Chapter 164: Change of Plans
Early in the year 1500 of the Sea Calendar.
Alucard, Red, and Kong.
These three engaged in an intense battle at the Sabaody Archipelago, the final destination of the first half of the Grand Line.
The conflict raged until Grove 60 to 70, serving as Marine and World Government bases, were completely obliterated, and the southern half of the island was largely destroyed. It was only after 22 hours, due to the intervention of the World Government, that the fighting reluctantly ceased.
The battle had a wide-ranging impact, affecting countless pirates. Over four hundred pirates were arrested, and innumerable innocent civilians and pirate hunters on the island tragically lost their lives.
Due to the nature of the three-way free-for-all, even when the battle was forcibly ended, there was no prolonged fighting; all parties simply left.
Red and Alucard temporarily withdrew from Sabaody Archipelago, returning to the first half of the Grand Line.
Kong, under the direct orders of the highest authority in the world, the Five Elders, abandoned his pursuit of the two.
In this battle, Alucard lost nearly three hundred lives. Red and Kong, both increasingly advanced in age, found that the intense combat left hidden injuries in their bodies. As for Grove 66, the Celestial Dragons’ territory, it was utterly annihilated, beyond recognition.
While Alucard and Red were responsible, Kong himself was certainly not blameless.
Hundreds of nautical miles from Sabaody Archipelago, aboard Alucard’s personal ship, Alucard, wearing sunglasses, sat on the throne at the bow. His left hand rested on the armrest, his right hand supporting his cheek. He asked Red, who was beside him, "Going to Loguetown, are we?"
"Yeah... I want to see what Roger saw before he died." After Red said this, he suddenly noticed a pirate ship about two miles to his front right. His eyes narrowed, and he leaped, running across the sea at high speed, leaving no further words behind.
"Hmph, that guy..." Alucard didn’t spare another glance at Red’s retreating figure.
After his battle with Red and Kong, he hadn’t followed his original plan of returning to the New World; instead, he chose to go back to the first half of the Grand Line.
The reason was that Alucard wanted to use the hordes of pirates flooding into the Grand Line because of Roger’s treasure as practice.
...
[Ability Development Progress]
[Vampire Physique Complete Form: 74%]
[Bat Transformation Complete Form: 82%]
[Weapon - Casull Lv.6: 22%]
[Weapon - Jackal Lv.3: 30%]
[Blacklight Virus Lv.4: 31%]
[Hidden Shadow Lv.4: 49%]
[Baskerville Lv.3: 36%]
...
Red had repeatedly mentioned during their battle that while Alucard’s self-sacrificing attacks were fierce and terrifying, they lacked Armament Haki, resulting in too much wasted potential.
Among the opponents Alucard had devoured, there were already those who understood the methods for training Armament Haki. Of course, he could practice it himself. But Alucard hadn’t trained it yet for one simple reason: it was bothersome.
That’s right, that was the reason.
The process of training Armament Haki was dry and extremely tedious. Alucard loved fighting but disliked training. Up until now, his power and level increases were entirely through combat. However, Armament Haki training required dull, repetitive practice, which Alucard found difficult to accept.
But after his battle with Red, his thoughts had slightly changed. He reconsidered: using those rookie pirates as training tools should also achieve the goal of training, right?
With a "let’s try it" mindset, Alucard temporarily abandoned the idea of going to the New World to cause mayhem with Kaido, Big Mom, and others. He decided to take it easy in the first half of the Grand Line for a while.
After several hours of sailing, Alucard spotted another pirate ship. He couldn’t help but smile. It truly was the peak of the Great Pirate Era; aside from the one Red found earlier, he’d already found another new one shortly after.
"Then let’s try it..." Alucard accelerated his ship, ramming directly into the pirate vessel. As the pirates on board were thrown off balance, he leaped onto their ship’s deck. Unlike before, he didn’t end the fight quickly with his guns and shadow hands. Instead, he drew his rarely used greatsword and said, "Alright, let me practice a bit, worms."
...
New World
At a sub-base of the Big Mom Pirates, one of the "Three Monsters," they had just conquered a new island.
"Mamama! Has that Red guy finally come out of hiding? If he had just retired like Rayleigh, he could have peacefully lived out his twilight years, couldn’t he?" As Charlotte Linlin laughed, liquid more corrosive than sulfuric acid constantly dripped from her mouth onto the floor, dissolving it.
"Mama, aren’t you going to deal with Red?" Zeus, the thundercloud, floated beside Charlotte Linlin, his expression perpetually gloomy.
Charlotte Linlin skipped and laughed, "He’s just an old man whose strength is gradually declining, and he’s always alone. He’s no threat. That Alucard kid only commands my attention because of his youth."
As she spoke, Charlotte Linlin put a two-meter-long Swiss roll into her mouth, her eyes narrowing. "Ultimately, one person isn’t enough! Just one person."
...
Several days later, on the Red Line, at the Holy Land of Mariejois.
Inside the office of the world’s supreme power, the Five Elders.
"Your actions have caused quite a strong reaction from the Celestial Dragons recently, Kong." One of the Five Elders, with white curly hair, said in a deep voice from his sofa.
Kong, standing before the five, his arms crossed, showed no signs of backing down. From the moment he roared "I am the Fleet Admiral of Marine Headquarters" in Grove 66, he had already come to terms with this.
"Alucard and Red are world-class pirates. What did I do wrong? A few toys were broken, and those puppets are making a huge fuss." Kong scoffed, tilting his head. "I think you World Government have been too lenient with them."
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