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The figure who emerged was none other than the Count Red—Patrick Redfield.
Once a prisoner on Level 6 of Impel Down, he had seized the chance to escape during Blackbeard's raid on the prison.
Shiryu forced himself upright despite the pain tearing through his body. He'd been careless. He never imagined anyone else would be here besides their crew, and his Observation Haki hadn't picked up a thing. Grinding his teeth, he demanded, "Why are you here?"
"Creeping up behind us, damn bastard…" Diamante snarled, glaring at Redfield. The treasure they'd struggled so hard to find had just been taken from under their noses.
Redfield's gaze remained flat and indifferent. "I had once obtained a treasure map. That map told me that in this ghost town, there was the Devil Fruit I have long desired—the Vampire Fruit."
"What?!" At those words, the faces of the Blackbeard Pirates hardened.
Redfield went on, "I arrived two days before you. However, this town was covered by a special illusion, and I was trapped inside, unable to find the exit."
"But fortunately, heaven sent you here. You happened to discover the exit as well. You should be able to guess the rest—I have been tailing you the entire time."
The color drained from the Blackbeard Pirates' faces. They never even felt his presence. It had never crossed their minds that anyone else would be in this Ghost town.
At that moment, Blackbeard gathered the power of the Dark-Dark Fruit into his hand, ready to ambush Redfield and seize the Vampire Fruit for himself.
Redfield glanced his way, a red gleam of observation haki flickering in his eyes. He said coldly, "Abandon that idea. I guarantee that if you make a move, none of you will leave here alive."
"What?!" Blackbeard was stunned.
Redfield looked down at him, subtly stepping back to widen the distance between them.
He had relied on a surprise attack earlier to catch them off guard. If he clashed with them head-on now, on his own, there was nothing to gain.
Even so, he spoke in an icy tone. "Considering you indirectly freed me from Impel Down, I won't kill you. The gold here is yours. But this Devil Fruit belongs to me."
Under Blackbeard's shocked gaze, Redfield lifted the Vampire Fruit and took a bite.
"No! That Devil Fruit is mine!" Blackbeard's eyes went bloodshot as dense black mist erupted from his body. His wounds knit rapidly beneath the shroud of darkness. He roared, "Damn it! I'll kill you!"
He thrust his palm toward Redfield.
A red flash of observation haki glinted in Redfield's pupils. In that instant, he foresaw himself being dragged in by Blackbeard and pinned down by the Dark-Dark Fruit's power.
In a blur of motion, he flashed in front of Trebol and Diamante, driving his foot into both of them and sending their bodies hurtling straight toward Blackbeard. The sudden attack forced Blackbeard to halt his attempt to use Dark Water.
Redfield took full advantage of the opening. He appeared beside the severely wounded Baby-5 and seized her without hesitation. Bat-like wings then unfurled from his back, and he shot into the air, flying away from the battlefield.
He had no intention of clashing with Blackbeard. Redfield's Observation Haki was so advanced it could read the thoughts in a man's heart, and because of that, he understood very well how dangerous Blackbeard was. In his current, aged body, facing a man who wielded two Devil Fruits was far too great a risk.
"Bastard, stop right there…!" Blackbeard, seeing Redfield steal the Devil Fruit he'd worked so hard to obtain and attempt to flee, exploded with rage and immediately gave chase.
Shiryu's fury simmered just as intensely. For a swordsman, a wound on the back was the greatest shame. Ever since eating the Clear-Clear Fruit, he had always been the hunter lurking in ambush; no one had ever managed to ambush him. To be caught off guard by Redfield today was something he could not tolerate.
The two of them went after Redfield first. Behind them, the rest of the Blackbeard Pirates dragged themselves up from the ground, gritting their teeth through the pain as they followed.
It didn't take long for Blackbeard and Shiryu to catch up. Redfield was clutching Baby-5's slender, transformed body tightly in his arms. He was in the beast form, his sharp fangs were buried savagely in her neck.
"Bastard! Redfield, what did you do to my comrade?!" Blackbeard roared.
Only then did Redfield finally let go, tossing Baby-5 aside as if she were nothing.
She hit the ground and lay motionless. Her body had withered, her limbs unnaturally thin, and on her neck were the clear marks of a vampire's bite. From the massive blood loss, she had already fallen into shock.
"Hmph. This woman's blood doesn't taste very good." As Redfield spoke, his figure slowly reverted to his human form. The old man in his seventies now looked twenty years younger. Many of the deep lines on his face had faded; he resembled a man in his fifties.
"He got younger…?" Even Blackbeard was taken aback by the change.
"The Vampire Fruit is a Devil Fruit that grants immortality," Redfield said coldly. "Decades ago, I searched the world for it and found nothing. When I finally learned where it was, Garp defeated me, and I was thrown into Impel Down."
"None of that matters!" Blackbeard roared, nearly shaking with rage. The treasure he had struggled to obtain—the Vampire Fruit—had been stolen right out of his hands by Redfield. For a pirate, watching his hard-won prize taken away was unbearable. The humiliation and fury boiling in his chest could not be contained. Unless he killed Redfield, that fire would never die out.
All he wanted now was to cut Redfield down, reclaim the Vampire Fruit, and become a user of three Devil Fruits. Then he would be the strongest man of this era.
Redfield's Observation Haki was terrifyingly sharp. He even picked up on Blackbeard's inner thoughts and said in surprise, "A three-Devil Fruit user? That's truly astonishing. However, this vampire fruit is something I have searched for for decades. There's absolutely no way I'm handing it over to you. Besides… you can't kill me."
"What?" Blackbeard's pupils shrank. He couldn't understand how Redfield knew exactly what he was thinking. The same thing had just happened moments ago. This went far beyond simply foreseeing the future.
Standing nearby, Shiryu casually filled him in. "Redfield's Observation Haki is absurdly strong. It doesn't just let him see a bit into the future—he can hear people's inner thoughts, almost like he's reading minds."
"Mind… mind-reading?" Blackbeard's eyes narrowed even further.
Shiryu went on, "Over twenty years ago, this guy alone could stand on equal footing with Whitebeard, Golden Lion, and Roger. He's a legendary pirate."
Blackbeard bared his teeth in a sinister grin. "Heh… so what? Now he's just an outdated old man."
He turned his murderous gaze on Redfield. "At first, I wasn't interested in you, Redfield. But since you stole the Vampire Fruit ability that should've been mine, don't blame me for taking you down."
Redfield looked at him with cold indifference and replied with contempt, "If it were before I ate the vampire fruit, you might have had a sliver of a chance."
"But now…" Redfield clenched his fist, feeling the boiling vitality flooding his body. Excitement flickered in his eyes. "I have regained my youth. I haven't completely returned to my peak yet, but… hm! As long as I suck a few more people's blood, it won't be hard to reach my former prime."
"No… with the power of the Vampire Fruit, I can even surpass Roger and Whitebeard in their prime and become truly the strongest."
By the end, a trace of madness gleamed in Redfield's eyes. In his youth, he had also dreamed of becoming pirate king.
Arrogant by nature, he refused to rely on anyone else's strength. Even so, he alone had been able to stand shoulder to shoulder with Whitebeard, Roger, and Golden Lion.
But after witnessing the true power of Whitebeard and Roger, Redfield abandoned the idea of becoming the pirate king. He didn't believe he could defeat either of them.
At that time, he realized that Roger and Whitebeard, at their peak, were both stronger than he was.
And even they—who were stronger than him—still relied on the strength of their comrades. Redfield, who only trusted himself and refused to have comrades, couldn't accept that path.
Now, however, both Whitebeard and Roger were dead, while he still lived—and he had finally obtained the Vampire Fruit he had dreamt of for so many years.
Not only had he regained his youth, but with the Vampire Fruit's power, he could even surpass Roger and Whitebeard in their prime. That thought made the ambition he had buried long ago surge back to the surface.
He didn't just want to become the Pirate King—he wanted to crush everyone in his way and rule the entire world.
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