speed. But that still isn't enough to truly kill them.
Could it be... if relying only on Haki, it requires strength on Joy Boy's level?"
"Different Celestial Dragons likely possess different degrees of regeneration too. A control sample of only one person isn't enough."
Nereus still remembered the Haki sealed inside the knot tied to the giant robot Emeth in the original timeline.
Even after hundreds of years, that stored Haki had still been powerful enough to terrify Imu—so much so that even from distant Mary Geoise, Imu had fallen to their knees screaming when it was released from Egghead.
Though Joy Boy had ultimately failed, there was no doubt he had left behind an unforgettable scar in Imu's memory.
And when Joy Boy's Haki erupted, it had directly disrupted the Five Elders' teleportation ability.
By Nereus's own reasoning, those abilities all originated from Imu.
If Joy Boy's Haki could destroy that mysterious transmission method, then in theory, it could also completely shatter this immortality.
After all, that one had once said:
"If a person is killed, they die."
Celestial Dragons were no exception.
The reason they seemed unkillable was simply because the method had not yet been found.
As long as the correct method existed, the result could naturally be achieved.
Otherwise, the Celestial Dragons would have had nothing to fear in the first place.
This latest strike slowed her regeneration so drastically that she would not be interfering in God Valley again anytime soon.
Having gained a rough understanding of the regenerative traits on these Celestial Dragons, Nereus no longer wasted time on her.
Instead, he turned and walked toward the nearby forest.
After he had stopped that Celestial Dragon earlier, some survivors had fled in this direction.
Safely escorting them off God Valley would not be easy.
Marine warships and pirate ships surrounded the island from all sides.
If Nereus personally escorted a ship, there would be little danger.
But he still had things to do and no time for that.
Nor was leaving them hidden on the island an ideal choice.
At that moment, however, Nereus sharply sensed something flying away from the island at high speed overhead.
"If you don't want to die, follow me."
He called out toward the people on the island and began walking in another direction.
The natives of God Valley and the slaves brought there looked at each other uncertainly, unsure what to do.
But in the end, they followed him.
In this environment, he seemed like their only lifeline.
Meanwhile, deep in the forests of God Valley—
A bald teenager with a large frame but youthful features kept rapidly swinging his palms.
Each time the paw pads in his hands touched someone, that person vanished instantly.
Taking advantage of the earlier chaos, Kuma and Ivankov had successfully stolen the Devil Fruits prepared by the Celestial Dragons.
Though a small mishap meant they had only managed to eat one fruit, it still gave them hope of escape.
Now, after eating the Paw-Paw Fruit, Kuma was sending people away one after another.
"Thank you so much!"
"We were already waiting to die—thank goodness you were here!"
"Enough thanking me. Hurry."
Pop... Pop... Pop...
The power of the Paw-Paw Fruit activated repeatedly, sending person after person away.
In the hopeless despair of God Valley, laughter seemed to bloom silently.
Countless people who had already surrendered to death regained hope.
Rustle...
"Bad! We've been discovered! Kuma! Faster!"
A sound came from the nearby forest, instantly tightening nerves again.
The crowd that had only just calmed began to fall into disorder.
"Don't panic. I'm not with the Marines or the Celestial Dragons. Can you help send a few more people away?"
Nereus's voice spread across the clearing.
A trace of Haki layered into his words stabilized the panicking crowd.
Behind him trailed quite a few scattered survivors—ordinary people he had rescued along the way.
"Okay, no problem! Please wait a moment—I'll send everyone away!"
Seeing that the newcomer was not an enemy, Kuma let out a breath of relief.
Wiping sweat from his forehead—partly from repeated use of his ability, partly from tension—he agreed without hesitation.
Save one more person if possible.
That was all Kuma was thinking now.
"N-Nereus-sama!! You're Nereus-sama, right?! I'm... well, you definitely don't know my name, but just being able to see you is incredible..."
At that moment, a fish-man squeezed out from the crowd beside Kuma.
It was the shark fish-man who had previously told Kuma stories about Nereus.
The moment he saw Nereus, he became so emotional that his words nearly tangled together.
"It's me. Don't worry—you're safe now. I'll take you home."
"Yes!!"