Blood Siphon, the ability to store life and then revive, had brought Alucard remarkably close to true immortality. It could perfectly compensate for the weakness of his heart. If he were to fight Roger now, the outcome would undoubtedly be different.
But for now, Alucard wasn’t looking for a fight with Roger. Instead, he focused on storing life. His previous fight had been too intense; he hadn’t had time to siphon blood before killing those fodder pirates.
Currently, Alucard had sixteen lives stored, but only by awakening River of Death would he achieve true boundless regeneration.
After half a week of experimentation, Alucard had a clear understanding of his Blood Siphon Revival ability.
First, to store life, he had to obtain the target’s blood before they fully died, or within a few seconds of death, to perfectly claim their life force as his own.
Second, if the person still possessed some life force, men and non-virgins, after having their blood siphoned, would turn into ghouls.
These ghouls, upon consuming others, would transform new ghouls. While possessing endless regeneration, they were merely a group of monsters with slightly enhanced physiques compared to ordinary humans. They would die if their hearts or heads were destroyed and felt no pain. Their threat level was inferior to even a pirate with a one million Berry bounty.
In contrast, Blacklight Virus infected individuals were stronger, at least at the ten million Berry bounty level.
So, Alucard had no interest in these ghouls; he only consumed others’ lives to make them his own. Before awakening his ultimate ability, River of Death, all life consumption had to be done by himself. After that, he could undergo a new evolution.
"Going into the New World, this level of power is just natural, isn’t it?"
Alucard mused, arriving at Tom’s shipbuilding workshop on Water 7’s west coast. He released all the pirates he’d captured today from his shadow onto the ground before Tom and his crew. "Today’s haul, tally them up."
The members of Tom’s shipbuilding workshop, who were processing steel, began identifying the pirates one by one according to their bounties.
As an island very close to Sabaody Archipelago, pirates who reached Water 7 usually had some skill. Still, there were always some mediocre, lucky ones who made it this far.
"The Lazy Gunslinger, Panrus, bounty: 8.3 million Berries."
"Mad Dog, Sadayes, bounty: 3.5 million Berries."
The workshop staff began meticulously counting the value of these pirates.
Alucard captured people for them, and they turned them in for bounties.
This scene had been playing out daily for the past five days. There weren’t that many pirates in Water 7 to begin with, and in five days, Alucard had essentially captured almost all of them on the island, excluding the Roger Pirates.
From a distance, sitting on a large shattered rock, Roger chuckled as he watched the scene. "Hahahaha, what an interesting fellow. When did such a freakish kid appear?"
"Ah... a pirate hunter from the North Blue, supposedly he traveled all the way here alone. Not simple," Rayleigh agreed, nodding.
For someone to reach this place alone, not to mention their power, their navigation skills alone must be extraordinary!
Rayleigh and the others didn’t know that Alucard’s navigation was utterly reckless; their encounter in this place was pure coincidence.
From afar, Buggy ran over, snot and tears streaming down his face. Shanks and a few other apprentice pirates from the ship ran with him.
"Buggy... when’s that kid going to break his habit of constantly overreacting?" Rayleigh shook his head. As the group approached, he folded his arms. "What now? What’s happened? Is it the Marines?"
"No, no, it’s not!" Buggy wiped his nose, panting. "The, the, the government! World Government flags! Two! Two large battleships! They’re, they’re landing on the coast!"
Gaban, Rayleigh, and the other veteran crew members couldn’t help but stir at the mention of the "World Government." They had always been pursued by the Marines. The government had never directly mobilized to capture them. Why the sudden change this time?
"Wait," Rayleigh stroked his beard, pondering. "How do you know the government is definitely here for us?"
"Huh... Rayleigh-san, if they’re not here for us, then who are they here for?" Buggy blinked, confused. At present, the only pirate crew in Water 7 significant enough to draw the government’s attention seemed to be the Roger Pirates, right?
"Hmm!" Rayleigh tilted his head and gestured towards Alucard, making everyone look that way.
’Could it be... him?’
At this moment, Alucard had also settled his accounts with Tom and the others. The accountant from Tom’s shipbuilding workshop told Alucard, "Your total accumulated bounty is 166 million Berries. That’s incredible, reaching this amount in such a short time."
Alucard looked towards the large steel ship already under construction on the coastline, letting the sea breeze ruffle his hair. He asked, "At this rate, how much longer until it’s completed?"
"Well... at least another month," the accountant estimated.
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