Chapter 28 - Chapter 28: Marines, Pirates

"I understand, Big Bro. You be careful too."

"Don't worry, Babelle. I'm not that easy to kill." 🌊

This time Babelle did not insist further.

He could also feel that the atmosphere spreading across the island was becoming increasingly abnormal.

As for letting Babelle travel alone at sea afterward, Nereus was not worried.

Babelle was not like the fishman slaves Ivankov had sent away earlier.

His own strength was already considerable, and once he reached the sea surface, he was effectively back on home ground.

If he encountered trouble he could not handle, he only needed to abandon ship and dive into the deep sea—his safety would be assured.

And it was not only Nereus and Babelle who sensed the strange pressure.

All the notable powerhouses on the island felt it as well, and one after another began making their own choices.

In the sky, a gigantic dragon shadow flew forward.

"So Kaido still got the fruit he wanted."

A person who ate that fruit and immediately soared through the sky in a massive body—

that was the normal reaction of someone properly using that fruit.

Kaido now looked especially excited, as though eager to test his new power immediately.

But someone else was even more furious than Kaido.

"Kaido! You bastard, stop right there! I'm going to kill you!" ⚡

Charlotte Linlin stood atop Zeus, chasing tightly behind him.

Judging by her expression, she was genuinely enraged.

"Babelle, move. No time to waste."

"Coming, Big Bro!"

At this moment, retreating from the island was what most pirates were already doing.

The treasure they seized was nowhere near Babelle's haul, but still enough to count as a fortune.

At the very least, it would serve as startup capital for a pirate crew for quite some time.

Golden Lion Shiki, Ganzui, John, and others had already begun a new round of fighting over treasure.

As the Haki collisions at the island's center intensified, everyone accelerated their movements.

God Valley itself was not especially large.

For Nereus and Babelle, returning to the southeast shore took little time.

By now, Nereus had already begun choosing a ship.

"Big Bro, why not take Rocks's ship? That one's the biggest here—best quality too."

"Too large. Hard for you to handle alone."

Fishmen were almost born helmsmen.

Their tremendous strength and instinctive understanding of ocean currents made steering natural to them.

But sailing required more than controlling the helm—

especially for a giant ship like Rocks's, which required dozens of people working together even just to get moving.

There were many pirate ships nearby too.

But after examining them, Nereus shifted his gaze toward a medium-sized warship not far away.

A warship of that scale held fewer people than a large battleship, but it was easier to operate.

And because it was standard Marine equipment, quality was guaranteed. 🚢

This had originally been the landing area for the Rocks Pirates and many other pirate crews.

The surrounding fleet of Marine ships had long since been scattered.

Most personnel aboard this warship had apparently gathered elsewhere, leaving only a few men behind.

Babelle took control of the ship effortlessly and docked it at shore.

"What are you staring at? If you don't want to die, get on board! If you want to die, stay on the island and wait for it!"

He glanced at the confused civilians on shore and barked at them impatiently.

Fishmen needed a better public image.

For years, this was exactly how Nereus had led them in dealing with the outside world.

As long as someone was not an enemy, they usually got along fine.

After the hunting game on the island had stopped, some people had already been sent away by Kuma's ability.

But many still remained trapped.

They ran like headless flies, fleeing toward the coastline.

Even jumping into the sea offered better survival odds than staying inland.

Yet surrounding Marine ships gave only one answer to those begging for escape:

"God Valley is not an allied nation. You are not permitted to leave."

That was the Marines' order.

And they mercilessly pulled the trigger on unarmed civilians.

For these people, the current situation was already shocking enough—

but regardless, now there was finally a warship willing to take them away.

After brief hesitation, they moved toward it.

"Thank you!"

"Thank you so much! I'll never forget this kindness!" 🙏

The civilians nearby gained new hope of survival.

As for those elsewhere...

At the same time, in the jungle on this side of the island, Monkey D. Dragon also had a number of God Valley civilians following behind him.

Before arriving at God Valley, seventeen-year-old Dragon had been nothing more than an ordinary Marine soldier.

Although his father was already a Marine Vice Admiral, Dragon's unit seemed unaware of that fact.

But ever since landing on God Valley, Dragon had begun doubting the justice upheld by the Marines.

"This way! Don't panic! I'll find a way to get you onto a ship!"

At this moment, Dragon no longer cared what Marine orders were.

He only wanted to save people.

And then—

he noticed a warship also defying orders, accepting civilians.

"Thank goodness... there are still Marines who've kept their senses..." 🌟

"This way! Head for that ship ahead—they'll take you away!"

Dragon shouted to those behind him and ran ahead first toward the warship.

"Don't push! If you do that, nobody gets aboard! Form a line—everyone will get on!"

Dragon began helping maintain order below deck.

At the same time, doubt surfaced in his mind.

If the soldiers aboard had chosen to save civilians—

why had none of them come down to help maintain order?

Dragon also failed to notice the strange looks people already aboard were giving him.

Only when he stepped onto the deck himself did coldness spread through his entire body.

A tall figure leaned against the railing, watching him.

The smile on that face was calm—

but to Dragon, it was chilling.

"Vampire... Nereus..." ❄️

Nereus's reputation inside the Marines was immense—

and purely infamous.

Leaving aside his identity and bounty, Marine records showed that among all soldiers who had ever participated in operations against Nereus,

the survival rate was less than one percent.

The handful who survived later suffered severe psychological trauma and could no longer serve.

"Why... are you here..."

Dragon could not understand why Nereus was aboard this warship.

Nor could he understand why he was taking in civilians from the island.

Instinctively, Dragon raised his rifle toward Nereus—

but soon let it fall helplessly.

If this had been before today, he would have chosen to fight to the death.

But now—

hesitation had already taken root in his heart.

And more importantly—

before Babelle or Nereus had even moved,

the civilians who had boarded first had already picked up discarded weapons from the ship—

and aimed them at him. 🔫