Chapter 8 : Cold Air From The Underworld!

"Ahhh..."

On the rough seas, piercing screams echoed.

In an instant, a large pirate ship was covered in a layer of frost, cold air swirling around it.

The entire ship was frozen solid.

Above deck, the pirates—each with different expressions of fear—were caught before they could react. One by one, they were frozen into lifeless ice sculptures.

"The cold air from the underworld... not bad at all!" Wilhelm said, a satisfied smile on his face as he examined the icy blade in his hand. The sword emitted a bright, cold glow.

Looking at the weapon, Wilhelm murmured to himself, "As expected, even the same ability depends on the one wielding it."

Dressed in a spotless white outfit patterned with hexagonal plums, Wilhelm's noble demeanor was accentuated by his long silver hair gently swaying in the wind. His presence exuded majesty, untouchable and commanding.

"Crack... crack..."

Suddenly, a sound broke the silence.

The pirate captain, frozen moments ago, began to move. The ice encasing his body cracked and fell off piece by piece.

"You bastard... How dare you kill my crew!" Glass Dooley growled, his eyes bloodshot and filled with rage as he glanced at his frozen, lifeless comrades.

"Hmm? You can still move after being hit with the freezing cold of Tenseiga. Not bad..." Wilhelm chuckled, sizing up the pirate captain. "You must be 'Pug' Glass Dooley, captain of the Dooley Pirates, with a bounty of 58 million Berries."

"Why?!" Dooley roared, his voice trembling with fury. "We didn't provoke you! Why attack us?"

Wilhelm looked down at him with a mocking smile. "Is this your first day as a pirate? You're asking 'why'? In the world of pirates, there's no room for such questions. If you lose, you die!"

He pointed the blade at Dooley and continued coldly, "If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for showing up in my sniper range!"

Wilhelm's actions had a purpose—he wanted to test a hypothesis about Devil Fruit powers. And Dooley had conveniently shown up as the perfect target.

"Wang!"

A sharp bark broke the tension.

Dooley's body began to expand rapidly, his frame swelling in size.

Its body was covered with thick dog-like fur, razor-sharp claws, and ferocious teeth.

Glass Dooley, now transformed into a humanoid pug, had lost all sense of reason. His eyes burned with madness as he howled, "You bastard, I won't forgive you!"

"Boom!"

With the ferocity of a wild beast, he dug his claws into the ground.

With an explosive leap, he lunged toward Wilhelm, his speed terrifying, his rage and killing intent palpable.

His sharp claws slashed toward Wilhelm's strikingly handsome face.

"Swish--"

In an instant, a cold flash streaked through the air.

Wilhelm's silver-white hair fluttered as he gracefully appeared behind Dooley. His posture was calm, his expression unchanged, and his blade was already back in its sheath.

"One-Sword Style: Swallowtail Slash," Wilhelm said softly.

"Clang..."

The sound of the blade locking into its scabbard echoed without warning.

"Ahhh!"

Glass Dooley, still in his hybrid beast form, froze mid-motion. A piercing scream escaped his lips.

Across his chest, a deep, gaping wound appeared, blood pouring from it.

His eyes widened in disbelief, his voice trembling as he muttered, "So fast..."

Moments later, his body collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud.

Wilhelm stood tall, looking down as Glass Dooley returned to his original form, unconscious and defeated.

Wilhelm reached into his coat and pulled out a peculiar Devil Fruit—shaped like a strange bug with swirling patterns. It was the Zoan-type Devil Fruit: Model Unicorn Beetle, taken from Violet.

"Since Devil Fruit abilities can be transferred into inanimate objects..." Wilhelm began, inspecting the fruit closely.

He smirked, his mind swirling with possibilities. "Then, what happens if you sever the limbs of an ability user, give those limbs a new Devil Fruit ability, and then reattach them?"

His eyes gleamed with curiosity.

"Will the two 'demons' clash and cause the user to explode? Or will they gain an additional power?"

He paused, stroking his chin. "Perhaps one ability will simply cancel the other, leaving the user unaffected."

Wilhelm turned to the unconscious Dooley and muttered, "Let's see... You'll help me find out."

Wilhelm looked down at the unconscious Dooley, his expression cold and calculating.

With a swift motion, his claw-like fingers slashed through the air.

"Swish!"

A severed arm flew into the sky, leaving a trail of blood behind.

Wilhelm's sharp blade pierced the Zoan-type Devil Fruit—Model Unicorn Beetle—without hesitation. The tip of the blade then stabbed through the severed arm.

The scene was both cruel and gruesome.

"Slash!"

A faint blue light emanated from the blade, enveloping both the weapon and the severed, blood-soaked arm.

Then, something incredible happened.

Before Wilhelm's eyes, the dismembered limb began to change. Tentacles sprouted from the arm, followed by a sharp, unicorn-like horn.

The severed arm had transformed into a bizarre, grotesque creature—a twisted hybrid of an arm and a unicorn beetle.

Its unnerving form crawled aimlessly on the ground, the lifeless eyes of the mutated arm darting around in confusion.

But Wilhelm did not pause.

With a calm yet ruthless expression, he flicked his sword. The sharp blade hooked onto the writhing, grotesque tentacles, lifting the now animate arm.

The unicorn-arm hybrid twitched in resistance, but Wilhelm forced it onto Dooley's left shoulder, attaching it where his original arm had been severed.

"Screech! Screech!"

The mutated arm fought desperately against its new fate. Its movements were frantic, unnerving, and violent.

But Wilhelm's gaze hardened.

He unleashed a burst of Conqueror's Haki, his sheer willpower crashing down like a tidal wave.

The struggling creature froze in fear, rendered powerless under Wilhelm's domineering presence.

"Fuse."

Wilhelm's voice was low and commanding as he swung his blade.

"Swish..."

The sword, Tenseiga, glowed with a soft, holy brilliance as it sliced through the bloody connection between Dooley and the transformed arm.

The light sealed the wound perfectly, forcing the newly fused limb into place.

"Boom!"

A shockwave of energy rippled outward, signaling the completion of the grisly experiment.