As night began to fall, Sebastian and the others gradually returned to the base.
“What’s going on?
Why is everyone packing up?”
The camp was filled with bundled luggage.
Many people were still in the middle of packing, and even some of the temporary buildings had already been completely dismantled.
Some had even packed away their bedding entirely and looked ready to spend the night directly on wooden planks.
This unusual scene left Sebastian, who had just returned from patrolling the outer sea, somewhat puzzled.
“Lord Sebastian?
You’re back.
These are Lord Nereus’s orders—everyone is to pack up and be ready to leave at any time.”
“Also, he said that once you return, you are to go to the meeting room immediately.
There is an important meeting.”
The fish-man on guard duty in the camp stepped forward and explained the situation.
Upon hearing this, Sebastian immediately headed toward the meeting room.
Apart from him, the other officers were already there.
Sunbell was holding a sea chart, quietly answering Nanamo’s questions beside him.
Big Pan was sitting on a large chair with a goofy expression, waving his big hands at the moon in the sky as if amusing himself.
Barbel sat silently on the other side, slowly turning his prayer beads while muttering something.
Even when Sebastian arrived, he did not start his usual bickering—he only glanced at him once.
“Even that bald guy isn’t calling me out for being late… looks like something serious is going on.”
Sebastian immediately realized that Nereus must have made a major decision; otherwise Barbel would never be this quiet.
“Big brother, I saw everyone outside packing things up.”
“Yeah.
After the meeting, you all should go prepare as well.
Once this matter is over, we won’t be coming back here again.”
“As I said when we first set out to sea, we left in order to temper our strength, broaden our horizons, meet more people and events, and prepare for what comes next.
Up to now, the early preparations are more or less complete.
At this point, it’s time to begin the next phase of action.
Let me go over the plan moving forward.
If you have any objections, feel free to speak up.”
When speaking of their early days at sea, Nereus’s tone carried a faint sense of nostalgia.
In the blink of an eye, so many years had passed—yet many things still felt as if they had just happened yesterday.
“To put it simply, the Celestial Dragons are going to hold a bestial ‘game’ on God Valley.
Someone leaked the information, and Rocks and the others ultimately decided to join forces to seize what’s there…”
After briefly summarizing the situation, Nereus continued:
“Once we reach the West Sea, you will take the crew and lie low offshore in concealment.
Just stay on standby at the perimeter for support.
As for God Valley—I will go alone.”
Nereus’s subordinates were not limited to just Sebastian and the others.
In the beginning, their numbers had indeed been small, but as Nereus’s name spread back to Fish-Man Island, his forces steadily grew.
Some fish-men and merfolk who had heard of Nereus chose to follow him out of admiration, leaving Fish-Man Island in groups to join his ranks.
There were even some who simply wished to see what the world above the sea looked like.
The base even included children among its residents—this was all the result of years of development.
“Big brother, I understand your concern about the danger over there, but going alone… isn’t that looking down on us a bit too much?”
“Yeah, we’re not weak either.
Even if we don’t have monster-level strength like yours, we can still handle the Navy.
Even if you’re worried about other situations, there’s no need to leave all of us behind, right?”
Sunbell and Sebastian voiced their objections in turn.
They could understand Nereus’s reasoning, but felt he was being overly cautious.
And in truth, their confidence wasn’t unfounded.
Even without Nereus, Barbel and Sunbell would have gone on to become members of Rocks and Roger’s crews respectively, both far from weak.
Sebastian would have set sail later, but he eventually traveled with Byrnndi World, the “World Destroyer.” With Nereus’s training, they were now even stronger than in the original timeline.
Even the weakest among them, Big Pan, had undergone a qualitative improvement in strength.
Big Pan said nothing.
His personality was simple-minded—capable of taking care of himself, not foolish, but not someone who formed many independent opinions.
After being taken under Nereus’s command, he had become completely obedient, never questioning orders.
“Big brother, I’ll go with you.
The other three can stay behind and guard the ship.”
In the end, after their insistence, Nereus decided that Barbel would accompany him alone, while the others would remain aboard the ship to hold position.
The next morning, a massive pirate ship raised its sails and departed from Hachinosu’s harbor, heading south at full speed toward the West Sea.
This was Rocks’ ship.
Even someone as massive as Charlotte Linlin or Whitebeard wouldn’t feel cramped aboard it.
Behind Rocks’ vessel, however, followed two large Navy warships.
That didn’t mean the Navy was escorting Rocks.
Every single person on those ships was a fish-man.
The hulls had been repainted in a pale azure tone, and the seagull flags had long since been replaced.
In simple terms, the new banner was a stretched design based on a moon and a bat motif—strikingly similar to a certain bat-themed symbol from a fictional superhero world.
Unlike the typical pirate flag format, this was the emblem used by Nereus’s forces when operating outside.
In a world dominated by the sea, where all transportation depended on ships, vessels held extremely high importance.
Ships crafted by exceptional shipwrights often rose to fame alongside powerful figures.
However, Nereus’s ships were directly seized from the Navy.
In terms of size, speed, hull quality, and firepower, Navy ships were among the best on the seas.
After all, the Navy was the armed force of the World Government.
Its shipyards could gather top-tier shipwrights from across the world and construct warships using the finest materials.
With the exception of a few legendary shipwrights, most pirate ships were inferior in quality to Navy vessels—otherwise the Navy wouldn’t rely so heavily on being able to chase pirates across the sea.
A good ship certainly mattered, but due to the combat style of the fish-men, shipless or close-quarters naval battles were relatively frequent.
Because of this, Nereus had not yet commissioned his own dedicated ship.
The vessels he used were mostly seized from the Navy.
At the moment, Nereus himself and Barbel were aboard Rocks’ ship, while their own vessels followed at a certain distance behind.
On Rocks’ ship, Buckingham Stussy was currently plotting the course.
“The direction is correct.
As long as the intelligence is accurate, we’ll arrive at God Valley before it begins.”
“Can’t we go any faster?
My Shakky is still waiting for us to rescue her!”
“Shiki, what do you mean ‘your Shakky’?
She’s mine!”
Golden Lion and Silver Axe nearly came to blows over that one line, only stopping when the ship suddenly came to a halt.
“What’s going on?
Why are we stopping?!”
“If you’re not blind, look up ahead!”
Rocks’ ship was already enormous by any standard—but compared to what lay before them, it looked almost miniature.
And the owner of that colossal vessel was the Giant Kingdom—Elbaf.