A ship, made entirely of gold but covered in bizarre, blood-shadowed black patterns, was moving forward at an astonishing speed over the waves.
"Hiss~ hoo~"
Alucard stood at the bow, taking a deep breath and then letting it out heavily.
After a long moment, Alucard's lips curved into a smile, and he murmured in intoxication, "How many years has it been since I tasted this flavor?"
"The scent of blood from pirates fighting each other, the smell of conspiracy pushed forward by those behind the scenes, and... the stench of rebellion from the traitors and agitators!"
Under Alucard's deliberate control, the black patterns on the golden ship deepened, and its speed increased even further, but the damage to the golden ship also became more pronounced.
"I'm looking forward to it, I'm truly looking forward to it…"
…
Meanwhile.
Having witnessed the cutting down of the flags on the sea through her Glare-Glare Fruit, even without hearing the sounds, Viola could guess what was happening.
She sneered continuously. She couldn't believe that betrayal could occur within a Yonko's pirate crew. However, since they had betrayed them, they were no longer comrades but enemies.
This meant that she and her forces could join the battle!
Thinking this, Viola turned to Shirahoshi and asked, "Shirahoshi, how long can your power last?"
"Um... If everyone fights together, it can only last a few hours."
Merely controlling the Sea Kings for defense and perfectly controlling them to assist the female warriors in battle required completely different levels of consumption.
"Two hours is enough. We can't let your power be completely drained."
Viola waved her hand and ordered, "Deploy half of our forces! The other half will remain here to protect Shirahoshi!"
"Yes!"
On the other side, the loyal forces led by Stragus, Matthew, and others also arrived. Seeing a large number of ships without the Immortal Pirates' flag, they were momentarily bewildered.
"Didn't they say the Golden Hair Pirates betrayed us? Why are Ivalis and Beckman fighting each other?"
Stragus held a sword in his left hand and a rapier in his right. He pressed the tip of the rapier against the neck of a rebel and asked.
"N-no idea. M-maybe it's some kind of misunderstanding." The sword against his neck had terrified the man.
"Stop the nonsense; I've already figured it out."
Matthew walked to Stragus's right-rear. "Lucky Roux and those Red Hair remnants are pulling strings, causing a lot of idiots to rebel. Any ship without our pirate flag is a traitor; kill them."
Traitors are unforgivable. Kill!
Hearing this, Stragus slashed off the man's head with a single stroke, even though he had been a member of the same pirate crew. In fact, precisely because they were from the same crew, their actions were even more unforgivable.
"Although there are rebels, there are also those who remained loyal. The difference in manpower is not great, and we might even have an advantage."
Matthew blinked his eyes behind his iron mask, then added with difficulty, "But if we kill them all, our pirate crew will be severely weakened. If we don't kill them, how will we maintain face in the future?"
As Matthew said, many loyalists were in a dilemma: to kill or not to kill? This confusion made the loyalist faction passive; they could only frequently parry and were unable to fight with full strength, momentarily falling into a disadvantage.
"Former Golden Lion fleet member, now Immortal Pirates executive, Stragus, and Iron Mask Matthew."
At that moment, someone approached the two from behind and said, "Allow us to be your opponents."
The two turned to look, facing a burly man wearing sunglasses, wielding a tachi, and sporting a red dragon tattoo on his neck, and a bald man with a scar over his left eye and a black-furred ape perched on his shoulder.
Stragus grinned. "So it's Red Dragon and Zombie. Former high-ranking executives of the Red Hair Pirates, and now members of the Whitebeard Pirates' 17th Division."
Roar!!!
The Sea Kings, who had only been defending Amazon Lily, suddenly roared. The intense sound waves raised wave after wave of whitecaps on the sea.
Looking closely, many Kuja female pirates were standing on the backs of the Sea Kings.
"The Poseidon Unit? I've heard of them, but this is the first time I'm seeing them."
Stragus's sword and rapier clashed with Red Dragon's tachi, erupting in intense sparks. Stragus briefly glanced toward the Poseidon Unit and then said to Red Dragon, "I don't know who instigated you, but even with the turncoats, you still aren't a match for us, are you?"
Red Dragon's face was close to Stragus's, and he said grimly, "But you are already severely weakened."
Clang!
After a standoff of about ten seconds, their weapons rang out, and the two separated, springing back a distance of over ten meters.
"Attack!"
On a Sea King, a commander of the Poseidon Unit raised her hand and gave the order. Arrows coated in Armament Haki rained down on Lucky Roux's forces aboard the ships flying the Whitebeard Pirates' flag.
Yasopp's eyes narrowed. He pulled out his sniper rifle and fired rapidly, managing to shoot down hundreds of arrows with a single gun in less than two seconds.
Yasopp took aim and fired toward the Kuja female pirates on the Sea Kings, but Urdaha rushed forward, his Iron Arm hardening with Armament Haki, blocking all the bullets.
"Yasopp the Sniper, you're still alive."
After landing, Urdaha stood on the crow's nest of a ship, staring coldly at Yasopp.
Yasopp propped his sniper rifle on his shoulder. "Sorry, I won't die until I've avenged Shanks."
"With just you?" Urdaha laughed in sheer fury.
In the Amazon Lily forest, Viola, who had been observing the battle with her Glare-Glare Fruit, suddenly saw something speeding toward them at an incredible velocity near the edge of her sight range.
"What is that?"
Viola focused her vision on the object. After careful observation, she finally discerned its true nature.
It was a ship! A battered, yet entirely gold-plated ship!
And standing on the bow was none other than Alucard!
"How is that possible... How, how could he be that fast?"
Although it was good news, Viola couldn't believe it. The distance that should have taken at least ten days, Alucard had covered in less than two days...
"..."
The storm created by the extreme speed whipped Alucard's hair wildly. All that could be heard was Alucard muttering a sequence of words:
"Releasing Restriction System Level Three, Level Two, Level One…"