Along one of the magnetic routes in the first half of the Grand Line.
The area was littered with the abandoned wreckage of ships. From the pirate flags floating on the water, it was clear these wrecks were formerly pirate vessels.
"Looks like some people got away~~"
Wolf held a half-broken piece of a pirate ship, gazing into the distance where several pirates were swimming frantically to escape.
"Too lazy to bother with those wretches. Let's go."
Alucard was currently in the mood for a leisurely trip and chose not to pursue them. Besides, those weaklings didn't even spark his interest.
After finishing his "meal," Wolf returned to his role as a warship. Alucard sat comfortably on his back. When he noticed the red wine on the small table next to him was gone, he attempted to retrieve a new bottle from the Blood Pool, only to find the wine was, once again, finished.
"Honestly, I always drink it all without realizing."
Alucard grumbled and ordered, "Head to the nearest island from here."
Wolf blinked twice. "In that case, we should just follow those guys who ran off. They chose to swim instead of taking a lifeboat, so the island must not be far."
Alucard tilted his head back and laughed. "Since when did you get so smart, Wolf?"
"Hehe..."
Wolf gave a creepy grin and didn't reply, instead hurrying to chase after the fleeing pirates.
This time, Wolf was right. Less than two nautical miles away was an island. No, rather than an island, it was practically a continent, comparable in size to Alucard's base of operations, Arderay Kingdom.
Seeing Alucard and Wolf land on the shore, the remaining pirates fled in terror, tears and snot running down their faces. Alucard still didn't kill them. After commanding Wolf to stay by the shore, he, for the first time in a while, walked into a town.
"Juba?"
After entering a tavern and buying out all the liquor, Alucard learned the name of the town from the owner.
The silver-bearded tavern owner, while packing the drinks, replied, "The town of Juba is the nicest in Alabasta's environment. It's lush, unlike the desert areas, but because it's close to the shore, it tends to attract pirates..."
BANG!
Before the owner could finish, the tavern door was violently kicked open, and over a dozen men with savage appearances and openly displayed weapons stormed in. A single glance was enough to connect them with the word "pirates."
"I jinxed it..."
The owner desperately wished he could slap himself. He had just said, "tends to attract pirates," and the next second, pirates actually arrived.
"Hey! Are you the one who sank three of our Baroque Works' Millions?"
The leader was a burly man with a full beard, carrying a large tō-katana on his back. He glared menacingly at Alucard.
"No, Boss Macarth, we were sunk by that guy's boss, a Giant. This guy is just a simple errand boy," a short, slightly muscular man behind him, who was still soaked, chimed in. He was one of the miserable pirates who had escaped from Wolf earlier.
It was quite amusing that they mistook Alucard for a minion and Wolf for the boss—a complete reversal. But it made sense. Although Alucard wasn't skinny, compared to Wolf's demonic appearance, anyone would assume Wolf was the leader and Alucard the subordinate.
"Kid, your boss is strong, but what he doesn't know is..."
BANG!
Macarth, the man referred to as a Million, took two steps forward. His words were cut off midway by a gunshot that blew out half of his body. Looking closely, there was a large hole in his abdomen, allowing a clear view of the tavern door behind him.
"Ah..."
Macarth and his subordinates hadn't even registered the sudden, agonizing pain before Alucard, standing by the tavern counter with the white gun Casull in his left hand, fired a rapid succession of shots, executing each of the self-proclaimed Baroque Works pirates with a bullet to the head.
In less than ten seconds, all two dozen pirates who entered the tavern were annihilated. The few lucky ones who hadn't made it inside turned tail and fled in terror when they saw the scene.
The tavern owner behind the counter was so shocked he couldn't speak, his jaw dropped wide open in an exaggerated expression.
"Baroque Works... What is that?" Alucard asked.
It took the owner over ten seconds to finally respond, his eyes now filled with deep apprehension toward Alucard. "...I-it seems to be a newly emerged organization. As for what they do... it-it's not clear yet."
Alucard used the Blood Pool to take away all the liquor, left a few gold bricks behind, and strode away. The tavern owner remained frozen, only realizing he had escaped death long after Alucard's figure completely vanished, collapsing onto the floor in shock.
Alucard, walking along the road, had no intention of staying on the island. He quickly left the town and rendezvoused with Wolf, who was waiting by the shore. They immediately set sail.
A few hours later, in the neighboring port city of Port Nanohana.
In the most luxurious suite of a high-end hotel, a man in a black-as-ink greatcoat was single-handedly swirling a glass of half-filled whiskey. This was one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Sir Crocodile, the first man to join the Warlords.
Click~
The sound of a door opening was heard. Crocodile didn't turn around, as only one subordinate had the authority to enter his room without knocking.
"What could possibly make you show yourself, Miss All Sunday?" Crocodile took a sip of his whiskey on the rocks and called out the woman's codename without turning his head.
The newcomer was a young woman in her early twenties with a graceful figure, wearing a pure white greatcoat, the opposite of Crocodile's, and a high-brimmed fedora, which perfectly accentuated her flawless figure. She was the Vice President of Baroque Works, Codename: Miss All Sunday. Her real name: Nico Robin.
Robin walked up to Crocodile, holding two wanted posters, a slight, enigmatic smile playing on her lips. She handed the posters to him. "News just came in. Over five hundred of your Baroque Works' Millions were completely wiped out, with only a dozen or so barely escaping."