Chapter 221: The Chaotic Sea, Challenger Bullet
Pirate crews were categorized in many ways. Small, elite crews and massively scaled grand fleets existed simultaneously across the sea.
On a massive grand fleet, the ship's doctor might strictly just treat illnesses. But the smaller the crew, the more multiple roles each member had to juggle.
Combat was an inescapable reality for pirates. Even doctors and cooks usually had to possess a baseline level of combat proficiency.
As a general rule, anyone capable of becoming an officer—regardless of their actual profession on the ship—could reliably double as a frontline combatant.
After bidding farewell to Crocus, Laboon carried Brook and followed Nereus and his family on their journey back to Fish-Man Island.
Along the way, the sheer scale of the era's shift was already visible. The epoch known as the "Great Pirate Era" had officially arrived. It wasn't just near Reverse Mountain; the wreckage of pirate ships could frequently be spotted littered across their entire route.
Those who set out to sea originally had their own diverse motives, but Roger's words had seemingly united all pirates under a single, unified objective.
Regardless of what they were actually doing, they could all claim that the Great Treasure was their ultimate goal.
Pirates didn't exclusively originate from the Four Blues. Among the myriad islands within the Grand Line, countless individuals hoisted their sails, embarking on the path of piracy ahead of the rest.
However, originating from the Grand Line did not inherently make them powerful. Aside from a small minority, the casualty rate of the pirates who started their journey directly within the Grand Line was actually even more severe.
But beyond the Four Blues and Paradise, the New World was experiencing an equally massive upheaval. To be precise, the New World was the most profoundly affected region of all.
In the other seas, the root cause of this turmoil was Roger alone. But in the New World, the upheaval was triggered by two people.
Roger's declaration merely caused an ideological impact, but the Golden Lion's imprisonment caused an immediate, practical impact.
Previously, the Golden Lion's schemes had failed multiple times. Whether it was the collapse of his Flying Empire or his devastating defeat at the Battle of Edd War, the Golden Lion had suffered immense losses.
Yet, none of that had shaken the foundational status of the Flying Pirates. The Golden Lion remained the absolute overlord of the New World.
The root reason for this was that the Golden Lion himself was still present, and his personal combat power remained intact.
Whether it was the factions of the Great Pirates today or the Yonko crews of the original timeline, the captain's raw strength was the single most vital pillar.
Even if they lost all their officers and subordinates, as long as they retained their power, they were still overlords capable of recruiting new armies.
But once the "Emperor" himself was lost, the overall strength and influence of these factions would instantly plummet.
With the Golden Lion locked in Impel Down, his former territory completely fractured, rapidly being swallowed and digested by surrounding pirates.
The pirate crews formerly affiliated with him began viciously fighting over territory, plunging into a free-for-all war.
A small fraction who still believed in the Golden Lion—believing he could escape Impel Down—went into hiding, biding their time until his return.
The influx of rookie pirates turned the powder keg of the New World even more chaotic. However, with the intervention of several massive factions, the territories of the New World gradually began to be redrawn.
The Big Mom Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates were the two factions that benefited the most from this turmoil.
Whitebeard was still a pirate, after all. His territories weren't just given to him out of charity; he needed tax revenue. Otherwise, he could never maintain the daily expenses of his massive crew.
But compared to the typical, brutal pirates, Whitebeard's methods were relatively moderate.
Living in an environment like the New World, the locals had long grown accustomed to paying protection money in exchange for safety. The pirates occupying their islands changed batch after batch; Whitebeard was arguably the best overlord they could hope for.
Under the current climate, flying the flag of Whitebeard or Charlotte Linlin equated to absolute safety. Aside from the absolute most brainless rookies, anyone who had survived in the New World for a while would actively choose to avoid them.
A single pirate flag was enough to ensure an island's survival in this turbulent era.
Ochoku and a few others also reaped their share, extracting the benefits they needed during this era of chaos.
Yet, faintly but surely, a new title began attaching itself to Whitebeard. The world seemed to collectively agree that he was the man standing closest to the Pirate King's empty throne.
Beyond the factions gobbling up territory in the New World, there were quite a few others worth noting. Kaido's Beast Pirates were on the rise, though they were currently holed up in Wano Country, meaning their sphere of influence remained limited.
The other active threats were lone wolves, such as Patrick Redfield and Douglas Bullet.
Redfield acted entirely on his whims. Lacking any subordinates or comrades, where he would appear next and what he would do were complete mysteries.
While Redfield was undoubtedly an unstable variable in the eyes of the Marines, compared to Bullet right now, he was a well-behaved saint.
Ironically, the time Bullet spent sailing with Roger was the period the Marines felt most at ease. Aside from constantly challenging Roger, Bullet did absolutely nothing else.
It was only after he quit Roger's crew and began acting alone that he caused widespread destruction.
And all of this reached a boiling climax following Roger's death.
However, unlike his indiscriminate rampage in the original timeline, Bullet now had a brand-new target.
In the original timeline, the reason for Bullet's rampage was simple: Roger had died.
This meant Bullet, who had always viewed Roger as his ultimate target to surpass, had permanently lost the possibility of ever achieving his goal.
But things were different now.
Roger might be dead, but there was still a man alive in this world whom Roger had personally acknowledged as being stronger than him.
This realization allowed Bullet to swiftly cool down after a brief bout of rampaging, giving him a new, singular obsession.
Currently, Bullet was situated on an island in the New World very close to Fish-Man Island. In a way, Bullet was incredibly straightforward; once he decided on a target, he moved to act on it immediately.
When applying for a transit permit on the New World side, the clerk at the Fish-Man Island diplomatic office casually asked a standard question:
"What is your purpose for visiting Fish-Man Island?"
"To challenge Nereus."
This blunt answer utterly stunned the office staff. The intelligence was immediately rushed back to the Ryugu Palace. Naturally, Nanamo, who was acting as Regent, explicitly denied the entry of such a volatile threat.
She didn't believe she would lose to him, but she couldn't guarantee that she could contain his destructive collateral damage to a manageable area once he made landfall.
Ultimately, she rejected Bullet, using the excuse that Nereus was not currently present and that she would relay the message upon his return.
Perhaps because his previous rampage had vented the majority of his irrational fury, Bullet calmly accepted this answer. He asked for a rough timeframe and then sat down to wait right where he was.
"So that's the situation. That guy is still waiting over on the New World side right now. But I think if he keeps waiting and nobody shows up, he might just snap and go completely crazy. What do you think, Old Man?"
Watching Nereus, who had just concluded his trip and returned to Fish-Man Island, Nanamo clearly explained the recent events and awaited his response.
"You're saying he hasn't done anything? He's just sitting there waiting?" Nereus asked.
"Yep. I originally wanted to go out and fight him, but that guy said he needs to conserve his strength and won't waste his stamina on me. Seeing that he had no intention of throwing the first punch, I just decided to observe him for now."
Without a transit permit, a Devil Fruit user like Bullet wouldn't dare plunge blindly into the sea. If she let him land on the island, Nanamo genuinely wouldn't be able to properly control the resulting devastation.
But underwater, Bullet's threat level was an absolute zero.
"He certainly is a nuisance. I'll go take a look. We can't just leave a volatile bomb sitting there indefinitely."
Saying this, Nereus casually tossed a thick wallet over to Nanamo before turning and walking toward the Fish-Man Island exit.
"Your souvenir."
Bringing a gift for Nanamo was the easiest task in the world. She didn't care about novelty or sentimentality. That wallet was stuffed full of bearer cheques that could be instantly cashed out at the Sabaody Archipelago exchange houses.
The origin of these cheques? They had run into a few pirate crews on their way back. Since those pirates harbored malicious intentions, Nereus naturally "maximized their value."
Their blood and souls fed the River of Death, and their corpses were tossed to the Marines for bounty money. Absolutely zero waste.
By the time Nanamo was gleefully counting her cheques, Nereus was already gone. Meanwhile, Chloe was carrying a small bag, handing out souvenirs to the people she knew.
When Chloe and Amphelite approached Nanamo, Nereus was long out of sight.
Since Chloe hadn't fully participated in the combat, the gift she handed Nanamo was just an empty wallet. However, Nanamo accepted it happily and carefully placed it inside her collection cabinet.
Only when her current, well-worn wallet was completely destroyed would she consider swapping to this new one.
"A fight of this caliber... you don't want to go watch?" Amphelite asked, curious as to why Nanamo hadn't followed after hearing Nereus was going to fight someone.
Observing the battles of the strong could impart immense experience to bystanders. Opportunities to watch powerhouses of Nereus's caliber fight were incredibly rare.
A real battle occurring under these circumstances would be vastly different from their everyday sparring sessions.
"Mmm... The Old Man's fights actually have zero entertainment value. If it were Roger and Whitebeard fighting, maybe I'd go watch and learn something.
"But the Old Man's twisted tastes... Sis Amphelite, you should know by now.
"Sometimes he'll let the opponent get a few moves in before instantly one-shotting them with a backhand. If he's in a bad mood, the opponent won't even be able to break his defense before dying.
"That guy Bullet can't even beat me. There's probably nothing worth learning from watching him get crushed. Besides, the Old Man always tells me not to pick up his 'bad habits' in combat...
"Though, Sis Amphelite, I feel like you could actually learn his style, given the mechanism of your Phoenix Fruit..."
Thinking about the regenerative capabilities of the Phoenix, Nanamo concluded that Nereus's "bad habits" of tanking hits weren't entirely impossible for certain people to mimic.
Meanwhile, at the Fish-Man Island entry office on the New World side, Hermes was currently working overtime.
The moment Bullet—this massive, unstable variable—showed up, Nanamo had evacuated the regular staff and shoved Hermes onto the frontline.
After all, Bullet possessed absolutely no means of killing Hermes. Even if an accident occurred, the worst that would happen was some minor property damage.
The moment Nereus stepped onto the island, he saw Bullet sitting cross-legged on the ground like an ancient meditating monk. Before Bullet could even speak, Hermes flew over immediately.
"Exactly, Lord Nereus! This huge meathead has just been sitting there like a stone pillar, doing absolutely nothing! Some of the tourists were even scared away by him!"
Hermes openly berated the man to his face, using a volume that ensured Bullet heard every single word.
Although this was the era of rampant piracy, genuine tourists still existed. The Sabaody Archipelago was practically overflowing with them.
With the ongoing development of Fish-Man Island, many wealthy individuals also sought to tour this deep-sea kingdom.
Compared to the highly volatile and penniless pirates, these tourists were the true cash cows of the service industry. After all, in this era, you couldn't set out to sea without considerable wealth and power.
"You can go back and rest. Notify the others to come take over the shift. I'll handle things here," Nereus said.
"Understood, Lord Nereus~!"
This was exactly what Hermes had been waiting to hear. His cloud-like eyes were practically turning into dark thunderclouds. Even a spectral lifeform felt irritable when forced to work overtime.
"Douglas Bullet. I heard you were waiting for me."
Hearing Nereus's voice, Bullet finally lifted his head. Although Roger had mentioned him, this was the very first time Bullet had seen Nereus in person. Previously, he had only seen his face on ancient, outdated bounty posters.
"Roger personally said that you were stronger than him. Therefore, as long as I defeat you, it proves that I have surpassed Roger. I trust your body isn't suffering from any hidden ailments?"
Roger's terminal illness was the core catalyst for Bullet leaving the crew. For Bullet, an absolute lone wolf, that revelation had caused a moment of intense hesitation.
He was terrified that Roger would die of his illness, rendering him forever unable to fulfill his vow to surpass him. The anxiety birthed a sense of confusion, causing him to momentarily develop a subconscious desire to "protect his comrades."
This caused his attacks in battle to lose their absolute, ruthless decisiveness. Ultimately, he felt he was growing weak, and even began to question Roger's absolute strength.
Although Roger emerged as the victor in their final duel, Bullet chose to leave the crew to ensure that this sentiment wouldn't permanently infect his mindset.
Therefore, Bullet desperately hoped Nereus possessed a perfectly healthy body, ensuring the same tragedy wouldn't repeat itself.
"You probably can't go all out in a place like this. I have no interest in fighting an opponent whose hands are tied. Pick a location, and fight me with everything you have! Show me exactly what the 'strongest' in Roger's eyes looks like!"
Bullet stood up from his cross-legged position, his eyes burning with an overwhelming surge of battle intent. Nereus, however, maintained his casual, indifferent posture.
"Everything I have? What makes you think defeating you requires me to use everything I have?"
In the current era, Bullet was undeniably a powerhouse. But in Nereus's eyes, he was still just a rookie. Perhaps if he went to Impel Down and marinated for another twenty years, he might become somewhat interesting to watch.
"I haven't exercised much recently anyway. But there's no need to pick another location. Right here is perfectly fine."
Bullet didn't react much to the first half of the sentence, but the latter half made him visibly more excited.
"Excellent. It seems you don't care what happens to this place. That's exactly how it should be! Shrinking back and holding back for the sake of comrades or territory only makes a person weak..."
In Bullet's mind, the shockwaves generated by their clash would inevitably cause catastrophic damage to the island. After years of brutal training, he was completely different from before.
He believed Nereus definitely understood this as well. Choosing to fight here proved that Nereus didn't care about the collateral damage to his surroundings.
If a man like this was stronger than Roger, it proved that his own ideology—that ultimate individual strength superseded all bonds—was correct.
"No, I don't want this place destroyed," Nereus replied calmly. "The reason we are fighting here is because the battle between you and me... won't be nearly as complicated as you think.
"An instant... is all it will take."
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