"Hey!" Suddenly, a Seaman First-Class Marine ordered the subordinate next to him, "Go confirm his death."
The Seaman Recruit Marine was instantly startled by these words, looking at his superior in surprise, only to receive a look of disdain. "I told you to go, so go! What are you afraid of? He’s a man with no heart!"
As the saying goes, a higher rank can crush a man. What’s more, the other party was two ranks above him.
The Marine had no choice but to accept his bad luck and walk towards the fallen Alucard, comforting himself. ’He doesn’t even have a heart; how could he possibly be alive? Besides, he bled during the fight, so he’s probably not a Logia type.’
Under Seuss’s intensely focused gaze, hundreds of people watched as he slowly squatted beside Alucard, tentatively checking for a pulse.
The Marine’s finger rested on Alucard’s chest for about three seconds before he looked up and reported to Seuss: "V-Vice Admiral, he... he’s no longer breathing."
"..." Even Seuss couldn’t help but exhale. Although the success felt eerily easy, this would confirm the death of Alucard the Immortal.
Suddenly, a wave of killing intent washed over them. Seuss, who had closed his eyes, snapped them open. He saw Alucard, who had been lying on the ground, pierce the Marine’s heart, then instantaneously withdraw his hand, licking the blood-soaked limb.
"Replenishment complete," Alucard said, word by word, with a chuckle.
"Shoot! Shoot!" Seuss was genuinely terrified now. Two seconds later, he screamed at the top of his lungs. The other soldiers reacted in quick succession, hurriedly raising their guns to attack.
Forget about leaving him alive; just kill him first! This time, they weren’t aiming to avoid vital points; they were attacking his entire body, intent on utterly destroying every part of him!
Several seconds later, Alucard’s body transformed into countless bats that flew into the sky, then slowly reformed back into his human shape.
"Damn it! He’s a monster!" Seuss gritted his teeth, drew his sword, and leaped into the air, engaging Alucard head-on.
"Connect the Den Den Mushi! Contact Headquarters! Tell them the intruder is Alucard! Pirate Hunter Alucard! Get this message out! Quickly!" Seuss continuously launched a furious barrage of attacks at Alucard, while also barking orders at his subordinates.
"Oh, no, you won’t. You can’t let Headquarters know about this." Alucard sneered, letting the sword attacks land on him. But upon spotting any Den Den Mushi, he destroyed them without hesitation!
"ALUCARD!!!" Seuss roared. Seizing the moment when Alucard destroyed another Den Den Mushi, he chopped off Alucard’s right hand!
However, defying the laws of physics, the hand didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, it dissolved into countless dark particles, reattaching to Alucard’s arm. Alucard used this opportunity to fire back, his black gun, Jackal, blasting Seuss’s left shin!
"Guaaah!" His left calf was completely blown apart. Seuss lost his footing and fell to the ground, the other Marines immediately looking at him anxiously.
"Don’t worry about me! Quickly, send the message back to Headquarters! Report the enemy’s identity!" Seuss roared. Since Alucard was so desperate to keep his invasion of Headquarters a secret, there had to be some unspeakable motive behind it. If that was the case, even if he couldn’t be captured, Headquarters must know the truth.
"I already said no, didn’t I?" A golden glint flashed in Alucard’s eyes. With Thermal Vision activated, he scanned all the soldiers present, clearly seeing who had Den Den Mushi on them!
"You, you, you, you!" Alucard called them out one by one. He didn’t finish off Seuss but instead shot down the Den Den Mushi hidden within the soldiers’ clothes, one by one.
"Damn it! Does this guy really not want Headquarters to know it was him?!" Blood spilled from Seuss’s mouth. He knew that the more Alucard acted this way, the more dangerous his actions at Headquarters must have been.
After so many shots, presumably all the Den Den Mushi were destroyed. Without him, defeat was only a matter of time. Given the ship’s current condition, Vice Admiral Tsuru’s reinforcements would take at least five hours to arrive.
In an instant, Seuss assessed the overall situation of the battle. He suddenly bellowed an order, "Everyone, jump overboard! Even if you have to swim, swim back to Headquarters! Take this message back! Everyone, jump overboard!"
"Hm?" Alucard abruptly turned to look at Seuss, who had managed to stand up.
All the soldiers were stunned by Seuss’s command. While all Marines who weren’t Devil Fruit users could swim, such an order seemed utterly preposterous!