"I understand." Seuss hung up the Den Den Mushi and pondered in silence for a few seconds.
’An enemy has infiltrated? If that’s the case, then the opponent first infiltrated Marine Headquarters and then snuck onto my ship? But first, they would have had to enter Marineford.’
’Who is this person? How could they possess such capabilities?’
Regardless of his thoughts, he could only follow Headquarters’ orders: temporarily halt their course and return to Headquarters.
Seuss quickly left the room and walked to the center of the deck, waving his hand to order the Marines. "All hands, prepare to change the ship’s direction! Prepare to return to Headquarters!"
A soldier’s nature was to obey, especially for those who had undergone rigorous military education at Marine Headquarters. Not one of them asked a superfluous question; they quickly prepared to change direction and return to Headquarters.
However, at that moment, outside the internal control room below the ship’s deck, a soldier entered and was immediately stopped by the guards, who asked, "Hey! What are you doing?"
"I have something to..." The soldier who had come there hadn’t finished speaking when he suddenly pulled out two guns from behind, pressing them against the necks of the two guards at the door.
Two gunshots, bang, bang, caused their necks to erupt.
As he kicked open the door, Alucard also reverted to his original form. This was the ship’s internal structure; everything before him was complex, specialized machinery. If this massive warship were likened to a living being, this room was its most vital organ.
A large warship naturally had professionals monitoring it twenty-four hours a day, ensuring no problems arose with its internal workings.
Upon hearing the commotion at the door, a worker in a white vest and headband quickly approached.
"You... you, who are you?" The worker, seeing Alucard’s appearance, instantly understood that this person was definitely not a Marine and immediately questioned him.
"Where is the device that controls the ship’s direction?" Alucard raised his right index finger and pointed it at the worker.
That finger seemed to emit a magical power. The worker, who had been about to press the alarm, froze the moment he saw Alucard’s finger, the focus in his eyes becoming hazy.
Alucard asked again, "Where is the key to controlling the ship’s direction?"
The worker slowly raised a hand and pointed to a massive steel pipe on the left, stammering, "Th-There, that’s... the main pipeline for controlling the ship’s direction."
"Is that so? Thank you." Alucard turned and walked towards the spot the worker indicated. After Alucard left, the worker remained standing there blankly, as if he had been brainwashed.
Alucard reached the massive iron pipe, raised both his guns, and fired continuously.
As the iron pipe was progressively destroyed, Seuss and the others on the bow deck clearly felt the ship shaking.
’Could it be a Sea King attack?’
Seuss quickly steadied himself and called out to the surrounding crew, "What’s happening? Control room, report!"
In the control room, a Marine rushed out and exclaimed, "Vice Admiral! The ship’s direction can’t be controlled! It seems there’s a problem with the ship!"
Seuss gritted his teeth and thought, ’Has the enemy already made their move?’
"Connect the Den Den Mushi! Contact Headquarters and tell them to send reinforcements, quickly, quickly!"
As a Vice Admiral at Marine Headquarters, there wasn’t much left in this world that could scare him.
However, being isolated on the open sea with his main means of transport uncontrollable, he had to contact Headquarters first.
It seemed that of the two warships, the enemy was indeed hidden on his own.
Soon, Marine Chief of Staff Tsuru’s Den Den Mushi connected. Tsuru heard the Marine on the other end calling for help. "Report! Report! Seuss’s unit is under attack! The warship is damaged! The warship is damaged! It’s uncontrollable! Requesting Headquarters support! Requesting Headquarters support!"
"Tsuru here, who is the enemy?" Tsuru quickly stood up and gestured to the female soldiers under her command, signaling them to prepare.
"Report! We’re still investigating! The enemy severed our warship’s control shaft! It’s now unable to navigate!"
"Stay where you are! We’re dispatching support immediately!"
However, just as Tsuru finished speaking, another loud bang came from the other end. Tsuru quickly asked, "What else happened? Seuss’s unit, answer quickly!"
"...Re-Report! We can’t stop the ship! It seems the control device was also destroyed, and we can’t stop the ship! The ship is now traveling at maximum speed, moving away from Headquarters!"
Tsuru slammed her hand heavily on the table and said in a deep voice, "Stay calm, I’ll handle this immediately!"
With that, Tsuru stood up and rushed towards Marine Plaza, telling the female soldier beside her, "Notify superiors to prepare for immediate deployment! Call Saul and the others! We’re preparing to launch!"
"This pirate is quite smart," Tsuru muttered to herself.