Alucard sat in a tavern-restaurant on Isanna, surrounded by boisterous pirates, bounty hunters, and other lawless ruffians. At the far end of a large sofa to Alucard’s right, a burly man with green, slicked-back hair was embracing a fair-skinned, wine-red-haired woman, perfectly illustrating the phrase "a good cabbage gone to a pig."
What surprised Alucard, however, was that when he entered the tavern in his true form, no one recognized him. This was a stark contrast to the New World, where his appearance always drew gasps of astonishment.
Could it be that the idiots here were all like Luffy, not bothering to collect intel and recognizing neither prominent Marines nor powerful pirates?
It was more a stroke of bad luck for Alucard that he stumbled into this situation. Plus, the recent headlines had been completely dominated by the Big Mom Pirates, temporarily overshadowing Alucard’s reputation with Charlotte Linlin’s.
Moreover, the Great Pirate Era had only just begun, and many of these were fresh-faced rookie pirates, or as Whitebeard would call them, "snot-nosed brats" with limited vision.
"First time here? What’s your bounty?"
Just as Alucard was wondering whether to entertain himself by snatching the woman from the green-haired man’s grasp, a scrawny man, all skin and bones, with a pirate crew tattoo of a gun and a sword forming two skull bones on his chest, sat opposite Alucard.
"What do you want?" Alucard looked at him with an amused expression, as if watching a joke unfold.
"Nothing, I just want to gamble with you, big shot." The man, whose forehead was wrapped in a blue bandana and whose hair stood up like a spiky tower, said with a sinister grin.
"Whoa, whoa, is that Waka guy trying to scam someone new to town again?"
"Hahaha, what new trick is he pulling this time?"
The spiky-haired man had barely sat down opposite Alucard when he immediately drew the attention of everyone in the tavern, all looking at Alucard with various ill intentions: mockery, amusement, sympathy, and disdain.
"What are we gambling?" Alucard, bored, wanted to see what this scrawny monkey was up to.
"Money, of course. I, Waka, would never gamble with lives. I’m very afraid of dying," Waka chuckled.
"Oh, how do you want to gamble?" Alucard discarded the idea of taking the green-haired man’s woman and focused his attention on the scrawny man named Waka.
"So you agree? How much cash can you put up?" Waka’s grin widened, a sign of his scheme succeeding.
Alucard casually reached into his coat and pulled out a stack of banknotes, about a centimeter thick, worth roughly tens of thousands of Beri.
"Oh, not bad." Waka counted the notes Alucard had thrown down. "Exactly 100,000 Beri. Alright, I’ll put up 200,000." Waka then produced a stack of banknotes from his vest, twice as thick as Alucard’s.
"Can you explain the rules?" Alucard asked.
"Of course," Waka stacked the two piles of notes together, instantly creating a stack about three centimeters thick. He then pulled out a dagger from his pant leg pocket and explained with a laugh, "We place the folded Berry on the back of our hand, then use this knife to stab through the money until we pierce the very last bill. Finally, whoever pierces through all the money gets it all. You’re putting up 100,000, and I’m putting up 200,000. How about it? Sounds like a great deal, doesn’t it?"
It certainly sounded like Alucard was getting the better end of the deal, but from the knowing, half-smiles on the faces of the other patrons in the tavern, it was clear that this Waka had scammed many people before. Each time, it seemed like he was at a disadvantage, luring people into his trap. This time appeared to be no different. The rightful source is novel(ꜰ)ire.net
"Let’s begin," Alucard said simply.
"Alright, your turn." Waka handed both the stack of money and the dagger to Alucard, chuckling, "You’re the guest; you go first."
Alucard smiled faintly. He could easily pierce his hand and take all the money, but he decided to intentionally lose to see what trick this scrawny monkey was playing.
When they saw Alucard unhesitatingly stab the dagger into the thick stack of banknotes placed on the back of his hand, many in the tavern gasped, secretly admiring the young man’s daring.
When Alucard lifted the dagger, a small stack of notes impaled on it, Waka nodded. "40,000 Berries, huh? Not bad."
Taking the dagger and the remaining banknotes, Waka flashed a sinister grin. He suddenly plunged the dagger through all the remaining bills with force, yet his own hand remained perfectly unharmed, not a single drop of blood.
"The last bill is fake..." Alucard instantly saw through the trick. The final bill wasn’t real money but a counterfeit made of a material that felt soft but was incredibly tough. That’s why no matter how hard Waka stabbed, the last bill wasn’t pierced.
"Oops, I almost stabbed my own hand! That was a close one!" Waka cried out exaggeratedly. Saying this, he pushed the 200,000 Beri in front of himself, then handed the last bill and the dagger to Alucard. With a speed imperceptible to ordinary eyes, he instantly swapped the special fake bill for a real one as he handed the dagger back to Alucard, chuckling, "Here’s the last one. At least it can lessen your losses a bit."
The entire tavern erupted in a chorus of sighs and murmurs. Another idiot had been fooled by Waka. If he refused, he would surely lose face, but if he accepted, he would undoubtedly get stabbed!
But to everyone’s surprise, Alucard smiled at this moment and said, "Ah, I lost."
However, before anyone else could react, Alucard raised his left index finger and pointed it at Waka. "But you’re giving all the money to me, right?"
After a moment of stunned silence, the tavern exploded with jeers and laughter directed at Alucard.
"Kid! Don’t tell us you’re dreaming while wide awake!"
"If Waka were that stupid, would he have scammed so many people?"
"Go to sleep, Isanna isn’t for you."
However, even as everyone continued to mock Alucard, Waka, as if under a spell, nodded. He then pushed all 200,000 Beri from his table towards Alucard.
I’ll be honest, I’m not a fan of the next few Chapters. It feels like a ghostwriter took over. While the character’s disgust with pirates was established before, it suddenly spikes for no apparent reason. He starts acting like a noble looking down on commoners, which just doesn’t feel right to me.
I’ve tried to smooth things out by changing some of the words used and the dialogue, and I hope it helps. If not, just bear with it. The story gets back on track right after this part, and the "real author" returns, lol.
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