Back in the laboratory on Arderay, Dr. Vegapunk was still researching further evolutionary developments for the sky fortress. He had just received word from Amazon Lily that Boa Hancock had reported the World Government's emergency Reverie meeting at Mariejois to Alucard.
Initially, Dr. Vegapunk didn't think much of it. Then, a sudden realization struck him—now that Alucard knew about this, would he sit idly by? Or would he go and disrupt the whole affair?
When it came to this Captain's way of doing things, even Dr. Vegapunk was completely in the dark. In fact, Alucard himself probably didn't know his own "style," as he acted entirely on whim. He did whatever popped into his head at that exact moment, making him fundamentally unpredictable.
However, a man like Dr. Vegapunk was habituated to considering every possibility and formulating a countermeasure for each one.
If Alucard has entered Mariejois along with those allied nations, what will happen?
Dr. Vegapunk pondered this for a long while. Eventually, he took out a Den Den Mushi and began dialing. As he did, he muttered to himself, "Don't mess up the plan, Captain. To ensure everything stays on track, I'd better prepare some safeguards..."
…
Inside the Mariejois conference hall, the sound of a gunshot caused many of the world leaders and representatives to shut their eyes, fearing a bloody scene.
Loli A held up the black handgun, Jackal, wisps of white smoke curling from its muzzle. Opposite her, the space was empty. The bullet had struck the chandelier on the ceiling, sending it crashing down. The man named Flurette had moved behind Loli A, though a corner of his ear had been shot off, blood trickling down.
Flurette clutched his bleeding left ear. "That was close... What a loathsome aura. Seastone?"
After whispering to himself, Flurette commanded the surrounding Government soldiers, "Evacuate all the allied representatives!"
The two bloody scenes they had just witnessed made the royals eager to leave. Upon hearing Flurette's order, they scrambled out as fast as their legs could carry them.
Once the representatives had cleared the room, Flurette rose and loosed his hand. His body possessed impressive recovery speed; the bleeding had mostly stopped. "Too arrogant. If you had taken one of them hostage just now, you might have left this place safely."
"If I had planned on doing that, I would have just taken one of the Gorosei earlier," Loli A replied, hands in her pockets with a smirk.
"Arrogant brat!"
Flurette snorted coldly. He suddenly drew a rapier from his waist, but it was nothing like the blades of Ivalis. His blade was much thinner, less like a sword and more like a "needle."
"Oh? My first time fighting a weapon like that," Loli A said with genuine interest.
"Commander Glauca Flurette of the Government's Karathoka Banuyar Knight Order." Flurette tapped the tip of his sword on the floor and said icily, "State your name, brat of the Immortal Pirates."
Loli A laughed. "Vice Captain of the Immortal Pirates, Alucard."
Vice Captain!?
Flurette's face twisted upon hearing the first half, but by the second half, he nearly choked.
The first part was hard to believe but not impossible. But the second part? He'd be a fool to believe it. A Vice Captain identifying themselves by the Captain's name?
Flurette assumed the first half was true and the second was a lie, unaware that the reality was the exact opposite. The first half was the lie; the second half was the truth.
Of course, anyone who knew Alucard even slightly could guess the reason he said it: his wicked sense of humor had struck again.
"Forget it. I don't know how you survived earlier, but now that the representatives have left, you are a dead man."
Flurette shook his head. The needle-thin sword that had been resting on the floor suddenly whipped up. As it moved, the floor beneath Loli A's feet began to stretch out like pulled noodles. It then became soft like clay, twisting and morphing into snake-like shapes that lunged at the girl in the center.
Flurette himself had already retreated to a safe distance, his voice echoing through the distorted flooring. "I am a Gathering-Dispersal Man who ate the Gather-Gather Fruit. I have the ability to gather or disperse any non-living matter other than the sea. On this land, I am God!"
"Oho? Similar to Shiki," Loli A remarked. She remembered Golden Lion Shiki, currently in Impel Down, whose Float-Float Fruit allowed him to control non-living objects he touched. However, she didn't know if that man could control seawater.
The twisted architectural debris rushed in from all sides like starving tigers surrounding their prey.
BOOM!!!
A massive explosion shook the room. Flurette's lips curled into a smirk, confident there were no blind spots. He had sealed all exits, and the opponent hadn't escaped. Surely they were crushed?
However, the moment the thought surfaced, a head and a hand emerged from the shadow at his feet, the hand clutching a gun.
Slash!
Flurette's sword swept horizontally, severing the shadow-form Loli A's arm in two.
"Why do you think I was appointed Commander of the Karathoka Banuyar Knight Order to guard the Holy Land?" Flurette said proudly. "It's because I've mastered both types of Haki to the limit, not just my Devil Fruit. You can't—urgh!!"
Mid-sentence, the pride on Flurette's face froze. He saw the girl's severed arm dissolve into a swarm of bats, which flew back and reattached to her hand.
"Hehehe..."
Loli A's body rose gradually from the shadow, showing Flurette her fully restored hand. "Indeed. I'll admit you're a power-user on par with a Marine Admiral."
Loli A extended both arms, clenching her fists except for her thumbs, index, and middle fingers, forming her hands into a vertical rectangular frame.
"In that case, let me show you how a vampire fights."