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One day later:
At the Marine Headquarters in Marineford.
Inside the Tenshukaku (Marineford Main Tower), an office.
This office symbolizes the authority of the Marine Detention Unit Commander. It once belonged to Vice Admiral Biros and has now changed hands.
The afterglow of the Three-Forces Military Exercise had yet to fade. Anyone passing by would cast admiring and reverent looks at this office.
This was the office of the newly appointed Admiral Candidate, the "Black Kirin" of the Tremor Sea: Vice Admiral Roy Amos.
But few people knew what was happening inside at that moment.
"Hehehe..."
Sitting before a glass of iced cola and a steaming hot pizza, Vice Admiral Roy grinned, lacking any trace of a hero's dignity.
Naturally, he wasn't just happy because it was a pleasant afternoon.
More importantly...
"Nearly 40 billion Beli in cash flow, two Devil Fruits, and the future operational rights of the entire Drug Peclo Company and the hitman industry..."
Just thinking about that sum made him feel warm inside.
That's right.
The operation involving Inu and Zishu had brought in tremendous profits.
The cash alone, Hanafuda's treasure, Cracker's treasure, and the funds stored in the Drug Peclo Company's vault amounted to nearly 40 billion Beli. But beyond that, Roy's greatest gain was Drug Peclo's authority as an Emperor of the Underground World.
This included massive illegal information channels, control of a huge portion of the underground drug trade, and resources from the hitman industry, including intermediary commissions for assigning missions, trained subordinate assassins, and numerous islands under the control of major undertakers.
These channels alone could generate an additional 20 billion Beli in profit every year.
One could argue that this money alone, plus the hidden benefits, was worth the enormous cost he had invested.
On top of that, Roy had also discovered two Devil Fruits in Drug Peclo's treasure vault.
This didn't surprise him.
Most of the Devil Fruits collected by Hanafuda were handed over to Kaido, and most of the ones obtained by Cracker were likely submitted to Big Mom. The likelihood of their keeping anything private was low.
However, it wasn't unusual for Drug Peclo Law, the King of Hitmen, to have one or two on hand.
Among the two Devil Fruits...
One was the Monkey-Monkey Fruit, Golden-Haired Monkey Form, an ordinary Zoan-type fruit.
The other, however, had quite an impressive ability:
[Paramecia · Essence-Essence Devil Fruit]
[Analyzed , Current Level: LV3]
[Ability: Can extract life force and vital essence from other beings.]
[LV3: Full abilities unlocked. Can extract life essence from a target with their consent and store it. The extracted life essence appears "golden." The target becomes weakened, and excessive or repeated extraction over a short period can lead to death.]
[Life essence can be fed back into oneself. Consuming it rapidly restores stamina, heals injuries, and significantly enhances combat power.]
[LV4: Advanced Development You can condense life essence into "essence orbs" to give to others. Unlocking this level requires 1.3 billion Beli.]
[LV5: Awakening · Essence Domain: Can forcibly extract life essence from all living beings within a 500-meter radius. The essence extracted in this way appears blue and is less effective. The stronger the target, the harder it is to extract. Requires 6 billion Beli to unlock.]
This rare support-type Devil Fruit is extremely useful. Its ability to accelerate stamina recovery, restore life force, and enhance combat power was extremely useful.
The only drawback was its difficult usage.
It required the target's consent for the best results.
"Maybe I should think of ways to coordinate this later... hmm?"
Just as Roy was pondering this, he suddenly heard something and turned toward the door.
The next moment…
Bang.
The office door was pushed open, and Hans swaggered in.
"Boss! We're here! Check out my new insignia!" His voice was loud and booming. The "Warrant Officer" badge on his chest gleamed brightly, and he carried himself like the master of the place.
The actual owner, Mr. Roy: "…"
'That's right.'
After Roy was promoted to Admiral Candidate, he naturally gained the authority to promote his subordinates. Hans and Fal, as his direct subordinates, had already improved significantly in strength after consuming Devil Fruits. So Roy had directly promoted them, and both were now Warrant Officers.
But now Roy deeply regretted it. What possessed him to promote this guy in the first place?
By the way, Roy had even gone to ask Smoker, "Want to be my subordinate… cough, cough, son?"
That very night, Smoker hurriedly left headquarters with his subordinates and departed for Loguetown to take up his new post.
"Why are you guys here?"
Although he grumbled inwardly, Roy Amos quickly stuffed the last slice of pizza into his mouth, while also protectively guarding his cola.
"We've got a mission. Came to get your approval slip."
Hans said with a cheerful grin.
"…Warrant Officer Hans, I must seriously remind you, I'm the commanding officer, not your approval machine. And what mission? Why don't I know about it?"
Roy frowned, starting to suspect that he had been sidelined right after taking office.
"It's a detention mission in East Blue, we're heading to Bros Island to detain a criminal."
Hans honestly explained, "As for why you didn't know, I just happened to run into Bogard, and he casually mentioned it and asked me to pass it on."
"Bogard? Garp's adjutant?"
Roy looked even more confused. "What does a detention mission have to do with him?"
Hans sighed, wearing an expression that practically said 'What would the Marine Detention Unit do without me?'.
"Boss, this is where you don't know… Can you two at least look at me when you're talking? I'm still here!"
At that moment, Fal, who had been standing behind them holding a thick stack of documents, finally couldn't hold back.
"Boss, it seems like Vice Admiral Garp's grandson secretly set out to sea. So Garp is going back to East Blue to confirm the situation. But his ship isn't repaired yet, so he's hitching a ride with us, and will take another ship back later."
"Besides that, our actual mission is the one on Bros Island."
He quickly explained everything, then placed the stack of documents onto Roy's desk.
"And this, these are all the files you previously requested from the government… phew, that was exhausting."
Those few sentences left Roy completely stunned.
"Garp's grandson… set out to sea?" He said in disbelief.
"Yeah!" Fal nodded, then lowered his voice slightly after thinking for a moment. "I heard Garp originally wanted to bring him to watch the Three-Forces Military Exercise. But his grandson didn't want to join the Marines, so he went out to sea on his own."
"…"
At that point, Roy immediately understood.
He remembered clearly, before the Three-Forces Military Exercise, Garp had indeed returned to Windmill Village, intending to bring Monkey D. Luffy along for training. But with Luffy's personality, "ignores everything else and is single-mindedly determined to become the Pirate King", there was no way he would agree.
It was said the two had a huge argument, which ended with Garp punching his beloved grandson deep into the mountains with his Iron Fist.
And judging by the current situation,
"Because of me… that kid Luffy set out to sea two years early?"
Roy felt it was absurd, yet somehow it also made perfect sense.
Before he could think further, Hans spoke again:
"Oh, right, boss, we discussed it, and we think you shouldn't come with us on this mission."
"…Huh?"
Roy's expression immediately turned dangerous again.
What was that supposed to mean? They didn't want to be on the same ship as him anymore?
Before Roy could start cracking his knuckles at Hans, Fal quickly explained:
"This mission is just to detain a few small-time pirates. And Garp will be with us on the way. We think, with your current status, it's unnecessary for you to personally handle something like this."
"It's better if we take the Black Loyalty and go ourselves. It'll also be good training for the others."
At this point, he looked directly at Roy.
"After all, we're your subordinates, we can't keep hiding behind you forever."
Hearing this, Roy was momentarily stunned.
Then he fell silent. Because he could tell that they were serious. They genuinely wanted to grow stronger and no longer be a burden to him.
And what they said made sense. Sending the famous "Black Kirin" to detain a few minor pirates in East Blue was indeed overkill.
'I'm a man of status now…'
So,
"Bring me the mission report. I'll sign off on it."
He extended his hand.
"And, be careful when sailing. If you damage the cola in the storage, don't think I'll let you off."
Hearing this, Hans and Fal both grinned.
"Don't worry, boss!" They both understood what Roy truly meant. "We won't let you down!"
(End of Chapter)