Weakness

The wealth accumulated at God Valley was impossible to estimate. It was treasure gathered from across the entire world.

The Pirates who had left God Valley alive had all gained something, more or less. It had even become the "startup capital" for their futures.

Among the many Pirates, Kaido was probably the most straightforward one. Aside from the Fish-Fish Fruit, Azure Dragon Form he had snatched from Charlotte Linlin, Kaido's gains had been close to zero.

Now, his pockets were cleaner than his face. Other than his Spiked Club and clothes, there was nothing else on him worth money.

If Nereus kept talking, who knew what old debts he might dig up.

Although he had already eaten a Devil Fruit, Kaido knew full well there was still a gap in strength between them.

That Devil Fruit had certainly strengthened him, but not enough for him to surpass the other man.

Inviting Nereus had only been a passing whim. Kaido had no desire to find himself another boss now.

As Kaido considered how to change the subject, he suddenly spotted Dragon controlling the sails.

For Kaido, a fight was an excellent way to change the subject. Better to hit someone else than be hit himself.

"Kaido, I'm not blind. If I hadn't wanted him alive, do you think this Marine would still be breathing? What exactly do you want? Say it."

Nereus did not stop him. He could tell whether Kaido intended to kill Dragon or was merely fooling around.

But Dragon was different. He was still only a new recruit in the Marines, and in some ways, his treatment was far worse than Koby's.

Although Kaido's swinging club stopped in midair, the gale it stirred up still struck Dragon head-on, cold sweat pouring down his forehead.

"Wororororo, is this another one of your nasty habits? Looks like this Marine is rather unfortunate."

Weak.

That was Kaido's only assessment of Dragon. Since Nereus was interested in him, Kaido naturally would not do anything further.

After all, they had known each other for many years. Kaido understood some of Nereus's habits.

When faced with opponents who were exceptionally weak yet clueless about their own limits, Nereus would sometimes be overcome by the urge to play. He would use his abilities to toy with them, like a cat playing with a mouse.

"I was just hungry and came looking for something to eat. Didn't expect this warship to be yours now. You don't mind if I find something to eat, do you?"

"Go find it yourself. The storeroom should be..."

"I know where it is. Then I won't hold back."

As he spoke, Kaido made his way to the warship's storeroom with practiced ease. Since the Marines also had many large soldiers, the passages aboard their warships had been widened to a certain extent.

It was still somewhat cramped for Kaido, but he could move through them.

Watching Kaido display such familiarity with the warship's layout, Dragon felt conflicted and did not know how to judge it.

Nereus's people had always enjoyed stealing warships for their own use, and Kaido had often treated them as cafeterias. Over time, all of them had become very familiar with warships.

Before long, Kaido found some smoked and pickled food that was easy to preserve. He did not care much about the taste and started eating casually, only complaining a couple of times about not finding any alcohol.

"Kaido, you were at that battle in the center of God Valley, weren't you? I saw you fly over there."

"That? I was there at first..."

"What happened then?"

By the time Nereus arrived, Kaido and the others had long since left. Only Garp, Roger, and the controlled Rocks remained.

Although Nereus had heard the course of events from Garp, Roger, and Rocks's soul, he still wanted to hear how others would describe it.

"I had just gained my Fruit ability when I sensed that strange thing and wanted to try fighting it.

"That woman Linlin kept chasing after me too. She seemed furious that I had stolen the Fruit from her. Wororororo!"

Kaido did not feel embarrassed as he spoke of it, but then his expression suddenly grew serious.

"Linlin, Newgate, Rocks, Garp, Roger, and I all attacked that thing together.

"But it was useless. There was a black shadow on that spider-like freak's back, and our attacks did absolutely nothing to it. It was as if it couldn't be killed.

"If I had to give an example... it was very similar to your ability."

Even damage inflicted with Haki had been as good as useless. In Kaido's memory, Nereus was the only person with such power.

"Can't be killed... No, Kaido. There is no such thing in this world that truly cannot be killed. If it cannot be killed... then you simply have not found its weakness yet."

"Oh? You too?"

"That's right. Me too, provided you can find my weakness."

Kaido did not ask further. Asking more would have been impolite, and clearly an invitation to get beaten up.

Nor was Nereus joking. Things like sunlight and silver had no effect on him, unless someone found some God Fruit and used it to bless those things first.

His own weakness... was his heart.

If someone broke through Nereus's Haki shield and destroyed his heart through that ability, which was no different from elemental transformation, they could kill him once.

If that process were repeated countless times, the goal could eventually be achieved.

"Come to think of it, Nereus, what are you planning to do next?"

"I'll return to Fish-Man Island first. It's time to start preparing for certain matters."

"I see. You're still going back to the New World, right? Let me ride along for a few days. I still haven't decided whether my first step should be finding a ship or recruiting a few subordinates."

"Do as you like. But as I said, don't cause me any extra trouble."

"I know. Before my new voyage begins, I should rest up and build my strength."

Kaido agreed to Nereus's terms and found an open spot on the deck to rest. Nereus did not pay him much attention afterward.

Kaido was the sort of person who would not care about the means as long as they achieved his goal. If he was strong enough, he would not mind a fair fight.

But when he lacked sufficient strength and faced a goal he absolutely had to achieve, Kaido would not rigidly follow the rules. He did not care in the slightest about sneak attacks. That was the survival rule of Kaido, who had set foot on the battlefield as a soldier in his youth.

Still, Kaido could be trusted in such trivial matters. They had no conflict of interest now, and they had shared some history back on Beehive Island.

"Marine, what about you? What do you plan to do next?"

Nereus looked at Dragon, who had finished tidying the sails, and asked casually.

"I... I don't know. There are still some things I want to go back and ask about. After that... I'll leave the Marines."

Dragon's tone carried confusion about the future, but he was extremely resolute about leaving the Marines.

After witnessing what had happened at God Valley, he could no longer convince himself to remain in that self-deceiving military force and uphold its so-called justice.

"Not a bad choice. Want to consider working for me?"