"How... is this... possible...?"
The man with the off-white hair stood frozen in shock, his eyes wide with disbelief, unable to comprehend what had just transpired.
Zavia gripped the spear and pulled it out of his body, sending a spray of crimson blood across the man's face and hair.
"So that's what it feels like to be stabbed... Damn, that hurt like hell. I don't know how Dante and the others managed to take those kinds of hits without flinching."
Zavia examined the spear, now stained with his own blood, a slight grimace on his face. The pain of the wound was intense. He glanced at the outsider, who still stood there, paralyzed with shock.
Puchi!
Before anyone could react, Zavia swiftly thrust the spear into the man's forehead, piercing through to the back of his head. The blood on the spear became even thicker.
"Ugh..."
The outsider's eyes rolled upwards, his body twitched slightly, and then he collapsed to the ground.
"This... this is... a monster..."
With the death of their comrade, the remaining two outsiders were consumed by fear, especially the woman. Her lower body was soaked with an unknown liquid, and a foul odor filled the air.
The man and woman stared at Zavia with terrified eyes. Their instincts screamed at them to flee, but they found themselves unable to move their legs, which trembled uncontrollably.
"Well then, hmm... only two of you left. In that case, I won't play the villain. I'll give you a chance to live, but only one of you can survive. Choose."
Feeling his wounds rapidly healing, Zavia let out a sigh of relief. He had initially feared the magic attack might have caused some irreversible damage, but it seemed to be just a flesh wound.
He looked at the man and woman with a cold, indifferent gaze, sheathing the Yamato blade and presenting them with a "cruel" choice.
"Me! Please spare me! Kill her if you must! I have a lot of wealth in my savings! Please, I beg you, let me live!" The man in light armor, who had been paralyzed with fear moments ago, immediately fell to his knees and pleaded for his life upon hearing Zavia's offer.
"Qing, you..." Spirit stared at her former comrade with a look of utter despair. She had trusted him, believed in him.
She had expected him to say something like "Let her go, I'll stay" or "We'll die together."
But the reality was far from her expectations. Her comrade, in his desperate attempt to survive, had completely disregarded their past bond.
The man who had moments ago spoken with such passion and conviction about sharing both fortune and misfortune had now shattered Spirit's last remaining hope.
"Hmph hmph hmph, so you would abandon your comrade without hesitation? You truly are a heartless bastard." Zavia couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of the outsider so readily discarding his former teammate.
Did such things exist among outsiders as well? He had thought people from other worlds would be different from those on Earth, but it seemed reality was far harsher than he had imagined.
This led Zavia to a conclusion: as long as they were human, no matter where they came from, their inner ugliness would always be the same!
"Please! Spare me! I can..."
Clang!
As the outsider, Qing, continued to plead for his life, a silver flash of light ended his existence.
"Don't worry, I never intended to spare either of you. I simply said that to confirm my suspicions." Zavia flicked the blood off the Yamato blade and spoke coldly to the headless corpse at his feet.
Well, not that he could hear him anymore.
"Now then, woman, I have some questions for you. You better answer truthfully, or your fate will be far worse than his."
Sheathing the Yamato blade, Zavia turned his gaze to Spirit, whose eyes had lost their spark. He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her deeper into the room.
Arthur chose not to follow, instead standing guard at the doorway, vigilant for any potential enemies.
From his position, Arthur could hear the sounds of agonizing screams and sobs coming from within the room.
It was clear that brutal interrogation was taking place, but Arthur's expression remained impassive. He considered this to be normal.
…
Half an hour later, Zavia emerged from the room, his body covered in blood.
He retrieved a bucket of water from his spatial bag and poured it over himself, washing away the bloodstains.
Zavia wasn't a bloodthirsty killer who relished the scent of blood and became more frenzied the more he smelled it.
On the contrary, he disliked the metallic stench of blood, finding it nauseating. However, he had grown accustomed to it and no longer felt the urge to vomit.
"Is it over?" Arthur approached and stood beside Zavia.
"Yeah, I managed to get the information I needed. But that woman was stubborn. Even after her teammate betrayed her, she still naively believed he was just putting on an act.
But in the end, I got what I needed. That's the most important thing. Let's go check out what they were researching."
After pouring two buckets of water over himself, Zavia felt refreshed. He glanced back at the corpse sitting in a chair within the room.
The body was stripped of its clothing, one eye gouged out, the fingers on both hands severed joint by joint until the entire arms were gone.
The mouth hung open, revealing a mess of broken teeth. The face was marred with deep cuts, and the body was riddled with needle marks, each one oozing blood. Both legs were severed halfway, exposing the gruesome white bone beneath.
"Alright, I understand." Arthur nodded and followed Zavia towards the laboratory where the outsiders had been conducting their research.
…
"Hawkeye Mihawk! Why are you here!? You shouldn't be here! Even as a Warlord of the Sea, you have no right to enter this facility!"
On the upper level of the research lab, in the western section, Mihawk stood in a corridor, facing Caesar Clown, who had transformed into a gaseous form. He resembled some kind of spectral entity; it was unclear what purpose this transformation served.
"Hmph, and who might you be?" Mihawk scoffed, his arms crossed and his hawk-like eyes fixed on Caesar Clown, making the scientist's skin crawl.
"Hmph! You don't even know me!? Listen carefully, I am the greatest scientist of this century, Caesar Clown!"
Caesar Clown was enraged that someone didn't recognize his name and introduced himself with an arrogant tone.
"Never heard of you." Mihawk's cold response caused Caesar Clown to revert to his human form, his eyes burning with fury.
"Damn it! You haven't even heard of me, the great Caesar Clown! I'll turn you into..." Caesar Clown stomped his feet in anger, gathering a cloud of poisonous gas in his hand, intending to kill Mihawk.
However, Mihawk simply glared at him, and Caesar's anger instantly vanished.
(Damn it! I'm so angry! But this guy is a monster!)
He dispersed the poisonous gas, his heart filled with a mix of emotions. There was nothing he could do; he was no match for Mihawk. He had heard of the swordsman's reputation – someone who could stand on equal footing with Shanks was undoubtedly a powerful individual.
Caesar had already mentally labeled Mihawk as a monster, someone he wanted to avoid at all costs, along with Charlotte Linlin and Kaido.
(What should I do to get this guy to leave?)
Since force wasn't an option, Caesar began to think of a way to get Mihawk to leave, preferably while also setting him up for some kind of misfortune.
…
"So this is what they've been researching?"
In the basement, within a laboratory, Zavia and Arthur stood before a circular platform, examining the object the outsiders had been studying.
It was... well, no matter how he looked at it, Zavia could only see it as a trench coat with a hood.
The coat was primarily black, with hints of dark red at the edges of the coattails and hood. He picked it up and examined it – it looked quite stylish.
"Big brother, are you sure this is it?" Arthur stood beside Zavia, his face filled with doubt. It just looked like an ordinary piece of clothing.
"Yes, I'm sure. I learned from the woman earlier that they were researching something that could protect them from lightning on Raijin Island, and she described it as a trench coat."
Zavia removed his blue trench coat and put on the new black one. It fit him perfectly. He guessed that one of the outsiders must have had similar measurements to his own, and this coat was intended for them.
"It looks cool, big brother." Arthur circled Zavia, admiring his new attire.
"Is that so? But I feel like black doesn't really suit me. Blue or red is better."
Zavia wasn't particularly impressed with the new look. He didn't like black; it didn't match Vergil's style.
"Well, whatever. At least now I don't have to worry about anything when I go to Raijin Island."
"Eh? Why? Do you trust their technology that much, big brother?"
"Hmph hmph hmph, of course not. But I learned from the woman that their group isn't the type to engage in violence. They're more like a research team.
According to her, they even won first place in the Cosmic Realm for scientific achievements. That's why I'm willing to wear this coat. With such a prestigious reputation, they wouldn't allow their work to have any flaws." Zavia explained his reasoning to Arthur.