Davy and Harald

"The Giant Race's ship?!"

"Doesn't matter! Sink it! No matter who they are, no one gets to block our path!"

In an ordinary world, where naval technology was still stuck in the era of warships and heavy cannons, a ship's tonnage could almost directly determine the outcome of a battle.

Large ships could absolutely crush smaller ones, but on this sea, that was only one aspect of the equation.

At the very least, no one in the Rocks Pirates feared the other ship. Anyone with a name aboard this vessel could easily destroy a ship.

Even the Giant Race soldiers lining its deck were not enough to frighten them. Charlotte Linlin even looked at those giants with naked greed.

Mama~ Mama~ Giant Race soldiers... I want them so badly...

"Wait!"

While everyone was shouting to sink the Giant Race's ship, Rocks stopped them.

"Rocks? What are you doing? Don't stop us!"

"Harald! Come out! I know you're on that ship!"

Rocks ignored the others and shouted toward the ship. He was certain that if the Giant Race dared block his way, Harald had to be aboard.

As it turned out, Rocks had not guessed wrong. A giant with two horns growing from his head, more than twice as tall as the other giants, stepped forward.

"We were ordered to stop you pirates who have gone mad over a woman, Rocks. You should know that sinking your little ship would be effortless for us."

"Sinking your big ship wouldn't be difficult either, big king. Do you think this will earn you enough merit to join the World Government?

No matter what you do, you'll ultimately be branded a 'madman' trying to change Elbaf. Can we talk?"

Faced with Rocks's request, Harald did not refuse in the end. Instead, he allowed Rocks aboard his ship and ordered the other Giant Race soldiers to step back and clear some space.

"Nereus, come too. You should hear this as well."

After thinking it over, Rocks called Nereus over before boarding.

The Giant Race soldiers had no idea what their king was discussing, while the Rocks Pirates complained that Rocks was wasting time.

Yet aboard Harald's ship, Rocks began revealing his secret.

"Actually... I have a hidden name."

Nereus had been wondering what exactly Rocks wanted to say, but the moment he heard the words "hidden name," his thoughts immediately turned elsewhere.

On this sea, people with hidden names were usually anything but ordinary. Take the concealed "D.," for example. Trafalgar Law in the original timeline had a hidden name of his own.

"That hidden name is David D. Zebek. The legendary pirate Davy D. Jones was our ancestor, and the World Government has likely always wanted to wipe us out.

But we survived by scraping along in the underworld.

I've never told anyone about this before. You're the first outsiders to hear it... Nereus? Are you even listening to me?"

Rocks held a huge bowl of liquor and spoke of it as casually as if discussing household matters, but when he turned around, he saw that Nereus seemed to be paying attention to something else.

"I'm listening. Go on. If that's true, does the World Government value your clan even more than the Buccaneer Tribe and the Lunarian Tribe?"

Although he had long heard of things like the Davy Game, when Rocks spoke the name Davy D. Jones, an octopus-faced figure surfaced from Nereus's distant memories.

Together with the earlier matter of hidden names, it distracted him slightly and led him to think of other things.

"Hard to say. In any case, we're another clan targeted by the World Government. Two years ago, I had children. Worried that my actions would implicate them, I sent them back to my homeland.

And my homeland... is God Valley."

"Could it be... the World Government did this to lure you out?!"

Though Harald had said he was here to stop Rocks, he still showed a worried expression upon hearing this.

"No. There are so many Celestial Dragons on that island. Why would they want me there? This should have been an oversight."

"No, Zebek. You need to understand that there are two kinds of Celestial Dragons: the elites who joined the Holy Knights, and the ordinary scum.

Those useless fools make up the overwhelming majority. Their lives aren't as important as you think. When you broke into Mary Geoise that year, didn't you see that person? Do you think that person cares whether anyone else lives or dies?"

Nereus refuted Rocks's reasoning. Though he had never encountered Imu either, his memories still gave him some understanding of such matters.

Even the Five Elders are merely expendable materials in that person's eyes, replaceable at any time. If Imu is dissatisfied, Imu simply discards them. If the Davy Tribe is really in this situation, a few casualties probably mean nothing to Imu.

The rest was only Nereus's inner thoughts. There were some secrets he would never tell anyone else.

"Maybe. Before, I thought I was simply unlucky, dragged forward by the whirlpool of fate. If this is a conspiracy, it might make more sense.

But no matter what, I have to save my wife and children. Nereus, if your daughter were there, could you just ignore it?

They were truly fortunate to capture Shakky. That was their greatest mistake... Otherwise, gathering so many people on this island wouldn't have been easy."

Rocks did not change his mind. In the end, he even asked Harald to help him, but Harald refused.

After that, according to reports from World Government surveillance ships nearby,

Harald's ship suddenly burst into flames, its mast snapped, and the Rocks Pirates were not stopped. They continued advancing toward God Valley.

No one ever learned what had happened aboard Harald's ship.

It was not only the Rocks Pirates. As time passed, other pirate crews also began approaching God Valley with all kinds of intentions.

Some wanted to seize the island's treasures, some wanted fame, and quite a few had come for Shakky.

The Roger Pirates were also heading toward God Valley, and Garp, having received Roger's message, was likewise making his way there.

At that moment, God Valley seemed to have become the center of a whirlpool stirring the world, drawing powerful figures from every corner of the globe.

Yet on the soil of God Valley, fear gradually consumed the hearts of the native residents and the slaves brought to the island.

The Celestial Dragons promised that anyone who survived on the island for three weeks would regain their freedom. This gave some people a glimmer of hope, making them believe this place was not a land of death.

But in truth, it was only a lie, meant to make them flee with all their strength and thus increase the Celestial Dragons' amusement.

At the same time, some were plotting to escape the island. Ivankov and Ginny were among them. At that moment, they and a group of slaves, including Bartholomew Kuma, had already gathered together.