Red turned his head.
After three seconds of observation, he unfurled his large cloak.
It must be said, aside from their appearances, there were too many similarities between these two n. Beyond their red attire and vampiric aura, many of their actions and styles faintly resembled each other.
First, both were lone wolves, each leading a pirate crew of one, with no companions. Second, they had both ascended to the status of great pirates through their individual strength.
Because of these nurous similarities, Alucard was often compared to Red and a younger Red. It’s just that Red had already climbed to a legendary position, while Alucard was currently still "Beneath the Legends."
"Dracula D. Alucard, a na frequently appearing on news headlines recently. Are you heading back to the first half of the Grand Line from the New World, or have you decided to return to the New World?" Red spoke calmly, propping himself up with his long, bat-handled umbrella. However, when he saw Alucard’s youthful face, a hint of jealousy and loss, which even he didn’t detect, flashed in his eyes.
"If there’s nothing else, would you care for a drink before we talk?" Alucard lowered his head, his bangs obscuring a small part of his face, and asked with a smile, "I just fed the dogs, and it’s put in a foul mood."
"Oh... if you’re buying, I don’t mind." Red was rely passing by and hadn’t witnessed the scene in the restaurant, so he naturally didn’t understand what Alucard ant by "fed the dogs."
"Ah... co on then." Alucard, with his Thermal Vision, could locate soone in an instant within a city, so finding a place was no issue, especially since he had already visited Fish-Man Island once.
...
At Ryugu Palace on Fish-Man Island, King Neptune, upon receiving the news, imdiately sent people to investigate the cause of the commotion. They eventually learned that Alucard and Red had taken seats in a fish-man tavern in the bustling district.
The Right Minister, a seahorse fish-man with a katana at his right hip, held two wanted posters and looked up at Neptune and Queen Otohi, who was seated to his left, saying, "Your Majesty, Queen, the identities of those two have been confird. They are both pirates, and... they are pirates with bounties exceeding 600 million and 1 billion Berry."
Although the information from Fish-Man Island wasn’t always perfectly accurate, as long as soone was famous, their location wasn’t a secret. Furthermore, with the advent of the Great Pirate Era, Fish-Man Island had already begun to gather pirate intelligence for better understanding.
"...Regarding the restaurant incident, were there any innocent casualties?" Neptune, not expecting pirates with such exaggerated bounties, asked after a drop of cold sweat trickled down his face.
The Right Minister replied, "N-no, there weren’t, but the scene was too bloody. It might create a bad impression."
"...Although it’s disgraceful, please suppress this matter and compensate that restaurant," Neptune decided.
"Please don’t say that, Your Majesty. You are constantly striving for Fish-Man Island," the Left Minister advised.
"Sigh... If this continues..." Neptune rubbed his brow.
The Great Pirate Era had only just begun a year ago, and Fish-Man Island was already in such disarray. If a few more years passed, who knew what kind of disaster it would beco.
Suddenly, Neptune abruptly rembered sothing and warned, "The tavern those two pirates went to, imdiately evacuate the public from there. If possible, take everyone else inside the establishnt as well."
"Yes, understood!"
...
anwhile, in a tavern in Fish-Man Island’s bustling district.
"Is that so? As expected, the era ushered in by Roger has spurred countless new-generation pirates." Red swirled the whiskey in his glass, speaking thoughtfully. "It’s been a long ti since I was defeated by Shiki years ago. After that, I retreated with severe injuries and recuperated for a long ti. I didn’t expect the sea to have beco like this."
"New-generation pirates? More like trash," Alucard scoffed. "Just take a look at the first half of the Grand Line, and you’ll see what those greenhorn pirates are like."
During their brief conversation, Alucard had also learned why Red was on Fish-Man Island. He had been severely wounded and fled during his battle with Shiki four years ago. Not long after recovering from his injuries, Roger beca the Pirate King.
Red deeply regretted not having faced Roger for a long ti before he beca the Pirate King. But now that Roger was dead, he no longer had that opportunity, so he decided to at least visit Loguetown in the East Blue to see what kind of place Roger had died in.
"That’s a rather broad generalization. By your logic, aren’t you and I, also pirates, trash as well?" Red asked pointedly, perhaps intending to turn Alucard’s words back on him.
"You’re not wrong to say that. Indeed, do you think pirates should be saints?" Alucard’s eyes shifted, a glint of malice flashing within them.
"Haha," Red chuckled lightly, downing the whiskey in his glass, a silent acknowledgnt.
"Speaking of which, you’re a lone wolf and not a Devil Fruit user, so how did you get down to this 10,000-ter deep seabed?" Alucard asked sothing that genuinely piqued his interest. He didn’t believe Red had the sa thod he did.
"Heh, what’s so curious about it? Kill a few people, threaten them to take here by ship. Later, I also plan to take down a pirate crew on this island and take their ship to the East Blue," Red said dismissively.
For that, one could only mourn for the pirate crew he was about to choose. They hadn’t even truly reached the New World, yet they were already targeted by this old monster.
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