Chapter 155: Red the Aloof, Patrick Redfield
The true entrance for pirates heading to the New World is Fish-Man Island. To travel between the first half of the Grand Line and the New World, one either needs government permission to use the World Government’s exclusive passage, or they must travel underwater, passing through Fish-Man Island via a hole beneath the Red Line to connect the two seas.
Currently, in a Fish-Man restaurant, three pirates were loudly discussing something. Their rude behavior and excessive volume attracted the attention of many of Fish-Man Island’s native residents.
A year ago, before the Great Pirate Era began, perhaps only a few pirates would visit in a week. But since Roger’s words on the execution platform, the number of pirates entering Fish-Man Island had grown exponentially, as if they had taken growth hormones.
Even though the Fish-Man Island Royal Palace constantly increased its manpower, barely maintaining stability, it was still just barely stable, with the potential for collapse at any moment.
"So, so, in Sabaody, some random fish-man actually sold for a high price of 50 million Berries! These are just common folks here! Unbelievable, right?!" A pirate with dark circles under his eyes and a pirate hat vaguely similar to Roger’s loudly declared, without attempting to conceal his voice.
His words naturally drew severe displeasure from the other patrons in the restaurant. Both fish-men and merfolk, male and female alike, turned their heads, glaring fiercely at them.
"Hmm?" The pirate with dark circles noticed the gazes, dragging out his words oddly. His two companions also drew their cutlasses, their faces unpleasant. The residents, silently enduring their anger and humiliation, could only quickly turn their heads away, each wearing a stifled expression of fear mixed with indignation.
"Heh hahahaaha!" Seeing the residents too afraid to speak, the pirate with dark circles, adhering to the arrogant nature of pirates, roared with laughter along with his two companions.
"I see. The advent of the Great Pirate Era has led to a rapid increase in pirates, and the Marines are understaffed, to the point where even Fleet Admiral Kong has personally taken action..."
Suddenly, a voice rang out, reaching everyone’s ears in the restaurant. Everyone looked in the direction of the voice. It came from a seat slightly to the left, where a man wearing small round sunglasses had one hand resting on the back of his chair, the other holding a newspaper with a single hand. As he spoke, he turned his head towards the troublesome trio. "So, it’s precisely because of the Marines’ incompetence that a lot of dog food has managed to escape from the first half of the Grand Line and come to the New World."
Although using the term "dog food" to describe people was unusual, even an idiot could tell it wasn’t a compliment, let alone an insult to pirates.
"What the hell are you saying?!"
"Do you have a death wish?!"
The trio didn’t become wary just because Alucard was human. Having just scared the residents into silence, they were feeling overly self-important, their hormones surging, in a state of exhilaration.
"Hooouu!" The shadow beneath Alucard’s chair suddenly rose irregularly, like flames. From within the shadow emerged a completely black, red-eyed, short-legged giant demon.
"Only fit to feed dogs!" Alucard grinned sinisterly.
At the same time, Baskerville roared in response, fine strands of saliva stretching between its upper and lower teeth, instantly swallowing the three pirates, along with the chairs behind them. No, one thing remained: one of their left feet was not swallowed and remained on the restaurant floor.
"Kyaaahhh!" A young mermaid shrieked upon seeing this.
"Pi-pirates! The pirates are fighting!"
"Run! Someone’s been killed!"
"Ugh, ugh... waaaahhh!"
Instantly, the restaurant dissolved into chaos: people fleeing, fainting, vomiting.
This area was already in a bustling part of Fish-Man Island, and such a chaotic scene naturally attracted many onlookers.
Upon hearing that pirates were fighting inside, no one dared to enter. Instead, they surrounded the restaurant and notified the Royal Guards.
"Hmm? Pirates are fighting?"
A tall, thin-eyed elder, dressed in red robes somewhat similar to Alucard’s, passed by. Hearing the commotion from afar, his steps, which had been set to leave, paused slightly.
The elder was approximately fifty to sixty years old, his hair almost completely white. He wore a red robe, red pants, and a large red cloak, with a large blue rose pinned to his left chest. A slender, dark blue umbrella was held in his hand. Both his appearance and his overall demeanor strongly resembled a legendary vampire. Compared to Alucard, he looked more like an aged vampire, exuding an aura of unspoken power and extreme eeriness.
Red the Aloof, Patrick Redfield!
Before the Great Pirate Era, he stood at the apex of piracy, a legendary pirate on par with Whitebeard, Roger, Garp, and others!
He possessed no Devil Fruit ability. Like Garp, he relied on his umbrella-sword, ghostly combat style, and Haki to stand at the peak of his era.
However, because he preferred to act alone, the waves he stirred up were not as grand as those of Whitebeard, Shiki, and Roger. His reputation and bounty were slightly inferior, and he narrowly lost to Shiki many years ago. But in terms of one-on-one combat ability, he was absolutely not inferior to them.
"...Looks like it’s gotten a bit whiter again..." Looking at his hair, which reached his neck, it wasn’t completely white yet, but it was getting close. Right, he also didn’t think about how old he was now.
"After all, they are just third-rate pirates who only know how to cause trouble using their youthful bodies." Red muttered to himself, turning to leave. He held a remarkably similar opinion to Kaido and Alucard; he also looked down on pirates who only knew how to flee from the Marines and whose only exploit was bullying civilians. No, in Red’s eyes, they weren’t even "pirates," just hooligans and scoundrels.
"Red the Aloof... I didn’t expect to meet you here."
Redfield hadn’t walked five meters when someone behind him called out his name, forcing him to stop once more.
——————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanFiction [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are over 100 advance Chapters available for you!