"Jokes stop being funny the second time you hear them. Boss, let me go and send him on his way."
Armament Haki began to coil around Barbell's body, eventually taking on the appearance of transparent flames burning in the air. It was an extremely dense Armament Haki, a high-level application of Armament Haki.
Simply put, it was the act of releasing Haki outside the body, letting it flow along the exterior to form an invisible suit of armor, causing internal destruction when striking.
Because of the flowing nature of this Haki, Wano Country called it Ryuo. In this regard, Barbell was quite experienced.
"No. This guy's a bit interesting. I'll handle him personally."
"Boss, if you personally deal with such an ignorant fellow, Sebastian will definitely laugh at me later."
"Barbell, your strength is more than enough to handle him, but this guy seems to have some tricks. It would take you some time to finish him off.
We're about to reach God Valley anyway, and I was just about ready to stretch my limbs. You go ahead with Rocks and the others, I'll follow shortly."
Hearing Nereus say this, Barbell no longer insisted. He merely glared viciously in Valentine's direction, muttering something under his breath.
If Sebastian were here, he would surely say that this monk Barbell was cursing the other party again, rather than properly chanting to guide their soul.
With a light leap, Nereus landed directly on Valentine's ship. Seeing this, some of the members of Rocks Pirates even started a betting pool on the spot.
However, the betting pool never actually came together and was disbanded halfway through.
Everyone bet on Nereus winning. There was no way for a gamble to even begin.
On Valentine's ship, seeing Nereus board alone, Valentine not only refrained from ordering his men to attack immediately, but instead took two steps back and bowed to Nereus.
Then, in what seemed like a concerned tone, he asked,
"Mr. Nereus, you jumped onto our ship all by yourself, are you that confident?
Ah, no, because it's you, of course you would have that kind of confidence.
That's exactly what the person I admire should do. I just hope the one I admire won't end up fleeing in fear, showing an unsightly sight."
"Don't worry. I won't run, and I won't dodge. Many pirates in the New World fear me. It's been a long time since I met someone as 'interesting' as you, so I got a bit impatient.
You'd better show me something that can actually pique my interest."
"Open fire!"
As Valentine swung one hand forward, the other pirates on the ship drew various kinds of weapons. Unlike the flintlock guns commonly seen on the seas, every weapon on Valentine's ship was fully automatic.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
"Die! As long as we kill you, we'll make a name for ourselves!"
"This is what arrogance gets you. Be a good stepping stone for us!"
In terms of firepower alone, these men far surpassed ordinary pirate crews. It was clear Valentine had spent a great deal of money on this.
Under the dense barrage, Nereus's body was torn to shreds. Even the section of deck where he had been standing was destroyed by the hail of bullets, and large amounts of blood dripped down through the cracks in the planks, spreading out.
From a medical standpoint, this amount of blood loss was far beyond normal, enough to stain an entire stretch of the deck crimson.
Yet the pirates failed to notice that the blood was spreading in an eerie manner, gradually reaching their feet.
However, this attack had no real effect. When the smoke cleared, Nereus was still standing there completely unharmed, with an extra bullet head resting in his hand.
"Silver bullets, so you did put some thought into it. But they don't really mean anything."
As soon as he finished speaking, the blood that had flowed across the deck seemed to come under his control, transforming into thorny brambles of blood that turned Valentine's ship into a crimson forest.
The thorns morphed into countless blood-red spears, piercing through the bodies of the pirates on the deck in an instant. Only Valentine remained outside the range of the attack.
The moment those pirates were pierced, the blood within their bodies seemed to be drawn by some mysterious force, eventually all being absorbed by the blood-red thorns.
"As expected, this really can't kill you. It's said that the Vampire Fruit can steal the lifespan of others, allowing the user to break free from the shackles of time."
"Coupled with this kind of regenerative ability, I suppose the rumors in the Underworld about the immortal creature are probably true, right?
This powerful bearing… that's the target I should be killing!"
There was a kind of morbid adoration in Valentine's voice. Even though he wanted to kill his opponent, his demeanor was more like that of a devout servant.
"Hmph, how boring. Truly immortal beings do not exist. You simply haven't found the right method, that's all."
"Looks like I was overthinking it. As mere entertainment, you don't even qualify."
This time Valentine did not respond. Instead, he observed the corpses on the deck. Their ghastly pale complexions were enough to show that not a single drop of blood remained in their bodies.
[Using an attack on that scale has to consume some stamina no matter what. The loss should be greater on his side. On top of his contempt for me… there's a chance!]
Valentine didn't care about the lives of these crewmates at all, treating them merely as tools to achieve his goal. If he could use their lives to make Nereus lower his guard, he felt it was entirely worth it.
From the moment Nereus boarded the ship, Valentine had been preparing.
He suddenly noticed that Nereus wasn't paying attention to him at all, but had instead turned to look in the direction where Rocks's ship was departing. Valentine immediately shot forward, charging straight at Nereus.
[At this distance, even if Observation Haki can sense it, there's no way he can dodge!]
Valentine didn't launch an attack. Instead, he wrapped his arms tightly around Nereus's waist, dragging him as they plunged together into the nearby sea.
Only when the icy seawater soaked through his clothes did a surge of wild joy well up in Valentine's heart.
"Hahahaha! Mr. Nereus, no matter how powerful you are, you're still a Devil Fruit user in the end! Even Fish-Men become completely powerless when they fall into the sea after eating a Devil Fruit!
I may be human, but I was born in the frigid harbor of Swallow Island in the North Blue! Many people there are skilled swimmers, I'm no exception!
How does it feel to be a Fish-Man, yet be defeated by a human in the ocean?!"
"Swallow Island… I do remember that island."
Nereus had his own impressions of certain islands, and Swallow Island was one of them. In the original timeline, it was the home island of two of Law's crewmates, Shachi and Penguin.
Although they were only human, underwater they could perform like human submarines and high-pressure water jets.
Nereus's tone was extremely calm, showing not the slightest fear of the situation. After his brief bout of elation, Valentine also realized that something was wrong.
By all rights, Nereus should have needed his help just to stay afloat now. Yet he had clearly already let go, and Nereus was still floating on the surface of the sea.
"H-how is that possible?!"
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