Princess, You Must Trust My Judgment

Nereus could decipher these ancient texts for a simple reason.

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To put it simply, the more the enemy opposed something, the more certain he was that he was doing the right thing.

Nereus did not know what had happened during the Void Century, but he knew very well that there was something in those hundred missing years that the World Government feared.

Perhaps it even contained details about Imu's weaknesses.

When it came to the island with the strongest historical research capabilities, it had to be Ohara in the West Blue. It had gradually become the Holy Land of history.

But those scholars had gathered there from all over the world. In this era, research into ancient texts was actually being conducted everywhere.

Whenever Nereus sailed, he collected things like this. In the World Government's eyes, however, he was merely a brutal Pirate. No one had ever imagined that Nereus was conducting cultural research.

Besides, Nereus had never made a grand spectacle of it, so he had not drawn too much attention.

Over time, he had learned the basics. Still, translating those ancient texts was incredibly complicated; to Nereus, it was much like classical Chinese.

A single character could have several meanings depending on its combination with others. That was why Amphitrite had only memorized the translations by rote. After their heritage was lost, they had been constantly fleeing and had no energy to reverse-engineer the language.

"Now that we've found what you were looking for, if you trust me, come back to my ship and rest for a while. Once you've recovered, whether you stay or leave is up to you."

"I'm a Lunarian. Aren't you afraid of causing trouble?"

"Trouble? If you mean the World Government, I've caused so much trouble for them that I've lost count. Being a Lunarian barely counts as anything.

"If you choose to join me, the World Government will be even less likely to waste its efforts on you."

In the original timeline, there had only been one Lunarian: Alber, also known as King.

Alber later joined Kaido's crew, took the name King, and covered himself from head to toe in black clothes.

With clothing that revealed only his eyes, outsiders truly found it difficult to identify his race.

But King had been taken from a World Government research facility by Kaido. After that, Kaido had a masked man at his side who could fly and wield fire.

Who that masked man was, then, went without saying.

Yet the World Government had not launched any large-scale pursuit of King. They had merely pretended not to recognize him.

In the end, Kaido's strength had already become troublesome at the time. The effort required to take King away would have outweighed the benefits of capturing a Lunarian.

He was neither Joy Boy nor Davy D. Jones, and clearly could not draw the attention of the seemingly senile Imu. So the matter had simply been dropped.

If King had still been wandering alone, or if those around him had not been strong enough, the outcome might have been different.

And now, Nereus was far more troublesome than Kaido had been in the original timeline. To expend great effort over one Lunarian would not be worth it for the World Government.

"Amphitrite, of the Lunarian Tribe. From now on... please take care of me. If I cause you trouble, I'll leave."

"Nereus, of the Fishman Race. Welcome aboard. Trouble isn't something you need to consider. I won't abandon any companion."

"Ah, Dad's been gone for so long. Why isn't he back yet? Hermes! Haven't you spotted Dad yet?!"

In the waters where Nereus's group had originally been, Nanamo stood atop the lookout tower, searching for Nereus's silhouette.

She felt that Nereus had been gone a little too long. The opponents they might encounter in the West Blue were not even worth mentioning to Nereus; Nanamo felt she could handle every last one of them herself.

She could not understand what had delayed Nereus for so long.

"Reporting to Princess Nanamo, not yet... I see him! Lord Nereus has returned! But he brought someone else back with him!"

"So what if he brought someone back? There are dozens of people on this ship that Dad rescued. What's so strange about that?"

"No! This time is different! Lord Nereus carried a woman back in his arms!"

"So what? Why are you acting so weird? It's not like Dad hasn't brought injured people back before. Didn't you see a ship full of CP agents earlier? She must have been hurt."

Nanamo still did not think much of it. Hermes floated before her, his Cloud body shifting and changing as though he were trying to express something through elaborate body language.

"I hate people who talk in riddles! Riddle-speaking Homies too! Just say what you mean!"

Nanamo kneaded Hermes's face. Under the force of her hands, Hermes's features became distorted beyond recognition, but a Cloud Homies felt nothing from it.

After compressing his body and slipping free from Nanamo's hands, Hermes cleared his throat. He even formed a pair of spectacles on his face with Cloud, seemingly trying to show off his learning.

"It's about status, my Princess! You have to trust my judgment. There's definitely something wrong with the way that woman looked at Lord Nereus!"

"Huh? That's what you wanted to say? Why would you think a woman could shake my status? He's my dad, not anything else. As a Cloud, stop thinking such weird things!"

With a hand chop, Nanamo split Hermes in two. She slid down the lookout tower's mast and no longer paid any attention to the strange thoughts in Hermes's head.

"Sigh, Princess Nanamo still doesn't understand the adult world."

"But it's fine. No matter what happens, I will always be Princess Nanamo's most loyal servant!"

Split into two halves, Hermes muttered to himself before merging back together and flying down as well.

"Let me introduce her. This is Amphitrite, our new companion. Arrange a room for her, then have the ship's doctor come examine her."

After returning to the ship, Nereus first introduced Amphitrite to several nearby officers. As for everyone else, he intended to let Amphitrite introduce herself once she had recovered.

At that moment, Nanamo had already pushed over a wheelchair.

"Dad, leave it to me! You can go take care of other things!"

Wheelchairs were actually the most common means of transportation aboard Nereus's ship, mainly because members of the Merfolk Race had difficulty moving in environments without water.

Although they could use bubbles made from Bubble Coral to float through the air, those bubbles, like the bubbles produced from Yarukiman Mangrove resin, could only be used within the Yarukiman Mangrove's range of influence.

Beyond that range, the bubbles could not be used. Along with the occasional injured crew member, there was no shortage of wheelchairs and the like.

As Nanamo took Amphitrite to the infirmary, Amphitrite was pondering Nanamo's use of the word "Dad" when she suddenly heard Nanamo ask a question.

"Um... Amphitrite, right? Are you short on money?"