The current Nereus was like the confluence of streams.
The area affected by his ability was not only limited to the region where Whitebeard and Kaido were fighting.
The entirety of God Valley, even the surrounding seas, was now under the influence of Nereus's power.
Marines, pirates, Celestial Dragons, slaves—all could see blood beginning to flow out from the dead bodies of those with wounds, while those who were still alive were not affected in the slightest.
The blood gathered from across the entire island converged beside Nereus, condensing into a bizarre red sphere in his right hand.
Blood flowing in from all directions was absorbed by the blood sphere as soon as it entered this area. The blood that entered seemed to vanish into thin air, leaving no trace of where it went.
This was precisely why Nereus was in an awakened state. For Devil Fruit users, awakening is a special stage.
Those who successfully awaken can unleash far greater power from their fruits. Zoan-type awakeners gain unparalleled regenerative ability, while Paramecia-type Devil Fruits assimilate and transform the surrounding environment.
Logia-type awakenings can even permanently alter the terrain of an entire region, and that is only the common case. Mythical Zoan awakenings are often accompanied by even more peculiar abilities.
Of course, awakening also carries the risk of failure. The Jailer Beasts of Impel Down are a glaring example.
Though their regenerative abilities remain formidable and they are nearly impossible to kill, their human reason no longer exists, leaving them as nothing more than beasts that obey orders.
For someone like Nereus, who had successfully awakened, not only was his ability enhanced in this state, but its effective range has also become far greater.
"Marines, pirates… Celestial Dragons… all cut from the same cloth."
Although his strength was greatly amplified in his awakened state, Nereus's Observation Haki had not reached the absurd level of covering an entire island.
Enel could achieve that not only because of his natural talent for Observation Haki, but also by relying on the power of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.
Still, at close range, Nereus could perceive everything in all directions. These pirates hadn't come here to save ordinary people anyway. Their goals were either treasure, Shakuyaku, or hoping to make a name for themselves.
However, their arrival did, to some extent, put a stop to the Celestial Dragons' massacre game.
Ordinary Celestial Dragons rushed to seek refuge, while the Knights of God were busy dealing with powerful pirates from all sides, which to a certain degree gave others more chances to survive.
But that didn't mean everyone would survive. After all, the current God Valley is an isolated island surrounded on all sides by warfare, leaving no conventional path to survival.
Moreover, while ordinary Celestial Dragons had abandoned their games to seek refuge, the Knights of God had not.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
A Celestial Dragon of the Knights of God, wearing a large round hat, with light blue hair and a cloak emblazoned with the character for "god," was holding a customized rifle and firing indiscriminately at every target in her field of view.
"You think you can take advantage of this chaos to escape? Whether you're natives of this land or pirates, no one is getting away!"
Neither gender nor age mattered. Whether they ran or begged, nothing caused her shooting to slow even a little.
In a sense, Celestial Dragons were among the most "equal" groups on the sea. They treated everyone who wasn't a Celestial Dragon equally as less than human.
Even if hiding behind cover, her bullets, strengthened by Haki, can pierce right through it. Ordinary rocks and trees simply cannot withstand her shots.
But just as she was about to continue shooting, a hand crushed the barrel of her gun flat.
"When did that happen?!"
What shocked her wasn't that someone had crushed her gun barrel, but that she hadn't sensed the enemy's approach at all.
However, the members of the Knights of God were very different from ordinary Celestial Dragons. Those trash-like Celestial Dragons could do nothing but scream and seek protection from others.
Even at times like this, they still couldn't grasp their place, foolishly trying to threaten others with their status.
The Knights of God, on the other hand, had far more combat experience. Even if they could clearly sense how powerful an enemy was, they would not be completely paralyzed by fear.
Seeing that Nereus was still gripping the gun barrel, even though it was already severely deformed, she pulled the trigger several more times in succession.
As the trigger was pulled again and again, the bullets became jammed inside the chamber. When the pressure built up to a certain point, the entire gun exploded in her hand like a grenade.
"A famous vampire like you would actually save a few complete strangers."
"What I do is none of your business."
"Heh, it doesn't matter. These people can't escape this island anyway. But taking your head would be a fine bonus.
Someone like you is worthy of becoming a collection of the Manmayer Family."
Manmayer was one of the Celestial Dragon families, and after Nereus arrived here, the Celestial Dragons of the Manmayer Family changed their target accordingly.
As for why Nereus intervened, there was no special reason. He never showed mercy to enemies, but when someone within his reach could be saved with a casual move, he wasn't so cold as to refuse to act.
The Devil Fruits on the island were indeed something Nereus wanted, but he wasn't in a hurry. Those fruits weren't going anywhere, and without knowing their exact types, very few people would dare to eat them on the spot.
As long as the fruits were still on the island, even if they fell into someone else's hands, Nereus was confident he could take them back later. Besides, the Knights of God could hold out for a while longer.
"A collection? Perfect, then you can serve as a test subject."
The gun's explosion had no effect on either of them. Both of their gun-holding arms had long since recovered to their original state.
With different sources of "immortality," sometimes even defense itself was a redundant act.
The Celestial Dragon of the Manmayer Family lifted her leg and kicked at Nereus, while Nereus gathered Armament Haki in his palm and reached up to seize her head.
Crack…
The disparity was obvious. Her head was crushed outright in Nereus's grip, blood splattering in all directions, and his hand was stained with bits of unidentifiable matter.
Yet her kick failed to break through Nereus's Armament Haki armor.
Losing one's head was no big deal for a member of the Knights of God. The headless body swiftly retreated, and the head that Nereus had crushed began to regenerate at that very moment.
However, just as the eyes finished regenerating, the Celestial Dragon of the Manmayer Family realized that she hadn't managed to put any distance between them at all. Nereus was still right in front of her, and he repeated the same action as before.
"An Armament Haki attack to the head took three seconds to regenerate…. then what effect would Conqueror's Haki have?"
That was what Nereus was thinking at the moment. If he was going to oppose the World Government, he would inevitably have to deal with these Knights of God. And all formal members of the Knights of God were endowed with the same kind of immortality as the Five Elders.
Therefore, Nereus wanted to test how one could truly kill them in a literal sense.
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