BANG!
Alucard's response to Catarina Devon was a single bullet. However, her caliber as a pirate was elite; since Alucard had fired a standard shot without augmenting it with his supernatural abilities, she managed to dodge the projectile with relative ease.
"Food on a dinner table has no right to speak," Alucard said with a chilling smile.
Catarina's expression stiffened. She never truly felt a sense of belonging to the Blackbeard Pirates; she had only teamed up with them to escape the Marine pursuit following the mass breakout from Impel Down.
Though two years had passed, as a former captain herself, Catarina was not accustomed to calling anyone "Captain," a sentiment she held to this day. She wasn't the only one; Avalo Pizarro, who was not currently present, felt exactly the same way.
"You look pathetic, Catarina," Shiryu taunted from behind her. "Desperate pleas like that only make you look weak."
Waaaaagh!!
Infernal wails erupted as the pool of blood beneath Alucard collapsed, transforming into countless dark tentacles. With a violent sweep of Alucard's arms, the shadow tendrils surged inward, launching a collective assault on the Blackbeard Pirates trapped in the center.
"Dammit! Doc Q, get your trick ready! The rest of us will hold them off!"
Shiryu's only hope was that Doc Q's ability could help them break the deadlock. He and Burgess stood firm, parrying the frantic strikes of the shadow hands.
Shiryu's cursed blade, Raiu, slashed through the shadows, but the sheer force of the impact forced him back. Gritting his teeth, the cigar in his mouth nearly fell out as he thought, How is this thing so damn strong?
"Fluctuation!"
Burgess raised one hand high, his right arm vibrating at an extreme frequency. A few seconds later, he unleashed a punch, the shockwave shattering several shadow hands.
High above, Lafitte had activated his Bird-Bird Fruit powers, his arms transformed into wings as he hovered twenty meters above the ground. Cold sweat dripped down his pale, painted face. This isn't good... Augur and Pizarro aren't here, we're short on combat power. Should I fly off to find them as reinforcements, or stay and fight with Shiryu?
"ROAR!!!"
The baying of hounds erupted behind him. Lafitte spun around to see a hound birthed from the blood pool stretching its body to a length of twenty meters, surging up from the ground like a serpent. Its maw, filled with fangs and dripping saliva, gaped wide, ready to swallow him whole.
Lafitte beat his wings, narrowly evading the attack of the blood-construct Baskerville. He drew the blade hidden within his cane, but in that instant, Alucard's hand suddenly thrust out from the hound's mouth.
"Don't worry about making choices. Your captain will be joining you shortly."
BANG! BANG! BANG!
A rapid succession of shots rang out. Lafitte's wings were shredded by bullets. Wracked with agony, his slender frame began to plummet.
"Ugh!!"
Lafitte's face contorted in pain as he tried to retract his wings, but Alucard was faster. He lunged out from the hound's throat and seized one of Lafitte's wings. "Cry! Scream!"
He pinned Lafitte's shoulder with his other hand, and in the next heartbeat...
CRACK-RIP!!
Bone snapped and flesh tore. Alucard ripped a pristine white wing clean off Lafitte's body. A flurry of white feathers drifted down through the air. Below, the defending Blackbeard Pirates felt a wave of primal terror climb up their collective spines.
"Checkmate, Lafitte!"
Alucard's eyes glowed crimson, his lips curling into a smile of pure predatory joy.
"AAAAHHH!!"
Lafitte ground his teeth, but the sheer agony eventually forced a piercing shriek from his throat.
Alucard moved his grip from the wing to Lafitte's jaw, locking it tight, and then gave a violent, powerful yank. This time, he tore the head completely away from the torso.
As the neck was ripped open, the layers of muscle and the spinal column were briefly visible in gruesome detail.
"Ah..."
Below, Bartolomeo sucked in a sharp breath, both hands flying to his own throat. "That looks so freaking painful!"
The others silently agreed; the moment Lafitte's neck was torn away, they all felt a phantom ache in their own.
Lafitte's body fell from the sky, while his head remained in Alucard's grasp, its face still frozen in a mask of agony.
Alucard cupped the head in both hands, his eyes narrowing as he drifted into a trance. "Now, fulfill your final purpose. Tell me... what is Teach's endgame?"
With that, Alucard bit deep into the flesh of Lafitte's neck.
The moment he drank, Lafitte's memories flooded into Alucard's mind like a tidal wave.
Alucard saw the interior of a massive ship's cabin where the Blackbeard Pirates were holding a meeting.
"Zehahaha! I'll go and join that tournament, but that's not the only way to get the Tremor-Tremor Fruit," Teach laughed, stuffing his face with cherry pie.
"I see. Will the other team be making the move then?" Lafitte whispered, tipping his hat.
"The Donquixote Alliance is no pushover. Is this plan really viable?" Van Augur asked, his face a stoic mask.
"Once I obtain the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, the entire board changes," Teach said with world-shaking ambition. "Besides, the Donquixote Alliance has outlived its usefulness. Pizarro, Augur, you two will carry out a mission separate from the fruit heist."
"What's that, nya? I'm not doing anything too troublesome, nya," Pizarro's verbal tic made Alucard feel physically ill even through the memory.
"Pizarro will take control of Gran Tesoro's internal drive systems. Augur and Audru will find an opening to snipe Tesoro. After I have the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, I can easily crush Doflamingo. Then, the world's greatest entertainment city will be mine. We'll have more funds than we could ever spend! Zehahahaha!"
…
Consciousness returned to the present. Alucard now understood Teach's entire plan.
The man was truly a bastard who had excelled at biding his time for over twenty years in the Whitebeard Pirates. To think he had a scheme like this ready for Gran Tesoro.
At the thought, Alucard couldn't help but clap his hands and roar with laughter. "Hahaha! Hahaha! Ah-hahahaha!!"
Hearing the clap-clap-clap echoing from the sky, Ivalis and the others looked up, wondering what had Alucard so delighted.
"Well done! Beautifully played! That's the way it should be, Teach!"