Boom!
A bullet from the black pistol, Jackal, exploded near Shanks's left side, tearing a large piece of flesh from his severed shoulder. They had been fighting for only half an hour, and Shanks was already starting to fall behind.
Around them, the Immortal Pirates and the Red-Hair Pirates were locked in battle. Even though the opposing forces had an overwhelming advantage in numbers, the eighty-odd remaining Red- Hair Pirates displayed the tenacious vitality of cockroaches.
Although Shanks had said that those who didn't want to fight could surrender and he wouldn't blame them, the remaining members of the Red-Hair Pirates all looked like they would rather die than yield.
Even Ivalis, the blond swordsman who had exchanged sabers with Shanks, was expected by the Red-Hair Pirates to, at most, exert minimal effort before deliberately conceding and defecting to Alucard. Instead, to their surprise, Ivalis was one of the most desperate fighters. He was fiercely engaged with former Marine Admiral Zephyr, sustaining multiple injuries yet refusing to retreat a single step.
Shanks endured the intense pain radiating from his left shoulder and clicked his tongue. "Hey, hey, the power of that bullet is way too exaggerated, isn't it?"
The moment he blocked it with his sword, the bullet had instantly burst open like a water-filled balloon. That alone had shredded his flesh. He couldn't imagine the consequences if that thing exploded inside a person.
"If you were a Devil Fruit user, you'd be dead already."
Alucard's fringe concealed half of his face. The Sea Prism Stone blasting bullets, modified and enhanced by Vegapunk, instantly detonated upon contact with the target, spraying fine Seastone powder into everything nearby. A Devil Fruit user would be certain to die.
They were true Devil Fruit user destroyers.
"That's why I envy you freaks with your bizarre bodies."
Shanks shook his left shoulder, which lacked a hand. He swung the saber that originally belonged to Ivalis and forcefully lunged forward. Zephyr, who was fighting Ivalis behind him, was startled by the display. Despite suffering such an injury, Shanks was still exhibiting power superior to an Admiral!
'It's a pity you recklessly attacked Alucard's territory. Otherwise, your future threat level wouldn't be inferior to Roger's,' Zephyr thought to himself, simultaneously blocking a sword strike from Ivalis.
"You can't be distracted in battle, doesn't the Marine Chief Instructor know that?" Ivalis leaned in close to Zephyr.
Zephyr blocked Ivalis's sword with a wrist coated in Armament Haki and sneered, "That was careless of this old man. Now, let me teach you the essence of fighting non-Devil Fruit users!"
Alucard condensed a sword of Blacklight Virus and engaged Shanks in combat. Neither man was a pure swordsman, yet the reverberations created by the clashing of their two blades still caused the sea to roar and the sky to split.
CLANG!!!
They collided, then separated, retreating over ten meters due to the violent shockwaves.
"Phew. Speaking of which, we seem to be the same age, but you're already a Yonko. I'm jealous," Shanks joked lightly. He coated his long sword in black Armament Haki and attacked again.
"It's simple. Kill me, and the title is yours."
Alucard raised his sword to block. With Haki imbued, the power of Shanks's blade was elevated by more than a notch. Countless silver sword slashes sped out, forcing Alucard back dozens of meters.
Alucard suddenly changed his technique, exposing a momentary weakness. Shanks seized the opportunity, fiercely thrusting his sword into Alucard's chest. However, Alucard remained completely unharmed, and Jackal and Casull appeared in his hands.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The white pistol, Casull, fired three shots in quick succession, all of which Shanks split in two. But the next second, Alucard single-handedly loaded the black pistol, Jackal, and fired a single shot toward Shanks.
Shanks's eyes narrowed. Instead of trying to block as he had before, he quickly dodged and retreated, narrowly avoiding the bullet. The cliff face behind him was blasted through.
"You figured it out after seeing it once?" Alucard blew smoke from the muzzle of Jackal.
"The white gun is suitable for continuous firing, while the black gun cannot fire continuously, only single shots of the more powerful Seastone bullets. They explode upon contact, with a massive radius of effect. Am I wrong?" Shanks brandished his sword.
Alucard smiled. "Acute observation skills."
"The Captain said it's basic training for a pirate," Shanks said, performing a sword flourish and raising his head. If one ignored the wounds covering his body, he still looked incredibly imposing.
"If I could, I really wish we could fight ten years from now," Alucard said.
Upon hearing this, Shanks reacted like Rayleigh when he was caught by Alucard during Tiger's slave liberation mission, bonelessly spreading his hands. "Then how about you just let me go?"
"You are not Rayleigh. You have no value in being let go. But right now, you are more valuable than he is."
Alucard spoke a sentence that sounded contradictory, but in Shanks's ears, the meaning was perfectly clear and not contradictory at all.
Suddenly, the pool of blood beneath Alucard's feet began to rise, transforming into a "Blood Wall." Several enormous black hounds, the Baskervilles, emerged from it.
"Unleashing the dogs, are we?"
Shanks tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword. Deep red lightning began to erupt from the silver-white blade, and a faint sound of thunder resonated in the sky.
"Shanks is getting serious... No, perhaps this is the only time he can afford to use a move like this," Beckman's eyes flickered toward the scarlet lightning occasionally flashing through the clouds overhead.
"Insolent fool!"
Suddenly, a furious roar came from across from Beckman. It was his opponent, the Empress, Boa Hancock.
Hancock's blood-red eyes, identical to Alucard's, narrowed. A dark red, flame-like specter rose from her body. She said to Beckman, "How dare you avert your eyes while facing this Empress? Today, I shall surely turn you into stone!"
A cold sweat dripped down the side of Beckman's face. "Didn't you say at the start of the battle that anyone who looks at you must apologize with death? And now you're demanding that people not avert their eyes? Aren't your demands a bit excessive?"
Swoosh!
Hancock suddenly vanished from her spot. Beckman was startled. Relying on his Observation Haki, he raised his weapon, the long sniper rifle, and blocked upward, deflecting Hancock's kick in the nick of time.
"So fast!" That was the first thought that flashed through Beckman's mind.
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