The Roger Pirates left Gaban, a primary combatant, and twenty other crew members to guard their ship.
Due to the immense fame of the Roger Pirates, if discovered by the Marines, they would undoubtedly launch an all-out assault, hence the significant fighting force left behind.
Gaban stood on the shore, glancing back at the Oro Jackson, which was now enveloped in bubbles. He declared, "Everything's ready. We just need Roger and Rayleigh to get back."
Suddenly, a lookout from the Roger Pirates' crew rushed back, reporting to Gaban: "Bad news, Gaban-san! A large contingent of Marines is heading our way, estimated to be over 500!"
"What?!"
Gaban's expression hardened. Dispatching so many Marines at once undoubtedly meant they had prior intelligence that the Roger Pirates were here; their whereabouts had been exposed.
But Gaban himself possessed a considerable degree of Haki. From the moment he landed on the island to guard the ship, he hadn't detected any Marines. If that was the case, how did the Marines know they were here?
Gaban shook his head. 'Never mind, it's useless to think about that now. First, let's deal with the enemy before us.'
"Lads! Get ready to fight! We must defend this ship until Roger and the others return!" Gaban roared, causing Shanks and the others, who had been dozing on the deck, to jolt awake and draw their weapons.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a beam of light shot from a distance, aimed directly at the Oro Jackson.
The pupils beneath Gaban's sunglasses narrowed. He intercepted the flash with a mid-air kick, and instantly, a golden explosion erupted in the air above the Grove 55 dock, like a small sun.
A few seconds later, Gaban and the flash of light landed simultaneously. Gaban flicked his foot and chuckled, "Still love to sneak attack, don't you, Borsalino brat?"
"Still as terrifying as ever... the Roger Pirates..." Borsalino grinned. "But unfortunately, I'm afraid you'll have to give up on sailing out."
Through their respective Den Den Mushi communications, Marine Headquarters and both Roger and Rayleigh's groups received news of the engagement. They quickly began rushing back.
Although the Marines had received the news earlier, it would naturally take them longer to arrive compared to Roger and Rayleigh. During this time, it would depend on Borsalino and the Sabaody Archipelago Marines to see if they could hold off the Roger Pirates.
...
Sabaody Archipelago Grove 27.
When Alucard observed, through his Thermal Vision, that the Marines who were initially approaching his location had gradually retreated, he knew his plan had succeeded.
"Sir, the coating is complete." A craftsman walked over and informed Alucard.
Alucard turned to look; his ship was indeed fully coated. He casually handed the golden card he had taken from the wealthy individual named "Branky" to the craftsman, then turned and boarded his ship.
'Good. The Marines and the Roger Pirates are busy fighting. They definitely won't have time to bother with me now. I can finally head to the New World.'
His ship plunged into the ocean depths, propelled by the strong currents. Although he felt quite confident in the shipyard Rayleigh and Roger had chosen, a novel sensation still arose as he watched his ship dart through the depths at a tremendous speed.
Ten thousand meters beneath the sea, the Red Line's underwater cave. Alucard's pupils narrowed. He saw it! And the island wrapped in a giant bubble – that must be it, Fish-Man Island.
"Go in."
Alucard used Hidden Shadow control, accelerating the ship abruptly. The moment it broke through the first layer of the bubble shield, a massive amount of seawater surged in, completely engulfing Alucard and his ship. The colossal steel vessel began to plummet rapidly.
Looking at the bubble shield not far away, Alucard thought to himself, 'Double-layered bubble protection? I hadn't expected that.'
Fish-Man Island utilized a double-layered bubble shield, with thousands of meters of high-pressure seawater between the outer and inner layers. If a ship forcefully broke through the first layer, it would be enveloped by high-pressure water, causing the entire vessel to sink to the bottom of the deep sea.
Only ships that entered Fish-Man Island through the legitimate entrance could avoid this situation. Forcing entry like Alucard was an illegal entry.
"Seriously, not enough information."
The ship began to fall rapidly. Under the immense pressure of the seawater, the shadow beneath Alucard's feet quickly expanded, dyeing his entire ship black, with countless eyes opening on its surface.
BOOM!
Suddenly, the colossal steel vessel seemed to be propelled by an invisible giant hand, rushing straight towards the second protective layer.
CRASH!
With a tremendous roar, Alucard's ship forcefully broke through the second protective layer, officially entering Fish-Man Island.
"Hmm?" After rushing into Fish-Man Island, Alucard suddenly found that below him was not the sea, but land. It seemed this was not a good place to land.
"Seriously, a bad start."
Alucard forcefully controlled the ship to change its position, trying to avoid landing in a densely populated area.
At this moment, the merfolk and fish-men of Waterwheel Town on Fish-Man Island were scared senseless.
A giant black ship flying through the sky!
Under Alucard's control, the ship forcefully rushed towards the plaza, slamming heavily onto the ground of Gyoncorde Plaza. Fortunately, both merfolk and fish-men reacted quickly; by the time the ship crashed, everyone had fled.
THUD!
The iron ship crashed heavily into the center of the plaza, making everyone feel a violent tremor beneath their feet.
"Ah..."
"Wh-what happened..."
"A ship? A ship falling from the sky?"
"Is it an illegal entry?"
Nearby fish-man residents came out to watch the commotion. They saw a figure gradually emerge from the iron ship: a blood-red coat, long black hair, and particularly striking feet.
It's a human! A pirate?!
It was well known that Fish-Man Island was a necessary route for pirates entering the New World. Nine out of ten humans who came to Fish-Man Island were pirates, and perhaps three out of ten thousand were pirate hunters.
However, an illegally entered pirate had not appeared in several years.
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