Fish-Man Island, Fish-Man Island... though it was called that, Alucard was clearly more interested in the "merfolk" than the fish-men who resembled flatboards.
Aside from their fish tails being slightly unappetizing, young mermaids were almost uniformly beautiful. It was said that mermaids would develop legs after the age of thirty, and a significant portion of them would intermarry with humans, which Alucard found quite interesting.
Soon after, Alucard found himself in a tavern in the southwest of Fish-Man Town. Alucard, a human—no, in reality, he wasn’t human at all, but in the eyes of these merfolk, he was. Amidst their curious gazes, Alucard sat at the bar and told the mermaid bartender opposite him, "One of everything."
"Ah... th-this, o-okay," the mermaid was startled by Alucard’s words. Sensibly, she didn’t bring all the alcohol at once, but rather served them one by one. Alucard would take a few more sips of the ones he liked, and merely a taste of those he didn’t.
Suddenly, another group of humans, pirates, entered the tavern.
Alucard suddenly recalled what Tiger had told him earlier, about someone named... what was it? Something like Ernst, but he’d forgotten the surname. It should be their pirate crew.
Even before the Great Pirate Era, pirates were still as numerous as ants worldwide. Moreover, Alucard had never even heard of this name, indicating they were clearly not a threat, so he didn’t bother with them.
"Serve us drinks! Hurry!" one of the Ernst Pirates rudely shouted at a mermaid server. He then began discussing with his fellow crewmates, "It was terrifying. We almost died just getting caught in the crossfire of Golden Lion and Redfield’s battle."
Alucard’s eyes narrowed. He had read about this in a newspaper more than half a month ago.
The Red the Aloof and Golden Lion Shiki had engaged in battle in the New World, with Golden Lion winning through overwhelming force of numbers.
Although many believed that if it were a one-on-one fight, Golden Lion might not have won against Redfield, Alucard dismissed such talk.
A win is a win, a loss is a loss.
What does it matter how many people were involved? It’s only your own fault.
However, from these pirates’ words, Alucard learned something else: this Ernst Pirates crew had retreated from the New World temporarily because of Redfield and Golden Lion’s battle.
They were likely severely damaged from being caught in the fight, which was why they retreated.
"Heh, another group of defeated soldiers," Alucard chuckled, swirling the whisky in his glass, the ice sphere inside sparkling under the lamplight. He had dealt with many such groups in the North Blue before; he didn’t expect to find more in the New World.
"Cus-customer... um, you’ve already had a taste of all the drinks in our shop. Could you perhaps pay first...?" the mermaid bartender said with difficulty.
Alucard glanced up at her. He hadn’t realized he’d already finished all the alcohol.
But weren’t there too few types of drinks?
Still, it made sense.
Fish-Man Island had very little trade with humans; almost everything was self-produced, and they didn’t engage in imports. Naturally, there weren’t many different kinds of things.
But as he thought about paying, Alucard’s face froze. He seemed to have no money. During his time enjoying himself on Sabaody Archipelago, all his expenses were paid with the card he’d snatched from Branky, which he’d eventually given to the coating mechanic who coated his ship.
Now, Alucard himself had no Berries at all.
"A total of 579,200 Berries. You can just pay 570,000," the mermaid bartender said softly.
Was he going to skip out on the bill? It wasn’t uncommon for pirates to dine and drink without paying, but those were the actions of the weak, what the lowest-tier pirates did.
Alucard had killed many, but he wouldn’t stoop to such actions.
’Wait a minute, aren’t I a pirate now?’
Although he had never admitted it, in the eyes of the whole world, he was now a pirate. In that case, he could use a pirate’s method of payment.
"Customer? Customer?" The mermaid was genuinely worried that Alucard was going to skip out and urged him again. If it were just a small amount, she would turn a blind eye, but this was a huge sum. If she let it slide, she would lose a lot of money.
"Don’t worry, it’s rare to see such a nice face," Alucard stood up, provocatively lifted the mermaid’s chin, and turned to walk towards the Ernst Pirates.
"A human?" The Ernst Pirates turned their attention to Alucard as he approached. It was quite rare to see other pirates or humans on Fish-Man Island.
The pirate in charge, Captain Ernst, frowned and asked, "Do you need something?"
Alucard suddenly swung his hand, and before Ernst could react, he was knocked to the ground, slamming into the wall.
With a loud crash, the entire mermaid tavern erupted into chaos.
"You bastard! How dare you strike our captain!"
Five or six other grunts stood up in astonishment. One of them quickly pulled out a rifle from his coat, ready to shoot Alucard, but before he could fully raise the gun, he felt something cold press against his chest.
Alucard attacked with Casull, piercing his heart. With his other hand, he pulled out his black gun, Jackal, and shot Ernst, who was still on the ground.
Ernst, a pirate with a bounty of over 50,000,000 Berries, was shot in the head. It was a true headshot; his head was completely gone.
This was the power of the black gun, Jackal.
The merfolk and fish-men, who had never witnessed such bloodshed, immediately shrieked. Many began to run outside, and the street instantly became a chaotic mess.
"Before the Great Pirate Era, they couldn’t even handle this much blood?" Alucard chuckled softly as he walked over to Ernst’s headless corpse. After rummaging through his pockets, he pulled out several palm-sized gold nuggets.
This is a pirate’s way of paying.
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