Chapter 170: Four Great Pirates Gather
After a long while, as the aftershocks subsided, the Whitebeard Pirates opened their eyes and looked around. Seeing the Moby Dick still perfectly intact, one of them said in a daze, "Are we... are we okay?"
"..."
Vista pointed to the surrounding sea, and the others looked in that direction, instinctively gasping, their mouths agape for a long time.
They saw four unfathomably deep fissures in the sea—no, they were more like canyons in the ocean, stretching endlessly, their bottoms invisible. Countless Sea Kings and fish floated on the surface, some stunned, others dead.
"That was a pirate’s way of greeting." Alucard, one of the four, spoke first. "Can we finally sit down and talk properly?"
Whitebeard’s expression hardened. He swung his massive naginata, its blade rushing towards Alucard’s face. Alucard smiled as the blade approached, and in an instant, sparks flew. Whitebeard’s brow furrowed; standing in front of him was Red.
"Red, what’s the meaning of this? Helping this kid?" Whitebeard said, displeased. Unlike the Golden Lion, Whitebeard and Red had a long-standing acquaintance; they referred to each other by name, not by title.
"This kid hitched a ride with me, so I owe him a small favor," Red grinned. "Anyway, no one’s hurt, so why not just hear him out, Newgate?" As he spoke, Red’s eyes darted. "And coincidentally, the Golden Lion is here too."
"Oh... for Red the Aloof to actually help someone, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen that." The Golden Lion, who had originally planned to just have a drink with Whitebeard and leave, now showed some interest. It was a good opportunity to properly observe this junior, Alucard, whom he hadn’t formally met yet.
The three great pirates of Roger’s era: Whitebeard, Red, and the Golden Lion.
And Alucard, the representative pirate of the new era, though he never referred to himself as a pirate.
Whitebeard sat on his throne in the center of the deck. Shiki sat on the nearby steps. Red, with his arms crossed, rested them on his bat-umbrella sword, which served as both weapon and cane, standing perfectly straight.
"Brat, I won’t pursue your immediate attack on me, but if you’re going to barge onto someone else’s ship, you should at least bring good sake!" Whitebeard’s eyebrow twitched, exuding an intimidating aura that, unfortunately, had no effect on the other three present.
Shadows spread from Alucard’s feet, gradually forming a lavish red chair, which he then sat upon. Simultaneously, countless wine bottles, barrels, and more appeared.
"Seems they’re all wines." The Golden Lion used his ability to control one of the bottles, making it float into his hand.
"Are you offering me woman’s drink like this?" Whitebeard was clearly dissatisfied. He grabbed a wine barrel and emptied it in two or three gulps. He preferred strong liquor; this faintly sweet wine did not suit his taste at all.
"Nonsense. Red wine is the best." Red, the most refined of them, pulled out a stemmed wine glass from somewhere, poured some from one of the bottles, and savored it. "Oh... this is..." Red took a sip before noticing the label on the bottle. He glanced sideways at Alucard. "It’s not easy to get your hands on this kind of wine."
Alucard’s lips curved into a smile, revealing his sharp teeth. He stretched his legs, crossing them, and looked up directly at Whitebeard, then glanced at the others. "Let’s put the topic of wine aside for now. It’s time to get to the main point."
"So, what’s the main point?" The Golden Lion put down his wine bottle and lit a new cigar.
"This era is too soft," Alucard began. He had originally intended to use the word "boring," but considering various factors, he slightly changed his wording.
The Golden Lion unconsciously stopped puffing his cigar. Red’s fingers on his umbrella sword lightly tapped twice. Whitebeard showed no overt reaction, merely a slight shift in his gaze, nothing more.
"There are too many useless pirates setting sail for the Pirate King’s treasure. It’s necessary to show them what terror truly is," Alucard added.
At this, the Golden Lion immediately took the cigar from his mouth, and Whitebeard instinctively looked at the Golden Lion. What Alucard had just said was almost identical to what the Golden Lion had said earlier. If Whitebeard didn’t know Shiki’s character, he would have suspected the two were in cahoots.
The Golden Lion, cigar removed, exhaled a puff of smoke, his expression showing intense interest. "So, what do you plan to do?"
"Attack the World Government." Alucard stated calmly, his words stunning to the point of silence.
"Pfft!" Many of the Whitebeard Pirates crew members who were listening spit out their drinks, nearly suffering heart attacks. The other three great pirates, of course, weren’t so exaggerated, but they were all surprised to varying degrees.
The Golden Lion didn’t even notice the cigar ash falling onto his trousers. Instead, he immediately laughed, "Are you going to imitate that World guy?"
Byrnndi World, a top-tier Paramecia-type Devil Fruit user with the More-More Fruit. Years ago, he harbored ambitions of overthrowing the World Government, but due to a joint effort by the Marines and pirates, coupled with betrayal by his crew, he was first imprisoned in Impel Down Level 6.
"Golden Lion, you’re not planning to retaliate against the East Blue right now, are you?" Alucard asked, a hint of mockery in his tone.
"Hmm?!" The Golden Lion’s face twisted slightly, an idea instinctively flashing through his mind.
However, before he could speak, Alucard interjected, "Don’t worry, I haven’t planted any spies in your pirate crew. I’m not interested."
The Golden Lion calmed down.
Seeing this, Whitebeard and Red also shifted their gazes slightly. Red said bluntly, "Attacking the weakest sea... Heh, are you bored?"
"Hmph!" Whitebeard grunted, saying nothing more, but that single grunt clearly expressed his opinion.
——————
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!