Patrick Redfield—better known as the Red the Aloof and later Red Count—was not a character from the manga or the movies. He wasn't even an anime-original character.
He came from a handheld game called Unlimited World: Red.
Unfortunately, before Ian transmigrated into this world, he had never played that game. So his understanding of Redfield's background was vague at best.
He honestly had no idea where the Vampire-type Devil Fruit was located.
However, what he did know was that the fruit was incredibly powerful.
Setting aside the lesser abilities, the most terrifying aspect of the Vampire form was its ability to steal another person's lifespan.
And this wasn't like Big Mom's ability, which claimed to take lifespan but was actually extracting fragments of the soul.
No—this was the real deal.
It could literally take away another person's youth at will, granting the user true immortality.
Yes, this Devil Fruit had the power to make someone truly eternal.
Now that was interesting.
According to what he'd heard, Redfield eventually gave up on the Devil Fruit's power in the game and let go of his obsession with regaining his youth.
So Ian figured he might as well take the fruit for himself.
Even if he couldn't use it personally, he could always give it to someone else.
"Go find it," Ian said seriously to Stussy. "I shouldn't have to spell it out, right? CP0 must've already started searching for it too."
"Of course," Stussy nodded gently. "The Cross Guild hasn't settled down on any one island. They're still wandering the seas. In order to accurately track them, both CP0 and the Navy have already launched their search based on that lead."
"Excellent."
Ian clapped lightly. "Then I shouldn't have to wait too long."
In the game, it took Redfield two full years to track down the Vampire Fruit. But that was because he was acting alone—well, alone except for a tanuki that had eaten the Mythical Zoan-type Bake-danuki Fruit.
Something that took them two years to investigate would probably take the World Government's intelligence network less than two weeks when fully mobilized.
Come to think of it, that tanuki's Bake-danuki Fruit was terrifyingly powerful.
It could materialize anything he drew—whether it was an object or a living creature.
For example, it was said that in the game, the Red Count once used the tanuki's power to perfectly recreate the entire Summit War.
He made the Straw Hats return to Marineford and even resurrected the three Admirals to block their path.
No one knows where that guy is right now, though. After all, it's still too early for him to meet Redfield according to the original timeline.
Somewhere in the New World.
A massive fleet of Navy warships moved forward in silence.
"Still no sign of the Cross Guild?"
Black Arm Zephyr, the current Chief Instructor of the Marines, frowned.
He had originally come here to help train this year's class of cadets in the New World.
But then a direct order from the Fleet Admiral forced him and his beloved students to come here instead.
"They're deliberately hiding their tracks," Vice Admiral Gion—still as stunning as ever—shook her head. "They probably already know we're hunting them."
Years had passed, and the young Captain who had once been captured by Ian was now a Vice Admiral.
"We can't keep dragging this out forever, right?"
Standing beside Gion was a rather unattractive man wearing a brown cap and a matching brown bellyband. His eyes were nearly closed into slits as he sighed in frustration.
"It's going to interfere with my wedding to Gion-chan."
"Tokikake, do you want to test whether my blade is sharp or not?"
Vice Admiral Gion asked with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"Hahaha!"
The man called Tokikake scratched the back of his head with a sheepish grin.
He was none other than Chaton, the Marine Headquarters' monstrous Vice Admiral, known to be on par with Gion. This time, he had also been dispatched.
"The pursuit can't continue forever."
Zephyr adjusted the golden-rimmed glasses on his nose. "There are still countless civilians out there on the seas who need our protection."
The strength of Marine Headquarters was undeniably formidable.
This time, including Aokiji, the force assembled was enough to create overwhelming pressure against two of the Emperor crews—any except for the Beasts Pirates. And even then, this was only about half of the Navy's total power.
But the Marines were tasked with dealing with pirates from all across the world.
It was unrealistic to maintain such a large-scale deployment just to chase down a single pirate crew.
"Do we have to rely on that rumor, then?"
Zephyr muttered to himself. "The Cross Guild seems to be searching for the legend of the vampire."
"If we can uncover the source of that legend before they do, we might be able to set a trap and wait for them to take the bait."
"That's probably our best option now."
Gion nodded slightly. "Let's have CP and the intelligence division step up their investigation."
"Hahahaha! So, you're saying we get to take a little vacation in the meantime, right?"
On a nearby deck, the legendary hero of the Navy lay back on a beach chair, dressed in a floral shirt and swim trunks, looking every bit like a man on holiday.
"Garp! You bastard! Can you at least act serious at a time like this?!"
Zephyr's face twisted in fury at the sight.
This bastard was supposed to be the fleet's highest-ranking officer and the supreme commander of this operation. And yet, he always acted like none of it concerned him.
"Hahahaha! But you're here, Zephyr, aren't you?"
The Marine Hero replied shamelessly, perfectly at ease.
Zephyr's forehead bulged with veins.
That old bastard was definitely not some reckless fool without brains. On the contrary, he was rough on the outside but meticulous on the inside.
The only problem was—he often just didn't like to use his brain.
"Hmph!"
The Marine Chief Instructor let out a cold snort, flung the cape of justice draped over his shoulders, stepped into the air, and launched himself upward.
"I'll go give the brats a proper lesson. You handle the rest of this mess yourself, you idiot!"
"Hahahaha! Zephyr, you're so stingy!"
Despite being well into his senior years, the Hero Garp still made funny faces at Zephyr's retreating figure, laughing like a carefree child.
Vice Admiral Gion could only place her hands on her hips and smile bitterly.
Then, looking at her respected teacher flying off into the distance, she sighed with admiration.
"As expected of Teacher Zephyr… Even now, he still insists on teaching the recruits."
But surely Teacher Zephyr wouldn't actually send those recruits into battle, right?
The Cross Guild wasn't just any ordinary pirate crew.
Aside from their terrifying top brass, even their lower-level pirates were formidable—almost all of them had active bounties on their heads. That was far beyond what regular pirate crews could compare to.
Gion turned just in time to see Tokikake smiling mischievously, his eyes squinting playfully as he leaned toward her.
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