Chapter 158: Alucard vs. Red the Aloof
Sabaody Archipelago’s Grove 6, a lawless zone where conflicts frequently erupt.
When the Kimari Pirates’s ship docked by the shore, two crimson figures emerged one after another from the gangplank.
Alucard, who descended last, patted one of the crew members on the shoulder. "Good, you’ve worked hard. You can continue sailing to the New World now."
The crew member whose shoulder was patted wanted to cry. Damn it, including the captain, almost everyone was wiped out by you two bastards. What sailing are you talking about?
"Oh, the last time I was here was over a decade ago. Time really flies, doesn’t it?" Red held his bat-handled long umbrella, looking at the surrounding Yarukiman Mangroves.
Red let out a sigh, and also spotted a skirmish a few hundred meters away. It could have been a fight between pirates, or a head-hunting dispute between pirates and bounty hunters.
"In my opinion, it’s just that dregs has multiplied," Alucard walked over and interjected, looking at the largest Yarukiman Mangrove in the area, which bore a large "6" mark.
"Oh... Grove 6? What a fine place."
The Marine garrison and government access points on Sabaody Archipelago are in the Groves numbered 60 and above. Groves 0 to 10 are located to the north, meaning this area is relatively close to the Marine stronghold. If a disturbance were to occur here, it would take less than an hour for troops to be dispatched from Grove 60, and less than three hours for forces to be mobilized from Headquarters.
Red hadn’t been to Sabaody Archipelago in over a decade, so he naturally didn’t remember the terrain as intimately as Alucard. However, when he saw Alucard’s smile, he keenly felt that nothing good would come of it.
A pirate operating a solo crew, who had not only achieved a status comparable to Kong and Whitebeard but had also survived to the present day, Red was no fool. In a flash of insight, he guessed a possibility, his gaze shifting towards Alucard. "This is an area very close to the Marine deployment, isn’t it?"
"Ah... isn’t that more interesting?" Seeing that he’d been found out, Alucard made no attempt to hide it, directly stating his intentions. "This place was originally a common gathering point for pirates. A battle here would undoubtedly affect those half-wits, and we’d also have to be ready to intercept pursuits from Marine branches and Marine Headquarters at any moment. That kind of chaos is interesting, wouldn’t you agree?"
Grove 6 was originally a gathering place for outlaws, and also the closest area to the Marine’s entry and exit points for Sabaody Archipelago. What would happen if chaos erupted here?
Red gave Alucard a meaningful glance, thinking to himself that this was truly the crazy rookie that even Newgate had to give three feet of leeway to. Such mad pirates were extremely rare even in his youth.
"Don’t tell me you’re scared, Red," Alucard met Red’s gaze.
"I won’t fall for such a boring provocation. Since you also find it so interesting..." Red hadn’t even finished speaking when his umbrella-sword suddenly swung.
Alucard, seeing this, parried with a hand-chop. In the intense clash, a powerful turbulence erupted between the umbrella and the hand, almost tearing up the turf beneath their feet.
Hundreds of meters away, the pirate crew and bounty hunter group who were fighting had their clothes violently flapped by the sudden burst of power. Some were even directly thrown against a Yarukiman Mangrove.
"Wh-what happened? What’s going on?!"
"What’s happening?!"
Both groups involuntarily stopped their killing and quickly looked around. Turning to the left, they saw two figures darting across the area like lightning.
Alucard and Red ran opposite each other across the grass. Red held his umbrella in his right hand. Seizing the moment, his bat umbrella unleashed a blood-red sword energy.
"So that’s it. Not just your clothes, but your techniques are also red. Is that why you’re called Red the Aloof?" Alucard remarked, seeing a technique he’d never encountered before.
Red seized the opportunity, abruptly stopping and thrusting his sword towards Alucard’s heart.
Alucard used his black gun, Jackal, to block with one hand.
After a few seconds of stalemate, Red’s sword attack deflected, and the crimson sword energy grazed past Alucard, hitting a Yarukiman Mangrove behind him.
Boom!!!
The sword energy pierced through several mangroves in succession, finally stopping at an unknown distance beyond their line of sight.
"Ahhh!!" The two groups who had been fighting screamed, their eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets upon seeing the immense destructive power of the red light.
Craaak—Rumble!
The severed upper part of the mangrove began to split and fall. A bounty hunter shrieked, "The mangroves are falling! Run!"
Everyone scattered in a panic, but the massive crash of the falling mangroves did not affect the two combatants in the slightest. As the sword energy faded, Alucard’s gun and Red’s umbrella crashed together, their weapons trembling slightly, neither giving an inch.
"Oh... still got it, Red?" Alucard sneered, leaning closer to Red’s face.
"If this much can surprise you, young man, you can admit defeat now," Red replied, his face unperturbed.
"Ha~~" Suddenly, a heavy breath came from above Alucard’s head. Red’s gaze shifted upward. A black-furred giant hound opened its gaping maw, lunging to bite him.
"Hmph, an interesting ability you have." With a cold snort, Red burst with power, momentarily pushing Alucard away. A crimson flash, a vertical line, instantly appeared, passing through the black hound Baskerville’s forehead. Two seconds later, blood splattered from that vertical line, and the black hound was split in half.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Blue-white flashes erupted from the muzzle of the white gun, Casull, firing countless bullets in rapid succession. Red controlled his slender yet incredibly agile body, wielding his umbrella-sword to parry all the bullets back. No, it should be said he shot them back!
Far away in Grove 7, a pirate who was discussing human trafficking business with his accomplice was suddenly shot in the head. His accomplice, standing opposite him, hadn’t even realized what happened before his face was splattered with blood...
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