The first half of the Grand Line, Paradise, in the Calm Belt.
The Calm Belt is a pirate's nightmare, a windless region in this age of sail. It's nearly impossible for a ship to move quickly here.
Adding to the danger is the sheer number of Sea Kings—far more than anywhere else—which is why neither pirates nor Marines dare to venture into the Calm Belt.
Today, however, Alucard just happened to sail in. Or, to be precise, Wolf, the idiot, got the direction wrong while Alucard was resting his eyes. He meant to go to Sabaody Archipelago but veered off course instead.
After giving Wolf a thorough beating that left him bruised and swollen, Alucard sat on a deserted island. In the distance, a massive splash erupted from the sea as Wolf's gigantic body emerged, clutching a Sea King with thick, zebra-like stripes and bared teeth.
By a rough estimate, it was at least a hundred meters long. "Captain~~~"
With his face all beat up, Wolf showed off his prize to Alucard. "I caught a delicious Sea King! How about I grill it and eat it right now?"
"Idiot."
Alucard, sitting on the shore of the isolated island, said flatly. He nodded his head toward the space behind Wolf, signaling for him to look.
"Huh?"
Wolf paused, then turned around to see dozens of creatures of the same species as the one he was holding. Each was over 150 meters long and staring at him with a predatory glint in their eyes.
There were at least twenty of them.
"Did you bring their child here? You moron." Alucard asked, his eyes narrowed. Wolf hadn't even noticed, which meant he hadn't mastered Observation Haki.
Just as Alucard finished speaking, the Sea Kings behind Wolf swarmed him. More than twenty colossal Sea Kings, each with a body no smaller than his, rushed forward. With the exception of the one in his hand, they were all over 150 meters long. Such a large number of Sea Kings could only be found in the Calm Belt.
"Whaaa!"
Wolf shrieked, frantically waving his massive hands. He grabbed one of the Sea Kings and started swinging it like a whip, lashing out at the others.
After taking down seven or eight of them, the blood of the dead Sea Kings attracted more of their kind. Various species of Sea Kings began to gather.
In an instant, the number of enemies went from twenty to fifty. This was why no one dared to enter the Calm Belt.
"Captain, Cap-Captain!"
Faced with over fifty Sea Kings, Wolf couldn't hold on any longer. He yelled for help from the sea, "Save me! Save me, Captain!"
"Tch."
Alucard grunted in annoyance. A pool of blood spread out from his feet and began to rise. From within it, a gigantic black dog, Baskerville, emerged. Its size was no less than Wolf's.
Gulp~
The black dog Baskerville drooled profusely. It locked onto the Sea Kings and charged forward. Its head and paws were a dog's, but its body stretched out like a snake's. It bit down and killed two Sea Kings in one go.
"ROAR!!!"
Baskerville roared and continued to bite, snapping at the Sea Kings. But while the Sea Kings could die, it couldn't. In less than five minutes, the fifty Sea Kings were nothing but bloody chunks, their blood staining the sea a chaotic mix of colors.
Whoosh~
Alucard recalled the black dog Baskerville. "Whoa... whoa..."
Wolf crawled onto the shore, panting heavily. He collapsed on the ground, causing the earth to tremble, and muttered to himself, "I almost died, I almost died…"
He had a number of wounds on his body. A few seconds later, as if remembering something, Wolf swam back into the sea and salvaged a number of the Sea King corpses. Still in a state of shock, he muttered, "It would be such a waste to throw them away."
With that, Wolf began to toss "Sea King sashimi" into his enormous mouth, eating with great relish.
Two minutes later, when he was almost done, Wolf suddenly came to his senses. He carefully asked Alucard, "Cap-Captain, would you like some?"
Alucard gave Wolf a sidelong glance but said nothing. Wolf understood the message. He blinked his small, round eyes—which were completely out of proportion with his body—and silently ate the rest.
Suddenly, the sound of a boat rowing was distinct in the silent Calm Belt. Wolf's ears twitched. He immediately looked in the direction of the sound and saw a ship slowly making its way through the water about two miles away to the northeast.
"Captain, I'll go take care of that ship!"
Wolf got up and patted his stomach. Having just eaten his fill, he felt a surge of energy. Plus, he had just done something foolish and needed to regain face in front of his superior. Without a word, Wolf jumped into the sea and began swimming toward the ship.
During the journey, Alucard had lost count of how many pirate ships Wolf had eaten, but it was rare to encounter a ship in the Calm Belt.
With that thought, Alucard's brows furrowed. Wait a minute. There's a famous pirate crew in the Calm Belt. The Kuja Pirates, I think that's their name?
Aboard the ship in the distance, which was powered by two giant sea snakes, a group of female pirates frowned. The tall Boa Sandersonia said with a frown, "What's going on? That's a strong smell of blood!"
Sandersonia walked to the side of the ship and looked down. The normally azure sea had been stained with a variety of chaotic colors.
Having lived there, she immediately recognized it as Sea King blood.
"How could there be so much Sea King blood?!" Marigold, another of the three sisters, was also shocked. She stared at the sea, which was no longer blue, and couldn't believe how many Sea Kings would have to be killed to stain the ocean like that.
"A pirate?!"
Just then, Wolf's enormous body appeared in front of the Kuja Pirates' ship, making the two sea snakes that powered the vessel stare with wide, frightened eyes.
"I'm full, but the Captain's orders are the Captain's orders. I have to eat you."