Chapter 27: Harvest: Mythical Zoan
The two words "Big Bro" pierced the sky. Some people standing too close even felt their eardrums ache from Babel's roar.
"Th... This is your ultimate move?!"
Seeing Babel unleash such a "grand technique," the corners of Gansui's mouth began to twitch uncontrollably.
"That's right! Anyone who wants to steal these things, go ahead and try! See if you can grab this loot and escape unscathed before Big Bro gets here!"
Babel was certain that Nereus could hear his roar.
This ultimate move possessed no direct lethality, but it was undeniably effective because Babel stated an unavoidable objective fact.
If the pirates present could work together, perhaps they could truly defeat Babel, divide the treasure, and retreat separately.
But the crux of the problem was that they couldn't do that. Even if Babel threw the treasure out right now, the gathered pirates would still fight to the death over the uneven distribution of loot.
Under these circumstances, choosing to fight Babel meant risking being stalled until Nereus himself arrived...
Gansui wasn't sure how long it would take them to deal with Babel, nor when Nereus would arrive.
But he was certain of one thing: as soon as Nereus arrived, any pirate who dared to lay a hand on Babel would be in big trouble.
He certainly wanted the priceless treasure, but the prerequisite for taking it was leaving here alive.
There's still plenty of treasure left. Snatching those wouldn't be bad either...
Quite a few people shared Gansui's thought. At the very least, Babel's "ultimate move" made the members of the Rocks Pirates drop their designs on him.
Although some other pirates still eyed Babel covetously, showing no intention of giving up.
But for Babel personally, the group that posed the greatest threat had already left.
Ants can profoundly understand the terror of an antlion; in the eyes of an ant, an antlion is an incredibly terrifying predator.
However, ants don't know how terrifying an elephant is. Even if trampled to death, an ant would struggle to see the elephant's full form.
The members of the Rocks Pirates knew very well how terrifying Nereus was. With the threat of Nereus looming, that portion of treasure wasn't worth the risk.
But the pirates from other crews were different. Some still launched attacks on Babel, but he defeated them with little effort.
"Violent Ransom Magnetism!"
At this moment, an invisible force suddenly swept through the entire warehouse district. The treasures and chests on the ground, the weapons on the pirates, and all kinds of metal objects flew uncontrollably toward one side.
"My treasure!"
"Berries! Berries! Come back!"
Even pirates who had grabbed a small amount of loot and tried to retreat couldn't hold onto the treasures in their hands.
"Strong magnetic force detected at the southeast entrance of the valley!!"
"It's Captain John's fruit ability! Hold onto your weapons! All metal will react—don't get sucked away!"
Within the entire Rocks Pirates, the most greedy member was undoubtedly Captain John. His love for treasure far exceeded anyone's imagination.
His eventual end was precisely because he tried to hog all the treasure, leading to his death under siege by his own crew—leaving behind the legend of Captain John's Treasure.
Seeing the situation change, John had moved near the valley exit and activated the ability of the Magnet-Magnet Fruit (Jiki Jiki no Mi) to start plundering treasure.
For a moment, metal objects over a wide range gathered toward one spot. Even people clutching treasures and refusing to let go were sucked away along with them.
The bag on Babel's back, filled with massive amounts of treasure, was naturally affected by Captain John as well. However, Babel possessed a large amount of Armament Haki.
After coating the entire backpack in Haki, his immense strength allowed him to resist the pull without much trouble.
Moreover, Babel was actually quite relaxed now. The reason was simple: he had already spotted Nereus.
The attention of the other pirates was still focused on Babel, but they also sensed something strange.
"Hey, don't you guys think... there's a bit too much blood on the ground?"
A pirate missing several teeth looked around the ground in confusion.
Due to the fierce scramble for treasure earlier, many people had indeed fallen here—corpses of both Marines and pirates littered the ground, so bloodstains were unsurprising.
But now, the blood they were stepping on clearly presented an abnormal state.
This anomaly wasn't just in the excessive volume of blood; they could even see the blood flowing in a bizarre manner.
Those accustomed to killing knew that a corpse wasn't an open faucet; blood wouldn't flow endlessly. The situation before them was obviously very wrong.
However, the vast majority of pirates were blinded by the priceless treasures before them and had no mind to pay attention to these anomalies.
If they could observe more carefully right now, they might have noticed that the blood was vaguely showing a dangerous trend, as if it were about to boil.
Sizzle! Sizzle!
In the very next instant, the blood on the ground seemed to come alive, rapidly condensing into sharp blood spears.
With deadly precision, these blood spears ruthlessly pierced the hearts of one pirate after another.
In the blink of an eye, a crimson forest of blood spears suddenly rose up in a large area centered on Babel's position.
Simultaneously, the auras of living beings in this area were extinguished at a heart-palpitating speed.
"Big Bro, you're here."
"How's the harvest?"
"Bumper harvest. Three Devil Fruits, types uncertain.
Countless treasures of all kinds, and many treasure chests I haven't opened yet.
If that guy Gansui wasn't talking nonsense about every chest being worth one billion Berries, then this is an astronomical figure.
We really have to thank that woman Shakky. If those guys weren't all staring at her, I wouldn't have succeeded so easily."
Babel opened the backpack on his back, showing off the treasures inside to Nereus triumphantly.
"Most of the remaining treasure was sucked away by that guy John using his ability, and the Roger Pirates took quite a bit too. Should we go snatch those back as well?"
Given Babel's capacity, if he had really tried to take all the treasure just now, he would have truly become the target of everyone.
Now that Nereus was here, they could naturally consider more options.
"Quite a bumper harvest indeed."
Nereus couldn't easily estimate the value of the treasure, but he recognized the specific type of one of the Devil Fruits.
The fruit resembled a green pineapple, with leaves growing from it like blue flames. It was none other than the Bird-Bird Fruit, Mythical Zoan Model: Phoenix.
"I'll handle things from here. Babel, I'll send you to the southeast coast; it's safer there. Find a way to get a ship. While ensuring your own safety, take some refugees with you if you can.
If the situation gets critical, just dive underwater and leave. Wait for me back there. What happens next... isn't suitable for you to participate in."
Nereus took the treasure from Babel and placed it into the nearby stream of blood, letting it slowly sink.
Then, gazing at the core of the island, he gave his orders to Babel.