If anyone were to ask Alucard which modern pirates he remembered by name, he would list Roger, Whitebeard, and Shiki the Golden Lion. But now, he'd have to add "Red."
This was what Alucard had read in the newspaper today: "Red the Aloof" had clashed with "Golden Lion Shiki" in the New World. Red, as a lone wolf, narrowly lost to Shiki, but still heavily damaged him and most of Shiki's fleet.
"So there's a character like that..." Alucard put down the newspaper. When he looked up again, a familiar island, covered in giant trees and surrounded by bubbles, appeared in the distance.
That was Sabaody Archipelago, the end of the first half of the Grand Line and the starting point for pirates heading to the New World.
"Finally arrived, Sabaody Archipelago." Alucard stood up, controlled his ship to dock, and landed at Grove 21, a lawless zone.
The vessel he was on wasn't just any pirate ship he could find and discard; it was his own. He'd better protect it. Thinking this, Alucard firmly cast the anchor into the shore's mud and turned to leave.
Frankly, no one but Alucard could operate this type of ship, so leaving it here shouldn't be a concern.
The most urgent task was to find a coater.
After passing through the Red Line, he would arrive in the New World and search for the island called Baizinbur.
The first thing to do after landing on the island would naturally be to get the ship coated. Even Alucard couldn't move freely 10,000 meters beneath the sea.
Grove 23, one of the coating mechanics' gathering points.
Pirates coming here were mostly preparing to enter the New World, and coating was a very popular business.
'I remember Rayleigh seemed to be involved in this in the future, too, right?'
"The coating fee... And, you said it's a steel ship?" In front of a ship factory in Grove 23, two coating mechanics asked in disbelief after hearing Alucard. 'A steel ship? Can a sail even move that?'
"Just tell me the fee," Alucard said flatly, not intending to explain further.
"Alright," since there was money to be made, the two workers didn't bother with more nonsense. They held up two fingers. "Twenty million Berries."
Seeing that Alucard was alone, not with a pirate crew, they figured he wasn't very knowledgeable and decided to rip him off for twenty million. Plus, this was one of the closest islands to Marine Headquarters; which pirate would dare to cause trouble?
Alucard hadn't given his answer when suddenly, footsteps sounded from behind him. From the two coating mechanics' perspective, they saw about twenty people, many with skull tattoos on their exposed arms, clearly indicating their identity.
"Hey! Old man, we, the Skull Pirates, want our ship coated! Hurry up and give us a price! The beauties of Sabaody are waiting!" A man with a massive skull tattoo on his arm spoke with extreme arrogance, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Captain, along the way, those pretty women made my heart itch! Let's hurry!"
"Don't rush, Disian. This place is very close to Marine Headquarters, so try to cause less trouble. Once we're in the New World, you can do whatever you want." The captain of the Skull Pirates, Jeromiah Barud, stood at the front of the group. Seeing Alucard blocking their way, he arrogantly shouted, "Hey! Kid, get out of the way if you've got nothing to do!"
Suddenly, Alucard turned around, pulled out his white gun, Casull, from his coat, and pressed it against Barud's chin. With a "bang!" the shot instantly caused Barud's neck to explode in a bloody spray, splattering half of Alucard's face with blood.
"Shuuup~" Alucard extended his tongue and licked Barud's blood from the side of his face.
Disian, a crew member of the Skull Pirates, suddenly reacted and ordered the crew members behind him, "He killed the Captain! What are you waiting for! Atta—"
BANG!
Before he could utter the last word, his neck also exploded. At this point, the other members of the Skull Pirates finally started pulling out their weapons one after another, but Alucard had already charged into their midst, unleashing a massacre!
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
A man in a red coat and crimson top hat, wielding two guns, danced amidst flying body parts and a sea of blood, a crazed smile on his face.
He completely terrified many of the onlookers, coating mechanics, who wondered: Doesn't he know where this is? Doesn't he know he shouldn't cause trouble here, or he'll attract Marines from Headquarters?
A crew member of the Skull Pirates bled profusely from his head, staining most of his face red. His breath was weak, and he barely managed to say, "You... don't follow... pirate... ru-rules..."
CLICK!
Alucard jammed the muzzle of Casull directly into his mouth!
BANG!
Brains, eyeballs, and blood mixed together as the man fell to the ground, his death gruesome.
The last person. Dead!
The Skull Pirates, annihilated!
...
Ability Development Progress
Vampire Physique Complete Form: 9%
Bat Transformation Complete Form: 10%
Weapon - Casull LV4: 93%
Weapon - Jackal LV1: 76%
Blacklight Virus LV3: 47%
Hidden Shadow LV2: 40%
...
Barely any progress. Just small fry.
A stack of wanted posters emerged from the Hidden Shadow beneath Alucard's feet. Alucard flipped through them twice, a smirk forming on his lips, revealing his vampiric fangs. His deep voice resonated from his throat: "Jeromiah Barud, Captain of the Skull Pirates, bounty: 22,200,000 Berries."
Alucard looked down at the ground. Barud's neck had already been shot through by Alucard, and now only a thin layer of skin connected his head.
Finding the corpse, Alucard grabbed his head, tearing it off along with the bit of skin still attached to the collarbone. Holding the still-dripping head in front of the two mechanics from earlier, he chuckled, "Here, 22,200,000 Berries. Take it."
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