"Are your weapons sufficiently prepared?" Alucard asked abruptly.
Drew was at a loss for words.
Even after countless death battles, he had never seen a monster like this.
The weapons he'd just unleashed had practically filled the street behind them. He couldn't even count how many had struck Alucard, yet despite everything, Drew could still see Alucard's body constantly healing.
No matter how he attacked, he just kept recovering.
Drew felt that the weapons stored within his body were dwindling; that last move had consumed far too many. Yet, the opponent remained completely unharmed.
"Damn it!" Drew pulled a katana from his body and violently slashed at Alucard's neck.
A flash of steel, and Drew felt his blade stopped by something, unable to advance even an inch. He looked up to see Alucard gripping his blade with his teeth.
CRUNCH!
With a sudden burst of strength, Alucard instantly shattered the edge of Drew's katana into fragments.
"That guy, a monster..." Squard, observing the battle, could think of no other word to describe Alucard.
A monster who couldn't be killed, no matter how much you tried. Fighting him only brought despair.
Alucard pressed the muzzle of Casull against Drew's chest and fired, the bullet piercing clean through his body. Under the astonished gazes of his subordinates behind him, Drew was sent flying more than two meters into the air by the impact of the bullet, then crashed to the ground.
"So the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander is only this strong, huh?" Alucard half-turned, mocking him.
Drew's subordinates were enraged by his words, shouting, "You bastard! How dare you insult the Whitebeard Pirates!" and "We'll take you down!"
Just as the Whitebeard Second Division was about to rush forward, Squard, perhaps operating under the idea that "the enemy of my enemy is my friend," interjected, "Hey! You're no match for him! Hurry and get Captain Drew to safety! His heart has been pierced!"
Hearing Squard's words, everyone snapped back to reality. Their captain was on the verge of death. Compared to fighting Alucard, Drew's life was far more important!
However, seeing Alucard standing right beside Drew, many still felt their hearts pound in fear as they moved to carry Drew.
"Go back and tell Whitebeard the name of the man who defeated his Second Division Commander," Alucard reminded them as Squard and the others transported the severely wounded Drew.
'You don't need to tell us, we already know,' many thought internally, but none dared to actually say it aloud.
The Second Division and Squard quickly carried Drew back towards the coast. A moment later, Alucard also left, and Roger's crew emerged from the streets behind the bar.
"Soon, the victor will be decided," Rayleigh said.
Roger's expression had lost its usual cheerfulness; he was stern. "From now on, we can't treat him like an ordinary kid. He's an enemy worth taking seriously."
...
The pirate conflicts in the New World were constant.
Battles between pirates, unless they reached a legendary level, rarely caused a sensation, like the recent fight between Golden Lion Shiki and Redfield.
But a recent battle had stirred up a commotion across the New World.
Alanson Drew, the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander, known as "Thousand Blades," had been severely wounded and was currently unconscious.
The Roger Pirates, as witnesses, had seen the entire battle unfold.
Drew was arguably one of Whitebeard's earliest followers; his status and strength were far beyond Crassien's.
With Drew's defeat at the hands of the newcomer Alucard, the Whitebeard Pirates began to gather their numerous subordinate crews, all converging on the Moby Dick.
And sweeping through the New World alongside the news of Alucard was the huge news of the Roger Pirates' return.
These two pieces of news spread through the New World at an incredibly rapid pace.
In a certain sea area of the New World, aboard the Golden Lion Pirates' Grand Fleet:
Golden Lion Shiki, smoking a cigarette, listened to his subordinate's report and said unhappily, "It's just one of Whitebeard's brats losing. What's so special about that that you have to report it?"
"My apologies, Boss!" The ship's hall contained at least five hundred people; this was the power of Shiki's fleet.
"What I'm more interested in is Roger. He suddenly left the New World a few years ago, and now he's back. I need to meet him." Shiki's mind was entirely on Roger. He questioned his subordinate, "Where is Roger now?"
A subordinate quickly replied to Shiki, "According to intelligence, after leaving New Kaba, their next destination should be towards the Morgal Sea."
"Good!" Shiki waved his hand. "We'll head along that route. I want to see if that guy's gotten rusty after all these years out of the New World! If his strength has declined, I'll bury him at sea!"
Although Shiki wasn't interested, there was no doubt that the name "Alucard" had begun to be etched into the memory of the New World.
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