In the bustling streets of Fish-Man Island, countless fish-men and merfolk watched in stunned silence. Towering over the street was a massive creature so big it seemed to blot out the sky—it was Wolf.
He was still covered in the full body coating, as if wrapped in a layer of cling wrap. He pressed his right index finger to his thick lips, his eyes fixed on the shocked fish-men below. He gulped, then ravenously sucked the drool back in.
Seeing Wolf's "drooling" expression, the fish-men's hearts throbbed with fear. Is that monster thinking about eating us?
A shiver ran through the residents of Fish-Man Island at the thought.
"Hey, Captain," Wolf whined, drawing out the word, as he looked to Alucard, who had already passed through the coating. "Can I eat them? Can I?"
Hearing Wolf's question, the fish-men on the ground panicked and ran home, screaming and crying.
"Ah… all the fish-men ran away."
The female pirates of the Kuja crew came ashore from their ship, complaining at the sight of the empty streets.
With no reply from Alucard, Wolf just shook his head boredly. No matter how dense he was, he had already figured out some of Alucard's habits. Silence wasn't an agreement; it was a sign for him to shut up.
"It's amazing," Hancock said, placing a hand on her forehead as she looked up. "There's sunlight here, even though we're 10,000 meters underwater."
"This is 10,000 meters under the sea," Elder Nyon said, holding up her snake staff. "Don't cause any trouble. It will be hard to handle a fight here."
"Get ready, we're heading to the New World soon," Alucard said, gesturing with his hand. While the place was fascinating to Hancock and her crew, Alucard had already traversed the Grand Line and the New World multiple times. There was nothing here he cared to see.
"Aww, can't we at least stay for two more days?" some of the younger female pirates complained in hushed tones.
Plop!
Just then, a small body crashed into Alucard's leg and fell to the ground.
Alucard and Hancock turned to see a child of about eight or nine. The child was wearing a dirty, pale red shirt and overalls, with tangled hair and a foul odor. Despite the grime, their eyes were wide, and a very deliberate smile was plastered on their face.
After falling, the child immediately knelt, repeatedly bowing to Alucard. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't see where I was going. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't kill me, I'm sorry..."
"What's wrong with this kid...?" Alucard narrowed his eyes.
Hancock took a small step forward, observing for a moment. Something about the child felt vaguely familiar. Alucard, however, spoke first. "Oh, a Celestial Dragon's slave… is that it?"
Hancock's expression changed. Though her time as a slave with Marigold and Sandersonia was relatively stable because of Alucard, it had left an indelible mark. This child, however, was a "true" slave. The kind whose mind and spirit had been completely crushed.
At the thought of it, the proud and narcissistic Hancock felt a pang of pity for the child. "What's going on?"
"Ew, this child is so dirty." "Is it a boy or a girl?"
"I don't know, but they have breasts..."
"You idiot, did you have breasts when you were that young?"
The Kuja pirates began to chatter, inadvertently crowding around the child, who remained kneeling before Alucard, repeatedly bowing. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please don't kill me, please don't kill me, I'll do anything..."
"Stop talking!"
Sonia and Marigold couldn't stand it and stepped forward to stop the child. Like Hancock, they felt a sense of pity for someone who had shared their fate as a slave.
"Oh, Koala, you ran away on your own again?" At that moment, an octopus fish-man with six arms approached with a few other fish-men of different species. But when he saw Alucard, the object of the child's continuous bowing, he froze in place.
The three Boa sisters were stunned when they saw Hachi, mainly because the faces of fish-men are so distinct, especially Hachi with his six arms.
While Hachi recognized Alucard, he didn't recognize the three sisters. Not only had the three changed significantly from how they looked years ago, but Hachi and the others had been so focused on Alucard at the time that they hadn't paid any attention to their faces.
"Oh... the fish-men who ruined my fun at Mariejois," Alucard said, staring at Hachi and his companions. "Did you come all this way just to die?"
When Alucard said this, Sonia immediately picked up Koala and, along with her younger sister Marigold, quickly retreated a long distance. She then ordered the Kuja pirates, "Everyone, fall back!"
Although confused, the female pirates quickly retreated at Sonia and Marigold's command.
Marigold said with a lingering fear, "If we get caught up in Alucard-sama's fight, we're finished..."
"That's... the Sun Pirates' symbol," Hancock said, looking at the pirate symbol on Hachi's forehead and on the other fish-men around him.
Whoosh!
Wolf, still in the background, couldn't help but swallow again, like a child seeing a snack. He stared at Hachi and the others with an intense, hungry gaze. "Hey, Captain, I can eat this one, right? This one's okay to eat, right?"
Truthfully, Alucard had no interest in Hachi and the others' lives. Just like with Moria, they were nothing more than weaklings he had no interest in crushing.
He simply waved his hand at the Wolf behind him, a signal that said "go ahead."
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