"Wait a moment, this is quite a lot… How did you come to study this kind of thing? I always thought that aside from our Kozuki family, no one else could read these characters anymore."
"When you set out to sea one day, you'll naturally come to understand these things. The world is vast, if you remain closed off here, you'll never know what lies beyond."
Kozuki Oden had once sailed the seas and reached the final island together with Roger, which only strengthened his belief that Wano Country needed to open its borders.
In theory, there might be records of something on that final island. No one knows exactly what is there, but it is like a time capsule, something that can only be opened when the time is right.
After that, Nereus did not stay long. He left the shore and headed in the direction where Big Pan and Kawamatsu had gone.
Kozuki Oden pondered for a moment, then returned to the sea. Since he hadn't even managed to win the fight, he felt too embarrassed to continue asking the other party to take him out to sea, especially since they had already agreed beforehand.
He had originally come out to search for ingredients to make oden's broth, and this delay had almost made him forget about it.
"Dad, can we catch a couple of carp from the sea to bring back?"
"Catch a few small ones. The big ones are inconvenient to take back. We flew here this time, we don't have a ship for them to follow slowly."
The giant carp here were a special species of Wano Country. Due to the dangerous waters outside, these carp were not only enormous but also incredibly strong, capable of dragging ships up the waterfall surrounding Wano.
"Princess Nanamo, what do you want those useless carp for? How could they be more useful than me, Hermes? I'm a cloud that can fly, run, and even swim!
I can change my form however I like. No matter how you think about it, I'm much more convenient than those carp!"
Hearing that Nanamo wanted to catch some carp to bring back to Fishman Island, Hermes became somewhat agitated.
Traveling together made him feel uneasy. As Nanamo's exclusive mount, Hermes was quite cautious about the idea of gaining "colleagues."
To prove his versatility, he even reshaped himself into the form of a carp. However, due to his cloud-like nature, the carp he formed looked more like a ghost.
"Stop fooling around! I just want to keep some as pets. They look very auspicious."
Compared to the fierce and terrifying Fighting Fish raised by the Fish-Men Pirates, these large carp looked much cuter.
Their scales resembled those of koi rather than ordinary carp.
Such large koi would surely bring even better fortune. That was Nanamo's simple and straightforward reasoning.
"You'll be the one helping transport these fish back, so do your job well, Hermes. You are my most loyal subordinate."
Clouds from Sky Island include Sea Clouds. Though still clouds, they share similar properties with seawater.
They can support fish living within them. However, because their density differs from water, ordinary sea fish would simply fall through unless a special base is prepared.
As a Homie, Hermes was undoubtedly a qualified worker. He needed no reward; just a couple of verbal praises were enough to fill him with enthusiasm.
"I'll go pick some carefully later. By the way… why have you two been following us this whole time?"
Nanamo turned to look at Inuarashi and Nekomamushi, who had been trailing behind them in small steps ever since they left.
"So those brotherhood legends were all lies. This country is far too unfriendly to us, we don't want to stay here."
"But we don't want to return to Zou Island right now either, and we don't even know how to get back… so we want to follow our benefactor!"
"If you want to follow, then follow. I happen to have someone from your homeland with me, you might even know them."
"Yay!"
Hearing Nereus's decision, both Inuarashi and Nekomamushi were overjoyed.
Even in their normal state, Minks are formidable warriors. Even children of four or five years old can give a fully armed adult a hard time.
And on the night of the full moon, under its moonlight, when they enter their Sulong form, their strength undergoes a qualitative leap.
Without Sulong, Inuarashi and Nekomamushi could only wear Jack down in a battle of endurance. But once in Sulong form, Jack could not last long at all, clearly demonstrating the difference in strength.
Before long, Nereus sensed Big Pan's presence and found Kawamatsu along with his mother.
"Boss, she's injured. It's not easy to move her. I don't have any medicine, so I had to wait for you to come."
Big Pan pointed at Kawamatsu's mother, explaining why they hadn't returned for so long.
He remembered the ship's doctor saying that people with injuries shouldn't be moved casually, but that was the only thing he could recall.
"Your Majesty Nereus, I'm sorry for causing you trouble…"
"It's nothing. You're also a citizen of Fishman Island. Besides the external injuries, are there any other discomforts? Fever or anything like that?"
"No, my body is still holding up, but when the ship sank earlier, I might have injured my bones…"
After roughly asking about the situation, Nereus had already thought of a way to handle it. Instead of using splints or other conventional methods for external injuries, he took out a small bottle with a blue flame burning inside.
"Isn't that Amphy's fire? Dad, how did you keep it burning like that? Amphy didn't even come this time."
Regarding Amphitrite's ability…
Nanamo actually had some complaints, because ever since Amphitrite mastered that ability, her training had entered a rather strange mode.
Nereus would have Amphitrite attach flames onto Nanamo's body, healing her while training her at the same time, causing the intensity to rise even further.
Although the Flames of Regeneration were very effective for treating external injuries, they could only be used when Amphy was present. She had never seen flames like this being carried around like a tinder.
"The essence of flame combustion is an exothermic, luminous reaction. As long as there's fuel and a medium, it will keep burning.
The phoenix's fire is the fire of the soul. Ordinary things cannot be ignited by it, so naturally it can't be preserved. But I have plenty of fuel for this."
"It might feel a bit hot, just bear with it."
Nereus could carry a tinder of the Flames of Regeneration, but without Amphitrite nearby, he couldn't control the temperature, so the person being treated would feel a burning sensation.
However, this flame was the most effective method for treating external injuries.
"Pan, beneath this island is a Seastone vein. Go down and take a look, estimate the general range of the deposit. Can you do that?"
"Um… Boss, how do I know it's a Seastone vein?"
"Swim a bit slower. If you come across ground that you can't turn into water, that means it's a Seastone vein. Got it?"
"Got it! I'll do it properly this time!"
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