Chapter 70: You Chose the Wrong Hostage
After causing trouble, Rocks returned to Nereus's River of Death space. According to him, it was a perfect operation, and the commotion was definitely big enough.
He personally didn't care how much noise Rocks made. After all, both the Marines and the World Government were well aware that Nereus was the user of the Vampire Fruit.
And the Vampire Fruit was one of the more clearly recorded fruits in the encyclopedia.
Although finding the fruit in Sleepy Old Town took some effort, its most notable abilities, aside from the recovery power of a Zoan type, were draining life span and maintaining eternal youth.
As for the "River of Death" ability, apart from Nereus himself and those killed by him, not even Nanamo knew the details. The manipulation of the undead was even less known.
The ability of this Devil Fruit had been taken to a new realm by Nereus.
If they were to suspect anything, they would suspect other ability users were causing trouble under Rocks's name.
There are plenty of liars among pirates. Many pirates like to borrow the names of other pirates to cause trouble.
Although the pirate world regarded such pirates as low-class, those capable of doing such things didn't care about their reputation anyway.
There were plenty of strange things on the sea. Although the three elements of journalism emphasize novelty, facts, and reporting...
In reality, taking things out of context, fabricating stories out of nothing, and grafting one thing onto another were the things those newsmakers loved to do.
Given the current situation, this rumor would have to spread for a while. In the end, it might even turn into some kind of urban legend or horror story.
Right now, Nereus didn't yet know what impact Rocks's actions outside had caused.
News in Fish-man Island always carried a certain lag.
News Coos didn't fly in the Calm Belt, mainly because they were too lazy to fly in; flying in a windless environment required more effort.
But Fish-man Island was 10,000 meters underwater...
Even if News Coos wanted to fly in, they couldn't. For Fish-man Island to get newspapers, they generally had to wait for passing ships to bring them down, which sometimes led to a delay of several days.
Currently, Nereus was conducting a preliminary screening of the rescued slaves.
In order to sell slaves at high prices, the auction house kept certain records on the slaves sent there. These records made it convenient for Nereus to make preliminary distinctions.
For example, which slaves were captured from non-affiliated countries, and where their hometowns were.
Which ones were pirates, and if there were any ability users.
For those ordinary people, the crew quickly unlocked their chains and comforted them. But for those pirates, the crew had no intention of unlocking them.
"Hey, unlock us too. If you're saving people, save us all the way. You can't treat us differently."
"Yeah, yeah. We've heard of your great name for a long time. Being on the same ship is fate. We will definitely repay your great kindness in the future."
These pirates were originally waiting silently. But realizing that Nanamo, who was unlocking people, had no intention of unlocking them and instead put away the keys, a sense of foreboding rose in their hearts.
"We don't share any fate. Saving you from there was only because you were also slaves.
But saving you doesn't mean releasing you immediately. Stay put honestly. Once we confirm you have no major issues, we will naturally release you."
Regarding the liberation of slaves, there was a set protocol here. Nereus wouldn't stop those capable of leaving on their own.
Those with nowhere to go would first be settled on Delta Island and taken away together when the route was convenient.
But among the slaves, there were some who were pirates. Because of their decent strength and better stamina, and to satisfy the perverted psychology of those nobles, they were also treated as slaves.
Nereus and his group would carefully identify these people and investigate the reasons for their bounties.
If they were like Nereus—wanted for attacking slave ships or resisting severe corruption by local Marines during a rebellion—they would be released directly.
But for pirates who set sail with greed, slaughtered wantonly, and committed heinous crimes, Nereus wouldn't trouble himself. He wouldn't let them step onto Delta Island and destroy the peace there.
"Then... what if there are issues?"
"If there are issues, we throw you to the Marines. Anyway, we won't keep you as slaves. At most, we'll send you to Impel Down."
The bounties on these pirates captured by slave traders hadn't been cancelled. Finding a middleman in the Underworld would allow them to exchange the pirates directly for bounties.
Nanamo didn't feel these guys were pitiable. From the moment they committed atrocities against innocent people, receiving retribution was well-deserved.
Nereus needed some time to investigate these pirates' backgrounds, but the pirates knew better than anyone whether they had "issues."
A few of them exchanged glances, seeming to understand each other's thoughts.
The pirate closest to Nanamo suddenly sprang up and grabbed Nanamo by the neck.
"Don't come any closer! If you dare move, I'll snap her neck! Listen! I don't want to be your enemy. Sail the ship to the surface and let us leave safely, and I guarantee she won't be harmed!"
Having finally regained freedom, he didn't want to be locked in prison.
This ship was currently sailing underwater. Fighting head-on was clearly seeking death. Since that was the case, hijacking a hostage to threaten the other party became this pirate's choice.
And for a hostage, naturally, one should choose someone with weak strength but high status. In his view, Nanamo fit this standard perfectly.
The way other Fish-men and Merfolk addressed her—either "Young Miss" or "Princess"—made her status self-evident.
Several pirates gathered together, forming a small group. However, reality was completely different from what they imagined. The people on the ship seemed completely unconcerned about this hostage, continuing to do whatever they were doing.
Only a cloud appeared extremely angry, shouting and demanding they release her.
"Oi, oi, oi, did you guys really just hijack me? You guys are biting..."
Nanamo appeared very casual. With the strength of these pirates, let alone snapping her neck, even if she stood still and let them hit her, it would be hard for her to get injured.
But before she could finish her sentence, an angry voice came from the side.
"You guys are biting the hand that feeds you!"
The Mink Tribe child, whose chains had just been unlocked, sprang out and bit down on the pirate's wrist.
Zzzzt!
Accompanied by the sound of lightning, the pirate, in pain, lost the strength to control Nanamo and was directly knocked away by the Mink.
"Isn't this little guy just 8 years old?"
"This is the Mink Tribe, a born combat race. Even a child is as strong as a trained warrior.
But Nanamo, can you explain to me why this pirate was able to grab you?"
"Uh... Papa, don't you think it would be cool if I pretended not to react, let him grab me, and then easily turned the tables and killed him when he was at his most triumphant?"
"Do you think it will also look cool when I give you extra training?"
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