One Piece: Alucard the Immortal-Chapter 488 - 487: It’s Been a While

"Give Farul back to me!"

Cavendish roared in fury. Though the phrase "I’ll kill you" was practically glued to his lips, he hesitated to draw the legendary sword, Durandal, hanging at his hip.

"Hmph..."

Loli A looked at the "Cabbage" with genuine interest. She placed a hand on Farul’s forehead, and the stallion, acting like a sycophantic lapdog trying to please its master, nuzzled against her hat with an expression of pure bliss.

"Ahhh! Farul!"

Cavendish was on the verge of tears.

Suddenly, his expression shifted. His handsome features twisted into something hideously grotesque. His golden curls began to drift and flutter wildly as he erupted into manic laughter. "Gehahaha! I’m going to slice you into mincemeat! Mincemeat, I say!!"

This time, the killing intent was the real deal. He unsheathed Durandal and swung at Loli A in a blur of motion.

Slash!

With such top-tier swordsmanship, an outsider would only see a flash of silver light appearing and vanishing in an instant. Loli A was cleaved open from the crown of her head down to her abdomen. Her body split completely apart, exposing brains and internal organs.

Whinny!

Farul, seemingly familiar with this side of Cavendish, took two steps back, looking conflicted as it stared at the bifurcated girl.

"Heh... hehehe..."

A chilling laugh emanated from Loli A. The blood and grey matter within the two halves of the brain began to reconnect. The split skull knitted itself back together, fusing perfectly until not a single seam remained.

"Wh-What!?"

"Cavendish", or rather, the entity currently in control, was stunned. He had cut the head in half; the brains had literally spilled out. How could she put herself back together? A Logia? No, even a Logia wouldn’t show internal organs when cut.

"Gehahaha! Then I’ll chop you into scraps!"

The Pale Cavendish shrieked, swinging his sword again, aiming to take Loli A’s head clean off.

Clang!

But he wasn’t allowed such an easy strike this time. Loli A raised her left hand, effortlessly parrying the blow with the back of her hand.

"Hm?"

The intruder’s pupils dilated. Just as he prepared to retract the sword for another strike, Loli A gripped the blade of Durandal, rendering it immovable.

"You’re not that curly-haired brat... You’re the product of a split personality, aren’t you?"

Loli A grinned. Her right fist clenched, and she buried a savage punch into Cavendish’s gut, sending him crashing into a nearby wall. A few seconds later, Cavendish slid down the wall. He struggled to his feet, looking as though he had suffered some ultimate humiliation. "No... I’m not... I’m not a ’product’!! I AM NOT A PRODUCT, AAAAAAGH!!"

Loli A flickered, appearing instantly in front of him. She slammed another heavy fist into his face, pinning him to the ground. This time, he was truly down for the count. Slowly, his expression began to return to normal.

"What... what just happened? No, don’t tell me... was it Hakuba?"

Cavendish opened his eyes, first in a daze, then with a look of realization. He stared at Loli A in shock. "Y-you’re okay?"

Whenever he fell into a crisis or became overly emotional, his latent personality, Hakuba, would emerge to resolve the situation. Cavendish knew what usually followed: his enemies ended up dead. So why was this girl standing there perfectly fine?

"You’re an interesting little brat."

Loli A looked down her nose at the fallen Cavendish. Hearing a man’s deep voice coming from the girl’s mouth, Cavendish froze for a moment, but the content of the words quickly made his hair stand on end. "Ha! Who are you calling a brat, you bratty girl? I’ll kill you!"

"Hahaha... hahahaha!"

Alucard couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This guy was like a circus clown, purely entertaining.

Loli A walked past Cavendish toward the exit. As she left, she flicked a finger toward Farul without looking back. Instantly, the horse, which had been ready to follow her, stopped beside Cavendish. The look it gave Alucard was filled with a mix of awe and reluctant longing.

"Farul! You’ve finally come back to me!"

Cavendish clung to Farul’s neck like a scorned wife whose husband had finally returned. He rubbed his face against the horse’s mane, drawing a very human look of disdain from the animal.

"By the way, who was that girl? How dare she be so arrogant!" Cavendish grumbled. Then, a spark of inspiration hit him. "Wait! Didn’t I decide to start a pirate crew? That girl has a terrible personality, but she’s strong, strong enough to survive Hakuba. And she’s just pretty enough to meet the standards of my Beautiful Pirates..."

After a moment of self-delusion, the idiot waved his arms and shouted, "Alright! I’ll recruit her! Once she hears the name of the great Cavendish, she’ll be begging to join my crew in tears! Ahaha! Ahahahaha!"

...

Soon, a royal decree issued personally by King Thalassa Lucas spread throughout the entire Ilisia Kingdom.

It commanded the eldest son, Rockefeller, and the second son, Casemiro, to settle the succession through open warfare. The victor would inherit the throne.

The decree shocked the entire nation.

The King was mad! The ministers were mad! Who picks an heir through war? Even a commoner who knew nothing of politics or battle could see there was something horribly wrong, to say nothing of the Revolutionary Army.

At that moment, Loli A stood atop the highest clock tower in the kingdom. A high-altitude breeze caught her white scarf, sending it fluttering behind her.

"They’re coming... they’re coming..."

Loli A gazed down at the chaotic nation and smiled. "At a time like this, don’t you need a hero? Don’t you need a revolution? Come out, Dragon!"

To sacrifice an entire country just to lure out a single enemy... the word "inhumane" didn’t even begin to cover it. But this was Alucard’s original way of doing things.

After becoming a Yonko and building a crew, he had mostly delegated tasks to his subordinates. He felt he was losing the thrill of getting his own hands dirty.

"Doing this myself after so long... it’s surprisingly refreshing."

Loli A lowered her head, shoulders shaking with mad laughter.