Join the journey today and help shape the story by becoming a patron.
patreon.com/NovelsWorld
---------------------------------------------------
"Akainu—!"
Alucard's eyes narrowed. Why was he here?
"Vice Admiral Sakazuki! What are you doing here?"
Sakazuki scanned the crowd, his brow furrowing. "Nothing…?"
His Observation Haki had clearly picked up something—something shadow-like—that had fled into this area.
"Hiding among the civilians, are you? Then…"
Sakazuki's arm began to transform, flesh bubbling and hissing into molten magma.
"Sakazuki—what do you think you're doing?"
Aokiji's ice lashed out, briefly freezing the magma solid—but it was already melting, forcing him to keep pouring cold into it.
"The suspect is in this group right here. If we can't be sure who it is… then we kill them all."
BOOM—!
In the plaza's center, Garp's fist smashed straight through the red shadow's heart.
"Hm? No regeneration this time?"
But then—rippling energy, and the blood-red form rose once again from the ground.
"Persistent little pest…"
Sengoku's gaze shifted toward Sakazuki, his frown deepening. "Garp—this one's yours. I'll handle things with Sakazuki."
"Yeah, yeah. Leave it to me."
"Guards!"
"Yes, sir!"
"Shut down the Den Den Mushi feed. From here on… the world doesn't need to see this."
Sengoku knew—Sakazuki's presence here, combined with his temperament, could only spell disaster for the Marines' reputation if it wasn't contained.
"Hm? It's off?"
Whitebeard's brow furrowed. As Garp crushed the familiar's heart for a second time, the screen went dark, cutting the world off from the execution square.
"Never mind… But it looks like the seas just gained another interesting player…"
…
"Sakazuki—what are you doing here?"
Sengoku stepped in, forcing Aokiji and Sakazuki apart.
"My Observation Haki detected a black shadow fleeing through the ground and vanishing. I believe it's hiding among the crowd. As for what Garp's fighting—one look tells you it's just a puppet."
"What—?"
Sengoku's face darkened. He turned sharply toward the ring of onlookers behind them—hundreds of terrified citizens, frozen under the sheer pressure of Marine presence.
"I arrived fast, and I've been here keeping them in check. Which means… it's one of these three hundred people. The enemy is right here."
Sengoku unleashed his own Observation Haki—and at Sakazuki's words, every other high-level Marine present followed suit, saturating the air with killing intent to make sure the prey wouldn't slip away again.
"Impressive…"
Alucard's current guise—a middle-aged man with a look of perfect terror—blended in flawlessly. Inside, his mind was working furiously.
First rule: don't move. Any sudden action would point to him as the one who stole Roger's body.
Second rule: no shadow form, no mist form—Observation Haki would catch him instantly.
So… Akainu actually found me… In Alucard's mind, Sakazuki had always been an inflexible zealot, the sort whose thinking was more molten than sharp.
Was it an accidental use of Haki… or has he been scanning constantly? No matter. First… I get out of here alive.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Join the journey today and help shape the story by becoming a patron.
patreon.com/NovelsWorld