Admiral Sengoku, Vice Admiral Garp, Chief of Staff Tsuru, plus the future Admirals Kizaru, Akainu, and Aokiji, not to mention other Headquarters Vice Admirals—this was undoubtedly the Marines’ most formidable lineup.
Their mission was singular: to capture the members of the Roger Pirates, who had suffered heavy losses in the Edd War Sea battle against Shiki.
While, in terms of sheer military might, Shiki should have been the priority, the peculiar issue lay with the Roger Pirates’ research into Poneglyphs. If they had found the item from the Concordia Kingdom ruins earlier, Roger might have already deciphered the secrets of the Poneglyphs.
This greatly alarmed the World Government, including the Five Elders; they had to stop the Roger Pirates.
The battle in the Ed War Sea had severely weakened Roger’s crew, presenting a perfect opportunity to strike while they were down. Immediately after receiving news of the battle’s conclusion, the Marines deployed their strongest forces.
Of course, it wasn’t just the Headquarters Marines dispatched. It would take considerable time for Garp and the others to arrive from Headquarters in the first half of the Grand Line. Before their arrival, Marine Branches G1 and G5 in the New World were the first to send fleets.
When Calius Sibelius, the current base commander of G1 Branch, arrived in the Edd War Sea with his two warships, the first thing he saw was countless wrecks of warships and scattered corpses clinging to them.
"Hmm?" Sibelius’s white eyebrows furrowed. He suddenly noticed the few remaining warships fleeing in the opposite direction.
From their appearance, they belonged to the Golden Lion Pirates. According to intelligence, Shiki had deployed over fifty warships in this conflict. Now, only five remained?
Just as Sibelius was about to order an attack, the five warships gradually began to float and ascend into the sky—Shiki’s Float-Float Fruit ability!
"Vice... Vice Admiral!" Suddenly, a Marine soldier ran up to Sibelius and saluted. "At three o’clock, there’s another pirate ship!"
"Hm?!" Sibelius’s eyes narrowed. "Is it the Roger Pirates? What’s the situation?"
"No, no, it’s... it’s Alucard’s ship, Alucard the Immortal’s ship," the Marine replied.
"He’s actually here!" Sibelius’s expression shifted slightly. This mission was to capture the Roger Pirates. The government had issued a death order: disregard everything else and focus solely on capturing the Roger Pirates.
Was it simply because they had acquired an Ancient Weapon? Even so, there was no need for such an extreme order, was there?
"Vice Admiral, we haven’t found any sign of the Roger Pirates. Should we begin an immediate search?" Another Marine quickly requested Sibelius’s instructions.
"Of course!" Sibelius waved his arm. "Immediately search the entire sea area! We must capture everyone from the Roger Pirates!"
"They went that way."
The very next second after Sibelius issued the search order, a voice suddenly reached the ears of the assembled Marines.
Instinctively looking in the direction of the voice, everyone was greatly surprised. The iron ship, which had been several nautical miles away, had suddenly appeared next to their warship.
There, Alucard, with a bounty of 500 million Berries, sat in a throne at the bow, his head slightly tilted. From beneath his sunglasses, the corner of his eye flickered towards Sibelius. He gestured with his head towards the left. "Aren’t you looking for the Roger Pirates? They’re over there. Go on."
"Vice Admiral, sir..."
Suddenly, the Marines on board looked to Sibelius, awaiting his command. At this moment, none of them knew what to do. As Marines, they should immediately initiate arrest procedures upon seeing a pirate.
Sibelius, being a veteran whose seniority surpassed even Sengoku and Garp, naturally understood this well. If not for the death order from the government, he would have long ago commanded an attack on Alucard.
Walking to the ship’s railing, Sibelius squinted at the iron ship, which was several meters lower than his warship. "What are you plotting?"
Alucard’s posture remained unchanged. He retracted his gaze. "If you don’t leave now, you won’t catch a single one of them, neither Shiki nor Roger."
Having said that, Alucard offered no further explanation and steered his iron ship away.
"Vice Admiral Sibelius, should we apprehend them?" a gunner asked Sibelius for instructions.
"Do you think our current forces can capture Kaido?" Sibelius countered. His meaning was clear: with their current strength, they couldn’t even capture Kaido, let alone Alucard.
Sibelius wasn’t the type like Akainu, who would chase down and kill a pirate on sight. His current priority was to follow the orders issued by Headquarters.
"Turn the ship around, proceed towards the five o’clock direction," Sibelius ordered.
"Are we really going to listen to that pirate?"
The direction Sibelius indicated was precisely the one Alucard had pointed to. Although many soldiers on the ship were reluctant, they nevertheless complied.
As a figure of the same generation as Fleet Admiral Kong in the Marine hierarchy, Sibelius, regardless of his individual strength, commanded respect even from Sengoku and Garp due to his seniority. How could they dare disobey?
Sailing towards another sea area, Alucard poured the liquor he had obtained from the Roger Pirates into a wine glass, simultaneously recalling his conversation with Roger from two hours prior. This was when Roger had just escaped the giant wave.
"Interesting. I can give you the item," Alucard said to Roger, who was three meters away, sitting on his own ship’s seat.
"Why the sudden decision to give it to me?" Roger was drenched from escaping the colossal wave and utterly bewildered by Alucard’s sudden change of heart.
"Having witnessed your luck, and since keeping this stone here benefits me nothing, I’ll give it to you. But you’ll have to return it to me later."
The storm gradually subsided, but a gentle breeze still sent shivers down one’s spine.
"I’m looking forward to it. Highly, highly anticipated." Alucard’s face broke into a pleased smile. "I’m looking forward to the dawn of a new era. Hurry, come quickly."
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