Chapter 17: Setting Sail
As the sky grew dark, Sebastian and the others gradually returned to base.
"What's going on? Why is everyone packing?"
The camp was full of packed luggage. Many people were still packing at this moment, and even some temporary housing structures had been completely dismantled.
Some had even packed away their bedding entirely, looking like they planned to make do with bare wooden boards for the night.
This behavior struck Sebastian as odd, having just returned from patrolling the outer waters.
"Lord Sebastian? You're back. This is Lord Nereus's order: everyone must pack up and be ready to leave at any moment.
Also, he said that once you return, you should go to the meeting room to find him immediately. There's an important meeting."
A Fish-man on guard duty in the camp stepped forward and explained the situation to Sebastian.
Hearing this, Sebastian headed straight for the meeting room. Apart from him, the other executives had already arrived.
Sunbell was holding a nautical chart, speaking in a low voice to Nanamo, answering her questions.
Big Pan sat foolishly on a large chair to the side, waving his big hand at the moon in the sky, seemingly entertaining himself.
Babel sat silently on the other side, rotating the prayer beads in his hand while chanting something. Even when Sebastian arrived, he didn't bicker as usual, merely sparing him a glance.
"That bald head didn't even scold me for being late. Looks like something big is really happening..."
Babel's reaction made Sebastian realize that Nereus must have made a major decision; otherwise, Babel would never be this well-behaved.
"Big Bro, I see everyone outside is packing."
"Yeah. After the meeting, you guys go pack too. After this event, we won't be returning here.
Just like I said when we first set sail: we went out to hone our strength, broaden our horizons, and encounter more people and things to prepare for future actions.
The preliminary preparations are about done. At this juncture, it's time to start the next step.
I'll explain the upcoming arrangements. If you have any opinions, feel free to speak up."
Speaking of when they first set sail, Nereus's tone was filled with reminiscence. In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed, yet many things felt like they had just happened.
"Simply put, those Celestial Dragons are planning to hold a game worse than animals at God Valley. Someone leaked this information, and Rocks and the others have decided to band together to snatch the goods back..."
After briefly summarizing the situation, Nereus continued:
"After reaching the West Blue, you will lead the others to hide in a secluded area offshore and prepare to provide support from the perimeter. As for God Valley itself, I will go alone."
Nereus's subordinates weren't just Sebastian and the few executives. Initially, their numbers were indeed small, but as Nereus's fame spread back to Fish-man Island, the number of his followers increased.
Some Fish-men and merfolk who heard of Nereus's name chose to follow him. As admirers, they left Fish-man Island together and joined his banner.
Among them were also those who wanted to see what the world above the deep sea looked like. Apart from adults, there were even quite a few children in this camp—a result of years of development.
"Big Bro, I understand you're worried about the danger there. But going alone... isn't that looking down on us a bit too much?"
"Yeah. We aren't weak either. Although we don't have monster-like strength like you, we can handle mere Marines.
Even if you're worried about the others, you don't have to leave all of us behind, right?"
Sunbell and Sebastian voiced their opinions one after another. They understood Nereus's reasoning but felt he was being overly cautious.
Their words weren't unfounded. Even without Nereus, Babel and Sunbell would have become crew members of Rocks and Roger respectively, possessing considerable strength.
Sebastian would appear later in the timeline, sailing with Byrnndi World, the "World Destroyer." Now, under Nereus's training, they were stronger than their original timeline counterparts, not weaker.
Even the weakest, Big Pan, had made a qualitative leap in strength.
Big Pan remained silent. His personality was inherently simple-minded—capable of taking care of himself and not stupid, but lacking many independent thoughts.
Since being taken in by Nereus, he obeyed every command without question.
"Big Bro, let me go with you. The three of them are enough to guard the ship."
In the end, under their persistence, Nereus chose to let Babel accompany him alone, while the others would be responsible for staying behind on the ship.
...
Early the next morning.
A massive pirate ship hoisted its sails and set off, sailing full speed south from Hachinosu's port, heading straight for the West Blue.
This was Rocks's ship. Even with hulking figures like Charlotte Linlin and Whitebeard on board, it didn't feel crowded.
Trailing behind Rocks's ship were two large Marine warships.
This wasn't the Marines tailing Rocks; these two ships were manned entirely by Fish-men.
The hulls had been repainted in azure, and the seagull flags on the masts had long been replaced.
Simply put, the new emblem was a stretched design based on a moon and a bat, looking quite similar to the Batman logo.
Unlike the common skull-and-crossbones format of pirate flags, this was the banner Nereus's forces used to identify themselves during operations.
In a world dominated by the ocean where travel relied entirely on ships, vessels held a high status on this sea.
Ships built by excellent shipwrights often gained fame alongside the strong individuals who sailed them. However, Nereus's ships were directly snatched from the Marines.
Whether in size, speed, hull quality, or firepower, Marine ships ranked among the top on the sea.
After all, the Marines were the violent enforcement arm of the World Government. Marine shipyards could recruit excellent shipwrights from all over the world and use various high-quality materials to build their warships.
Except for a few legendary shipwrights, most pirate ships were inferior in quality to Marine ships. Otherwise, the Marines couldn't hope to catch pirates on the open sea.
A good ship did have significant meaning, but due to the tactical nature of the Fish-man race, abandoning ships for underwater combat happened frequently.
Under these circumstances, Nereus wasn't ready to build his own custom ship yet. The ships they used were basically all snatched from the Marines.
Nereus himself and Babel were currently on Rocks's ship, while their own ships followed at a set distance behind.
On Rocks's ship, Stussy was calculating the route.
"The direction is correct. As long as the intel isn't wrong, we can reach God Valley before they start."
"Can't we go any faster? My Shakky is waiting for us to rescue her!"
"Shiki, what do you mean your Shakky? She's mine!"
Golden Lion Shiki and Silver Axe nearly started a fight over that single sentence, but the sudden stopping of the ship halted them.
"What's happening? Why did we stop?!"
"If you aren't blind, look ahead!"
Rocks's ship was massive enough to be described as giant, but compared to the ship in front of them, it looked like a toy.
That ship belonged to the Kingdom of Giants—Elbaf.