The reason Nereus was able to interpret these ancient texts was not complicated.
Put simply, the more fiercely the enemy opposed something, the more certain he was that he was doing the right thing.
Nereus did not know what exactly had happened during the blank 100 year history, but he was very clear about one thing. Within that Void Century, there existed something the World Government feared.
Perhaps it even contained detailed information about Imu's weaknesses.
If one had to name the island with the strongest capabilities in history research, it would be Ohara in the West Blue, a place that had gradually become a holy land for the study of history.
However, those scholars had gathered from all over the world, and in this era, research into ancient script was actually being conducted in many regions.
During his voyages, Nereus would collect some of these materials. In the eyes of the World Government, though, Nereus was merely a brutal pirate. No one ever imagined that he was engaged in cultural research.
Moreover, since Nereus never made a big show of such activities, he did not attract much attention.
Over time, he managed to learn the basics. That said, translating ancient script was extremely complex. To Nereus, it was much like reading classical Chinese.
A single character could produce several meanings depending on how it was combined. This was also why Amphitrite only memorized translations by rote. After their heritage had been lost, they had no energy to reverse-engineer the translation of the script while constantly on the run.
"The thing's been found. 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 getting into trouble?"
"Trouble? If you mean the World Government, I've already caused more trouble than I can count. Being a Lunarian is nothing by comparison.
If you choose to join me, the World Government is actually more likely to stop wasting effort on you."
In the original timeline, there was only one Lunarian: Alber, later known as King.
Alber eventually joined Kaido's ranks, took the alias King, and concealed himself completely beneath black clothing.
With attire that revealed only his eyes, it was indeed difficult for outsiders to identify his race.
But King had been taken by Kaido from a World Government research facility. After that, there was suddenly a masked figure by Kaido's side who could fly and wield fire.
As for who that masked man was, the answer was self-evident.
Yet the World Government did not launch any large-scale pursuit of King, instead simply pretending they could not identify him.
After all, Kaido's strength at the time had already become a serious problem. The effort required to take King away exceeded the benefit of capturing a single Lunarian.
He was neither Joy Boy nor Davy D. Jones, and was clearly unable to catch the attention of the seemingly senile Imu, so the matter was quietly dropped.
If King had continued wandering alone, or if the people around him had not been strong enough, the outcome might have been different.
Now, however, the level of trouble posed by Nereus far exceeded that of Kaido in the original timeline. Expending massive resources for the sake of a single Lunarian was simply not worth it for the World Government.
"Amphitrite of the Lunarian race. From now on… please take care of me. If I cause you trouble, I'll leave."
"Nereus of the Fish-Men race. Welcome aboard. Trouble isn't something you need to worry about. I won't abandon any of my companions."
"Ah, Dad's been gone for so long. Why hasn't he come back yet? Hermes! Haven't you seen Dad yet?!"
In the waters where Nereus's group was waiting, Nanamo stood atop the lookout tower, searching for Nereus's silhouette.
She felt that Nereus had been gone unusually long this time. Any opponents they might encounter in the West Blue, let alone Nereus, Nanamo felt she herself could handle them all.
She couldn't understand what could have delayed Nereus for so long.
"Reporting to Princess Nanamo, not yet… Wait! I see him! Lord Nereus has returned! But he's brought someone else back with him!"
"So what if he brought someone back? There are already dozens of people on this ship that Dad rescued. What's so strange about that?"
"No! This time it's different! Lord Nereus came back carrying a woman!"
"So what? Why are you acting so weird? Dad has brought back injured people plenty of times before. Didn't you see a Cipher Pol agent's ship earlier? She must be injured."
Nanamo still didn't take it seriously. Seeing Hermes floating in front of her, the cloud's body shifted and transformed, as if trying to use exaggerated body language to convey something.
"I hate people who talk in riddles! Homies too! If you've got something to say, just say it straight!"
Nanamo grabbed and kneaded Hermes's face. Under the external force, Hermes's features became completely abstract, but for a cloud Homie, it felt like nothing at all.
After compressing his body and slipping out of Nanamo's hands, Hermes cleared his throat. He even shaped a pair of cloud-made spectacles on his face, seemingly to emphasize his wisdom.
"It's about status! My princess! You must trust my eyes. There's definitely something off about the way that woman looks at Lord Nereus!"
"Huh? That's all you wanted to say? Why do you think a woman could shake my position? He's my dad, not anything else. As a cloud, you should think less about weird stuff!"
With a single karate chop, Nanamo split Hermes in two, then slid down the lookout tower's mast, no longer bothering with the strange ideas in Hermes's head.
"Sigh, Princess Nanamo still doesn't understand the adult world."
"But that's fine. No matter what happens, I'll always be Princess Nanamo's most loyal servant!"
The two halves of Hermes muttered to themselves 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 take a look at her."
After returning to the ship, Nereus first introduced Amphitrite to the nearby officers. As for everyone else, he planned to let Amphitrite introduce herself once she had recovered.
By that time, Nanamo had already come over, pushing a wheelchair.
"Dad, leave it to me! You can go take care of other things!"
Wheelchairs were actually one of the most common means of transportation on Nereus's ship, mainly because Mermaid subordinates had difficulty moving in a dry environment.
Although they could use bubbles created by Bubbly Coral to move while suspended, those bubbles, like the ones produced from the resin of Yarukiman Mangrove, could only be used within the influence range of the Yarukiman Mangrove.
Once outside that range, the bubbles became unusable. Combined with the occasional presence of injured personnel, there was no shortage of wheelchairs.
As Nanamo escorted Amphitrite to the infirmary, Amphitrite was still pondering the word "dad" Nanamo had used when she suddenly heard Nanamo ask a question.
"Um… Amphitrite, right? Are you short on money?"
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