As one of the last groups of pirates to leave, the Roger Pirates' ship was also pursued by the Marines. However, the Marines' primary focus was on completely destroying the God Valley.
This island had to be reduced to ashes—this was Imu's highest order. As a result, Roger's group did not have much difficulty shaking off the Marines' pursuit.
Although Imu is a mechanics monster with troublesome abilities, over the long years, they have also developed an indifferent attitude toward reality. [TN: It is used primarily in gaming contexts to refer to a boss or enemy that cannot be defeated through brute force or typical combat strategies alone, but rather requires the player to understand and exploit a specific game mechanic, system, or "gimmick" to win. ]
As long as Joy Boy and Davy D. Jones were not involved, Imu would almost always delegate matters to others.
In some cases, Imu even displayed a peculiar kind of magnanimity, or perhaps apathy, such as allowing Garp to continue being promoted as a Marine Hero despite having attacked the Five Elders.
At this point, Roger was no longer on Imu's radar. After confirming Rocks' "death," Imu ended the descent mode and returned to Mariejois.
Nereus, flying alone through the sky, was even less of a concern; it didn't take him long to leave the range of God Valley.
Barbell and the others, having departed earlier, had already broken free of the encirclement and were sailing on the open sea. Nereus soon caught up with them.
"Boss, how did things turn out over there?"
Barbell, who was at the helm, casually asked about the situation at God Valley. Even though he had left early, he had still seen just how massive the commotion there was.
At this moment, Barbell deeply realized that his boss had been right. If he had stayed on the island amid that level of destruction, he might not have been able to get away at all.
"Chances are that from now on, you'll never hear the names God Valley and Rocks again. The World Government will spare no effort to erase every trace that they ever existed."
"I see. That really does fit their style. Then again, how could they possibly admit to something like this?"
After so many years at sea, Barbell understood all too well what the World Government was like. Leaving aside everything else, the century-long blank spot in history was proof enough.
But to the others on the ship, those words carried a very different weight.
"Um… benefactor, then what should we do from now on?"
"You? I have two options here. One is to find a safe island where you can disembark, and after that, everyone goes their separate ways and follows their own fate."
During past voyages, aside from rescuing slaves, Nereus had also helped merchant ships that had suffered shipwrecks. On these perilous seas, shipwrecks occurred far more frequently than in ordinary parts of the world.
Especially on the Grand Line, where unpredictable weather often led to vessels sinking. For those who still had somewhere to go, this was usually how things were handled.
After all, Nereus and his group were not a passenger ship. They wouldn't keep carrying people indefinitely.
"Then… what's the other option?"
"I have another island. It's a bit far from here, but it's safe enough. If you want, you can go live on that island."
That island lay in the New World near the Calm Belt, with the Calm Belt surrounding it as a natural barrier, making it a quiet haven on the sea.
Many of the slaves Nereus rescued were already homeless. Their hometowns had long been destroyed, and they had nowhere to return to.
Traveling alone on the sea only increased the risk of being captured again.
For these people, Nereus did not abandon them to fend for themselves, but instead settled them on that island.
"Life on the island requires following its rules. And because of the sea conditions, leaving the island isn't easy. You can take your time to think it over."
At his words, a low murmur of whispers spread across the ship.
The difficulty of leaving an island was not really a problem for people of these seas; mainly because every island, at its core, faces this same issue.
The Grand Line's unique environment meant that communication between islands was rare. Two neighboring islands could even display completely different eras, an Ancient Island and a Future Island being neighbors was not impossible.
Even in the relatively stable Four Seas, most residents never ventured out to sea. Even fishing was done only near the coast, and many people never left the island they lived on for their entire lives.
The dangerous maritime environment, the possible appearance of pirates, and the high cost of long-distance sea travel—all these factors combined to create such a situation.
Only people in certain specialized professions, or those who ventured out to sea with particular ambitions in mind, would frequently undertake long voyages.
Changing to another island would not have much of an impact on them. What they were more curious about was the kind of order Nereus referred to on that island.
Those who had once been slaves were the first to make up their minds, planning to follow Nereus to the island he had mentioned.
Most of the residents of God Valley made the same choice. A small number were still hesitant, but after seeing what the others decided, they soon made up their minds as well.
At that moment, a massive figure could be seen faintly within the clouds in the sky. Upon closer inspection, it was a gigantic dragon.
That dragon soon noticed the warship below and, as if it had found prey, dove straight down.
"Worororo, a lone warship. Perfect, I was just getting hungry… Is that Barbell?"
The dragon was none other than Kaido. After eating the Devil Fruit, Kaido chose to leave God Valley by flying.
However, after fighting on the island, although he hadn't suffered any serious injuries, his stomach was empty, and he just happened to spot this warship.
To Kaido, a warship was, to some extent, the equivalent of a dining hall.
Back when he had first been put on the wanted list, whenever he got hungry, Kaido would deliberately get himself captured. Once locked up on a prison ship, he would break his chains and escape, fill his belly, and then leave.
This time, just as he was about to repeat that familiar routine, he spotted someone he knew aboard the ship.
Kaido naturally wasn't afraid of Barbell, but by all logic, Nereus should be nearby at a time like this.
"So he really is here…"
Before long, Kaido noticed Nereus standing on the bridge. He didn't turn back, instead landing steadily on the deck.
"Kaido?"
"Nereus, I didn't expect we'd meet again here. We really are bound by fate.
How about joining me to do something big? I want to build a pirate crew where violence speaks for itself, where everything is decided by absolute strength!"
For the moment, Kaido forgot about his hunger and instead extended an invitation to Nereus.
"Kaido, if everything is decided by strength according to your logic, then if I join you, wouldn't you have to listen to me?"
Nereus didn't refuse outright, instead questioning Kaido from a different angle.
"Uh…"
"Speaking of which, you broke things in my pub before. Haven't you still not paid for that?"
"Well…"
"And another thing…"
"Wait! Nereus! There's a Marine who's snuck onto this ship! Let me take him out!"
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