"Captain, could I trouble you to take a look?"
Alucard, who was cruising the world as usual, received a call from the Immortal Pirates' Chief of Staff, "Golden Hair" Ivalis, regarding Wolf's defeat.
On the call, Ivalis provided a detailed report. The incident took place in the South Blue. Wolf, having grown bored, had decided to go on a tour of the four blues; to everyone's shock, he ended up being defeated.
The news stunned the entire Immortal Pirates. If Wolf had fallen in the New World, they wouldn't have been surprised. Even a defeat in Paradise would have been marginally acceptable. But how did he lose in the South Blue?
Wolf currently commanded a bounty of over 400 million Belly. In the four blues, there should have been no one with the prowess to surpass him.
Who exactly was this pirate named "Weevil"?
Regardless, Wolf had to be rescued. Currently, the closest person to the South Blue was Alucard, who was cruising along the border of the Calm Belt in the first half of the Grand Line. To prevent the Marines or others from taking advantage of the situation, Ivalis notified Alucard, hoping he could save Wolf's life.
Alucard hung up the Den Den Mushi and steered his small boat through the Calm Belt toward the South Blue.
He hadn't visited any of the outer seas except for the North Blue anyway, and since Wolf was an old subordinate who had followed him since the early days, he decided he might as well save him.
…
At that moment, on a small boat in the South Blue, a man with a bloated, hulking torso but abnormally thin legs was rowing with both hands. He had a wild mane of blond hair, a long crescent-shaped mustache, and a runny nose. His rowing speed rivaled that of a naval warship, a testament to his staggering arm strength.
Weevil, that was his name. He was the man who, a few days prior, had defeated the "Colossal Battleship" Sanjuan Wolf, a top officer of the Immortal Pirates.
What truly shocked the world was that this man was not a famous Marine, and as a pirate, he didn't even have a bounty poster to his name.
"Mommy, why? Why won't you let me kill that big guy?"
Weevil spoke with a heavy, nasal tone, asking the question innocently to a short, wrinkled old woman sitting at the bow of the boat. She wore a leopard-print mantle and dark sunglasses.
Miss Buckin, the woman who claimed to be Weevil's mother, was currently looking at bounty posters. Hearing Weevil's question, she held a poster up to his face and replied shrilly, "My child, now is not the time to cross paths with such a big shot."
"Big shot?"
Weevil scratched his thick face with a meaty hand, looking confused.
He only knew that just as he was about to finish Wolf off, Miss Buckin had stopped him, saying the man couldn't be killed. It was exactly like Doflamingo's situation with Law: they had won the fight but lacked the nerve to deal the killing blow.
Miss Buckin recapped Wolf's current identity and status within the Immortal Pirates, but Weevil remained dense. "Eh? A subordinate of a Yonko? But that's not right, Mommy. Aren't I Whitebeard's son? If the Immortals hunt me, shouldn't Daddy protect me? Right?"
Weevil originally didn't know his own surname; he only knew he was Weevil. It was Miss Buckin who told him his name was "Edward," the same surname as the head of the Yonko, Whitebeard, and that he was the son of Edward Newgate!
Hearing her son's simple-minded question, a flicker of embarrassment passed through Buckin's eyes behind her sunglasses. To hide her inner panic, she brandished her cane and struck Weevil's knees repeatedly, shouting, "Idiot, idiot, idiot! You stupid son! Don't you realize your mother has her reasons?"
Weevil was stunned and quickly apologized. "I'm sorry, Mommy. I didn't understand your intentions."
"Hmph!"
Miss Buckin huffed and began plotting her strategy. Even if we didn't kill Wolf, the Immortals might not let us off. To stop him from moving against me... I need to find a way out. Should we go into hiding, or find a protective umbrella?
…
In the South Blue, following the coordinates provided by Ivalis, Alucard reached Wolf's location.
Lying prone on the coast, Wolf looked like a new island had sprouted from the existing one. His face was pressed into the dirt, and a dull, heavy breathing could be heard coming from his mouth.
As Alucard approached the shore, he saw that several large chunks of flesh had been carved out of Wolf's abdomen. Some of the meat hadn't fully detached, hanging by the skin and dragging on the beach. A truly gruesome sight.
Someone in the four blues actually managed to beat Wolf into this state?
"... How pathetic," Alucard remarked, stepping off his boat and approaching the giant. "Are you still alive, Wolf?"
Wolf, his face still in the dirt, managed to turn his head slightly. His small eyes looked at Alucard, and he gasped out, "Cap... tain."
"I have things to ask you, but looking at the state you're in, it seems you're in no condition to answer." Alucard turned back toward his boat. "Come. I'll take you to the nearest town."
"But, Captain..." Wolf's face contorted in pain from his wounds. "I can't swim. It hurts too much."
The shocking wounds and the festering flesh were unbearable even to look at, let alone attempt to swim in the sea with.
"Who said anything about you swimming?"
Alucard sat down in his boat. Suddenly, the sea beneath the vessel and the land beneath Wolf transformed into a pool of blood. Jormungandr's massive body erupted from the crimson depths, its tail coiling around Wolf.
"…"
Snot ran from Wolf's nose as his eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets in terror. He had always been confident in his own size, but compared to the giant serpent before him, it was like a rabbit standing before a tiger.
The next moment, Jormungandr's head lifted Alucard's boat, positioning it atop its crown.
"Let's go."
At Alucard's calm command, Jormungandr kept its head and tail above the waterline and set off toward the nearest island.
———————
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