After arriving in this world and gradually understanding his place in it, Nereus had long been thinking about one question.
Fish-Man Island's situation was terrible—so terrible that many of its circumstances were hard to comprehend.
It had the natural defense of ten thousand meters of deep sea, yet pirates from the surface still managed to ravage it.
Of course, this world was filled with extraordinary combat power. Even setting aside everything else, there was already a major issue in terms of military strength alone.
Neither fishmen nor merfolk had many true top-tier powerhouses, so expecting them to confront monsters like Marine Admirals on land was unrealistic.
But Fish-Man Island was in the deep sea.
And it wasn't as though the island had no strong fighters at all. If all those people stayed on Fish-Man Island, at the very least it wouldn't have become easy prey in pirates' eyes—something anyone passing by could bite into.
In the original timeline, Babelle had joined the Rocks Pirates, Sunbell had joined Roger's crew, Sebastian had joined the Waldo Pirates.
Namur served as a division commander under Whitebeard, Jack and Sasaki followed Kaido in the Beasts Pirates, Big Mom also had fishmen among her subordinates, and for a period of time Jinbe likewise belonged to the Big Mom Pirates.
Among all these people, aside from Jinbe occasionally concerning himself with Fish-Man Island, none of the others cared at all.
For fishmen wandering the outside world, this nation lacked a sense of cohesion.
If all of them could be brought together, building a deep-sea defensive line would not be difficult.
Because of the gap in top-level power, Fish-Man Island could never be called invincible—but self-preservation was entirely possible. It should never have fallen to the point of relying on someone else's pirate flag just to survive.
Nereus himself was changing that little by little. 🌊
Strengthening unity, spreading reputation—these were all foundations he was laying for the future.
"I understand, Lord Nereus. I'll wait for you there..."
His efforts over the years had not been fruitless. At the very least, fishmen and merfolk outside the island, once they confirmed Nereus's identity, were very willing to trust his words.
Pop.
With one final burst of compressed air, everyone in the forest had been sent away by Kuma.
Compared to the total population of God Valley, the number saved was negligible—but Kuma had undeniably saved those people's lives.
"I sent him to the Sorbet Kingdom in the South Sea. That's my homeland. Mr. Nereus can go there to pick him up later."
"You're not going yourself?"
"I can feel it—this body has much more stamina now. I want to save people in other places too... even if it's only one more.
Mr. Nereus, thank you. You've given me the chance to save even more people." ✨
"Don't die here, kid. I still have things to do. Stay away from those two cliffs near the center of the island."
Nereus could sense several powerful presences clashing in the center of God Valley.
Babelle was among them.
He could even feel Conqueror's Haki constantly spilling into the surroundings.
If Kuma got dragged into that battlefield, the outcome would be impossible to predict.
After leaving that warning behind, Nereus departed the forest and headed toward Babelle's location.
[Mr. Nereus... please stay safe too...]
Kuma did not linger either.
He ran toward the island's edge, where fighting still echoed, rushing to aid one stranger after another.
A short while earlier, central God Valley, Prize Storage Warehouse No. 2.
"Kill Rayleigh!"
"Stop that bastard Rayleigh! He took Shakky away!!"
Amid the chaotic melee between all sides, Rayleigh ultimately succeeded in rescuing Shakky.
And Shakky herself had chosen Rayleigh from the beginning—she had finally met the person she wanted to see.
But the other pirates did not care about that.
In an instant, Rayleigh became the focus of concentrated attacks.
The rest of the Roger Pirates immediately began covering his retreat.
"Target him! Fire!"
"You idiot! That'll hit Shakky too! No firing! Everyone—switch targets to the other treasures! If Shakky's gone, then everything else has to belong to us!"
Golden Lion Shiki kicked aside the pirate preparing to fire and shouted for the Rocks Pirates to shift their focus.
"Idiot Shiki, since when are you the captain?"
"Yeah! Why should we listen to you?"
Though they cursed Shiki aloud, their actions still followed his plan.
One after another, they redirected their attention—only to discover someone had already gotten there first.
"Babelle! What the hell are you doing?!"
"You trying to take all the treasure for yourself? Stop right there!" 😠
While everyone else had still been fighting over Shakky, Babelle had already moved toward the other treasure vaults.
Because most pirates were focused on Shakky, even the Marines and Holy Knights guarding the area had concentrated their forces there.
Babelle entered this warehouse with little effort.
While others chased Rayleigh, Babelle had already packed up a huge amount of treasure.
His giant-like physique gave him tremendous carrying capacity—he had practically emptied more than half the warehouse.
If the others had spent just a little more attention on Shakky, Babelle might have escaped cleanly.
"Don't know what you're talking about. These things just ran into my bags by themselves."
"How are you greedier than John?! Put it down! There are so many of us—you can't handle it!"
Ganzui dug at his nose, then flicked his finger toward Babelle.
Ganzui was the user of the Bomb-Bomb Fruit, able to make any part of his body explode.
It was the same Devil Fruit that Mr. 5 of Baroque Works would later possess in the original timeline.
Though from different eras, their usage was nearly identical—
both were deeply fond of booger bombs. 💥😅
"There's still plenty left, isn't there? Why not take those instead? Why fight me for what I already got?"
Babelle tightened his bundle and sized up the enemies around him.
It wasn't just part of the Rocks Pirates staring him down.
Some Roger Pirates were also approaching.
And members of countless other pirate crews were gathering too.
"All of that combined isn't even half of what you're carrying! What are you thinking?!"
"Looks like negotiations have failed. In that case..."
"I'll have to use my trump card." ⚠️
As he spoke, Haki began flowing over Babelle's body.
He assumed a defensive posture and watched his surroundings carefully.
Most of the pirates here he could handle.
A few stronger ones he could at least stall.
But if all of them attacked together, even Babelle would struggle.
After a moment's thought, he made his decision.
The words trump card had successfully bluffed the crowd into hesitation.
These pirates had never truly been united anyway.
Seeing Babelle surrounded with no immediate route of escape, none were eager to rush first.
Everyone wanted someone else to test his so-called ultimate move.
But Babelle's posture gave Shiki a very bad feeling. 😐
After gathering his breath for a long moment, Babelle made a choice no one expected.
He opened his mouth wide—
and shouted two words:
"BIG BRO!!!" 📢