"A giant ship?!"
"Doesn't matter! Sink it! No one gets in our way!"
The shouting came immediately from Rocks's crew.
⚔️🚢
In an ordinary world—
where naval warfare still depended mainly on cannons and ship tonnage—
the larger vessel usually decided victory outright.
A large ship crushing a small ship was almost inevitable.
But on this sea,
that was only one factor.
For the monsters aboard the Rocks ship,
a ship's size alone inspired no fear.
Anyone with a name aboard this vessel could destroy a ship if needed.
Even the sight of giant soldiers lining the enemy deck did not intimidate them.
Charlotte Linlin, in fact, looked at those giants with greed in her eyes.
Mama~ mama~... Giant military strength... I really want it...
👁️🗨️
"Wait!"
This time—
Rocks himself stopped them.
"Rocks? What are you doing? Don't stop us!"
But Rocks ignored everyone else completely.
He stepped forward and shouted toward the giant vessel:
"Harald! Get out here! I know you're on that ship!"
His tone was absolute.
Because he was certain:
if giants dared block his path,
then Harald had to be aboard.
And he was right.
A giant stepped forward.
A towering figure with horns rising from his head—
already enormous even among giants,
and still nearly twice the size of the others around him.
🏔️
"We came under orders to stop you pirates who've gone mad over a woman, Rocks.
You should understand—
sinking your little ship would be effortless for us."
Rocks snorted.
"Sinking your oversized ship wouldn't be difficult either, giant king.
Do you think this earns merit for joining the World Government?
No matter what you do,
you'll still be branded a madman trying to change Elbaf.
Can we talk?"
Harald looked at him for a moment.
Then—
he did not refuse.
Instead,
he allowed Rocks aboard.
The giant soldiers withdrew and cleared space.
Before boarding,
Rocks turned.
"Nereus. Come too.
You should hear this as well."
🦇
On Harald's Ship
Outside,
giant soldiers did not know what their king was discussing.
On Rocks's ship,
the pirates grumbled that Rocks was wasting time.
But inside Harald's vessel—
Rocks began revealing something he had never spoken of openly.
"Actually... I have a hidden name."
The moment those words appeared,
Nereus's expression shifted slightly.
Because on this sea—
people with hidden names were rarely ordinary.
The most obvious example:
the hidden 'D.'
Like Law in the original timeline.
"My hidden name is:
Davy D. Xebec.
The legendary pirate Davy D. Jones was our ancestor.
The World Government has always wanted our line erased.
We survived only by lingering in the underworld."
He drank from a huge bowl of liquor as casually as if discussing weather.
"I've never told anyone this before.
You two are the first outsiders to hear it."
Then he looked sideways.
"Nereus? Are you even listening?"
"I'm listening. Continue.
If that's true—
then is your bloodline watched even more closely than the Buccaneers and Lunarians?"
Nereus answered calmly.
Though internally—
his mind had already drifted.
Because when Rocks said Davy D. Jones—
a strange old memory surfaced:
an octopus-faced figure.
A fragment from much older cultural memory.
That brief association had distracted him.
🐙
"Hard to say. But yes—we're another bloodline targeted by the Government.
Two years ago, I had a child.
I worried my actions would drag danger onto them,
so I sent them back to my homeland.
And that homeland...
is God Valley."
Harald's face changed.
"Then... the World Government did this to lure you out?!"
Even though he had come to stop Rocks,
concern appeared openly now.
Rocks shook his head.
"No.
There are too many Celestial Dragons on that island.
Why would they want me there?
This should be a mistake."
"No, Xebec.
You need to understand—
there are two kinds of Celestial Dragons."
Nereus interrupted.
"One kind:
the elites who joined the God's Knights.
The other kind:
worthless trash.
And the trash are the overwhelming majority.
Their lives matter less than you think.
The year you broke into Mary Geoise—
you saw that one, didn't you?
Do you really think someone like that cares whether others live or die?"
Though Nereus himself had never met Imu directly,
the fragments he remembered gave him enough to infer.
Inside, another thought remained unspoken:
Even the Five Elders are replaceable tools in that being's eyes.
If displeased, they'd simply be discarded.
If the Davy bloodline truly matters—
then casualties among Celestial Dragons may not matter at all.
But that part stayed in silence.
Some secrets were not meant to be spoken.
👁️
"Maybe.
I always thought I was unlucky—
dragged forward by fate's whirlpool.
If it's a conspiracy...
that almost makes more sense."
Rocks lowered the bowl.
Then his eyes hardened.
"But no matter what—
I'm going to save my wife and child.
Nereus—
if your daughter were there,
could you ignore it?"
He gave a rough laugh.
"They were lucky they kidnapped Shakky too.
That was their biggest mistake.
Without that,
getting this many people to gather on that island would've been much harder."
His mind had not changed.
At the end,
he even asked Harald to help him.
Harald refused.
Afterward
According to reports from nearby World Government surveillance ships:
Harald's ship suddenly caught fire.
Its mast broke.
And the Rocks Pirates continued forward—
unhindered—
still heading toward God Valley.
🔥🚢
What exactly happened aboard Harald's ship afterward—
no one ever learned.
Across the Sea
It was not only Rocks.
As time passed,
many pirate crews began moving toward God Valley too—
each with different motives.
Some sought treasure.
Some wanted fame.
Many still came for Shakky.
The Roger Pirates were moving too.
And after receiving Roger's message—
Garp also began heading toward God Valley.
At this point,
God Valley had become the center of a whirlpool stirring the entire world—
drawing strong figures from every direction.
🌍🌀
On God Valley Itself
But for those already on the island—
the native inhabitants and the slaves brought there—
fear had begun spreading completely.
The Celestial Dragons had promised:
"Survive three weeks on the island, and you will regain your freedom."
That gave some people false hope.
That maybe—
this was not certain death.
But in truth—
it was a lie.
Its only purpose:
to make them run harder.
To make the hunt more entertaining.
🎯
And at the same time—
others were already planning escape.
Among them:
Ivankov and Ginny
who had gathered together with many slaves—
including:
Bartholomew Kuma.
The storm was about to begin.