One Piece: Alucard the Immortal

Chapter 666 - 665: Killing Someone for an Experiment

"With the strength of your single crew, you won’t be able to take Wano Country."Urdaha frowned. "That nation once held off Kaido and his All-Star, Queen the Storm, for several days without their walls ever being breached."

Fallon grinned. "I never said I was going in alone."

Turning to the assembled crowd, Fallon shouted, "Who’s coming with me?"

At his words, everyone looked at one another, muttering about their own prospects.

Slap!

At that moment, Bartolomeo suddenly lunged forward and clung to Fallon’s leg. "Please, you must take me with you! I’ve been looking for a chance to perform a great service for Alucard-sama!"

Fallon looked down at the brat clinging to his leg with pure disgust. He shook his leg twice, but the boy wouldn’t let go. Infuriated, he channeled his strength and sent Bartolomeo flying. "Fine! Now get lost!"

After rolling several times across the ground, Bartolomeo propped himself up with his hands, tears cascading like waterfalls. "Waaaaah! Finally, a chance to go to war! Men, get your notebooks out! From now on, today shall be remembered as the ’First Great Merit for Alucard-sama’ anniversary!"

The others couldn’t be bothered with the lunatics of the Barto Club and continued discussing the invasion.

Currently, aside from the Black Thorn Pirates and the Barto Club, the Iron Arm Pirates and the Bonney Pirates had also voiced their intent to join. While they were a formidable force, they were still slightly lacking if they intended to conquer Wano, the land that had repelled Kaido and Queen.

Just then, a cold and haughty voice rang out. "You insolent fools are blocking my way!"

The crowd turned to see Boa Hancock, one hand on her hip, looking down on everyone with supreme arrogance. Her inseparable pet, Salome, slithered behind her.

A short distance behind Hancock, Scarlett followed at a steady pace. Women who shared the same man were never destined to get along particularly well, even in the case of Hancock and Scarlett.

"Th-th-that’s the legendary Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock-senpai!"

Bartolomeo’s eyes shone with fanatical light. He clasped his hands to his cheek, looking completely starstruck. "The captain of the Kuja Pirates, one of the main fleets under the Immortal banner! A bounty exceeding one billion! She leads a group of powerful senior female pirates like Sea Queen Shirahoshi, the Boa sisters, and the Riku sisters! She is as powerful as she is beautiful!"

Hancock didn’t feel the slightest bit of joy at Bartolomeo’s praise; she had long grown tired of such compliments. She cast a disgusted glance at him. "Silence, you lowly maggot. Say one more word and I shall turn you to stone!"

"My apologies! I was too forward!" Bartolomeo slammed his forehead against the ground in a deep kowtow.

"Empress, we have an interesting plan. Are you interested?" Fallon stepped forward to ask.

Under Hancock’s gaze of utter loathing, Fallon quickly explained his plan to invade Wano.

"Hmph! How boring," Hancock replied coldly. Just when everyone thought she was refusing, she added, "It’s merely Wano. Do you think I need to join forces with you? The Kuja alone are enough to conquer it!"

Having said that, Hancock turned away, cupping her cheeks in a sudden blush. "Once I’ve conquered Wano, what kind of reward will Master give me? Ahhh~ just thinking about it, I... I..."

...

Half a month later, Alucard was engaged in a rare joint operation.

Accompanied by Dr. Vegapunk, Dr. Indigo, and several scholars from the Immortal Pirates’ scientific research division, along with Wolf, who had essentially become Vegapunk’s secondary bodyguard, they arrived at the "Third Path" connecting Paradise to the New World.

This was the tunnel he had previously blasted through the Red Line with Dyna Stones. Alucard and Vegapunk stood deep within the passageway.

Feeling the surrounding rock walls, Dr. Vegapunk said, "Captain, you said you absorbed all the sealed souls here previously, but I’m certain that was only a portion. Could I trouble you to destroy a bit more for a test? Oh, and if any more souls emerge, please refrain from absorbing them."

Without a word, Alucard summoned the arm of his True Ancestor Familiar, Baskerville, and raked his claws across the ceiling, leaving three deep gouges.

This time, there was no burst of blue light like the one triggered by the Dyna Stones.

Baskerville struck again, this time causing the upper section to collapse. Countless boulders rained down, and this time, the experiment succeeded.

Among the fallen rocks, several pieces glowed with a faint blue light. Dr. Vegapunk leaned in to observe, finding dense patterns resembling an electrical grid on the surface. Because Alucard was suppressing the power of the River of Death, the souls attached to the rocks were not sucked into his body.

Meanwhile, at the New World exit, Wolf was bored and began talking to himself. "Strange. Why hasn’t a single pirate crew come through this path? Didn’t they say the number of pirates exploded after Whitebeard died?"

"No, no, no," Dr. Indigo replied, actually speaking for once instead of his usual pantomime. He bared his teeth in explanation. "This place is directly beneath the Holy Land of Mariejois. Furthermore, it’s a path carved by Alucard-sama himself. Pirates without courage would rather risk the Fish-Man Island route than dare set foot here."

Back inside the tunnel, after a period of observation, Dr. Vegapunk looked up at Alucard. "Captain, could you bring down a bit more? I want to take a larger sample back for research."

"So, you can’t find anything else here?" Alucard asked indifferently.

"Not exactly," Dr. Vegapunk shook his head and stood up. "I’d like to perform an experiment to see what happens to a person’s soul if they are killed right here."

The corner of Alucard’s mouth curled into a smirk. "Kill who?"

"Well, it certainly can’t be one of our own. I’m not that depraved. But if a pirate crew trying to reach the New World happens to pass by..."