Chapter 28: Marine, Pirate
"I understand, Big Bro. You be careful too."
"Don't worry, Babel. I'm not that easy to kill."
This time, Babel didn't insist. He could also sense that the aura on the island was becoming increasingly wrong.
As for Babel sailing alone afterward, Nereus wasn't worried. After all, Babel wasn't like the Fish-man slave Ivankov had sent away earlier.
Babel possessed considerable strength, and reaching the sea meant returning to his home turf.
If he encountered a situation he couldn't handle, he just needed to jump ship and dive into the deep sea, and his safety would be assured.
Nereus and his group weren't the only ones sensing that strange aura. The strong individuals on the island with recognizable names all sensed it and made their choices one after another.
In the sky, a massive dragon shadow was flying forward.
"That guy Kaido... he actually got the fruit he wanted."
Eating it and soaring through the sky with a gigantic body—that was the normal reaction for an ordinary person after consuming this fruit.
Kaido appeared even more exhilarated now, as if he couldn't wait to test his new fruit ability.
However, someone was even more emotional than Kaido.
"Kaido! You bastard, stop right there! I'm going to kill you!"
Charlotte Linlin, riding on Zeus, followed closely behind Kaido. From her appearance, she was clearly genuinely furious.
"Babel, let's go. No time to waste."
"Coming, Big Bro!"
Retreating from the island was what most pirates were doing right now. Although the treasure they snatched wasn't as much as Babel's, it was still a huge fortune.
At least for the foreseeable future, it was enough to serve as startup capital for a pirate crew.
Golden Lion Shiki, Gansui, Captain John, and others also started a new round of fighting over the treasure.
As the clash of Haki in the center of the island intensified, these people sped up their actions.
The area of God Valley wasn't too large to begin with, so rushing back to the southeast coast didn't take Nereus and Babel much time. By now, Nereus had already started selecting a ship.
"Big Bro, how about using Rocks's ship? That one should be the largest and best quality here."
"Too big. You can't operate it alone."
Fish-men were almost all born helmsmen. Their immense strength and sensitivity to ocean currents allowed them to steer ships better.
But sailing on the sea required more than just controlling the rudder, especially with a colossal ship like Rocks's. Even barely getting it moving would require the cooperation of dozens of people.
There were plenty of other pirate ships, but after careful observation, Nereus set his sights on a medium-sized warship nearby.
A warship of this scale couldn't hold as many people as a large warship, but it was easy to maneuver. Being standard Marine equipment, its quality was guaranteed.
Since this was where the Rocks Pirates and other crews had landed, the nearby fleet of warships had long been scattered. The personnel on this warship seemed to have gathered elsewhere, leaving only a few members on guard duty.
Babel took over the ship with ease and docked it by the shore.
"What are you looking at?! Get on if you don't want to die! If you want to die, just stay on the island!"
Glancing at some bewildered civilians on the shore, Babel shouted at them gruffly.
The Fish-man race needed a better public image. For years, Nereus had been leading them to act this way in the outside world. As long as they weren't enemies, they usually got along quite well.
After the hunting game on the island stopped, some people were sent away by Kuma's ability, but many were still trapped on the island.
Running around like headless flies, they fled toward the seaside. Even jumping into the sea offered a higher survival rate than staying on the island.
But there were many Marine warships around. The soldiers on those warships had a simple answer for the survivors seeking help.
"God Valley is not an affiliated nation. You are not allowed to leave here."
This was the order the Marines received. Thus, they ruthlessly pulled the triggers on unarmed people.
The current situation was quite shocking for these people, but regardless, there was finally a warship willing to take them away.
After a brief hesitation, they walked toward the warship.
"Thank you!"
"Thank you so much! I'll never forget your kindness in this life!"
The civilians nearby gained some hope of survival. Meanwhile, those not on this side...
Simultaneously, in the jungle on this side, Monkey D. Dragon was followed by a certain number of God Valley civilians.
Before coming to God Valley, 17-year-old Dragon was just an ordinary Marine soldier. Although his father was already a Marine Vice Admiral, the unit Dragon was in didn't seem to know this.
Since landing on God Valley, Dragon began to doubt the Justice upheld by the Marines.
"This way! Don't rush! I will definitely find a way to get you on a ship!"
At this moment, Dragon no longer cared about Marine orders; he just wanted to save some people and get them out of here.
Just then, Dragon discovered that a warship was also defying orders and accepting people from the island.
"Great... there are still people in the Marines who can think clearly..."
"Go this way! The warship ahead will take you away!"
Dragon shouted to the people behind him, then ran toward the warship ahead first.
"Don't push! No one can get on like that! Line up and take your time! Everyone can get on!"
Dragon began to help maintain order for the people below. At the same time, a doubt arose in his heart: why did the soldiers on this ship choose to accept civilians, yet no one came down to maintain order?
Dragon also failed to realize that the people originally crowded below the warship were looking at him strangely.
Only when Dragon stepped onto the deck did a chill surge through his entire body.
A tall figure was leaning against the railing looking at him. There was a smile on the corner of the other person's mouth, but that smile made Dragon shudder.
"Vampire... Nereus..."
Nereus's reputation within the Marines was extreme—and it was purely notoriety.
Not to mention his identity and bounty, in the Marines' past statistics, the survival rate of all soldiers who participated in operations against Nereus was less than 1%.
The few survivors suffered severe psychological trauma afterward and were completely unable to continue serving.
"Why... is it you..."
Dragon didn't understand why Nereus would appear on this warship, nor did he understand why he would accept the civilians on the island.
A soldier's instinct made Dragon aim his gun at Nereus, but soon he weakly dropped the weapon.
If it were before today, he would have chosen to fight to the death. But now, Dragon's heart had begun to waver.
More importantly, before Babel and Nereus himself even made a move, the civilians who had boarded the ship had already picked up the discarded weapons on deck and aimed them at him.