"What is that guy planning?"
In the neutral waters, Kaido and Big Mom shared the same thought. However, Alucard said nothing; he sat back on his boat, turned the bow, and began his return journey.
"Mama, the Immortal is up to no good."
Like Pekoms, Baron Tamago, who was a combatant despite not being one of Big Mom's children, whispered, "By distributing the blueprints to both you and Kaidou, he wants to see the two of you tear each other apart for them."
Both the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates had no shortage of keen-eyed observers. Even from a distance, they could discern the number of pages held by the other side.
On the Beasts Pirates' side, a high-ranking member with hawk-like eyes narrowed his pupils, reporting to Kaido, "Boss Kaido, Big Mom has six pages in her hand."
Hearing this, Kaido flipped through his own pages and flew into a rage. "That bastard! The Immortal only gave me five! That's even less than what he gave that woman!"
With a roar, Kaidou drew the spiked club from his back and swung it with massive force. The resulting gale struck the ocean, sending a surge of waves across the surface.
Meanwhile, Alucard, who had already sailed several nautical miles away, watched the Saber-toothed Tiger and the Queen Mama Chanter from afar. He laughed with pure delight. "Well now... will the mad dogs bite?"
Seeing Kaido's aggressive display, Big Mom's crew immediately drew their weapons, entering a state of combat readiness.
"Is that so? So that was the Immortal's goal."
Big Mom's witch-like eyes narrowed. She tucked the blueprints into her pocket as Zeus and Prometheus began to condense in her hands, their presence even influencing the surrounding weather.
If Kaido wanted to fight, she wouldn't back down. Even knowing Alucard's intent, now that the blueprints were in her hands, how could she possibly give them up?
"Boss Kaido, calm down!"
Elburn quickly stepped forward to intervene. "If you fight Big Mom here, you'll be falling right into the Immortal's trap. He's waiting for us to cripple each other so he can take us both out at once."
The hawk-eyed man used his exceptional vision to check on Alucard's status. "Boss, the Immortal hasn't left. He's watching from a distance."
Only then did Kaido's tyrannical aura subside. He realized Elburn was right; he couldn't let that bastard Alucard reap the rewards.
Thinking of this, Kaido retracted his club. Seeing this, Big Mom allowed Prometheus and Zeus to dissipate into calm.
"Boring lot."
Feeling the battle aura vanish, Alucard gave a disinterested sigh and turned away. This time, he was truly leaving.
However, a smile soon returned to his face.
Kaido and Big Mom were too evenly matched in strength, so they didn't dare act recklessly for fear of a third party profiting. But for the others who received the blueprints, they likely wouldn't be so merciful.
"Master, I have delivered the items to Marine Headquarters. I also turned all those men who dared to stare at me with such disgusting eyes into stone."
"The page for Gran Tesoro has been delivered."
"Two pages were given to the Vinsmoke Family as well."
Alucard received one report after another from those distributing the blueprints across the world. The final report came from Aranea, who had served as commander during the Skypiea raid; she delivered a page to the World Government.
It was one of the few pages that had not been modified.
Even Alucard himself couldn't remember exactly how many people he had given them to. He simply listed the powers capable of influencing the world's tides based on his memory and sent out the Pluton blueprints accordingly.
However, there was one exception.
…
Water 7.
"You're Franky, right?"
At the coastal headquarters of the Franky Family, a group of uninvited guests arrived.
The leader of the group had a prosthetic right arm made of steel. However, because it was covered in a layer of synthetic skin, it looked no different from a normal human arm.
Franky, who was bored and drinking cola with his underlings, turned around and took off his sunglasses. "Who the hell are you guys?"
"Big Bro!"
An underling next to Franky, wearing pink-tinted sunglasses, quickly flipped through some bounty posters. He exclaimed in shock, "That man is Urdaha, Captain of the Iron Arm Pirates under the Immortal Pirates' banner. He's a pirate with a bounty of 258 million Berries!"
Franky's face tightened with alarm. It wasn't because of the bounty, but because the Immortal Pirates were the very ones who had previously stolen the Pluton blueprints from him.
Franky immediately became hostile, his right hand gripping his left wrist as he prepared for battle. "What do you want with me?"
"Take this."
Urdaha threw a scorched, yellowish old paper at Franky. After taking a look, Franky gasped in surprise. "This is Pluton's..."
It was indeed one of the pages of the Pluton design blueprints.
For all these years, although Franky suffered because he couldn't decipher the Ancient Language, he had memorized the essence of Pluton's design perfectly. He could confirm beyond a doubt that this was the real deal, even if it was only one page.
"What is the meaning of this?"
Like everyone else who received a page, Franky had no idea what the Immortal Pirates were up to.
"Why ask so many questions? Don't tell me you don't want it?" Urdaha countered.
After a few seconds of hesitation, Franky immediately tucked the blueprint away safely.
"Find a way to collect the remaining pages. Farewell."
Urdaha left with his final word, departing with his subordinates. As he turned his back on the Franky Family, he couldn't help but wonder, "Strange... why would the Captain give a blueprint to such weaklings?"
In the eyes of the Immortal Pirates, Alucard's move was a way to throw away the "hot potato" that was the Pluton blueprints while inciting major factions to kill each other.
This was easy enough to understand, but if he were giving them out, it should at least be to high-level pirates or Marines, people with bounties in the hundreds of millions.
The Franky Family were just small-time pirate hunters in a backwater place. Why give it to them?
Alucard, of course, wouldn't explain. This was a blueprint for his "toy," Luffy. While the others were given to big players, how could such an interesting event be complete without the "Son of Destiny" himself?
But Urdaha and the others were wrong about one more thing.
Alucard's primary intent wasn't just to make the factions kill each other. He simply thought it would be fun. He acted purely for his own pleasure.
———————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over here ——— pa-tre-on.c-om/AlexandrusTL [remove the hyphen for normal access]