Heroes Gather at Shuigu Town

The Crimson Earl, Patrick Redfield, is not a character from the comics or the theatrical version, nor is he even an original character from the anime.

He comes from a handheld Yugi called Endless World: Red.

Unfortunately, Ian hadn't played that Yugi before his time travel, so his knowledge of Redfield's life was entirely unfounded.

He genuinely didn't know where the Devil Fruit in Vampire Form was.

However, he knew that the Devil Fruit indeed very powerful.

Putting aside other minor issues, the most terrifying ability of the Vampire Form is its ability to absorb the lifespan of others.

It's not what Aunt Linlin said—that it's lifespan, but actually a false lifespan of the soul.

It's the real ability to steal someone else's youth at will and then make oneself immortal!

This Devil Fruit also possesses the ability to grant immortality.

That's interesting!

Anyway, it's said that in the end, Ryde gave up his Devil Fruit power and his obsession with regaining his youth in the Yugi, so he might as well keep the fruit for himself.

Even if I can't use it myself, I can give it to someone else to use.

"Go find it!"

Ian said to Stussy with a serious expression, "I don't think I need to tell you, right? CP0 should have already started searching, right?"

"Certainly."

Stussy nodded slightly. "The Cross Guild haven't settled on any island; they're still roaming the seas. To ensure they can be tracked down, CP0 and the Navy have already begun searching along this lead."

"Excellent!"

Ian clapped softly. "Then I shouldn't have to wait too long."

In the Yugi, Senior Ryde spent two years searching for the Vampire Fruit, but that was because he was alone, with the addition of a tanuki that had eaten the Mythical Zoan Tanuki Fruit.

What would take them two years to investigate, the World Government's intelligence agencies at full capacity could probably do in less than two weeks.

However, to be fair, that tanuki's Tanuki Fruit was incredibly powerful.

He can materialize any object he draws, whether it's an inanimate object or a living one.

For example, it is said that in the Yugi, the Crimson Earl used his abilities to even recreate the Summit War one-to-one, allowing the Straw Hat Crew to return to Marineford, while having the Three Admirals stand in their way.

I wonder where that guy is now, since it's still too early for him to meet Senior Ryde as originally planned.

Somewhere in the New World.

A large naval fleet moved silently forward.

"Has the whereabouts of the Cross Guild still not been found?"

Black Arm Zeff, the current Marine Head Instructor, frowned.

He originally intended to guide this year's students through their experiences in the New World.

However, a transfer order from the Fleet Admiral brought him and his beloved students here.

"They are deliberately hiding their whereabouts,"

The still stunningly beautiful Vice Admiral Gion shook her head. "They probably already know we're hunting them."

Many years later, the Rear Admiral lady who was captured by Ian back then has now been promoted to Vice Admiral.

"We can't keep dragging this on, can we?"

Standing beside Gion was a somewhat ugly man wearing a brown hat and a brown bellyband. The squinty-eyed man said with some trouble, "It will affect my wedding with Gion-chan."

"Kake, would you like to test the sharpness of my knife?"

Vice Admiral Gion smile.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

The man named Kake chuckled and scratched the back of his head.

He was none other than Vice Admiral Chaton, a monster from the Marine Headquarters who was on par with Gion, and he was also dispatched this time.

"The manhunt cannot continue indefinitely."

Zephyr adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. "There are many more people on the high seas who need our protection."

The Marine Headquarters ' forces are indeed quite formidable.

If we include Aokiji in the assembled forces, it's enough to give them a huge advantage over the two Emperor Pirate crews besides the Beasts Pirates, and that's only about half the strength of the Marine Headquarters.

However, the Navy has to face pirates from all over the world.

They couldn't maintain such a large force indefinitely just to hunt down a group of pirates.

"Is that the only way to start?"

Zephyr muttered to himself, "The Cross Guild is pursuing the legend of vampires."

"If we can find the origin of this legend in advance, then perhaps we can wait and see what happens."

"Is this the only way?"

Gion nodded slightly. "Have the CP and the intelligence department step up their investigation."

"Hahaha! So that means we're going to have to take a vacation for a while, right?"

On the deck next to him, the navy's great hero lay on a deck chair, dressed in a floral shirt and beach shorts, looking like he was on vacation.

"Garp! You bastard, can't you be serious for once at a time like this?!"

Zephyr was furious at the sight.

This bastard is clearly the highest-ranking officer in the fleet, the overall commander of this operation, and the person in charge of the highest combat power, but he always acts like it's none of his business.

"Hahaha! Anyway, I still have you, Zephyr!"

The naval hero spoke with a clear conscience.

Zephyr's forehead veins bulged.

This old bastard is definitely not a reckless brute; quite the opposite, he's actually quite shrewd despite his rough exterior.

This jerk just doesn't like to use his brain most of the time.

"Snort!"

The Marine Head Instructor snorted angrily, flicked the hem of his Justice Coat draped over his shoulders, and launched himself into the air. "I'm going to teach those brats a lesson first. You, you bastard, can handle the rest yourself!"

"Hahaha! Zephyr! How stingy!"

Despite being in his fifties or sixties, the Hero Garp still grinned and made faces at the departing Zephyr.

Vice Admiral Gion could only put his hands on his hips and smile wryly, then watched his respected teacher's departing figure and sighed, "As expected of Teacher Zephyr, even at a time like this, he doesn't forget to teach his juniors."

However, I doubt Teacher Zephyr would send these younger students to the battlefield.

The Cross Guild is no ordinary pirate group.

Besides their formidable high-ranking combat power, their lower-ranking pirates are also incredibly dangerous—almost all of them are bounty hunters! How can ordinary pirate crews compare?

Kake grinned, then squinted at the beautiful woman beside him and chuckled, "Gion-chan, shall we hurry up and go on our date?"

Rub!

The next instant, Kake felt a chill on his neck; a sharp blade was already pressed against it. He quickly raised his hands high and said sheepishly, "I was just kidding, sister!"

And so, the world fell into a brief, eerie silence.

But everyone knew that this silence was merely the prelude to an earth-shattering battle.

Not only the monsters of the New World, but all the world's people with a modicum of knowledge are quietly waiting, waiting for the moment when war begins.

Can the Cross Guild withstand this naval attack?

If not, then all is well.

But if they survive this attack, then of course no one will doubt their status as emperors, Four Emperors will be upgraded to the Five Emperors.

That's already very fast.

A storm is coming.

In fact, Ian didn't have to wait long; CP had already given their results in just one week and one day.

"Shuigu Town".

Stussy immediately reported this to Ian: "It's an ordinary town located at the edge of the New World. It was originally an abandoned island, and residents started migrating there to settle down a few years ago. It's called a town, but it's really just a small village."

"The island has many ancient ruins, and the caves in the mountains are home to many bats."

"Oh?"

Ian's eyes lit up.

Although he had never played the Yugi, he still remembered from the story that the Vampire Fruit was indeed hidden in an ancient ruin.

Even Ryde only managed to obtain the Vampire Fruit by relying on the abilities of his clone, Robin.

"According to the indigenous people who scattered from that island, there were once legends of vampires circulating there."

Stussy said, "It is said that a demon that drinks blood and steals lifespan is sealed in the ruins on the island, and it will bring darkness every night."

"Excellent!"

Ian's lips curled into a smile.

Everything matches.

Vampire Form ability users can indeed drink blood, steal lifespans, and create darkness.

So, that must be the place.

"Has the message been delivered to the Cross Guild?"

Ian asked.

"Not yet. The higher-ups said they need to investigate what's actually on the island first."

Stussy shook his head. "Besides, the navy needs to go there first and set up an encirclement."

"Very good!"

Ian was even more satisfied.

In that case, he will have plenty of time.

What else is there to say? Let's gather our forces and move out.

At the same moment that Ian began his operation.

On the naval fleet side...

"The upcoming battlefield is too dangerous."

Zephyr looked down at his disciples on the deck and said earnestly, "You will temporarily go to base G-5 and be stationed there. I will come back to join you after the war is over."

No matter how much you want to train these disciples, it's impossible to actually take them to such a dangerous battlefield.

They are still fledglings and need care to grow up.

"Yes!"

Although the disciples were somewhat disappointed, they could not refute Zephyr's orders and could only respond listlessly.

Zephyr almost laughed.

You have a long way to go.

However, in the future, we will indeed have to rely on you to fight against evil.

These young people are the future of the Navy.

Only when nurturing these young people can Zephyr feel his sense of justice burning brightly.

He wanted to cultivate heroes.

After arranging his disciples, Zephyr gave the order, and the fleet set sail towards Shuigu Town.

As for why it was him who gave the order and not the Hero Garp, it's probably because the naval hero was snoring away at that moment.

It wasn't just this fleet that set sail. To ensure a decisive victory and leave the Cross Guild no chance to resist, Admiral Aokiji, who was originally stationed at the G-5 base, also led his team off, heading towards Shuigu Town as well.

Next, the navy will quietly construct a perfect encirclement there, and then wipe out the Cross Guild once they step into it.

However, somewhat unexpectedly, before the government could even find a way to get the news about Shuigu Town to the Cross Guild, the Cross Guild already had the information.

"Shuigu Town?"

On Thriller Bark, Redfield, who had been exercising to recover his strength, turned around in surprise to look at Crocodile, who had come to deliver the news to him personally. "Are you sure?"

Crocodile glanced at Redfield. "My men contacted the remnants of that island and learned from them about the vampire legends that circulate there."

"The ruins on the island seal away a blood-sucking demon that steals lifespan; it will appear in the night, riding the darkness."

Before attempting the Impel Down breakout, he had spent almost a year in the New World.

During this time, he established an assassin company, which became quite famous in the Underworld.

He still had some intelligence agents among his subordinates.

"My people have already gone to Shuigu Town to verify."

Crocodile Road.

"Let's go straight there."

Redfield, however, stated directly, "There's no mistake! The characteristics of that legendary demon perfectly match the ability I'm looking for!"

Crocodile nodded slightly. "Okay."

Since the old man has said so, what else can he object to?

So the Thriller Bark set sail, heading towards Shuigu Town.

But soon after, Crocodile realized something was wrong.

He immediately summoned all the cadres, saying, "My men discovered something amiss in Shuigu Town; there are some mysterious outsiders operating there."

"You mean?"

As a former member of the World Government, Shiryu immediately realized what was going on.

"The World Government probably found that place a step ahead of us."

Crocodile sneered, "Who else could it be but them?"

"Then what should we do?"

Moria frowned. "Are we going to give up?"

The chances of winning a direct confrontation with a large naval fleet are very low.

Crocodile glanced at Ryde, whose brows were furrowed.

How could I possibly give up?

If they choose to give up, then the Cross Guild will essentially be abandoned as well.

"Don't rush, let's play with them."

Crocodile said indifferently, "Next, the Navy's plan is probably to first go to the waters near Shuigu Town to lay an ambush, then find a way to leak the information to us, and then wipe them all out when we get there."

Ryde's lips curled into a smile. "But they didn't expect that we received advance notice and even guessed their plans."

"Then it's very simple."

Crocodile said, "Let them think their plan has succeeded, while we've already made our way to Shuigu Town! We'll just grab what we need and leave as soon as possible!"

"Then let's do it this way!"

Ryde made the decision.

Since it concerned the Devil Fruit he most desired, he didn't care about cooperation anymore.

"Hahaha! So exciting! So exciting!"

Shiryu was trembling with excitement. "Leaving Impel Down with you was definitely the best decision I could have made!"

Soon after, Thriller Bark appeared in a certain country. When the pirates disembarked to resupply, they unexpectedly encountered immigrants from Shuigu Town and learned about the legends circulating on that island.