NOVEL NEXT Chapter 26: Exposed?
(Ah, what to do about this...)
Inside Sengoku's office, Zavia was standing in the middle, occasionally sweating a drop of cold sweat from his brow.
Surrounding Zavia were the seated Admirals Zephyr and Crane, while in front of him was Sengoku, and behind him was Kuzan. At this moment, they were all staring at Zavia with stern expressions.
"So, aren't you going to tell us about that incident yesterday?"
Zephyr spoke first. Throughout this whole affair, he had been contemplating many things, and ultimately decided he needed to instruct Zavia.
As a result, yesterday the dark clouds suddenly covered the sky, forming a black vortex from which a white-haired man wearing a black suit emerged, throwing everything into chaos.
"Uh...that..."
At this moment, Zavia inwardly hated Yagwick. You came to warn him, fine, but why did you have to make such a flashy scene, and even release that so-called Domain of Sin, were you afraid someone in this world was stronger than you?
Couldn't you have just quietly appeared to give the warning, or sent some subordinate or something?
Zavia had thought before that he might expose his true identity one day in the future, or voluntarily reveal it himself.
But he never imagined it would happen this way, and the timing was also too soon - it had only been a few months? And Zavia hadn't even left the Marine Academy yet.
"You had better think carefully before answering. If you make any rash moves during this, I will instantly freeze you on the spot!"
Behind Zavia, Kuzan was emitting a chilly aura from his whole body, his expression extremely stern. His usual laziness was completely gone from his face now.
"..."
Hearing this, Zavia could only reveal an awkward yet polite smile.
It made sense. In a situation like this, most people would be on guard. When dealing with an outsider, they absolutely wouldn't take a peaceful approach, but would question the person with weapons drawn, even more so for an "alien" like Zavia.
"Sigh, so it's come to this? Fine, since you all want to know so badly, I'll tell you. The truth is, I'm not from this world, nor am I some North Blue person. I am...a demon."
Since there was no point hiding it anymore, Zavia just stated the facts outright. However, he did not intend to reveal everything, as some things are not better known to more people.
"What? You say you're...a demon?!"
Hearing Zavia's answer, Vice Admiral Crane clearly showed a shocked expression on her face.
"A demon...then what is your purpose?"
Upon hearing this, the chilly aura around Kuzan intensified, his eyes also revealing a murderous intent, and layers of ice crystals even began appearing on his body.
The word "demon" had many implications in the world of One Piece, but most of them were not good.
"Purpose? Ummm, if you're asking about purpose, actually I don't really have one. I just felt the human world is more interesting than hell, much more fun."
Zavia calmly made up a story, but even he didn't really believe the words coming out of his own mouth.
What hell, what human world - these were just phrases he used to say when he was angsty in his previous life.
Yet these people actually believed him, which gave Zavia a headache. Although this may be related to the average intelligence in the One Piece world, for him it was good, at least he could get himself out of this situation.
But what Zavia didn't know was that the reason they believed he was a demon was indirectly related to him constantly muttering to Garp during training in Windmill Village that he wasn't human.
After all, the people present had only heard it from Garp, while Garp had personally experienced Zavia's near-invulnerability akin to a little monster.
"Fun? That's all?"
Hearing the answer, Kuzan was dumbfounded, his face full of puzzled expressions.
"No, your answer, it seems you're hiding something."
"I think so too."
However, Sengoku pointed out there was an issue with Zavia's answer, believing Zavia was deliberately concealing something, and Vice Admiral Crane agreed.
"..."
Sensing the abnormal atmosphere, Zavia couldn't help but sweat another cold drop, then let out a light sigh.
"Sigh, so I was found out like this? As expected of the Marines' top mind, the 'Strategist' Fleet Admiral Sengoku. Well, I did conceal something, but some things are better left unknown to humans, just like...that Void Century of 100 years that the World Government desperately tries to cover up..."
"!!!"
"You! Why would you...!"
Zavia's words caused the already cold atmosphere to become even chillier, a tense, suffocating feeling surrounding everyone, seeming extremely eerie.
"Haha, you forgot so quickly? I told you, I'm a demon from hell. We can see everything you humans do up there crystal clear."
Revealing a hint of a cold smile, Zavia spread his arms, speaking in a gloomy tone as if everything was a matter of course.
But if one were to touch Zavia's back at this moment, one would find that his back was already drenched in sweat.
What he was saying about the Void Century and observing human behavior - all of it stemmed from his angsty thoughts, in other words, Zavia was making it all up as he went.
"This...this is impossible!? What you're saying is...you know about the past history?!"
"Yeah, of course I know. After all, everything you've done is recorded in our archives, including...that 100 years the World Government desperately wants to cover up."
Facing the question, Zavia put on an act of seeming all-knowing, revealing a hint of a sinister smile at the end.
"..."
Upon hearing this, the entire office fell into dead silence, with no one saying a word.
Sengoku and the others were stunned by Zavia's shocking words, while Zavia was inwardly extremely flustered, not speaking to avoid overexposing himself and because he didn't want to keep making things up. He couldn't take it anymore (T_T).
"Then..."
After three minutes of silence, Sengoku finally opened his eyes, about to speak again, when suddenly the colors in the entire room dimmed. Except for Zavia, everyone turned black and white, motionless.
"Hm? This is? Could it be again..."
Noticing this, Zavia observed his surroundings, finding that all colors except his own had disappeared, reminding him of the "visitor from afar" Yagwick yesterday.
This time, was it the arrival of another celestial being?
...
Zavia wondered inwardly.
At that moment, a spatial door appeared in front of him, twisted with dark purple on the inside, extremely ominous in this black and white world.
As if a zombie straight out of a horror movie might emerge from it at any second...
However, that was impossible... or maybe possible? Under Zavia's vigilant gaze, grasping the Yamato Blade, a man in black and white robes walked out from the portal.
"Valona?"
"Ya."
"..."
Seeing the arrival, Zavia's face first showed surprise, then joy, and finally anger, which he skillfully suppressed.
"You jerk, back then you didn't even let me finish talking before throwing me into the One Piece world. Why were you in such a rush?"
With a tone tinged with grievance, Zavia coldly stared at the robed man before him - Valona.
"Well, don't make such a big deal out of it, that was so long ago."
However, Valona just laughed it off dismissively. Zavia could only reluctantly let it go.
He had no choice, he couldn't beat this guy! Zavia thought sadly to himself.
"That said, are you okay? Earlier I sensed an extremely powerful force came to you. Could it be someone from the 'Troupe'?"
Returning to a serious expression, Valona walked up and observed Zavia up and down, like a rich person worried about damaging their antique.
"Ugh...get away from me. I'm fine, don't worry. By the way, what the heck is this 'Troupe'? The Phantom Troupe from Hunter x Hunter came for me? That can't be right?"
Put off by Valona's inspection, Zavia stepped back two paces, then asked with a disdainful look in his eyes.
"What? It's good if you're fine. Don't worry about the 'Troupe' for now. I'll try to hide your location. This 'Troupe' incident, I'll help you, because it doesn't seem to be part of your trial schedule."
After confirming Zavia was okay, Valona breathed a sigh of relief. As for Zavia's question, Valona didn't give a clear answer, but stated he would help him.
(Could it be...this 'Troupe' isn't what I thought?)
Seeing Valona's reaction, Zavia wondered doubtfully inwardly.
"I see...then what was your purpose in coming this time?"
Since he didn't get a clear reply by asking, Zavia didn't pursue it further, instead asking about something else.
"Oh right, that. Nothing much, I just came to see if you were okay or not."
"..."
Hearing this, Zavia's face instantly darkened, imagining a million divine beasts stampeding in his mind.
"I see, well thanks a lot then...never mind. Oh right, this area around us, did you do this?"
"Yeah, how about it? Cool, right? In your world's terms, this would be called...The World, right?"
"...Right."
Seeing Valona's smug expression, Zavia's mouth twitched involuntarily as he answered reluctantly.
"Sigh, The World...the world huh? I do kinda want Dio's ability, but sadly I can't even sense supernatural energy, let alone have a Stand.
But...whatever, at least thanks for this. Otherwise I would've been exposed."
"Exposed? Exposed what? You're not trying to say your identity was exposed, are you?"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"..."
This time, it was Valona's turn for his mouth to twitch.