"This... May I ask what you want with Luffy?" Makino had no mind to pick up the shattered plate on the floor. She managed a strained smile and asked.
"I only asked you where he is. I didn't give you permission to question me, did I?" Alucard looked back at Makino, his tone carrying a touch of mockery.
Shing!
Matthew drew the saber from his waist, revealing five centimeters of the blade as a threatening gesture, but Alucard shot him a glare, causing him to immediately re-sheathe his weapon.
"We still have some time, anyway. Search!"
A subordinate next to Matthew received the command and quickly strode out of the bar, shouting to the thousand pirates waiting outside: "The boy's name is Monkey D. Luffy! He's a kid!
Search for him carefully!"
Some crew members who had been sitting or lying lazily on the ground instantly jumped up after the order was given and began to eye the surrounding residences with predatory looks.
Bang!
One of them quickly kicked down the door of a house and demanded of the middle-aged couple inside, "Where is Monkey D. Luffy?"
The couple was startled, recalling the mischievous boy who used to cause trouble in the village. They opened their mouths to speak but shook their heads instead, firmly replying, "N-no, we don't know him..."
Bang!
A gunshot rang out, shattering a vase behind the middle-aged couple. The Immortal Pirates crew member asked again, "Please repeat your answer."
The middle-aged woman was on the verge of tears, hiding in her husband's arms. The man gritted his teeth but gave the same answer as before. "We truly, truly don't know him."
Thud! Thud! Thud!
One after another, villagers' doors were kicked in, and the Immortal Pirates' crew members burst inside, interrogating people about Luffy's whereabouts.
The mild punishment was verbal abuse and beatings; the severe punishment was a direct execution.
"I asked you! Where is the brat named Monkey D. Luffy—!" an eye-patch-wearing Pirate demanded of a young man inside.
The man fell to his knees in terror, shaking his head repeatedly. "I don't know! I really don't know!"
"Damn it! Do you think we're easy to deal with if we don't kill a few people on the spot?" Having broken into several houses and questioned several people without getting an answer, the pirates, who were already short-tempered, began to grow furious.
The Immortal Pirates started discussing among themselves. "Are they really ignorant, or are they pretending?"
"They must be really ignorant, right? Would they really hide a brat even after people are dying?"
"If they're pretending, what power does this kid have to make so many people protect him?"
Just as everyone was arguing, the eye-patch-wearing pirate hauled the young man up, dragged him out the door, and threw him onto the center of the street. He shouted to the gathered villagers who had been driven out, "Listen up! This is what happens if you don't tell us where that brat is!"
With that, the one-eyed man drew his large katana and prepared to swing it down toward the man's neck.
Amidst the villagers' screams, when the blade was less than half a meter from the man's neck, Makino couldn't stand it anymore and rushed out, shouting, "Stop! I know! I know where Luffy is! Please don't kill anyone else!"
The one-eyed man's blade stopped ten centimeters from the man's neck. He plunged the katana into the ground by his feet and squinted at the woman who had rushed out.
Makino stood out, her arms held wide, shouting to stop them, barely holding back the tears in her eyes.
"Is that so? Thank you very much, then."
Alucard also walked out of the bar at this moment. He placed one hand on Makino's right shoulder from behind, leaned his mouth close to her right ear, and in a rather intimate posture, whispered, "But if you deliberately mislead us, you'd best consider the consequences."
Makino's body trembled. She bit her lower lip with her teeth for a long moment before saying, "I... I know. Luffy is on Mount Corvo. He lives there now."
"Thank you."
Alucard pulled his head away from Makino's right shoulder, then suddenly opened his mouth
and bit the side of her neck from behind. Makino didn't even react for a moment, only feeling a strange sensation on her neck before her body went limp, about to collapse onto the ground.
The scene lasted for about thirty seconds before Alucard moved his mouth away from Makino's neck. He wiped the blood from his lips and, in a volume only she and he could hear, said, "How rare. A virgin."
Makino's body went completely slack, and she nearly fell to the ground. Alucard placed her down on the bar's porch, leaning her against the wall. He then walked back to the center of the street and said, "Inform Wolf immediately. Proceed to Mount Corvo."
"Yes sir!"
A thousand men answered in unison.
Makino slowly regained consciousness. She opened her eyes and realized she was sleeping on her own bed. She quickly got up, recalled the situation before she fainted, and reached up to touch the right side of her neck, where she could still feel two small punctures.
Makino shook her head hard, muttering to herself, "No, no, no. This is not the time to think about that. I need to find Luffy and the others quickly."
Makino's room was in the back of the bar. As she rushed out of the bar door, villagers immediately greeted her. "Makino, you're awake!"
Makino nodded and asked the villager who greeted her, "How long was I unconscious?"
The villager frowned. "Only about two hours. Those people must be nearly at Mount Corvo by now."
"Oh no! Luffy, Ace, they..."
Makino was frantic with worry. Although she cared deeply for the two brothers, someone was about to be killed at that moment, and she couldn't stand by and do nothing, so she had been forced to reveal Luffy's location.
"Makino, don't panic. You won't be able to stop those wicked people even if you go. The Mayor has already notified Garp-san."
"That's right. We can only wait here for the Marines to arrive." "You don't have to blame yourself. It's not your fault."
Makino felt immense guilt for revealing Luffy's whereabouts. Suddenly, she remembered the Den Den Mushi Shanks had left with her two years ago...
Thinking of this, Makino quickly ran back into the bar and found the Den Den Mushi with the red hair. After a few seconds of thought, she dialed the number.
The fact that Luffy could have the villagers wholeheartedly conceal his whereabouts, yet also secretly have the protection of Red-Haired Shanks, speaks volumes. This Monkey D. Luffy is truly not simple.