Upon arriving in the desert kingdom of Alabasta, Alucard, true to form, showed no interest in meeting royalty. He sat alone in the silence of a local tavern, quietly savoring the specialty liquor of the region.
It was nearing dusk, typically one of the busiest hours for a bar. Yet, in this particular establishment in Alubarna, the capital of Sandy Island, there wasn't a soul to be seen besides Alucard. Even the bartender and waitstaff were gone.
This was primarily due to Alucard's actions over the past six months.
From the initial Juice Island to the current Alabasta, he had struck nine islands in total. The previous eight had been systematically slaughtered and sunk. The people of Alabasta had guessed exactly what he intended to do the moment he arrived. No one believed the Royal Army could stand against the Immortal Pirates; thus, a mass exodus by sea had begun.
Meanwhile, at the coastal wharves of Sandy Island's capital.
Countless Alabastian citizens were huddled together, desperately waiting for any vessel to approach so they could flee.
Suddenly, the towering figure of Kuzan walked onto the pier. He thrust one hand into the water, and a violent surge of Devil Fruit energy erupted. "Ice Age!"
As the words fell, a frigid current swept across the sea. In mere seconds, the entire ocean surface within their line of sight was frozen solid. The hundreds of thousands of people watching the scene were struck dumb with terror.
Kuzan withdrew his hand, which was covered in ice crystals, and walked past the shoulders of the stunned citizens. With his back to the crowd, he said, "Neither the Navy nor the Government can come to save you anymore. Use this instead. Get moving."
Before departing, he added a final reminder: "Don't forget to stay warm."
After their initial shock, the citizens felt as though they had been pulled back from the gates of hell. They waved toward Kuzan, shouting, "Thank you! Pirate-san!"
"We're saved!"
"Ready the food! Let's move, fast!"
…
A while later, the doors of the tavern where Alucard sat swung open. Kuzan walked in, stretched his limbs, and took a seat, crossing his feet on a table. "Mm... quite empty in here. It's like you've booked the whole place for yourself."
"Is this why you've been shamelessly following me?" Alucard asked, his back still turned to Kuzan at the bar.
Kuzan's expression tightened slightly. He downed several gulps of liquor before replying, "I want to see this world from a different perspective."
Pere pere pere...
Just then, a Den Den Mushi beside the bar began to ring. Alucard pressed the shell, and the snail's eyes snapped open as Dr. Vegapunk's voice came through.
"Reporting. Excavating the Ryumyaku in Alabasta will take approximately two months. My apologies, but the landmass here is simply too vast."
The Den Den Mushi was on speaker mode, so Kuzan heard every word. However, he stood up and began to leave. He knew he was better off not hearing the rest of this conversation.
"So, this will be the ninth. Have you figured out the principles behind the World Government's National Treasure yet?" Alucard asked, taking a sip of his drink.
"I wouldn't say I understand it perfectly, but I have a solid hypothesis."
The Den Den Mushi mimicked Dr. Vegapunk's indifferent expression perfectly. "The Ryumyaku hidden in the cores of the twenty Royal Lands are special man-made devices designed to absorb the soul energy of the deceased."
"My theory is that it's a weapon that converts human souls into power. Over the eight hundred years since the Government's founding, the energy absorbed by these twenty Royal Lands, along with the Red Line, has reached incalculable levels. It likely far surpasses the Three Ancient Weapons. That is why the Government has been able to remain at the top of the world for so long."
Dr. Vegapunk paused before continuing. "And the key to activating this National Treasure is the blood of the Celestial Dragons, or perhaps their souls. Regardless, the Celestial Dragons are an indispensable part of the treasure. They are either the activation condition or the condition for its very existence."
"So that's why the World Government protects those useless Celestial Dragons so fiercely..." Alucard remarked tonelessly.
If Dr. Vegapunk's analysis was correct, it explained why the Government demanded the Navy exhaust every resource to protect those pampered fools. They were a vital component of the National Treasure. For the sake of the treasure, the very foundation of their rule, they needed the Celestial Dragons, and they had to keep them safe.
According to Alucard's prior experience, there were two known ways to use the treasure's power. First, by imbuing the power into an individual, like the sword-wielding Gorosei in the white robes, allowing their strength to skyrocket for a limited time. Second, by concentrating the energy into a compressed blast. During the battle at the summit of the Holy Land, the Gorosei had used this energy to temporarily force Alucard back.
Dr. Vegapunk's Den Den Mushi spoke again. "Once the twenty Royal Lands are destroyed, the World Government's rule will slowly crumble. At that point... heh."
Dr. Vegapunk let out a strange cackle. "Won't the world essentially be yours to command?"
"I have no interest in ruling," Alucard said coldly as he clicked the Den Den Mushi off.
Expanding territory, growing a faction, world domination... it was all utterly joyless. Living only for amusement, that was enough.
Pere pere pere...
Ten minutes later, the Den Den Mushi rang again. This time, Nico Robin's voice came through. "Alucard-sama, something has happened at the palace in Alubarna. Please come at once."
Alubarna was the capital of the Alabasta Kingdom and the site of the royal palace, the residence of the ruling Nefertari bloodline.
Is there an opponent there that even they can't handle? Alucard thought as he stood up.
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