"Are you... pirates?" Tom asked Rayleigh, frowning.
A group of over ten individuals, all armed and reeking of blood, made it clear they were pirates even if Roger wasn’t immediately recognized.
Though he initially considered concealing their identity, Rayleigh no longer bothered once he realized they’d been seen through. He rubbed the back of his head with a wry smile. "Apologies. We won’t let it slip. We desperately need a good ship for the arduous journey ahead."
Typically, pirates bought ready-made ships. If a shipwright were to custom-build a ship for pirates and get caught, it would be a serious crime. Shipwrights naturally wouldn’t risk such a grave offense.
However, there were ways around it: if the Marines ever questioned them, they could simply pin all the blame on the pirates. Most shipwrights, being ordinary citizens, would simply refuse from the outset.
The Roger Pirates had previously bought ready-made ships, but with their upcoming journey to the New World, they urgently needed a better vessel. Hearing that Tom was one of the Grand Line’s top shipwrights, they sought him out.
"Are these guys pirates?" Alucard asked abruptly.
"Yeah, what about it?" Buggy, seeing Alucard who seemed to be around the same age as him and Shanks, readily admitted his pirate status even though Alucard currently had no bounty.
"Oh, so whose bounty reaches 160 million Berries?" Alucard asked, a subtle, knowing smile playing on his lips.
At this point, Shanks already felt something was off, but Buggy, being the idiot he was, proudly blurted out, "Idiot, our Captain’s pirate crew, forget 100 million, there are plenty of people with over 200 million! Besides Captain Roger and Rayleigh-san, who’ve long since exceeded 300 million, Gaban-san and Oden-san also have bounties over 200 million, and even Crocus-san has a bounty over 100 million!"
Buggy jabbered on, listing the names and bounties of prominent members of the Roger Pirates.
Suddenly, Alucard’s mouth curved upward, revealing his signature sharp vampire fangs. "Is that so? Then that’s enough!"
The Casull instantly pointed at Gaban, a combatant of the Roger Pirates with a bounty exceeding 200 million.
Before most of the onlookers could react, a gunshot rang out.
Alucard’s eyes narrowed slightly, seeing a completely black sword blocking his path. Just like his encounter with Zephyr shortly after leaving the island, the bullet was blocked by Armament Haki.
However, Zephyr used his body, while this man used a sword.
He turned to see a spectacled man in a black suit with distinctive golden slicked-back hair, who had blocked his Casull with a sword imbued with Armament Haki.
"Oh... is it someone with over 300 million Berries?" Alucard remembered Buggy’s earlier introduction. "But unfortunately, I only need 160 million right now. Of course, since you’re delivering yourself to me, I don’t mind."
"To dare attack our comrade directly in front of Roger and me... you’ve got guts." Rayleigh’s eyes sharply swept over Alucard. He then turned to Roger, whose face was steadily growing more agitated. "Roger, don’t get involved. I’m enough."
Rayleigh chose to act himself because Roger hadn’t fully recovered from the ambush by Garp. At this time, the only thing that could truly shake Roger’s resolve was the death of a comrade.
"This guy’s bounty seems to be over 300 million Berries. If I take his head, you can build my ship immediately, right, Tom?" Alucard asked, glancing back at Tom.
"Th-that... I guess so," Tom reluctantly nodded. He had just told Alucard to take them one by one, and now a complete pirate crew had conveniently arrived. If what the red-nosed guy said was true, then this pirate crew was definitely a famous top-tier crew in the Grand Line, even the New World.
’Wait a minute...’ At this point, Tom paused. ’The name "Roger" seemed familiar...’
The sound of a safety catch disengaging. Alucard was ready, while Rayleigh’s face turned grim. "My head isn’t something so easily taken."
Alucard said coldly, pulling the Casull’s trigger, firing continuously.
"Get him, Rayleigh-san!"
"Kill him, Vice Captain!"
Among the Roger Pirates who had been moved to the side, Buggy and some other apprentices couldn’t help but shout.
Rayleigh let out a light gasp, gripping his sword and charging forward, simultaneously deflecting Alucard’s bullets and continuously closing the distance.
"What in the world are these bullets?!"
Rayleigh gritted his teeth as he deflected the Casull’s bullets. Due to the resistance on his blade, his movements looked somewhat sluggish.
It felt like... these weren’t just bullets, but fierce wild beasts slamming into his sword!
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