Marine Headquarters.
Marine Headquarters building, within Admiral Sengoku's office.
Pere pere pere...
Sengoku, who was reviewing documents, picked up the Den Den Mushi from his desk. The moment he lifted the receiver, the Den Den Mushi made an extremely anxious expression, urgently relaying, "Admiral Sengoku! Alucard the Immortal has been sighted at Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 66, the Marine base! Our unit has been completely annihilated! Please advise!"
Sengoku's expression hardened. "No one is to act rashly. Once you ascertain his location, initiate secret surveillance. I will send someone to handle this. Await orders."
"Yes, sir."
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Sengoku stood up and called out, "Send Borsalino and Strawberry to my office. Tell them to prepare their ships!"
Half an hour later, two battleships departed from Marine Headquarters Marineford. Borsalino was sitting in the command room, his long legs propped on the table, a cigarette dangling from his mouth, as he looked at Alucard's wanted poster.
"Hmm~ A pirate with a 200 million bounty who can only be captured alive. How scary, ne~"
At that moment, a Marine Captain entered the room and stood before Borsalino. "Vice Admiral, do you have any plans?"
"Hmm... Well, let's just wait. We'll react as appropriate."
...
Sabaody Archipelago.
Meanwhile, at Auction House No. 1 for human trafficking on Sabaody Archipelago.
A wealthy, obese man had just purchased a pair of beautiful twin slaves for 120 million Berries.
With this final transaction, today's auction concluded.
Perhaps due to the lack of particularly rare items, the Celestial Dragons had not made an appearance. The tiered seating in the venue was not full. Alucard was seated in the back row.
Not encountering any Celestial Dragons he particularly wished to meet, Alucard was in a rather unpleasant mood.
The World Nobles, rumored to hold significant secrets of this world, yet also a family of the world's trash. Alucard had always wanted to see them with his own eyes. What a shame.
Since the auction had completely ended, most people began leaving the venue. The remaining individuals were either wealthy buyers or pirates who had successfully purchased items, waiting to pay and receive their goods.
Some wealthy individuals left their subordinates to handle this, but others, like the fat rich man who had just bought the twin beauties, personally stayed to pick up their purchases.
The comical host on stage shouted to the remaining audience members, "Now, all successful buyers, please come up to the stage to claim your goods! Thank you for supporting our auction. We will notify you immediately if any new, valuable items appear in the future!"
Buyers and their subordinates, who had been seated, rose and walked towards the stage below. Soon, many buyers had gathered on stage. Everyone pulled out their bank cards. This world did have banks, but they were generally for ordinary people; pirates would never use such things.
"Oh, Lucien Branky-sama, you've acquired another good pair this time," the auction host exclaimed upon seeing the fat man, calling out his name immediately. It seemed the two had conducted many transactions before.
"The last ones weren't exciting enough. Now, a pair of twins, mm, good, suits my taste." Branky grabbed the shoulders of the twin sisters he had bought for 120 million Berries, one in each hand, and chuckled sinisterly as he pulled out a gold card. "Alright, go swipe it!"
As for the twin sisters, they faced death. They had a premonition that their lives would henceforth be filled with darkness. No, it was even uncertain how long they would live.
"Thank you for your purchase! Would you like a discount this time? You've patronized us so many times already."
"Hmph! Stop rambling and hurry up! I'm waiting to go home!" Branky said impatiently.
"Yes, yes, I won't bother you any longer."
Just as the host reached out to take the gold card from Branky's hand, a sudden gunshot rang out. The host felt a chill in his arm, followed by a sensation of emptiness. He looked down to see that, somehow, both his hands had fallen to the ground. They had been severed at the elbow, dripping blood, and lay on the floor.
Immediately after, came the pain! Excruciating, soul-piercing pain!
"Ahhhhhhh!" The host writhed on the ground, his screams echoing, startling the other buyers on stage. "My hands! My hands!!"
The host's screams continued. At that moment, a figure walked up from the audience. To the buyers' shocked gazes, Alucard approached the host and aimed Casull at his head.
"You... who are you? St-stop! Do you know who I am...?"
BANG!
SPLASH!
His head was completely blown apart, eyeballs flying out and splattering on Branky's face, coating him with bits of brain matter.
"Kyaaaah!"
No one knew who screamed first. In an instant, dozens of bodyguards rushed out from behind the stage. Their attire varied; they looked more like temporary hires than professionals.
"Hehe," Alucard chuckled. He raised his guns and fired, blowing the heads off each of the auction house's guards. They didn't even have time to get close before they were all annihilated.
"This card, does it have a password?" Alucard turned, snatched the gold card from Branky's hand, looked at it, then raised a finger to ask him.
"N-no, it... it can be used freely... anywhere," Branky said blankly, clearly under Alucard's control.
"Well done. I was just short on money," Alucard chuckled.
Isn't stealing money this way much faster?
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