Chapter 56: The Prerequisite for Scamming a Patron is Meeting Them First
"I think... I would still research it. Incorrect usage should not be the reason to deny the existence of an object. Someone will use it for the right path eventually."
"Then there's no problem. I think so too. Some technologies are necessities for the livelihood of Fish-man Island, and other things are also for the peace of Fish-man Island.
Doctor, you need money, and I need technology. In fact, what we both want is peace. If this energy source can truly realize peace, I would very much like to see that side.
But unfortunately, this peace does not belong to Fish-man Island right now."
Fish-man Island was a member nation of the World Government; this had long been established.
The Giant Kingdom of Elbaf was not a member of the World Government, but when comparing national conditions, Elbaf was much stronger than Fish-man Island. Ultimately, it was a matter of overall strength.
The conversation between the two lasted until the break ended. Overall, both sides were quite pleased and reached a consensus on certain topics for the time being.
Vegapunk also received a special commission—some data on ancient ruins compiled by Nereus, and even a few rusty ancient artifacts.
For Vegapunk, these were the truly valuable items.
"Wobbegong, where is our patron?"
"Patron? Big Bro Nereus has already left. He has things to do; he was just passing through this time."
A short while later, when Judge and the others brought their organized materials, intending to seek investment from the patron, they discovered the patron was long gone.
They had been purely thinking about how to attract the patron's attention and make him choose to invest in them.
But they never considered that the patron had no intention of seeing them at all.
This filled Judge, Scien (Queen), and the others with resentment, and they immediately started grumbling.
[Only has eyes for Vegapunk]
[Arrogant guy who looks down on people]
Similar phrases popped up one after another. They even declared they would research projects shocking enough to make him regret it.
If anyone had the biggest grievance, it was Caesar Clown. Among the scientists on this ship, he was the most keen on spending money on debauchery.
In the original timeline, he even spent massive amounts of research funds on indulgence. While on Punk Hazard, he constantly called "Girls' Ships" to the island for parties.
"Wobbegong is still here. He'll definitely come back before long. You can try complaining to his face then. See if all of you combined can beat a monster with a bounty nearing 4 billion."
Miss Bakkin happened to pass by and saw the grumbling trio, so she made a casual remark.
"Four billion?!"
Hearing this bounty amount, the three who were grumbling just now suddenly widened their eyes. They weren't shocked because the other party was a wanted criminal.
If these people were truly law-abiding, they wouldn't have boarded this ship. The things researched on this ship were basically all prohibited by the World Government.
Leaving aside what Vegapunk researched, what the rest of them researched were inherently various weapons of mass destruction.
What shocked them was the implication behind a four-billion bounty.
"You didn't know? Wobbegong is a Fish-man. On this sea, the only person who can bring out massive funds and also be constantly mentioned by a Fish-man is him."
"You mean that 'Vampire'? But didn't he disappear along with the Rocks Pirates? Since that mysterious incident in the West Blue, there hasn't been any news of him..."
Actually, the God Valley Incident had ended several months ago, but during this time, Nereus had been constantly sailing.
Without the suppression of Rocks, great pirates like Shiki and Whitebeard began to emerge. Compared to them, Nereus seemed more transparent right now.
So much so that rumors on the sea claimed Nereus, like Rocks, had died on God Valley.
After all, information flow on the sea wasn't developed. Newspapers were almost the only channel for island residents to obtain outside information.
Once newspapers focused on others, rumors easily arose about those not featured.
However, such rumors didn't affect Nereus much; he personally didn't care about such things.
If mere words could make people disappear, the Celestial Dragons on the Red Line would have gone extinct long ago.
At this moment, Nereus was dealing with some trivial troubles.
After handing over some items to Wobbegong, Nereus and his group continued sailing. They didn't cross the Calm Belt immediately but followed the guidance of the Log Pose, continuing to sail in the first half of the Grand Line (Paradise).
During this process, a group of pirates whose names Nereus didn't even know attacked them. Although they were dealt with quickly, this was already the third attack since entering Paradise.
"Is this what pirates in the first half of the Grand Line are like? They sure have guts. No wonder those pirates arriving in the New World for the first time are all fearless."
Nanamo had always followed Nereus, but they rarely operated in the first half of the Grand Line. At most, they operated around the Sabaody Archipelago, the midpoint.
In the New World, Nereus's flag had extremely strong deterrence. Except for some people with special purposes, most would keep their distance to avoid offending Nereus.
By the time they reached the Sabaody Archipelago, the deterrence of this flag began to decline. Many pirates had heard of this name but still recklessly wanted to challenge him, attempting to build their own reputation by stepping on Nereus.
Of course, the end for such pirates was usually miserable.
Now in the first half of the Grand Line, many pirates simply didn't understand what this name meant and launched attacks immediately upon meeting.
This was actually the norm for most pirates when they met. Compared to sitting down for a drink and holding a banquet—a "playing house" behavior—annexing the other party was what they really wanted to do.
"This is the norm of this world. My flag can protect you for a while, but personal strength is the foundation. Nanamo, you have excellent talent, so..."
"So Papa, you plan to give me extra lessons tonight and make me train more?"
Similar words weren't unfamiliar to Nanamo. She felt that since she could remember, this training had never stopped.
Initially, it was physical exercise under the guise of playing. As she gradually grew sensible, it turned into formal training.
Therefore, as soon as Nereus opened his mouth, Nanamo guessed what he would say next.
"You said it yourself."
"Even if I didn't say it, you would have said it anyway, Papa. I always suspect you used Future Sight when saying this..."
Future Sight—an ability derived after training Observation Haki to the extreme. Unlike innate powers like reading minds or sensing emotions, Future Sight was a realm that could possibly be reached through diligent training.
"You'll understand when you train to that level."
"Big Bro! This pirate crew is a treasure courier! There's a Devil Fruit on their ship! I've seen this in the encyclopedia; it's the Paramecia-type Door-Door Fruit (Doa Doa no Mi)!"
Before Nereus could arrange the evening training plan, the group searching for loot brought new news.
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