Chapter 246: Actually, I'm a Traditional Vampire
If he had only heard the respectful title "Your Majesty," Rook might not have panicked completely. It was entirely possible that these people merely knew Nereus in passing or had been rescued from that slave transport ship years ago.
However, amidst the chorus of greetings, he distinctly heard someone call out, "Captain Nereus."
Very few people were qualified to address Nereus as "Captain," and anyone who dared to do so had to be an original member of the Fish-Man Pirates. This meant that hidden within this group of rookies... were Nereus's direct, veteran subordinates.
And that was exactly the case; the final batch of apprentices from the old crew was among them, and their foundational bond with Nereus was no different than the veterans'.
Given his rank, Rook naturally had no idea what specific treaty existed between Nereus and the highest echelons of the World Government. But he knew one thing with absolute certainty: if he died here, the higher-ups would absolutely not break their treaty with Nereus just to avenge a single expendable operative.
As for releasing the hostage and surrendering...
He didn't dare do that either.
Rook possessed a terrifyingly clear understanding of what a true monster was. Since Nereus could appear silently behind him without triggering his Observation Haki, he was more than capable of killing him effortlessly.
The only reason he was still breathing was the hostage he held—and the fact that Nereus had undoubtedly already deduced his Devil Fruit ability.
It wasn't just a matter of not daring to release her now. Rook's ability could only bind one person at a time; if he ever deactivated it to bind a new target, the previous target would immediately be freed from the synchronized damage.
And Nereus was a primary subject of intense psychological profiling within the Cipher Pol agencies. Back when Nereus was still an actively wanted criminal, they had heavily analyzed his behavioral patterns.
This specific department's entire purpose was to analyze the habits and personalities of notorious pirates, and every single monster in the New World had a meticulously documented profile.
Extremely lethal. Unforgiving. Holds permanent grudges.
Those were the defining traits of Nereus's profile.
If he surrendered the hostage today, even if he managed to walk off this island alive, he would inevitably suffer a sudden "suicide" during his very next mission. The cause of death would likely be seven gunshots to the back.
"CP0. It's been a while since I've dealt with you lot," Nereus said smoothly.
"I didn't know they were your people..." Rook stammered. "This was a direct order from the top. I'm just following orders..."
"Every single person I kill has that exact same excuse," Nereus replied, his tone chillingly calm. "The Marines I slaughtered were just 'following orders' too. But what you're doing right now... regardless of whose orders you're following, it doesn't matter to me."
As a rigorously trained CP0 agent, Rook possessed incredibly strong psychological fortitude. Seeing that Nereus was only talking and hadn't attacked immediately, he managed to scrounge up a sliver of confidence.
Overwhelming Haki could nullify the effects of a Devil Fruit on oneself, but it couldn't cancel out the effects inflicted on someone else.
That was the terrifying nature of Devil Fruits. Sometimes, a bizarre, conceptual ability was enough to completely hijack the flow of a battle.
"How about we pretend this never happened?" Rook proposed desperately. "I swear I'll never use my ability to affect this woman again. We both walk away peacefully, and pretend none of this ever occurred..."
Nereus acted as if he hadn't heard Rook's proposal, though the agent's underlying intent was glaringly obvious.
His phrasing was "I'll never use my ability to affect this woman again," rather than "I'll deactivate my ability." This proved Rook was absolutely terrified of retaliation. He fully intended to keep the permanent link active as his eternal life insurance.
But if he died on a random mission down the line, or was casually executed by an unhappy Celestial Dragon... Ginny would still die alongside him.
"Being analyzed so thoroughly isn't always a good thing, it seems," Nereus noted mildly. "You appear to be deeply concerned that I'll settle the score with you later..."
Without warning, Nereus turned his gaze toward Kuma.
"Kuma, answer me honestly, and this is a very serious question. How far have things progressed between the two of you?"
"Progressed?" Kuma tilted his head in genuine confusion. "Ginny and I are very good friends. Given my circumstances—"
"Alright, that's all I needed to know."
Kuma's tone was enough to confirm that their romantic progression was currently sitting at absolute zero. That made things infinitely simpler.
While Rook was still frantically calculating his escape route, Nereus suddenly moved. But his target wasn't Rook—it was Ginny.
"It's useless! Even if you take her to the bottom of the ocean, my ability will still trigger—!"
Rook hadn't panicked when the hostage was snatched from his grip, but Nereus's next action left him completely bewildered.
Nereus didn't attack Rook. Instead, a single, razor-sharp claw extended from his fingertip and pierced directly into Ginny's neck.
Executing the hostage first to permanently remove the enemy's leverage.
It was a ruthlessly pragmatic tactic the World Government themselves frequently employed when faced with hostage situations; Rook was no stranger to it.
But for Nereus to do it...
His own subordinates were standing right there! Doing something so cold-blooded right in front of them—was he not afraid of completely shattering their loyalty and morale?!
"Relax. It'll hurt a bit, and you might feel a little dizzy, but once you adjust, you'll understand exactly what this is," Nereus whispered to Ginny. "Someone take care of her. I'm going to deal with that piece of trash."
The moment Rook witnessed Nereus "insanely" executing his own subordinate, he had instantly turned and fled for his life.
But it was entirely meaningless.
The chasm in their absolute strength was like an uncrossable dimensional fault line, even if Rook had a massive head start.
"Hiss... my head hurts a little..." Ginny rubbed her temples. "Why are you all staring at me like that? Is there something on my face? By the way, what exactly just happened...?"
Ginny felt like she was missing a chunk of her memory and had absolutely no recollection of the recent events. This was another insidious side effect of Rook's ability; when he assumed total control over a synchronized target, their consciousness was suppressed into a puppet-like state.
But as soon as she regained her senses, she realized everyone was gathered around her, staring at her as if they had just seen a ghost.
"Um... you should probably just look for yourself," Luna said, pulling out a pocket mirror and holding it up to Ginny's face.
Smack dab in the center of Ginny's forehead was a gaping, bloody bullet hole. It looked like a blatantly fatal wound, yet not a single drop of blood was spilling from it. More shockingly, the gruesome wound was visibly—albeit slowly—knitting itself back together.
"Oh, my head got blown open..." Ginny blinked, poking the wound curiously. "No wonder it hurts a bit... Wait, why am I still alive?"
"Just now... and then His Majesty Nereus arrived, and then..."
The rest of the crew had no idea exactly how it worked either, so they could only give her a rough summary of the insane sequence of events. By the time they finished explaining, the gaping hole in Ginny's forehead had completely healed over, leaving flawless skin behind. Aside from the bloodstains on her clothes, there was no sign she had ever been injured.
"From a biological standpoint, you can no longer be classified as 'human.' You should properly be categorized as a 'Vampire' now, which naturally grants you certain non-human traits—such as extreme regenerative capabilities."
Nereus strolled casually back into the clearing. Dealing with a fleeing CP0 agent was barely a footnote to him; he had casually blown a hole through the man's head and sauntered back to the camp.
Although the damage was perfectly synchronized to Ginny, when a headshot ceased to be a fatal wound, the Sync-Sync Fruit's ultimate restriction was rendered entirely meaningless.
Moments ago, Nereus had appeared to merely pierce Ginny's neck, but he had actually initiated a blood transfusion directly into her carotid artery, completing a ritual akin to a Vampire's First Embrace.
Now, Ginny had been physically altered by the latent power of the Bat-Bat Fruit, Model: Vampire, granting her a fraction of a true Vampire's immortality.
"If your heart isn't completely obliterated, injuries anywhere else on your body will simply consume your stamina to regenerate slowly. Does that make sense?" Nereus explained patiently.
"I originally just came here to see how you were all progressing on your voyage," Nereus continued, looking at the stunned crew. "I didn't expect to run into a mess like this. Do you have any other questions? I can answer them for you directly right now."
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