Chapter 238: You Truly Are Bold
The dim, murky tunnel didn't look like a path to survival; it resembled a stagnant, lifeless pool. Although Fish-Men were capable of digging underwater tunnels, they certainly weren't interior designers.
On Fish-Man Island, the Sunlight Tree Eve provided light to the deep sea. In areas beyond Eve's reach, Fish-Men could still navigate the underwater environment by sensing the flow of the currents.
Therefore, when excavating this path, they hadn't bothered considering aesthetics or comfort.
"These are Bubble Corals. They store large amounts of air inside and can be used like oxygen tanks. Follow this tunnel and swim outward; once you reach the open water, there will naturally be people waiting to receive you."
If they were near Fish-Man Island, Bubble Corals could generate durable bubbles to be used as miniature submersibles.
But they were far too distant from Fish-Man Island here—or more accurately, far too distant from the Sunlight Tree Eve. Whether it was bubbles produced from the resin of Yarukiman Mangroves or those from Bubble Corals, the rule remained the same.
In regions too far from Eve, durable bubbles simply couldn't form. They could only rely on the air stored inside as makeshift oxygen tanks.
"Those books... they are cultural treasures of the entire world! We can't let them be destroyed like this! That lake might protect some of them, but..."
"You don't need to worry about any of that. I have my own ways of handling it. All you need to do right now is get out of here immediately."
Although the majority were historical texts, these records genuinely held extraordinary significance. After all, the highest tier of technology on this sea was ancient technology.
Through archaeological research, who knew what secrets could be unearthed?
Storing these items inside the River of Death wasn't difficult at all. To Nereus, taking these books along was merely a matter of convenience.
Even though it was an improvised, freshly excavated tunnel, it was actually quite spacious. After all, if the tunnel were too narrow and someone got stuck, it would cause a massive disaster.
After briefly explaining how to use the Bubble Corals and watching the last scholar enter the tunnel, Nereus instructed Bikupanda to follow from behind and gradually seal the opening.
In the future, even if someone sliced this island into cross-sections to examine it, they wouldn't find a single trace of a tunnel ever having existed here.
Humans couldn't match the swimming speed of Fish-Men. Even inside a fixed, enclosed tunnel, their pace was slow. Coupled with the tremors of heavy artillery bombardment shaking the earth above them, an invisible weight of terror pressed down on the scholars.
They chose to trust Nereus—not because they had any deep faith in him, but because they simply had no other choice.
The books they wanted to protect had already been thrown into the lake; the rest was left to fate. If they didn't want to die under the devastating artillery bombardment of the Buster Call, this desperate gamble was their only option.
Meanwhile, on the surface of Ohara, Nico Robin successfully escaped the island with Jaguar D. Saul's sacrifice and Kuzan's intentional leniency, beginning her solitary life on the run.
Kuzan himself hadn't resisted the execution of the Buster Call. No matter how you looked at it, the people of this island had legally violated the World Government's laws.
Even if the World Government was using Ohara as an elaborate trap to lure scholars in, it didn't change that underlying fact.
However, what Kuzan couldn't accept was that his colleague, Sakazuki, had ordered a direct artillery strike on the civilian evacuation ship just to eradicate any potential hidden threats.
Of course, if Sakazuki knew that even after going to such ruthless lengths, the Five Elders would still deem him incompetent in the future for letting Nico Robin slip away, he probably would have found it equally hard to accept.
The ideological rift between Ice and Magma was already forming in this very moment. Among those remaining on the island, Saul was the sole survivor; although Kuzan had completely encased him in ice, he hadn't shattered the frozen sculpture.
As long as the ice melted, the frozen man could still be saved. Because of his position near the coast and the proximity of the warships, the Buster Call's artillery hadn't shattered Saul's icy sculpture.
Once the World Government's forces departed from the island they had reduced to smoking ruins, Saul began slowly thawing the frost from his body on that scorched earth, aided by the warmth of the sun.
After an exhausting underwater trek, the group finally left Ohara behind. The sediment kicked up by so many people swimming through the tunnel had turned the water thick and murky.
Coupled with the sand already suspended in the seawater, the scholars could barely open their eyes.
The only thing they could rely on was the guide rope left behind when the tunnel was first excavated.
As they swam a certain distance outward, the icy seawater surrounding them suddenly turned warm, and the current slowed significantly.
From a bird's-eye view, one would see that these scholars were currently inside the cavernous mouth of a colossal pelican. Although its head resembled a bird, its body was that of a classic sea monster—a physiological structure that was the absolute hallmark of a Sea King.
Occasionally borrowing the strength of one or two Sea Kings, rather than commanding an entire armada of them, wasn't an act that drew excessive suspicion.
Aside from the ancient, colossal Sea Kings that carried mythic significance, ordinary Sea Kings were viewed by most people on the sea as nothing more than standard natural hazards.
"Medic, tend to Professor Clover's wounds."
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
If the average physical constitution in this world wasn't practically mystical, an old man of Clover's age would have bled to death after taking a gunshot to the chest. Instead, after hauling countless heavy books and going on a deep-sea dive, he wasn't even gasping for breath.
Perhaps it had something to do with the physical conditioning he had built up in his younger days.
"Fish-Men... Merfolk... you're people from Fish-Man Island. They called you 'Your Majesty'... so you must be the King of the Ryugu Kingdom... hiss..."
"Show some respect when you speak, old man! If not for His Majesty Nereus, you idiots would already be dead!"
The medic suddenly applied extra pressure to the bandages, causing a sharp flare of agony to erupt from the numbed gunshot wound.
"My apologies... I should have realized it sooner. Many of the historical documents you brought us back then were about ancient Fish-Man Island, along with that apology letter written by a man named Joy Boy to the Mermaid Princess..."
"Your Majesty, his pulse is steady. It's not a terminal rally; his physical constitution is quite resilient."
While Clover was muttering about these historical revelations, the medic stepped up to Nereus's ear and quietly reported his medical diagnosis.
"You brought us out of there... you must have your own objective, right? Are you looking for the Ancient Weapons?"
Hearing Clover casually drop the words "Ancient Weapons," Nereus couldn't help but scratch his head. These scholars really must have dumped all their stat points into historical research.
Saying words like that at a time like this... they really weren't afraid he would silence them permanently.
"It seems you really did uncover something different while studying those Poneglyphs. But has anyone ever told you that your behavior is hopelessly stupid?
"If you want to research it, fine—why couldn't you just research it quietly in the shadows? You turned Ohara into a sacred mecca for archaeology; were you terrified the World Government wouldn't figure out what you were doing?"
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