Chapter 296: Killing Intent
Alberich, male, 38 years old.
In the Marineford Era 1476, he joined the Navy, and after mixing around in the Four Seas for fifteen years, he relied on his accumulated military achievements and smooth personality to advance rapidly, ultimately promoted to Headquarters Major General.
Then he began his own laid-back life.
The rank of Major General could call wind and summon rain in the Four Seas, even covering the sky with one hand.
But if placed at Navy Headquarters, it was actually quite awkward… status basically equivalent to a turtle in the Yongding River or a blind mole rat in a watermelon field~
Headquarters’ top combat power was the Admirals, main combat power was the elite Vice Admirals, while Major Generals and Commodores were in that status of just farting to add to the wind, with no presence.
Usually just arresting some unknown pirates, or occasionally dispatched to inspect branches in the Four Seas… after all, any truly proper sortie required at least a Vice Admiral leading the team.
Alberich, who had a clear cognition of his own strength, originally thought he would stay in the Major General position until retirement.
But perhaps born with a blessing in career advancement, he who had already prepared to enter retirement life early never expected his fate to completely change in an action where he tagged along with an Admiral for military achievements.
That day, while he was still passionately exchanging fire with a certain explosion-headed pirate, his peers had already started cosplaying Oden on the Sea.
The Fenrir Sea Battle directly caused a huge vacancy in the mid-to-lower combat power production at Navy Headquarters, and a Vice Admiral slot was directly vacated.
And he, a general who not only emerged unscathed but also preserved two warships’ formations for the Navy, was naturally noticed by the higher-ups.
Thus… without a moment to mourn his deceased colleagues, he was promoted on the spot—the former Navy Headquarters Major General—Alberich!
At the age of just over thirty, promoted to Headquarters Vice Admiral, to outsiders it seemed like smooth sailing, galloping on flower horses~
Yet the one who should have been most complacent showed abnormal restraint and caution afterward. As a Headquarters Vice Admiral with independent sortie power, he never acted alone, always tagging along on other Vice Admirals’ missions.
As one of the rare people in this world with quite clear self-cognition, Alberich deeply understood the principle that ‘if virtue does not match position, disaster will surely follow.’
But for that higher tier of retirement pension, he was willing to take the risk… just that some protection measures couldn’t be omitted, such as always inviting a strong Vice Admiral to accompany him on every mission.
……
“Vice Admiral Mien, why don’t you take this?”
After testing Jinbe’s strength and finding he might get injured, Alberich decisively stopped and yielded the position.
Compared to face, he cared more about retiring intact.
It would be ridiculous if the retirement pension turned into a condolence payment in the end~
“Very well, after all, dragging it out too long might cause unnecessary trouble.”
Ignoring his colleague’s slacking, Mien stepped forward and placed his hand on the sword hilt.
“……”
Seeing the Swordsman Vice Admiral he had been wary of preparing to strike, Jinbe also rallied twelve parts of his spirit, Fish-Man Karate techniques against swordsmen were gathering momentum.
Whoosh—!
Sizzle~
“Hm?!”
“Eh?”
A flash of cold light passed, yet two surprised voices came successively from different people.
First was Jinbe, who touched his chest area, feeling obvious stinging pain there, but no wound.
“Was I… slashed?”
“When?!”
He only saw the opponent place his hand on the sword hilt, but no drawing motion, yet somehow he was slashed.
If it was Quick Draw Slash, wasn’t this way too fast?!
Meanwhile, Mien on the other side was also somewhat surprised.
Although Alberich had mentioned earlier that the opponent’s clothes were strange, his ‘One Sword Style: Thunderbolt’ slash still did nothing~
One must know that the sword in his hand was a Famous Sword, and his realm had long surpassed the ‘Iron Cutting’ level; normally, even a fruit knife could easily split gold and sever stone.
Could that thin layer of cloth on the opponent actually be harder than the special steel used on warships?
“Fish-Man young man, your clothes are very peculiar; my sword couldn’t even penetrate them. But relying on it to defeat me is far from enough.”
Mien slowly drew a silver rapier hidden in the sheath at his waist, casually flicking it, the thin blade dancing like a spirit snake.
“After all, it can’t protect everywhere.”
Like the head.
“I don’t want to take your life; surrender with hands up now, and it’s not too late.”
“……”
“Your Excellency Vice Admiral, you are a good person.”
Tightening his clothes, Jinbe gave the other a smile.
“Your Excellency has given me opportunities multiple times; I appreciate it.”
“But I truly don’t have the information you want; I’ve never seen the person in the photograph before, let alone know them.”
“Then where did you learn your ‘Rokushiki’?”
Alberich now voiced another suspicious question.
“This is… uh, taught by my teacher.”
Seeing Jinbe’s tone pause slightly but not like lying, Mien slightly lowered the rapier in his hand.
“Your teacher… is from the Navy?”
“……No.”
“Someone from the World Government?”
“……No.”
The sword hilt was gripped tightly again.
“Then what is your teacher?”
Mien’s tone already carried obvious hostility.
“She…”
“Eh~”
After hesitating repeatedly, Jinbe still decided to reveal Osiris’s identity.
Even knowing that saying it might lead to merciless attack from the Navy man before him, his heart didn’t want to deny Osiris’s existence, nor fabricate a nonexistent person to replace her.
And his chivalrous personality that liked doing things openly also made him disdain lying.
“My teacher… her name is ‘Osiris’.”
“Osiris… you mean【Underworld Princess】!”
“You’re【Underworld Princess】’s disciple?!”
Before Mien could react, Alberich beside him couldn’t help exclaiming first, instinctively stepping back a few paces.
Osiris these years on the Sea wasn’t unknown, and could be said to stir wind and rain.
As the one who took the first kill of the【Shichibukai】, and an exaggeratedly attractive beauty, her initial bounty was an unbelievable 400 million Belly… of course, this was inseparable from Sengoku’s operations behind the scenes.
And Osiris’s successful breakout unexpectedly sparked a new wave on the Sea—hunting the Seven Warlords.
For a time, all pirates wanting to make a name rushed toward these ‘legal pirates’… just a bunch of guys who surrendered to the World Government, how strong could they be?
Borrow your head for a use.jpg
Then Osiris felt the Underworld suddenly become lively during that period.
But the initial generation of Seven Warlords were ultimately products deliberately suppressed by Sengoku; with average strength only at Vice Admiral level, a few were actually successfully hunted by those pirates in the end.
Of course, Osiris’s record of zero-second 43 fastest kill remained far ahead, unbroken.
And such a ruthless person was actually the master of this somewhat dumb-looking Fish-Man before them… no matter how you look, it doesn’t quite match~
“Hey, Fish-Man young man, are you sure you’re not fooling us?”
“Someone like you actually knows【Underworld Princess】?”
“I…”
“He probably isn’t lying.”
Mien drew his second sword from his waist, saying coldly:
“The【Beasts Pirates】 once obtained a complete handwritten copy of ‘Rokushiki’ due to ‘a certain incident,’ so it’s natural for someone from that pirate crew to know ‘Rokushiki.'”
“Am I right, Fish-Man?”
His words were no longer as calm as before, instead revealing a chilling killing intent.
