Demon Slayer Virgil [Isekai One Piece]

Zavia stared at the Negative Hollow, its hands were flapping up and down, a frown appeared on his face.

(What should I do? Physical attacks are useless, and I only know physical attacks right now. Maybe...)

Suddenly, an idea popped into his head.

"Perhaps Spatial Cut will work on you."

With that, the Yamato blade materialized in his hand. Leaving Arthur to steer the ship, Zavia assumed a stance for a Iaido slash. He wasn't entirely sure if spatial damage could slay a spiritual entity. But he reasoned that everything in the world, whether real or illusory, required space to exist.

Just like in MUGEN, when Orochi fought Yagwick, Orochi used a powerful move that devoured space, instantly annihilating everything in existence.

Whether tangible or intangible, visible or invisible, everything vanished in that moment.

Did this indirectly imply that spatial abilities could affect illusory things like souls?

This conclusion was still just Zavia's speculation. If it worked, then he wouldn't have to worry about Perona and Big Mom.

(Hmph, let's give it a try.)

"Heavenly Blade: Spatial Cut"

Clang!

His eyes sharpened in an instant as he drew the Yamato blade, a silver flash illuminating the air. An ice-blue slash flew towards the Negative Hollow.

The ghost, perhaps lacking intelligence or believing Zavia's attack was ineffective against a spiritual entity, continued flapping its hands.

Crack—

The slash passed through the Negative Hollow's body, and a crack appeared in the space before it.

The next moment, a look of joy spread across Zavia's face. The ghost, upon being struck, disintegrated into motes of white light that vanished into thin air.

Less than a second after the crack appeared, the space was instantly repaired, the world's will restoring itself.

It made sense. The One Piece world was a high-level world. If a small spatial crack like this couldn't be instantly repaired, the world would have been conquered long ago.

"Hmph hmph hmph, as expected, spatial abilities are effective against spiritual entities."

Zavia sheathed the Yamato blade, satisfied with the results of his experiment. Everything in the world, whether tangible or intangible, required space to exist. Without space, there was no existence.

Zavia had initially thought this might be a joke, but this experiment had proven him wrong. He was willing to accept being proven wrong, as he finally had a way to deal with spiritual entities.

This meant that even if he encountered Big Mom, he wouldn't have to worry about her soul attacks.

However, there was one more thing Zavia wanted to test, but with only one Negative Hollow, now gone, he would have to wait until boarding the ship.

"Wow, big brother, you're amazing! You even scared away the ghost." Arthur ran over and hugged Zavia, his expression a mixture of admiration and fear of the Negative Hollows, hoping they wouldn't return.

"Of course, your brother Zavia is very strong. Just say, am I strong or not, Arthur?"

"Strong!"

"Hmph hmph, alright. Since this thing appeared, it means our destination isn't far, probably nearby. Let's go."

"Okay!"

…

Florian Triangle, a massive island floating on the sea.

In the center of the island stood a gloomy and eerie castle. Inside, a man with a scallion-like hairstyle and a devilish appearance sat on a throne-like chair. He had two horns on his forehead, pointed ears and teeth, stitches resembling surgical scars running from his head to his neck, and wore a bat-collared shirt and gothic attire. He chuckled as he looked at the person below.

"Hehehehe, Hogback, how is the test subject?"

"I apologize, Master. That person was too weak, not enough to activate Number 900."

Below him stood a middle-aged man wearing a purple feather coat, sunglasses, and fishnet-like clothing. His mouth resembled that of a bat, and his expression was filled with disappointment.

He was Hogback, the renowned genius surgeon of the pirate world. The man before him was Gecko Moria, one of the Shichibukai.

"Ah? What? I thought he was a strong one, but he turned out to be weak? Then just add him to the regular zombie soldiers."

Moria's expression remained unchanged, but his voice held a hint of disappointment.

"Understood, Master. By the way, Master, this is the latest issue of the newspaper. Please take a look." Hogback bowed respectfully and then, remembering something, handed a newspaper to Moria.

"Oh, it's rare for a News Coo to come here. Let me see what's new." Moria took the newspaper and read it carefully. Because of Moria's location in the Florian Triangle, News Coo rarely passed through here.

Even if they did, they would get lost, unable to find their way out.

After reading for a while, Moria's face was filled with shock and disbelief, as if he couldn't believe what the newspaper reported.

"This, this, what is this!!"

…

"Yare yare, this is really..."

After sailing for nearly two hours towards a certain direction, Zavia finally reached Moria's ship, the Thriller Bark.

The "mouth" of the Thriller Bark seemed to welcome all visitors. As Zavia's ship approached, it automatically opened, allowing them to enter before closing tightly behind them.

Zavia docked the ship at the same port where Luffy and his crew had docked in the anime and then disembarked onto Thriller Bark.

Half an hour after landing, Zavia encountered a group of patrolling zombie soldiers.

He looked at the zombies with a helpless expression.

These guys weren't particularly strong, at most requiring a single slash from Zavia to take down. However, unless their shadows were separated from their bodies, they possessed near-immortality.

But Zavia was well aware of this.

Ever since he decided his next destination would be Gecko Moria's Thriller Bark, he had taken a full five kilograms of salt from Crocodile's hideout, specifically to deal with these small fries.

He had to admit, Crocodile was truly wealthy. He had taken all the money and valuables from this country, including over a hundred pounds of salt.

"Hey, who are you?! Are you a human who snuck in?!"

One of the zombie soldiers, the apparent leader, asked with his exposed teeth, a number 404 on his arm.

Zavia ignored the zombie's question and knelt down, patting Arthur's head with a gentle smile.

"Stay here and don't move. I'll deal with these guys."

"Okay." Arthur nodded obediently.

"Good, then..." Just in case, Zavia set up a spatial barrier around Arthur to prevent any sneak attacks.

He then stood up, took out a bottle of salt water from his spatial bag, and poured it onto the Yamato blade.

"Hmph, I need to leave one alive for information. Although I've seen Thriller Bark in the original story, some places were only shown briefly, and I don't know the actual layout."

After finishing his preparations, Zavia looked at the zombie soldiers and muttered to himself, deciding to spare one for interrogation.

He briefly scanned the group and decided to spare the one who had spoken to him earlier, the apparent leader, for the time being.

"Brothers! Attack! Capture this guy and take him to Master!"

Seeing that Zavia didn't answer his question and was muttering to himself, the lead zombie felt a surge of anger.

With a command, the zombies behind him slowly approached Zavia, just like real zombies.

"..."

Zavia shook his head slightly, feeling pity for these foolish creatures who underestimated their enemies.

A great Supreme Being once said, no matter how weak the enemy, never underestimate them.

In other words, one should never underestimate any enemy, especially unfamiliar ones like Zavia, and should always remain vigilant.

Well, these low-level creatures probably wouldn't understand that.

Zavia leaned forward slightly, and with a burst of speed, he vanished from the sight of the zombie soldiers, leaving behind only a small footprint and a cloud of dust.

This sudden disappearance caught the zombies off guard. They stood there, looking around, trying to locate Zavia.

"Ahhhhhhh!!!"

The next moment, a scream pierced the air. The zombies turned to see Zavia, who had vanished moments ago, standing at the back of their formation, a zombie soldier lying at his feet with his eyes rolled back.

A black, unknown substance struggled to escape from the zombie's open mouth before flying off into the distance, disappearing into the sky.

"This, who is this guy?!" The lead zombie's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, even though they were already exposed.

"Well then, let the mowing begin." Zavia smirked coldly at the terrified zombie soldiers, his eyes turning icy.

"Quick, get out of here! Go inform Mas-" One of the zombies yelled, intending to warn Moria. However, before he could finish his sentence, a flash of silver light filled his vision, and he collapsed, the shadow from his mouth drifting away.

Zavia pulled the Yamato blade from the zombie's head and slowly turned around, his cold right eye emitting a blue glow that sent a chill down the spines of the remaining zombies.

"Mon-monster! Run away!"

One of the zombies couldn't handle the pressure and fled in terror, his already twisted face contorting even further.

However, he hadn't even taken ten steps before colliding with something solid.

"Hmph hmph hmph, don't bother, fools. I've set up a spatial barrier around this area. If you want to leave, you'll have to defeat me."

Zavia chuckled coldly as he approached the zombies, who huddled together, trembling in fear.