Mermaids Really Exist

At dusk the next day, the setting sun cast a golden reflection across the sea.

Nereus's warship drew near the island where the others had been staying before they arrived at God Valley.

Beneath the surface, a massive shadow swam alongside the warship. Though it carefully used the sunset's afterglow to hide itself as much as possible, Nereus still spotted it.

Judging from the shifting shadow on the water, whatever was below was gradually approaching the surface.

"Stand down, it's me! The one on patrol at this hour today... is Rachel, right? I saw your shadow!"

Nereus shouted toward the sea. His deep voice carried through the surface and into the water. Before long, a creature resembling a plesiosaur emerged halfway from the sea.

"Moo!"

It was not a plesiosaur, but a Sea Giraffe. It stretched its neck over to the ship's side and warmly greeted Nereus, ignoring the others as they backed away in fear.

This was only the West Blue, after all. The Sea Beasts and Sea Kings living here were smaller as well; a length of over ten meters was enough to rule a stretch of ocean.

Those who rarely sailed far had never seen such an enormous Sea Beast, but creatures of this size were common in the Grand Line.

A saddle was strapped around the Sea Giraffe's long, slender neck. A beautiful figure with short black hair and a spear in hand emerged from the water with it. She was the Rachel Nereus had mentioned.

"Lord Nereus, welcome back."

"M-Mermaid! It's a Mermaid!"

"She's so beautiful... Is this what Mermaids really look like...?"

Unlike humans, Rachel's lower body was a fish tail covered in pale blue scales, the most distinctive feature of the Merfolk Race.

Though the inability to split their tails until the age of thirty limited Mermaids' activities on land, the Merfolk Race possessed unrivaled speed across the seas and was the fastest-swimming group in the ocean.

Unless a Mermaid's brain had malfunctioned or something unexpected happened, predators could not catch a Mermaid in the deep sea.

This speed meant that most Mermaids under Nereus's command handled patrol duties alongside Sea Beasts.

Earlier, Nereus had recalled the duty roster and thus confirmed the patroller's identity.

"Hey, hey, Rachel! Are your eyes only for big brother?"

"Oh my, High Priest Babel, how could I possibly miss someone as big as you? But Lord Nereus is more eye-catching than you. I need to continue my patrol now. See you~"

Compared to forms of address like "my lord" or "big brother," Babel preferred being called High Priest, since he had always regarded himself as a monk.

The only problem was that this monk followed no precepts whatsoever. Even a precept-breaking monk had more discipline than Babel.

Still, Babel had merely said it casually and was not actually angry.

Although the Mermaids and Fish-Men partnered with Sea Beasts were technically his direct subordinates, if they truly ignored Nereus and only had eyes for him, Babel would have an even bigger headache.

With that, Rachel flipped back into the water and continued her patrol with the Sea Giraffe.

"The island ahead is our temporary foothold. If you want to stay here, we'll part ways now. Those who want to come with me can rest for the night, and we'll set sail again tomorrow!"

After explaining the arrangements to the people aboard, the warship continued toward the island ahead. Though it was uninhabited, it had a natural deep-water harbor and was a fine place to dock.

There, Dragon also saw the two large warships that had been repainted. In the past, seeing the warships that had been taken from them would have brought him only shame, but now everything was different.

He was still wearing that somewhat tattered naval uniform, yet no one on the island looked at him strangely.

Any Marine who could walk off Nereus's ship alive had to be different somehow.

The people who had once lived on God Valley were drawn to the appearances of those stationed on the island.

Nereus had few Fish-Man traits, and while Babel was massive, he generally looked fairly human.

Fish-Men like Sebastian had far more prominent physical features. Together with the Mermaids moving about in the bay, the world suddenly felt dreamlike to these people.

Small Sea Beasts could still be seen in the waters of the Four Blues, but the Fishman Race was far rarer, while Mermaids existed only in legend.

"Sebastian, have a few people arrange places for them to rest. Keep an eye on security too. Watch them closely."

"Don't worry, big brother. I know how to handle this."

Protection went both ways. If these rescued people behaved themselves, those on night watch would keep them safe. But if anyone harbored bad intentions, Nereus would not show mercy.

His own people were the highest priority.

"We got three Devil Fruits from God Valley this time. They were prizes belonging to the Celestial Dragons. We still don't know what two of them are, but they won't be bad Fruits. Do you have any interest?"

"Forget it, big brother. I'm not like you, able to coat myself. Devil Fruits don't suit me. I don't want to sink straight to the bottom the moment I enter the water."

"Then we'll talk about it later. Where's Nanamo? Why haven't I seen her?"

"Nanamo? She's over with Sambel, holding her concert."

Sebastian pointed in another direction, where a grove of coconut trees happened to block the view.

When Nereus walked over, the first thing he saw was a karaoke mood light.

More accurately, it should have been called a mood Cloud. No one knew what Hermes had stored in its belly, but lights of every color shone through its body onto the temporary stage below.

Judging from the applause around them and Nanamo's movements, the performance had already ended, and the audience was beginning to leave.

Singing was Nanamo's personal hobby, and she was fairly talented at it, but she was still some way from being able to hold a solo concert.

For now, concerts like this were more like playing house, but the Fish-Man Pirates were all happy to indulge Nanamo in this game.

They only had to listen to someone sing, clap their hands, and offer some emotional support. Her singing was not bad, either—not to mention that she was their big brother's daughter.

"Dad? You're back?"

"The matter over there is settled. I prepared a very interesting job for you. You'll like it."

"A job?"

Before Nanamo could ask anything else, a fountain of blood appeared beneath Nereus's feet. He took out that enormous package once more and tossed it directly toward Nanamo.

The huge package could have held several Nanamos, yet she did not dodge. Instead, she spread her arms and caught the oversized bundle.

"These are the treasures we brought back. Your job is simple: sort through them and register them..."

"No problem!"