Chapter 191: If I Say This Has Nothing to Do with Me... Would You Believe It?
Compared to ten years ago, the number of people who truly understood the terror of Nereus had indeed dwindled significantly.
Although the absolute number of pirates on the sea was experiencing a continuous upward trend, if one were to ask the veterans who had set out to sea long ago to evaluate the current state of affairs, they would actually feel that today's sea resembled a playground.
There were certainly quite a few powerhouses of respectable strength on the sea right now, but compared to the true monsters of yesteryear, they still fell short.
Now, Rocks was dead, Harald had surrendered to work in the shadows under a black contract, and Nereus was semi-retired, quietly accumulating even greater strength.
It was precisely the absence of these three individuals that allowed more people to rise up and be viewed by the world as the pinnacle of power.
Yet, these "pinnacle" figures happened to be the very ones most intimately familiar with those three monsters.
Compared to the deceased Rocks and a Harald whose whereabouts and actions were completely unknown, Nereus's danger level was arguably even greater. After all, Nereus had still caused quite a few massive commotions over the past few years.
As a former member of the Rocks Pirates, Ochoku knew better than anyone exactly how terrifying Nereus truly was.
How was the Rocks Pirates even formed?
The assembly process of that crew wasn't a gathering of passionate youths chasing a shared dream; it resembled a syndicate temporarily held together by mutual profit and raw violence.
When Rocks recruited subordinates, he didn't rely on righteousness or charisma—he relied on the Davy Back Fight.
And the Davy Back Fight under Rocks' supervision wasn't the whimsical series of carnival games concocted by Silver Fox Foxy in the original timeline. If Rocks ever saw that version of the Davy Back Fight, he would have scoffed at it as children playing house.
The Davy Back Fight Rocks conducted was a martial duel completely saturated with bloodshed and violence. A great number of the early members who joined Rocks were purely beaten into submission.
It was only after their reputation reached legendary proportions that more members flocked to them out of sheer admiration.
Ochoku knew the terrifying extent of Rocks' power; facing Rocks, he stood absolutely no chance of resistance.
Yet Nereus and Rocks had never truly decided a victor between them. Ochoku only knew that whenever those two monsters clashed, the battle would continuously rage for days on end.
Most crucially, Nereus belonged to the Fish-man race—the ocean was his definitive home turf.
The only reason Ochoku was able to take control of Hachinosu himself was largely because the other monsters simply looked down on the island.
Perhaps this island merely reminded those individuals of the era when they were subjugated under Rocks' command. For an ambitious man like the Golden Lion, that was not a history worth reminiscing over, nor would he ever imprison his ambitions on a single island.
The entire world was his target.
For a man like Whitebeard, the thing he pursued was never a piece of territory, so he naturally wouldn't remain on Hachinosu either.
Precisely because the others all harbored their own vast ambitions and successively departed the island, Ochoku was able to smoothly pick up the scraps. He occupied Hachinosu without lifting a finger, leveraging the title of the "Godfather of Pirates" to carve out a sizable sphere of influence in the New World.
Among the sprawling masses of pirates, Ochoku couldn't be considered weak; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to survive so smoothly for so long in the original timeline. The New World did not respect mere seniority.
If one possessed seniority but lacked the corresponding strength, they would only be treated as a stepping stone for rookies looking to make a name for themselves.
But compared to those true apex powerhouses, Ochoku fell short by a wide margin. Whether it was the era before Roger became King or the subsequent Era of the Emperors, Ochoku was never ranked among them.
Before the Red-Haired Pirate achieved global renown, no one factored Ochoku into the grand equation. His unique mention only ever occurred through the mouth of Sengoku—a classic example of a man who was better than the worst, but vastly inferior to the best.
Though he lacked the supreme prestige of a Sea Emperor, he at least hadn't ended up like Silver Axe or Captain John, whose corpses were washed away by the tides of the era.
Originally, Ochoku was highly satisfied with his current circumstances. Yet, a group of people he hadn't even met had gone and completely obliterated his peace.
"Nereus, I don't know that crowd. They acted entirely on their own initiative... If I say it like that, do you think he'll believe me?"
Ochoku looked at the few individuals surrounding him. These were men who had followed him since ten years ago; although they hadn't personally set foot on God Valley, they were veterans of the island and understood perfectly how terrifying Nereus was.
Hearing Ochoku's question, the men exchanged glances, entirely at a loss for words.
They didn't find Ochoku's behavior humiliating. After all, the opponent was Nereus; the fact that Ochoku could still calmly deliberate a countermeasure was already highly commendable.
"Boss, he might believe it. To put it bluntly, that guy Nereus... should be well aware that you wouldn't dare... ahem... aren't willing to provoke him."
One of the men utilized a relatively euphemistic phrasing to voice a brutal reality. Under these conditions, Ochoku didn't care about the slight hit to his pride.
"Don't just stand there staring! Think of a solution! Let me remind you, that bastard Nereus practices collective punishment! Don't forget the absolute maritime blockade back then!
"A mere 'might believe it' isn't good enough. If he gets the impression that this matter was orchestrated by us, none of you are escaping either."
The bloody facts lay bare before them. Without a top-tier powerhouse capable of anchoring the opponent's steps, the entirety of Hachinosu didn't seem sufficient to withstand Nereus alone.
"How about... we go out and wipe that crowd out ourselves before Nereus can make a move?"
"Then what happens to our reputation? That crowd set sail with great fanfare flying the Boss's banner. If we do that, who would ever dare come to seek our protection in the future?"
Pirates operating on the sea required a certain reputation. A boss who casually sacrificed his subordinates usually didn't last very long.
"They aren't our men to begin with! They unauthorizedly utilized the Boss's banner; the Boss clearing his own house is only standard practice!"
"We know these people have nothing to do with us, but that bastard crowd set sail from Hachinosu, flying a banner claiming they want to make the Boss the true 'Godfather'! What will outsiders think?!
"Those people have already been gone for half a day. Are you absolutely certain you can annihilate all seventeen pirate crews without letting a single one escape?!"
Watching his lackeys argue back and forth, Ochoku remained silent. He felt that everyone made valid points, yet every suggestion lacked a certain element; none of them constituted a flawless strategy.
In a sense, Ochoku's perspective was correct. When this kind of disaster dropped out of nowhere onto one's head, a perfect solution simply did not exist.
His strength wasn't even sufficient to grant him the leverage to negotiate with Nereus. The moment someone handed an excuse for military action directly to Nereus, the subsequent development of events would depend entirely on the King's mood.
"Captain Ochoku, I believe we should notify Nereus before that crowd can even make contact. Tell him this matter has absolutely nothing to do with us, and then send along a hefty compensation...
"As for that crowd of maniacs, they definitely won't beat Nereus anyway. Dead men can't exactly come back to question your actions."
Deliberating on compensation before a single shot had been fired was undeniably humiliating, but it seemed to be the only viable path forward.
From the very beginning, Ochoku didn't care about the fate of those fools; his thoughts were entirely consumed by how to preserve himself in Nereus's eyes. Among a pile of mediocre plans, Ochoku ultimately selected this final option.
This concept aligned closely with his initial instinct. After parsing it through his mind repeatedly, Ochoku still felt this was the most appropriate course of action.
However, it appeared that the bad news didn't stop at just one.
"Lord Ochoku! Let me see Lord Ochoku! I have crucial intelligence!!"
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