"Let him go!"
Before the person even appeared, a daunting surge of Haki exploded with the voice. Alucard's mouth curved into a smile, and he unleashed an even more terrifying surge, pushing the opposing pressure back.
"What is this... These guys are on a completely different level than the mountain bandits we fought."
Ace and Sabo, who had been about to try and rescue Luffy, couldn't help but take two steps back, their eyes filled with fear.
"We only passed through a small village called Shimotsuki Village before this... Could we have exposed our presence there?" Matthew muttered to himself, clearly suspecting where they were tracked.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, Wolf, who had been lurking underwater, opened his mouth, which was even larger than the Revolutionary Army's ship, surging up from directly beneath the Dragon Ship, looking ready to swallow the entire vessel in one gulp.
"Hee-haw!! Not so fast!"
A strange laugh rang out. A figure suddenly shot out from the Dragon Ship, viciously digging his fingernails into both sides of his neck. His already huge face immediately became even more exaggerated. He winked fiercely at Wolf below, unleashing a powerful shockwave that slammed the giant creature back into the sea. "Hell Wink!!"
"He managed to hit that super massive brute back into the ocean! Who is that guy with the enormous face?" Ace exclaimed in awe, gripping the ship's railing with both hands.
Alucard put Luffy down and flatly ordered, "Wipe out the Revolutionary Army."
Matthew and the other members of the Immortal Pirates were already itching for a fight. Hearing Alucard's command, they leaped toward the Dragon Ship without a word.
The man in the black cloak on the bow of the ship, which covered almost his entire face, narrowed his eyes. Suddenly, a pale green storm erupted, sweeping away all the pirates charging toward his ship, flinging them back in mid-air.
Matthew raised his sword to block. After spinning several times in the air, he landed steadily on the ground, his expression solemn. "A Devil Fruit user?"
"Release those three children."
Dragon still seemed unwilling to speak more than a few words. From Alucard's angle, one could barely make out his scowling face beneath the black cloak.
"So you do care about your own son? It turns out the leader of the Revolutionary Army isn't completely heartless, after all." Alucard's words sounded like a compliment, but the tone made it sound more like mockery.
Dragon tilted his head toward a subordinate next to him, who immediately wheeled a giant iron cage out from inside the Dragon Ship. Five or six people could be vaguely seen locked inside.
"Urdaha!"
Matthew instantly recognized the people in the cage: it was Urdaha, the executive whom Alucard had sent to Firs Island, who had been captured by the Revolutionary Army, along with his five subordinates.
"Let's exchange hostages," Dragon said in a stiff tone.
Alucard found it amusing to watch Dragon say those words with that expression. He signaled to Matthew and the others below, then drew his white pistol, Casull, from under his long red coat, meaningfully pointing it toward Luffy at his feet.
"You bastard!"
Dragon's face turned livid with anger. He was now absolutely certain that the scumbag Alucard knew about Luffy's connection to him, which was why he had traveled all the way from the New World to the East Blue. Dragon had used his subordinates to threaten Alucard, and Alucard was now using his son to threaten him.
Seeing his son being targeted by a gun, Dragon no longer dared to use his Devil Fruit ability this time. He could only watch helplessly as the Immortal Pirates rushed aboard the Dragon Ship and began fighting his subordinates, the Revolutionaries.
Because Alucard's gesture of pointing the gun at Luffy was not very obvious—just two quick movements—Ace, Luffy, and Sabo didn't grasp the deep meaning behind it. They simply found it strange.
Why aren't the people on that Dragon Ship putting up a fight anymore?
"My apologies, everyone. Please buy me some time. I will find a way to save them," Dragon said. He still didn't want to expose his relationship with Luffy, not even to his own subordinates.
"I understand. Just worry about your own business, Dragon."
Ivankov re-injected the Growth Hormone into his face, making it immensely huge again, and fiercely winked at the Immortal Pirates boarding the ship. "Death Wink!"
Dragon moved quickly, leaping through the air toward Alucard. He held his index and middle fingers together and his ring and pinky fingers together, launching his signature move at Alucard, a technique that matched his name: "Dragon's Claw!"
Alucard smiled as he watched Dragon attack him. Dragon's Claw dug fiercely into Alucard's heart. Dragon stated coldly, "My Dragon's Claw can easily crush anything in the world. That includes incompetent governments and rotten pirates like you."
P-pow!
In an instant, Alucard's body burst open like a shattered tomato, blood spurting out uncontrollably.
"A-Ah!! He's been killed and shredded into meat paste!!" Luffy screamed, his eyes nearly popping out of his sockets at the bloody sight.
"...Go with me!"
Dragon quickly scooped up Luffy, Ace, and Sabo into his arms, preparing to jump back to his ship.
Bang!
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. The bullet passed through the shoulder of Dragon, who was holding the three boys, causing a sharp feeling of weakness. His steps faltered, and the three brothers tumbled from his grasp.
Dragon could barely stand. He stiffly turned his head back and looked at Alucard, trembling as he whispered, "Se... Seastone?"
"Phew~"
Alucard blew the wisps of smoke from the muzzle of his black pistol, Jackal. "I heard you're the greatest headache for the World Government. I didn't expect you to fall for that so easily. Was it because you were too worried about your son?"
"Eh!!! Didn't you just die?!"
Luffy stared, dumbfounded, completely missing the word "son." He was naturally dense.
But Ace and Sabo were not foolish. They picked up on the strangeness in Alucard's words. Both their fathers had confirmed identities—Outlook III and the Pirate King Gol D. Roger. They only knew Luffy had a grandfather, but his father's identity was unknown.
If that was the case, this man with the tattoo on his face might be...