Upon hearing that Squard and his crew weren't Whitebeard's direct subordinates, Alucard immediately lost interest.
The only reason he'd stayed on this island was to await the arrival of the Whitebeard Pirates; Squard held no interest for him whatsoever.
Still, the name did sound familiar.
'Had he appeared in the original story?' Alucard pondered for a moment but couldn't recall who it was, assuming he was probably just a minor background character. So, he didn't give it much more thought.
Hearing Alucard's words, Squard's face twisted in anger, but he still said, "You're Alucard, right? The one who killed my brother, Crassien? Come out now and let's fight to the death!" He paused slightly, then turned to Roger and asked, "This matter has nothing to do with the Roger Pirates. Are you going to interfere?"
"Um, young man, I think there might be a misunderstanding between you two." Although Rayleigh felt a slight animosity towards Alucard, he still thought it necessary to explain. He stood up and said, "Actually, this whole incident started because of your friend, Crassien."
Rayleigh quickly summarized the cause of the dispute between Alucard and Crassien, but explained it clearly. "So, in the end, this whole thing happened because Crassien was causing trouble in this town," Rayleigh concluded.
Squard and the members of the Maelstrom Spider Pirates' expressions shifted slightly. They had a long-standing relationship with the Gold Shark Pirates, and naturally knew Crassien's usual penchant for causing trouble. It wasn't surprising that such an incident occurred.
Moreover, the explanation came from the renowned "Dark King" Rayleigh, which lent it even more credibility.
However, such was the way of pirates. If they didn't harm others, would they even be called pirates? Roger and Luffy were the true anomalies.
In Squard's eyes, Crassien's actions were no big deal at all; that's just how pirates were. The fact was that Alucard killed Crassien.
"Silvers Rayleigh," Alucard spoke Rayleigh's full name. He slowly rose from his chair and walked to the center of the bar. "Your explanation is meaningless. Pirates are creatures that bring disaster wherever they go. It's only natural that they died seeking trouble from me."
As soon as Alucard said this, Roger immediately interjected, "No, pirates are creatures who live freely! You mean 'lawless,' not 'free.' Don't misuse words."
Free? Don't make me laugh.
Roger's words were just sugarcoating what pirates truly were. Pirates were still villains who robbed civilians and ignored the law.
"Lawless" was a far more accurate description than "free." Alucard admitted he was that kind of person, so he held a stance of opposition, even contempt, towards Roger's attempts to glorify pirates. 'Isn't it just about disregarding laws and being lawless? Why does it need to be spoken of so nobly, making pirates seem like saints, betraying the very meaning of the word 'thief'?'
"I am that kind of creature. Lawless, living purely for pleasure." Alucard drew his twin guns, smiling at Squard and his men. "Alright, those who want my head, come quickly!"
Aria and the other women, seeing the impending battle, quickly ran back to the backstage.
Seeing that Alucard wasn't going to be swayed by the Roger Pirates, Rayleigh didn't waste any more words and simply sat down, looking like he was settling in to enjoy the show.
Squard glanced at the Roger Pirates, who showed no intention of leaving the bar, and asked, "Roger Pirates, you won't interfere, right?"
"Squard-san, you should worry more about your own men," Shanks said, sitting backward on his chair, his arms wrapped around the backrest, offering a kind reminder.
BANG!
No sooner had Shanks finished speaking than a gunshot rang out. Squard felt a bullet graze past his face. Suddenly, a crewmate behind him had his head blown off.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bullets came one after another. Squard quickly reacted, furiously swinging his large katana, trying with all his might to block the bullets. To his surprise, he found the sheer force of these bullets to be utterly unimaginable. Even cannonballs weren't that hard to deflect!
"HRAH!" Squard roared, deflecting two bullets fired from Casull with his blade. The impact of the blade against the wooden floor of the bar caused a loud bang, leaving a huge hole in the planks.
Squard felt his arm go numb. What kind of bullets were those?!
"Oh, he actually blocked two shots. This young man isn't bad," Rayleigh praised Squard. Having had a brief skirmish with Alucard before, Rayleigh understood how exaggerated the power and penetration of those bullets were. It was truly difficult for Squard to block them.
Just as Squard looked up, he suddenly saw a shoe sole rapidly growing larger in his vision, finally stamping squarely on his face.
Amidst intense pain, Squard crashed through a large hole in the bar wall, flying dozens of meters and smashing through several houses.
After kicking Squard, Alucard vanished into a red blur, reappearing moments later among the Maelstrom Spider Pirates. His two handguns continuously swept through the crowd.
Although the Maelstrom Spider Pirates had some capable fighters, most of them were headshotted before they could even react to Alucard's gunfire.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Brain matter and blood splattered together, mercilessly silencing lives! Last time, the bar was stained red; this time, it was the bar's entrance.
Just as Alucard took down a dozen people, something unexpected happened.
Usually, when bullets enter a person's brain, they remain lodged there because the human skull is very hard and thick, preventing penetration. However, the penetrating power of Alucard's bullets was so terrifying that ordinary guns couldn't even compare.
After piercing through the heads of the Maelstrom Spider Pirates members, the bullets continued along their original trajectory, breaking through the bar wall and flying towards the Roger Pirates.
Some of them were heading towards Buggy and his fellow apprentices.
The speed was simply too fast, and because of the intervening wall, apprentice pirates like Buggy, whose strength wasn't yet sufficient, couldn't react in time. But this didn't escape Roger, who possessed world-class Haki.
——————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanFiction [remove the parentheses ( )]
There are over 100 advance chapters available for you!