More than four thousand kilometers separated Arderay from New Amazon Lily. Even Viola's Glare-Glare Fruit couldn't see that far, so Boa Hancock couldn't command her to locate Laliya and her crew.
As Alucard flew towards Laliya's location, he passed over the Boa Sisters' ship but had no time to speak to them. He accelerated, rushing to the place where Laliya and her team were.
"Ah… ah..."
Hancock clutched her forehead with the back of her hand, her voice filled with unbearable grief. "To think I failed Master's instructions! I… I must atone for my failure with my life!"
"Snake Princess-sama! Calm yourself!" Her followers quickly moved to stop her.
....
"How far away are the support battleships from the government?" On the stolen Kuja ship, Laliya asked her subordinates.
They had been speeding away from New Amazon Lily for several hours. Even if the Kuja who stayed behind discovered their escape and guessed their route, it would be impossible for them to catch up now.
But even here, they were still in the territory of one of the Yonko. Just sailing in this sea gave them the chilling sensation of countless eyes watching their backs.
"They're still some distance away," Comisia said, twisting a strand of her red hair. "We estimate it will take about three more hours until we can rendezvous."
"We have to endure this pressure for three more hours?"
Laliya turned to look at the terrified Shirahoshi, who was huddled inside a Seastone cage. She still couldn't believe this gentle mermaid, who usually clung to Hancock, was one of the Three Ancient Weapons.
Suddenly, Comisia's eyes widened. She cautiously approached the Shirahoshi in the cage. "What are you looking at?" Laliya asked with a puzzled look.
"Shirahoshi's back… there seems to be something there…" Comisia turned her body, putting her back against the corner to look at Shirahoshi's back.
Hearing this, the other female agents all gathered around. Shirahoshi cowered even deeper into the corner, but Comisia and her team still discovered it.
Beneath the white veil, a glowing red mark was shining on her back.
Having been a spy in the Kuja Tribe for so long, Comisia instantly recognized it as Alucard's mark.
"This, what in the world is this…" A foreboding feeling swelled in Comisia's heart.
"It's a vampire's mark. Or rather, my mark." Suddenly, a swarm of bats descended from the sky and landed on top of the cage. At the same time, the mark on Shirahoshi's back faded.
"Al… Alucard!" The pupils behind Comisia's glasses shrank as she shrieked his name in terror. "Alucard-sama…?" Shirahoshi wiggled her soft body, inching slightly out of the corner.
"Why is he here? Didn't the report say he was fighting Zephyr and Garp?" "We only hijacked Shirahoshi a few hours ago, and he's already here?" The female agents gritted their teeth, unable to believe it.
They had believed this would be the most important and flawless mission of their careers, but their hopes were shattered the very next moment.
Alucard's gaze turned to the cage's latch. He used his White Gun Casull to smash it. At a signal from Alucard's eyes, Shirahoshi quickly escaped the cage and jumped into the sea.
"..."
Shirahoshi clasped her hands over her little chest. She wasn't crying, but she was absolutely terrified.
"Being an infiltrator and a traitor are two different things, but I've experienced both," Alucard said, calmly stepping down from the cage. A faint smile graced his lips as he looked at the terrified Laliya and her crew. "So what kind of end does a traitor meet?"
A few minutes later, Alucard stood on the bow of the blood-splattered warship. Using Hidden Shadow, he took control of the entire vessel, just as he had done when he sailed the Grand Line on his old iron ship. He set a course for Mariejois.
These people are from the Government. So, if they were reporting their mission, they were definitely headed in the direction of Mariejois. There's no mistake.
"Shirahoshi, keep up," Alucard said flatly from the bow. "Yes~"
Shirahoshi responded meekly, swimming alongside the ship.
Possessing the fastest swimming speed of all fish-men species, plus her innate talent, her swimming speed at just five years old surpassed that of all warships in the world.
Two hours later.
On two warships bearing the World Government symbol, a black-suited agent, a standard for Government employees, used his binoculars. When he saw the approaching pirate ship marked with the symbols of both the Kuja and the Alucard Pirates, he shrieked, "Golden Python's ship is coming! Quickly! Prepare to meet them!"
The captain's CP boss, Spandam, rose excitedly. "Quick! A great accomplishment! Hahaha!"
He had also heard that it was a mission involving one of the Three Ancient Weapons. If he completed it, his status in the Government would surely skyrocket.
But as the ship drew closer, the black-suited agents' eyes widened. The person sitting on the bow wasn't "Golden Python," the one tasked with retrieving the Sea Princess, but the master of this sea—the Yonko, Alucard!
And impaled on the ship's mast, on ten-meter-long, blood-red, nearly black blood spikes, were numerous female corpses. A closer look revealed they were the female agents the Government had sent to infiltrate the Kuja Tribe to abduct the Sea Princess.
A miserable death!
When Spandam and the other Government agents saw this scene, these words simultaneously arose in their minds.
Even with their capacity for ruthless killing, they couldn't help but feel a shiver of fear and dread. "Retreat! Retreat!"
Spandam spun around to give the order, and due to his extreme panic, he stumbled and fell to the deck. He didn't even have time to get up, managing only the word "retreat."
Of course, when you encounter a Yonko, with their limited abilities, staying here would be a death wish.
"World Government… I'll make sure you understand what you are not worthy to touch…" Alucard bared his fangs, muttering in a low voice as he sat on the bow.
Although Hancock and her crew had turned back towards New Amazon Lily after seeing Alucard, they didn't know which direction Laliya and her team were heading. They were forced to send their subordinates to search in every direction.
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