The giant marlin, infected by the Blacklight Virus, thrashed violently in agony, twisting its body in unbearable pain and struggle!
Alucard waited for the moment the virus-induced torment subsided. He wanted to see if a beast of this magnitude could endure it.
But unfortunately, after a few minutes, its body covered in the blood-red patterns of the Blacklight Virus infection, the blue-and-white marlin couldn’t survive. It floated on the surface, dead.
The first Blacklight Virus infection experiment: failure.
"Pathetic creature. Can’t even handle this level?" Seeing the giant marlin dead, a flicker of disappointment crossed Alucard’s face. He settled back into his chair and sailed away.
Spotting the massive "food" floating on the sea, large carnivorous birds, resembling vultures, began to descend upon the giant marlin.
The Blacklight Virus infection was generally imperceptible. With their sharp beaks, they tore open the marlin’s belly, ripping at its skin and devouring its fresh meat.
However, after consuming the meat, some of the vultures died mid-way. These were infected but couldn’t withstand the effects of the Blacklight Virus and perished.
Some, though feeling abnormalities in their bodies, managed to fly away alive. These were the lucky ones, not severely infected.
Alucard wasn’t in a hurry to complete the Blacklight Virus experiment.
To be precise, this was just a small game, a form of entertainment.
Success was good, but failure meant no real loss.
The journey was still long. Wasn’t it better to just enjoy it slowly?
"What kind of ship is that?"
In a certain sea region of the North Blue, a navigator from a pirate crew stood on the lookout at the top of the mast, observing a ship slowly sailing in the distance through his telescope.
Its sails bore no markings. Normally, such a ship would just be a civilian vessel.
What caught his attention was how utterly dilapidated it was. There were countless holes in its hull, and even the sails, which provided the ship’s main propulsion, were riddled with holes. If it were night, it would perfectly embody a ghost ship.
"Captain, two kilometers away, there’s an unmarked, broken ship. I estimate it’s a wreck left behind after being attacked by other pirates," the navigator shouted down to the crew below.
The pirates below, who had been drinking and chatting idly, immediately looked in the direction he indicated.
Indeed, a dark speck was slowly passing by in the distance.
The captain twisted his neck, saying coldly, "It got ransacked but didn’t sink, meaning there’s likely still someone or something special on board. Men! Full speed ahead! Loot everything on that ship!"
Alucard sat in his chair, letting the ship drift slowly with the sea breeze.
This was his preferred state most of the time, and it often attracted many suicidal pirates. Regardless of whether it was a rotting ship, if they saw a ship, they’d try to plunder it—that’s what pirates did.
It was the sound of a ship approaching. Alucard could hear it. Looking to the left, a large ship with a massive scar on its right cheek and a skull emblem was rushing towards him.
To plunder, you naturally couldn’t just blast the ship with cannons.
Unlike battles with the Marines, pirates typically used various methods to board the enemy ship, kill everyone, steal the treasures, and then blow up the ship.
Marines, on the other hand, would usually just open fire with cannons directly on pirates.
However, Alucard’s dilapidated ship had its advantages.
Pirates would mistake it for an abandoned vessel and wouldn’t open fire, while Marines wouldn’t randomly fire because there was no pirate skull mark on the flag.
Frankly, cannon battles were incredibly boring. Since this ship allowed him to avoid dull cannon engagements, Alucard rather liked it.
When the ship was less than twenty meters from Alucard’s, countless figures from the opposing vessel swung over on grappling ropes, like monkeys in a jungle. This was indeed the method most pirates used to board enemy ships.
Alucard drew his gun and shot the grappling ropes, causing many pirates who hadn’t yet swung across, caught between the two ships, to fall directly into the sea.
"There’s someone on board!"
Captain Sothis roared a warning. He leaped, jumping directly onto Alucard’s ship without a rope. As a captain, he certainly possessed that much skill.
Sothis turned his head and saw a young man sitting in a chair on the deck, holding a gun in one hand, his legs crossed, watching him with a half-smile.
Alucard looked mature for his age, but he still seemed to be only seventeen or eighteen. Compared to the forty-something Sothis, he could indeed be called a "kid."
"Isn’t it interesting?" Alucard ignored Sothis’s address and asked abruptly.
"Huh?" Sothis was stunned, momentarily unsure what Alucard meant by the question.
"Using a ghost ship as bait to lure foolish pirates, then killing them all. It’s like a cat, before eating a mouse, will play with it until it’s too exhausted to move. Don’t you find that very interesting?" Alucard grinned.
"You bastard!" Sothis’s eyes widened. He now understood Alucard’s objective. So, from the very beginning, he had intended to lure them in!