Following that signature laugh, another voice drifted through the air, one filled with a mix of lamentation and melancholy. "Old... we've all grown old. We've lost to time, Newgate. Whether it's you, Garp, or Sengoku... you've all lost to the years..."

Whitebeard, who had been facing Alucard, felt his expression tighten. His features contorted with violent rage as he turned toward the source of the voice.

Everyone else followed his gaze.

"Th-those guys are...!!"

"Each one is a heinous criminal whose very existence had to be erased!"

"Wait, is that... the man who once fought Fleet Admiral Kong to a standstill, the one who battled Alucard the Immortal and Kong's mentor for three days at the Sabaody Archipelago... Red the Aloof, Patrick Redfield!?"

Redfield stood with his hands crossed over the handle of his signature umbrella-sword. Hearing the murmurs, he smiled. "My, my... I didn't think anyone still remembered these old bones of mine."

"What a nostalgic world, nya!"

Despite being a burly, massive man, he ended his sentence with "nya," sending a collective shiver of disgust through the onlookers. He was a brute with long blue hair and a blue beard, large horns decorating the sides of his temples, and massive gunshot scars on his left eyebrow and the corner of his mouth.

"Avalo Pizarro, the 'Corrupt King'!"

The moment Pizarro saw Alucard, the veins on his forehead pulsed violently. He craned his neck and bellowed, "Alucard!!"

"Fuffuffuffu, it seems an old enemy has appeared, Immortal-san~"

Doflamingo suddenly landed behind Alucard, leaning his head to the side with a smirk. "I imagine he's itching to collect some interest on that old debt, isn't he?"

Alucard stared at Pizarro for a long moment before asking flatly, "Who was that again?"

An awkward silence descended upon the battlefield. Robin stepped back to Alucard's side and explained, "He was a pirate you took down back when you were a Pirate Hunter."

Alucard glanced at Pizarro again, then lowered his head. "He looks like a nobody. How am I supposed to remember him?"

"Damn you, nya!" 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

Pizarro's beard quivered with rage as he let out another "nya."

Only then did Alucard slightly lift his head, his top hat tilted to obscure one eye. "Oh... that disgusting verbal tic. I remember now. It's you."

"I'm going to kill you, Alucard, nya!"

Bang!

A single bullet struck the right corner of Pizarro's mouth, shredding it instantly. It left a wound perfectly symmetrical to the old scar on his left side.

"Don't put that disgusting 'nya' at the end of my name." Alucard's face was twisted with pure revulsion.

"Nya! Nya-nya-nya! It hurts! It hurts, nya!"

Pizarro collapsed, rolling on the ground in agony. From the other side, Doc Q, perched atop his sickly black horse, stepped forward. He dripped an unidentified, viscous deep-purple liquid onto Pizarro's face, finally quieting him down.

Teach, standing nearby, looked slightly embarrassed. He forced a smile and said, "Zehahaha... why interrupt a man's introduction?"

Following him, more prisoners emerged from behind the fortress ruins.

A hulking, masculine woman with a long nose; a red-skinned man with a hot-dog nose clutching a liquor bottle; and a man in a military uniform, a cigar clamped in his teeth, whose mere presence exuded a bone-chilling aura.

"Vasco Shot, the 'Heavy Drinker'!"

"The worst female criminal in history, Catarina Devon, the 'Crescent Moon Hunter'!"

"The former Head Jailer of Impel Down, Shiryu of the Rain!"

"And... the rest of the Blackbeard Pirates!"

The Marines below screamed their names in terror. "What kind of monstrous lineup is this!?"

"Why are there so many long noses?" Alucard indulged in a rare moment of dry humor, glancing at Robin. "Is there a family connection to that sniper on your ship?"

Robin's lips curled into a slight smile, knowing full well he meant Usopp. However, she quickly straightened her expression and said seriously, "Master, I have returned to your side. Please stop referring to me as a member of the Straw Hats."

"Hmm, is that so?" Alucard suddenly recalled something and looked around. "Speaking of which, I don't see the remnants of the Red-Haired Pirates. What's the story there?"

"Fuffuffuffu, did you really think the Straw Hats had enough strength to break through the Navy's layered encirclement without an elite group covering them?" Doflamingo explained from behind with a smirk.

Alucard understood. So, it was the Red-Haired remnants who had covered the Straw Hats' retreat. In the original timeline, it should have been Law and Jinbe, but things had changed here.

"Shiryu! Is this what you've chosen!?" Sengoku roared at the swordsman standing to Teach's left.

"Doesn't my standing here say everything, Fleet Admiral Sengoku?" Shiryu exhaled a cloud of smoke. "Sorry, but I'm siding with these guys now. Nice to meet you."

"Zehahaha... ZEHAHAHAHA!!!"

Teach stood in the center of the group, arms raised in a mad laugh. "From this day forward, the Blackbeard Pirates are officially established! Zehahaha!"

Alucard leaned his head on his hand. After a long pause, he said tonelessly, "So, the Crew of Losers has been formed?"

Though his voice was light, it carried clearly to every ear on the battlefield. Teach, laughing atop the ruined execution platform, froze.

"Fuffuffuffu, is it really wise to say that, Immortal-san? Every one of them is a level-six criminal with a bounty over 300 million~" Doflamingo teased. He knew that "300 million" wasn't inflated like Luffy's; these were men who had earned every berry of their bounties through raw power, just like himself.

"Boring."

Alucard shifted his focus. Beside him, Whitebeard's face was dark, his voice booming like a thunderous beast awakening. "TEACH—!!"

Teach looked around in confusion for the source of the voice, then smiled and waved. "Yo! Long time no see, Pops!"

"Teach..." Ace gritted his teeth, ready to charge back for a death match, but Sabo held him back. "Stay back! You'll only be in the way!" He had to use harsh words to keep Ace grounded.

"You are the only one I refuse to call my son... You murdered the Fourth Division Commander, Thatch, and violated the iron rule of our ship...!!"

Vrrr—BOOM!!

The Tremor-Tremor Fruit energy erupted at the tip of the naginata in Whitebeard's right hand. His arm muscles surged, and with a ferocious swing, a vast, peerless wave of Haki and Devil Fruit power tore toward the Blackbeard Pirates.

At that moment, Robin and Doflamingo noticed Alucard's fingers rhythmically tapping against the lid of his coffin. They were taken aback.

Is another Yonko about to make his move?