"Listen to this first."
Anyone could sense something was off with Rocks. This kind of impatience was uncharacteristic of him.
So, Charlotte Linlin directly took out a Den Den Mushi—a specially made recording Den Den Mushi capable of playing audio.
This Den Den Mushi was quite large, much bigger than ordinary ones. Usually, it was placed in surveillance rooms to be used alongside Visual Den Den Mushis, but in Charlotte Linlin's hands, the size seemed just right.
After some simple adjustments by Charlotte Linlin, a voice recording began to play in the room, and everyone present also received a paper copy of the intelligence.
"Ahem, whoever receives this message, I guarantee the following news is absolutely true! This is a Celestial Dragon slave transport ship. The Celestial Dragons are holding a game exclusively for themselves.
Treasures, Devil Fruits, special slaves—all are prizes. Each treasure chest is worth one billion Berries!
And the destination is God Valley in the West Blue. The specific coordinates are..."
A low female voice spoke rapidly, detailing the situation.
She didn't play for pity or beg for rescue; she simply explained how rich the prizes on that island were.
The World Government led it, and the Navy was responsible for escorting. These people who constantly preached justice were in charge of this death sport. Therefore, she knew very well that the only people she could rely on were those attracted by heavy profit.
Wealth moves people's hearts. If the benefits were high enough, someone would always be willing to risk coming. Only by causing chaos would there be a chance to escape.
"Isn't that too suspicious? Where is the source of this intelligence?"
Wang Zhi didn't seem to believe this news. Beside him, Buckingham felt that some people within the Navy were wavering, allowing this news to leak.
But more people... were focusing on Shakky.
"Shakky is still alive!"
"Where is she?!"
"Idiot, didn't she say? God Valley!"
"I'm asking where God Valley is! I'm not a navigator; who understands those coordinates!"
Amidst the chaotic arguing, some were analyzing the situation.
"So it was those World Government bastards who stole our Shakky?! No, I should say, of course it was those bastards... No wonder my channels couldn't find her..."
Ochoku muttered to himself. Most of the Rocks Pirates had rich side businesses. Many were gangsters from various places before joining, while Ochoku was deeply entrenched in smuggling.
Smuggling required many key things, and on this sea, the most important was having stable routes. Thus, Ochoku controlled many secret routes.
After Shakky disappeared, the feedback he got from people on these routes was that nothing was found, which had annoyed Ochoku for a long time.
"So we're going to snatch Shakky back?"
"Xiong, what stupid things are you saying? Isn't that obvious? Maybe Shakky will fall in love with the person who rescues her."
The Golden Lion criticized Silver Axe's words, but soon he became the target of rebuttal too.
"No, besides Shakky, there are those treasures! Shakky should fall in love with the person who snatches the most treasure!"
The speaker was Captain John, famous for his greed for treasure. Shakky was important in his eyes, but compared to those priceless treasures, he had to consider carefully.
A group of people launched a fierce debate centered on Shakky. This meeting seemed to be gradually deviating from the main topic, turning into an exchange meeting for the sexually repressed.
"If I rescue Shakky, Roger will thank me too..."
This was Gloriosa's thought. She was infatuated with Roger. Moreover, Shakky was from Amazon Lily like her, formerly her vice-captain and the heir to the Kuja Empress title. Naturally, she had to go save her.
Buckingham had no interest in Shakky but liked those treasures very much. Just as she wanted to discuss snatching treasures with Whitebeard, she heard Whitebeard say:
"Out of friendship, I think we should go save her. If she falls in love with me because of it, I wouldn't mind."
"Newgate, what are you saying!"
Rocks remained silent. Those coordinates convinced him that it was God Valley, his hometown.
Unlike the chaotic magnetic fields of the Grand Line, compasses could still be used normally in the Four Blues, so that coordinate location was familiar to him.
Charlotte Linlin didn't participate in this topic. Instead, she came to Nereus's side.
"Nereus, let's team up first. I should be the earliest to receive that news, but the method of spreading this message was very crude; others should have discovered it too.
The Navy, Celestial Dragons, plus other pirates—the trouble on that island isn't small. Let's join forces to snatch those fruits and treasures first, then split them evenly."
Having no interest in Shakky either, Charlotte Linlin had more ideas. She could be certain the situation on the island would be chaos. It was better to secure an ally first.
Although conflicting worldviews had caused some unpleasantness between them, among the members of the Rocks Pirates, Nereus was actually someone she could trust relatively more.
People here always had to guard against each other, even Rocks.
Charlotte Linlin had once warned Kaido not to trust the other party too much.
"I have no objections. Teaming up for now is fine."
Nereus knew the final outcome of God Valley and some events that occurred in between, but lacked detailed knowledge, so he accepted Charlotte Linlin's invitation.
"Wait, Nereus, Linlin, aren't you two both ability users? Those abilities are useless to you!"
"Kaido, what nonsense are you talking about? Even if we don't eat them ourselves, we can give them to others. Even sold on the black market, such rare fruits won't be cheap."
Nereus glanced at Kaido. Besides Rocks and himself, Kaido was the only male present unaffected by Shakky.
There were no women in his heart, only the desire for a powerful enough Devil Fruit. But his words sounded very illogical to Nereus.
"In that case, count me in. I only need one."
Kaido issued his application to join. Following the original timeline, without Nereus, Charlotte Linlin would likely have temporarily teamed up with Kaido.
However, there was a clear difference between their agreement and the final result. In the end, Kaido ambushed and snatched the Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon that Charlotte Linlin had obtained.
Now that Charlotte Linlin had a better solution, she didn't actively seek out Kaido, but that didn't stop Kaido from coming over to team up himself.
Thud!
"Stop arguing!"
Before Nereus and Charlotte Linlin could answer Kaido, Rocks suddenly slammed his fist onto the table in front of him.
Countless cracks instantly appeared on the hard stone table, looking as if it would collapse at any moment.
"It's too early to divide the loot! Mates, Shakky, treasures, Devil Fruits—none of these are in our hands.
Team up temporarily, snatch the stuff back first, then figure out how to distribute it. Any objections?
Cowards stay on the island. To go to God Valley, prepare to set sail!"