The person flying over was Shiki, pushed forward by the other members of the Rocks Pirates to deliver a message.
He was the future Golden Lion, captain of the Flying Pirates, and after the end of the Rocks era, one of the legendary pirates renowned across the seas.
The reason Shiki was the one to come was that trying to deliver a message to Rocks and Nereus in the middle of their fight wasn't an easy task.
In this situation, neither of them could answer a call from a Den Den Mushi, and the shockwaves from their battle were not something an ordinary person could break through.
Plus, with the fight taking place on a reef beach in the open sea, only someone who could fly could get close quickly.
As for how they knew both Rocks and Nereus were here…
That wasn't complicated. Only those two could cause such a commotion.
"Not interested."
"Don't get in the way, Shiki! Get lost!"
The "treasure" on Fullalead Island he referred to wasn't an object, but a person: Shakuyaku of the Kuja Pirates.
A few years ago, Shakuyaku also opened a bar on the island, driving many people crazy for her; though Nereus wasn't one of them as she simply wasn't his type.
During the period Shakuyaku stayed on the island, a condition called "Shakuyaku Virus"—a kind of love-struck craze—began to spread among the residents.
Nereus often felt that these people seemed as if they were experiencing a sudden collective outbreak of s*xual frustration.
A year ago, Shakuyaku suddenly disappeared, apparently taken from the island by someone.
The whole crime only took a few hours, and the night guard, Marlon, was killed in the process. It wasn't until now that there was any news.
Rocks himself had once been infatuated with Shakuyaku, but after starting a family, those thoughts faded.
For Rocks, having Shakuyaku taken from his own island was a loss of face, but now that his fight with Nereus had just reached its peak, he had no intention of stopping immediately.
Besides, Rocks couldn't just teleport over there. He figured he'd finish the fight first and deal with it later. Shiki's timing was just a nuisance.
"It's not just Shakuyaku, there's also a huge amount of treasures and Devil Fruits. The Celestial Dragons have all gathered at God Valley in the West Blue, and apparently…"
"Where did you say?! God Valley?!"
The mention of God Valley instantly grabbed Rocks's attention, and he lost all interest in continuing the fight.
Signaling to Nereus for a pause, Rocks moved so fast that even the Golden Lion could barely react, appearing right in front of Shiki.
"What's going on? Tell me everything!"
God Valley was Rocks's hometown—his wife, children, and family were all there. Hearing that the Celestial Dragons had gathered at God Valley got him agitated at once.
"Uh… it's pretty complicated. How about we go back and talk about it?"
Shiki pointed back toward Fullalead Island. After receiving the news, a lot of people had already gathered to discuss what to do. Rocks and Nereus were the only ones missing.
Even though Rocks couldn't fly, he was faster than either Shiki or Nereus. With just a few flashes, he'd already darted far into the distance.
"He's really impatient… Nereus, let's go too."
Shiki didn't chase after them immediately. He had a feeling that Rocks was like a powder keg right now; one spark and he'd blow, so it was better to keep some distance.
"Is there any concrete information on the Devil Fruits?"
Nereus didn't know the specifics, but with his memories, he could guess the general cause and outcome.
The Celestial Dragons' "hunting game," and the rare, powerful Devil Fruits that were offered as prizes to the Celestial Dragon elites: Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon and Paw-Paw Fruit were both on that island.
"No idea. The information only said there are some rare Devil Fruits, nothing about their types."
Devil Fruits, the great treasures of the sea, each grant their eater uniquely special abilities, many capable of devastating power.
Some special Devil Fruits, while not particularly strong in combat, possessed extremely unique abilities.
Naturally, Nereus was interested in these Devil Fruits; they were one of his goals.
Eating a Devil Fruit turns you into a landlubber who can never swim again; even Fish-Men become powerless in the water due to this side effect if they eat one.
Although they can still breathe, they cannot swim freely; Nereus ate a Devil Fruit himself because he is special and has a way to circumvent this weakness.
As for the others, it would depend on the situation. Some abilities were strong enough to be worth making sacrifices for, and besides, Nereus didn't only have Fish-Men and Merfolk under him.
Even if he didn't eat the fruit, selling it on the black market would fetch a huge amount of money.
Because of this, compared to priceless treasures, Nereus was actually more interested in Devil Fruits.
He had no prejudice against Devil Fruits. Just like Haki, they were unique powers of this sea, as natural as having two legs.
If you have the capability, there's no reason to only train one. Cultivating both Devil Fruit and Haki and taking both to their limits was his goal.
"Let's go."
Nereus didn't ask too many questions. He spread his wings and followed; after all, everything would be discussed again at the upcoming emergency meeting.
Shiki didn't say anything either, using his Float-Float Fruit powers to follow along.
When Nereus reached the center of Fullalead Island, the core members of the Rocks Pirates had mostly gathered.
Edward Newgate, Kaido, Pirate Guru - Wang Zhi, Pirate Smuggler - Ganzui,
Silver Axe - Kyo, Captain John, Science Robber - Miss Buckin, Gill Bastar, Gloriosa… except for the deceased Marlon, almost everyone was present.
At this moment, these people were bickering with each other, sometimes even coming to blows. Only Rocks sat silently on the main seat with a gloomy expression.
"Yo~ Nereus, even you showed up. Looks like this really is a big deal~"
Buckin, sitting beside Whitebeard, greeted Nereus rather warmly.
In essence, these people were just a temporary alliance, but the surface relationships still had to be maintained. Plus, among the female pirates on the island, Nereus was actually quite popular.
His immense strength goes without saying, and his appearance was considered handsome; he seemed even more unique when contrasted with some of the 'oddities' in the Rocks Pirates.
Especially when everyone else was under collective s*xual frustration over Shakuyaku, Nereus's normalcy was even more rare.
"Mamamama~ You're here too, Nereus. Looks like there's something you're interested in there, too."
Charlotte Linlin arrived late, holding a Den Den Mushi and several files.
Thanks to her special intelligence network in the Underworld, Charlotte Linlin more or less acted as an intelligence officer here; she'd just gone to sort through these things.
The two had once had a romantic past; their relationship after separating wasn't too bad. They wouldn't say anything warm when they met, but wouldn't break into a fight either, a bit of small talk was still fine.
But Rocks was clearly very irritable at the moment, not wanting to listen to any of this.
"There's always time for catching up, Linlin, but cut the nonsense for now. What's going on with God Valley? What information did you get?!"