Within Nereus's sphere of influence, his authority was absolute.
Part of that came from the way he handled things, but more importantly, it came from one fact:
Nereus possessed overwhelming personal strength.
When gathering this group under his banner, it had never been a matter of persuasion alone.
According to fish-man tradition—or more precisely, the traditions of Fish-Man District—such matters were ultimately settled by fists.
And every one of them knew exactly how hard Nereus's fists were.
If they kept bickering now, Nereus would happily demonstrate what it meant to be someone who rarely fought, but greatly enjoyed stopping fights.
After all, everyone knew this simple truth:
If the person breaking up a fight is stronger than everyone involved, the dispute ends perfectly.
"Babel, take those sea beasts out. Let me see how your training turned out."
"Don't worry, Big Brother. I guarantee you won't be disappointed."
Babel waved a hand and took two men with him, carrying sea conches as they headed toward a nearby bay.
Meanwhile, Nereus accepted the telescope Sunbell handed him and looked toward the distant sea.
"Who are they exactly?"
"The Treba Treasure Hunters. Their captain is Treba Brucchi, bounty: 100 million Beli."
As the currency circulating across the seas, Beli had been steadily losing value.
After the Great Pirate Era began, that trend only intensified.
To judge actual value, one useful reference was newspaper prices—after all, in a sense, the World Economy News Paper served as a kind of special universal benchmark.
In Luffy's era, one paper cost 100 Beli.
Right now, it cost only 50 Beli.
That meant a 100 million Beli bounty carried considerably more weight than it would in the future.
"Treasure hunters?"
"Bounty hunters, officially. In reality, slave traders.
Three months ago, we freed a group of slaves—the ship belonged to them.
Seems because of us, they failed to deliver their 'goods' on time, offended some World Government people, and ended up getting bounties themselves."
Sunbell recited the intelligence they had gathered.
There was no direct proof of why the group had come, but it was impossible they had sailed here for a friendly visit.
Treating them as enemies posed no issue.
And in truth, that was exactly what they were.
After being targeted themselves, they lacked the courage to retaliate against the World Government and instead set their sights on Nereus—the "real culprit" in their eyes.
After all, in most people's minds, no pirate force, no matter how powerful, could compare to the World Government, the giant that had ruled the world for centuries.
"I've seen plenty who don't value their lives. But people this eager to die are rare."
After thinking briefly, Nereus recalled that operation.
He himself had not even participated.
One subordinate squad had completed the mission alone.
The enemy had not been particularly strong.
Still, Nereus found nothing surprising about them daring to seek revenge.
Because on these seas, reckless fools were everywhere.
One might even call them a specialty of the ocean.
"Big Brother, no need for you to move. I'll handle this one.
Trash like them... five minutes is enough."
Seeing Nereus rolling his wrists as if preparing to fight, Sebastian stepped forward first.
Nereus simply nodded in approval.
Situations like this were common:
slave merchants seeking revenge,
Marines acting under World Government orders,
pirates hoping to make a name for themselves—
all kinds of enemies appeared near here regularly.
Not every enemy was worth Nereus acting personally.
At that moment, Sebastian had already become a streak of white cutting across the sea's surface, charging straight toward the approaching ship.
Meanwhile, at a nearby deepwater harbor, the blasts of conch horns echoed from Babel's hands.
Beneath the sea, three massive shadows began to move slowly...
At the same time, aboard the Treba Treasure Hunters' ship—
A gaunt but tall man, his face covered in knife scars, stared furiously toward Beehive Island.
This was Treba Brucchi.
Though called a treasure hunter captain, he was in truth nothing more than a slave trafficker.
Because he had served the World Government and possessed some strength of his own, life had gone smoothly for him until recently—
until he crossed paths with Nereus's subordinates.
"Full speed ahead!
That bastard is on that island!
Kill them! Recover all those goods!
Only then do we have a chance to clear our bounty!"
"B-But Captain... that's Beehive... there are monsters on that island... maybe we should turn back..."
Several men behind him looked visibly afraid.
Even after approaching Hachinosu, they still lacked confidence.
Beehive Island being a pirate stronghold was no secret.
And it was full of infamous great pirates.
The only reason they still followed Treba Brucchi now was because the World Government's bounty targeted them as a group.
As long as they stayed with him, his strength could still fend off Marines and bounty hunters.
If they separated, they might soon be captured by other slave traders and sold to fill the vacancies left behind.
As slave traders themselves, they understood better than anyone what awaited slaves.
That was why they still followed him despite this madness.
But it did not stop them from trying to persuade him.
If Treba chose to hide somewhere remote—perhaps in one of the Four Seas—they might still survive quietly, even dominate a small local region like petty mountain bandits.
"Shut up!
I'm not living like a rat forever!
Those pirates are only gathered on that island. At best they won't help each other—if we're lucky they won't stab each other in the back first!
Last time they succeeded only because I wasn't aboard!
If I'd been there, would they have taken those goods so easily?
Mermaid slaves fetch the highest prices.
This time, they'll be perfect!"
Even now, Treba Brucchi firmly believed that Nereus's men had succeeded only because he had not personally escorted that ship.
This kind of blind confidence in one's own strength was extremely common at sea.
It had not changed in the future, and it had not changed now.
Even high bounties failed to discourage such people.
After all, bounty values were not based solely on strength.
Cruel actions and conduct that offended the World Government also increased bounty amounts.
Many believed others were only famous because they had gone to sea earlier.
In their minds, they had already surpassed those so-called legends—they simply had not yet had a chance to prove it.
This ocean specialty had a name:
hotheaded rookies.
They appeared constantly among newcomers.
In the original timeline, the Supernovas challenging the Four Emperors was a perfect example.
Believing themselves invincible, they lacked true understanding of power—
and reality usually struck them brutally, very quickly.
BOOM!
Treba was about to issue another order when violent tremors suddenly shook the ship.
The deck lurched so violently that two crewmen were thrown directly overboard.
"What happened?!"
Treba grabbed part of the ship to steady himself.
Those stumbling from the impact had no time to answer.
Instead, the ship itself gave him the answer.
The deck groaned.
The hull emitted a deafening cracking sound.
The sturdy keel had been snapped cleanly in half.
The vessel split apart like a rotting tree hollowed by insects, torn apart instantly by monstrous force.
Wood fragments exploded outward.
Seawater rushed wildly into the hull.
The massive ship tilted and began sinking.
Crew members slid helplessly into the sea one after another.
The remaining men clung desperately to fixed parts of the deck, but it hardly mattered.
The ship's size prevented immediate sinking—
but sinking was now only a matter of time.
"You people really are arrogant.
Didn't even bother learning how we fight?
It's been a long time since I met enemies with absolutely no underwater defense."
Sebastian burst upward from the sea.
His massive body landed atop the sinking ship, accelerating its descent further.
Had the vessel not been large to begin with, it would never have survived that impact at all.
Now standing atop the slowly sinking wreck, Sebastian looked at the enemy with open mockery in his eyes.
"Two minutes left.
But against trash like you... that's more than enough."
After checking the time, Sebastian put away his pocket watch.
Then his gaze turned cold as it fixed on Treba Brucchi.