Half a minute later, Viola lowered her hands from her eyes and turned to Alucard. "He... did not lie."
Alucard tapped the armrest of his throne with one hand. "Take him away."
Hearing this, Ivalis immediately helped Beckman up. He didn't dare to pull the sword out himself, so he quickly escorted Beckman away to find someone to treat him.
"Are you going to agree to his terms?"
Scarlett turned to Alucard. After Viola confirmed the truth of his statement, Scarlett felt much more at ease, but she also felt that Lucky Roux, Yasopp, and the others were getting off too easy.
"When did I say I was going to kill Lucky Roux and the others?" Alucard replied, lowering his head to read his ancient book.
Both of the Riku sisters were astonished. Viola blinked and walked up the steps to stand on the other side of Alucard. "You're... you're not going to kill them?"
It was unbelievable. Alucard had annihilated most of the rebels two days ago. Was he actually going to let the tiger return to the mountains?
"Right now, the one I want to deal with is that fellow, Dragon."
Alucard clenched his fist and said coldly, "What else can those failures like Lucky Roux do? They can only crawl back under Whitebeard's banner to prolong their miserable existence. There'll be plenty of time to deal with them later. But I can't tolerate that clown Dragon any longer!"
A week passed. Boa Hancock and the others finally returned to Amazon Lily, having already received a call from Viola that the situation was resolved perfectly.
They returned with the 10 billion Berries in "protection fees." Even Elder Nyon was wide-eyed in astonishment at such an exaggerated sum.
The news of Alucard suppressing the rebellion quickly made headlines, but it didn't mention the Revolutionary Army's involvement. It merely stated that Lucky Roux and the Whitebeard Pirates' 17th Division had staged a sudden attack while Alucard was away, leading to a rebellion that was instantly crushed by Alucard.
Less than two days after that news broke, Marco the Phoenix, the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, led his division deep into Alucard's territory.
"Negotiation?"
Alucard listened to the report brought back by Keith Fallon. According to Fallon, the First Division was currently blocked by the Immortal Pirates' patrol fleet, and Marco wished to negotiate for the release of Lucky Roux and his comrades.
"There's a lot of talk about this recently."
Alucard genuinely didn't care what happened to Lucky Roux and the others. Under normal circumstances, he would have simply killed them. Right now, Alucard's target was Dragon, and he didn't want to get further entangled with Whitebeard. Although he was prepared for all-out war with Whitebeard, it seemed best to avoid it for the time being if possible.
Perhaps this also proved that Lucky Roux and his group did not hold as important a place in Whitebeard's heart as the future Portgas D. Ace.
"What conditions did he offer?" Alucard asked.
"The cession of two islands, and Marco brought two Devil Fruits," Fallon answered.
"What would I do with his territory?"
Alucard scoffed. He had more than enough islands for his own use. He wasn't Big Mom, who not only gives birth to children but also has civilians living in her "Totto Land." For Alucard, territory fell into the category of "most worthless." Moreover, Whitebeard's territories were located at the tail end of the New World. Geographically, acquiring those two islands would be of no benefit whatsoever.
"Then, should we refuse?" Fallon asked for instructions. He really didn't want to compromise; the 17th Division were the main culprits who instigated this chaos, and there was no reason to let them go.
"Bring those two Devil Fruits over." Alucard said flatly.
"Huh?"
Fallon's eyes widened significantly. Didn't Alucard's words mean he was releasing the prisoners?
"What are you standing around for?"
Alucard's single sentence snapped Fallon out of his daze. Although he didn't like the outcome, he immediately obeyed Alucard's command, releasing the prisoners and taking the fruits. Since Whitebeard sent them gifts, why refuse them?
Excluding Ben Beckman, there were originally six high-ranking officers led by Lucky Roux. However, Alucard had killed two of them earlier. He had initially held back, but then realized he couldn't kill everyone due to the need for information, so he stopped, only to find that two high-ranking officers were already dead.
Half a day later, Fallon returned with two Devil Fruits, one white and one red.
"The Steam-Steam Fruit, a Logia, and the Hot-Hot Fruit, a Paramecia. Captain, how should we handle these two fruits?"
The previously acquired Titan Fruit and Swap-Swap Fruit had caused conflict within the crew due to their distribution. Although Alucard's display of power had suppressed such situations, many within the Immortal Pirates still felt the fear of being "once bitten, twice shy."
"Keep them in the treasury for now. Also, call Beckman over."
Before leaving, Fallon, still unconvinced, plucked up the courage to ask, "Alucard-sama, even though half of them were killed, are we truly letting the remaining Red Hair Pirates go just like that?"
"My target is Dragon."
Alucard lowered his head and closed his eyes, entering a semi-drowsy state. "I will deal with them later."
If Whitebeard, that protective old man, were to start a commotion, giving Dragon an opening would be troublesome. Dragon currently sat at the top of Alucard's list of targets to be killed.
Despite the numerous intervening developments, Alucard had temporarily released the four remaining former Red Hair officers: Yasopp, Lucky Roux, Judar, and Red Dragon, thus fulfilling his deal with Beckman.
However, Alucard was never one to take a loss. Beckman now had to do something to repay him.
In just over a week, Beckman's stomach had been pierced twice. Although he had rested for a while, he was still somewhat frail when he walked. He managed to keep himself upright, but he gave the impression that he might collapse at any moment.
"Thank you," Beckman said as he reached the foot of the throne, offering his thanks first, clearly for the release of Lucky Roux and the others.
"Don't celebrate too soon. The only reason I let them go is that they are not my target right now."
Alucard leaned back in his chair. "Use your head and figure out the fastest way to locate the Revolutionary Army."
Beckman's face stiffened. Although he had anticipated it, receiving the command in person still felt like a mountain of pressure. The Revolutionary Army wasn't something that could be located simply through high intelligence. Just like the World Government, Alucard couldn't be defeated merely with high intelligence. If he could find them in a short period, what had the CP organization been doing all these years?
Pinching his chin, Beckman pondered for a long time. Then he looked up and said, "There is one method that might be worth a try."
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