Demon Slayer Virgil [Isekai One Piece]

"Hold on, Navy boy. Aren't you going to play with us?" The scarred pirate stood in Zavia's way, licking his curved blade with a playful grin. Meanwhile, more pirates swarmed around Zavia, forming a tight circle, trapping him within.

"Listen, you...never mind." Seeing this, Zavia, who was about to say something, closed his mouth. He knew it was pointless. With these kinds of people, only overwhelming strength would do.

Whoosh!

The Yamato blade materialized in his hand, and his aura grew sharp and cold.

Seeing the blade suddenly appear, the surrounding pirates quickly backed away, becoming cautious.

"A Devil Fruit ability? What bad luck." The scarred pirate narrowed his eyes at Zavia, instantly judging him to be a Devil Fruit user.

After all, the pirates who could reach Sabaody Archipelago were considered the elite of the first half of the Grand Line. None of the pirates who made it here by their own strength were weaklings, with a few exceptions.

"Forget it, let's go. This guy's aura is dangerous." After a moment of contemplation, the scarred pirate spoke to the other pirates around him, who seemed to be his crewmates.

"You, you're another one of those Navy guys hiding your true strength, aren't you? I can feel it. The moment you drew that blade, your aura changed drastically. That's definitely not something an ordinary marine can possess." The scarred pirate sheathed his curved blade and looked at Zavia with a serious expression.

"Oh? It seems you're quite experienced." Zavia found himself slightly interested in this pirate.

"Hmph."

The scarred pirate didn't say anything else. He just snorted coldly and led his crew away.

Zavia didn't choose to pursue them. He wasn't here to cause trouble, at least not now. His current goal was to find the slave auction house in the lawless zone.

He tried to avoid unnecessary trouble as much as possible. He wasn't the type to go looking for it, but if trouble found him, he wouldn't hesitate to use force.

Seeing that the scarred pirate hadn't picked a fight, the surrounding pirates all showed disdainful expressions.

"He's just a marine. That guy actually didn't dare to fight?!"

"What do you know? That's Ohtas, the 'Black Viper' with a bounty of 87 million berries. He's a cunning and treacherous man."

"What?! He's that Ohtas?! The one who wiped out two pirate crews by himself?!"

"Of course, and rumor has it he might have even been to the New World..."

"..."

The surrounding discussions reached Zavia's ears, letting him know the identity of the scarred pirate. However, it didn't seem to have anything to do with him, so he walked straight towards Grove 1.

Grove 1 was where the Human Auction House was located, and Zavia's goal was to go there and observe first.

After all, he didn't know the exact size and location of the place. In the original story, it was just a quick scene.

Passing by a mangrove tree, Zavia stopped and looked up at the small, three-to-four-meter-tall building above.

"Should I go take a look?"

Looking at the building, Zavia decided to go inside and have a look around, maybe gather some information.

Having made his decision, Zavia walked up the long white staircase and arrived in front of the building.

"Shakky's Rip-off Bar...this name, whoever came up with it must be a comedic genius."

Looking at the tavern-like building, Zavia couldn't help but scowl. He knew where this was, and he had wanted to complain about this name for a long time.

Ding-a-ling~

"Welcome."

Opening the wooden door, the pleasant sound of wind chimes reached Zavia's ears. Inside, a woman with short black hair and a spider-patterned shirt stood behind a bar, smoking a cigarette and looking at Zavia.

"What can I get you, customer?" she asked, sitting down at the bar.

"I need the itinerary of the Celestial Dragons for the next few days, preferably those coming to the Human Auction House." Without ordering anything, Zavia sat there and spoke quietly.

"Oh my, as a Rear Admiral of the Marine Headquarters, is it really okay for you to be doing this?" The woman didn't show any emotion at Zavia's words, instead teasing him.

"Is it really okay? I don't know. I'm just following the justice in my heart, Miss Shakky."

"Oh my~ How do you know my name?"

"I guessed. Isn't there a sign outside? I guessed that was your name." Zavia looked at Shakky with a smile.

"That's quite accurate. Then how do you know I sell information? Did you guess that too?"

"No, I heard about it at the black market on Jaya Island." Zavia didn't pretend to know everything and told Shakky the truth.

He wasn't stupid. If he acted like some fool and claimed to know everything about this world, he would most likely bring himself trouble. This wasn't an anime anymore. The people here wouldn't just follow a predetermined script.

Well, Zavia would try his best to stick to the original script, because that way he could gain an advantage. If the plot went off the rails, then he would have to figure out how to survive in this world.

"I see. Then you should know that the information here is very expensive, right?" Shakky took a drag of her cigarette, exhaled a puff of smoke, and looked at Zavia.

"Money is not a problem." Zavia pulled out a money bag almost the size of a chair from his spatial bag and placed it on the ground.

This money was "collected" from the dozen or so pirate ships he had encountered before coming to Sabaody Archipelago, totaling about 100 million berries.

This bag contained about 40 million berries.

As for handing it over to the headquarters? No way. He wouldn't be stupid enough to hand all this over to the Marine Headquarters. Zavia took out 90% of the "collected" money and put it into his spatial bag, leaving the remaining 10% to be turned in.

After all, he might have to live on his own later, so it was good to have some extra money. Although there were only 50 million left, it was enough for Zavia alone. If it wasn't enough, he could always "borrow" some from the sea.

"Hmm~ Alright, I'll give you a discount since you're a new customer." Shakky exhaled a puff of smoke, tapped the cigarette butt twice on the ashtray, and spoke with a blank expression. "The itinerary of the Celestial Dragons for the next few days, huh?

I heard that in four days, a Celestial Dragon named Saint Charlos is coming to the Human Auction House. Seems his original slave died from overwork."

"Four days, huh... Thanks, Miss Shakky. I'll be leaving now. Also, please tell your partner that I might come to see him soon." Leaving those words, Zavia disappeared from the bar, leaving only a slightly shocked Shakky behind.

"Who exactly is this Zavia?" Looking at the empty chair, Shakky took a drag of her cigarette.

***

Lawless zone, Grove 1.

Fifty meters away from a luxurious building, Zavia crouched on a small hill, looking at the building.

"I thought it would be hard to find, but it turned out to be so easy."

Five minutes after leaving Shakky's bar, Zavia arrived at Grove 1 and started looking for the Human Auction House.

Just when he thought it would take a long time, he found it with a single turn of his head.

The reason was that the Human Auction House was decorated differently from the other buildings here. In the lawless zone, there were mostly taverns, and they looked rather shabby.

The Human Auction House, on the other hand, was luxurious and slightly larger, with a different style and a warm color scheme. Not to mention the guards stationed outside the door.

"Hmm, the Human Auction House, huh? Seems like this is the only one on Sabaody Archipelago. But undoubtedly, compared to the others, this should be the one with the most goods and the most profit.

With something like this existing, I can't believe the World Government actually tacitly approves of its legality."

Looking at the large number of slaves being dragged into the back door of the Human Auction House, Zavia's face was filled with helplessness.

"But compared to the World Government, I'm more concerned about Sakazuki's fiery temper. He knows about this place, yet he hasn't razed it to the ground? Could it be that he's also afraid of the Celestial Dragons?"

Then he thought of Sakazuki, who was also on this island. From what he had seen earlier, it seemed like he was on some kind of mission, which Zavia guessed was probably something like being a bodyguard.

"But the Celestial Dragons? Forget it, it doesn't matter to me whether you live or die now. Once I get the Lightning Core, you'll just be lambs to the slaughter."

It wasn't that Zavia was arrogant, but the Celestial Dragons' combat power was indeed quite pathetic. Although there were some Celestial Dragons like Doflamingo, most of them had no combat power or intelligence.

As for bodyguards? Don't be ridiculous. From the scene in the original story where the Celestial Dragons went to the Human Auction House, it could be seen that 96% of the people they brought with them were weaklings who didn't even know basic fighting techniques.

The remaining 4% might be because some Celestial Dragons were more cautious, so they brought strong people as bodyguards.

"Alright, I've observed enough. Most of the people attending the auction are nobles, although there are a few pirates, but that's not a problem."

Zavia, who had been squatting on the ground, stood up and stretched. From what he had observed in the past few hours, most of the people attending the auction were nobles, with a small number of pirates, who might be there to deliver slaves.

"Let's go back. That's it for today. I need to think about the execution plan for four days from now, the preparations before leaving the Navy."

Zavia returned the way he came, this time walking slowly. He had been worried that he wouldn't be able to find the auction house.

Now that he had found it, there was no need to worry so much. He had missed out on a lot of delicious food before, and now he was going to make up for it. And by the way, go to some special places, like amusement parks and the like. Finally, he might need to find a group of shipwrights to help him build a ship.