On the deck of the Detention Unit warship, Roy's expression still held a trace of pleasant surprise.
"Five hundred million Berries… enough to upgrade a top-tier Logia Devil Fruit to LV2."
"And the Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Quetzalcoatlus… This really is a massive profit."
He looked at the Fruit Encyclopedia's projected display showing the newly obtained fruit and muttered to himself.
Yes—he was extremely satisfied with the outcome of his first illegal operation.
Five hundred million in earnings was enough for his first fruit enhancement.
And for that, Roy's target was a Logia-type fruit.
He had long coveted the elementalization ability of Logias—
even if an LV2 Logia only granted partial elementalization,
it would still be more than enough for him to dominate the first half of the Grand Line.
As for the Quetzalcoatlus Fruit, that was an even greater, unexpected jackpot.
Coincidentally, he knew a similar fruit.
One eaten by one of the Four Emperors' top fighters—
the first superstar lecturer of the Grand Line—
Kaido of the Beasts' All-Star "Conflagration" King.
This fearsome pirate with a bounty of 1.39 billion Berries possessed the
Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Pteranodon.
And the fruit Roy obtained was clearly of the same type.
"While a big part of King's combat power comes from his heritage as a surviving member of the Lunarian race, there's no doubt that the exceptional physical prowess and vitality unique to the Dragon-Dragon fruits, combined with the flight capability and high mobility of a pterosaur… This Quetzalcoatlus fruit is a minor treasure even among Zoan-types! Especially for me, it's of immense significance."
Roy understood this clearly.
Before today, this fruit would have made him happy—
but not this thrilled.
But now, it was different.
Because Roy now had a very bold plan.
"Arasite Island…"
He whispered the name of the port:
"With the wealth of the Nismael Kingdom, their Celestial Tribute must be an absurdly huge amount, right?"
That was right.
Once he realized Arasite Island was the storage site for the Celestial Tribute, Roy couldn't stop his mind from racing.
As one of the annual tributes offered to the Celestial Dragons,
the Celestial Tribute was an unimaginably large sum.
A superpower like Alabasta, rich in land and resources,
was said to pay a full ten billion Berries every year.
Naturally, with such astronomical wealth at stake, the World Government employed heavy security measures.
First, the transport location of each nation's Celestial Tribute was top-secret and never leaked.
Second, each tribute caravan was guarded by government and marine officers,
and the transport route always passed through the Calm Belt,
with surrounding waters placed under martial law—
no ship allowed near.
Third, anyone who attempted to seize Celestial Tribute was declared an enemy of the World Government,
and every piece of tribute treasure was branded with a unique Hoof of the Celestial Dragon mark.
Anyone using it would be hunted relentlessly by the Government and Marines.
Thus, in the past decades, successful raids on Celestial Tribute were almost nonexistent.
The one person who did succeed—
did not do it for the money.
But Roy couldn't help himself.
He already knew the storage location of the Celestial Tribute.
And he wasn't afraid of the World Government's bounty—
since the one being hunted would only be one of his split clones anyway.
But more importantly, now that he had obtained the Quetzalcoatlus Fruit,
the martial law over the surrounding seas would no longer be a problem for him.
"I'm doing it!"
Roy had already made up his mind—
he was going to pull this off!
However, there was still one remaining issue…
"A split-clone's abilities can only be refreshed through physical contact with the main body."
"I need to meet with my clone again—
his current abilities aren't enough to seize the Celestial Tribute."
This was the conclusion Roy reached.
But clearly, this would be troublesome—
after a full night of sailing, he was already hundreds of nautical miles away from Master Port,
and using Moonwalk alone, there was no way he could cross such a distance.
Still, Roy was not anxious.
He simply waited calmly.
Because if his guess was correct,
a chance to return to Master Port would come soon.
And sure enough—
"Sir! Sir!"
Hans's voice came from outside the door.
"What is it?"
Roy inwardly said, As expected.
"It's a communication from Headquarters—Vice Admiral Bilos."
"Oh?"
Roy responded lightly, then opened the cabin door.
As expected, Hans was holding a Den Den Mushi that was ringing with a "blu-buru, blu-buru" sound.
Roy naturally took the Den Den Mushi.
"Hello? Old man, it's me."
Then he heard Vice Admiral Bilos's deep voice:
"Roy, kid… how far are you from G-51 right now?"
"About 700 nautical miles?"
Roy frowned slightly. "Why?"
"Shortly after you left, something happened at G-51."
Bilos's tone was extremely grave.
"The BranchCommander, Captain Aster, has been killed.
The royal steward from the Nismael Kingdom and all the guards were also killed."
"What!?"
Roy's brows furrowed even tighter.
"There was such an incident!?"
"According to the marines' report, a criminal stole Nismael's merchant ship and drew away most of the base's forces.
When the Marines closed in on him, he ignited the ship's fuel and sank with it."
"When the Marines returned to the base, they found Captain Aster's corpse."
Vice Admiral Bilos said in a low voice:
"Roy, kid… you understand what this means, right?"
What it meant?
It meant that Alan did an excellent job.
Roy muttered inwardly.
Yes—everything Bilos just described was exactly what Roy had instructed Alan to do.
To infiltrate the Marine Branch, he needed Alan to steal the merchant ship and draw away most of the marines,
while also provoking Mantel and Captain Aster into going to the treasure storage room.
And as the user of the Slice-Slice Fruit,
Alan only needed to abandon his clone at the end to complete this perfect diversion tactic!
From the current results, Alan had flawlessly carried out the task Roy assigned him.
Of course, Vice Admiral Bilos had no idea what Roy was really thinking right now.
Without waiting for Roy to respond, Bilos directly gave his conclusion:
"This was a premeditated attack.
The criminal who sailed off with the merchant ship was merely a disposable pawn…"
He paused there.
And Roy, hearing this, immediately said without hesitation:
"Sir, I request permission to return to Master Port at once.
The attack happened less than a day ago—the culprit is very likely still in the area.
Someone needs to be there to coordinate the search."
"Additionally, based on what you said… I suspect the criminal I've been escorting may have a significant connection to this incident.
So I'll have Hans and the others continue escorting him back to Headquarters,
and I will take the emergency launch back to Master Port alone!"
With a face full of righteous resolve, he declared this under the shocked and admiring gazes of Hans and Fal.
Even Vice Admiral Bilos fell silent on the other end of the Den Den Mushi.
In truth, this was exactly what Headquarters hoped for.
The attack was extremely serious, and the culprit was likely still near Master Port.
With Captain Aster dead, G-51 urgently needed someone capable of taking command.
And in the nearby sea, the closest and highest-ranking officer was Roy.
But—
"Roy, kid… you should understand—the enemy is definitely not someone simple."
"If you return now, it will be dangerous."
His voice was heavy.
The Marines aboard the warship also showed worried expressions.
They all understood—
anyone bold enough to attack a Marine Branch,
kill a Marine captain,
and kill a royal steward of a World Government member nation
could only be a ruthless and terrifying criminal.
But—
"For the sake of justice, I am willing to face danger head-on!"
That was the firm, righteous answer they heard from Roy.
Many of the marines' eyes turned red with emotion.
Vice Admiral Bilos, after hearing this, finally spoke:
"In that case… go."
"When you return to Headquarters, I'll make sure you are credited for this."
After saying that, he paused for a moment.
Then he spoke softly:
"For justice."