Devil Fruit

Hoxius's pupils contracted as he asked in a muffled voice, "Phantom Sword Roy?"

As a pirate captain with great ambitions, Hoxius had always kept an eye on the major pirate crews in the surrounding seas. Naturally, he was no stranger to Roy, who had wiped out many large pirate crews.

The instant he recognized Roy, Hoxius's heart sank. He knew there would be no peaceful resolution to this. A Bounty Hunter appearing aboard a pirate ship was obviously not there to drink and chat with him, and the carnage on the ship already made that clear.

Still, he did not want to give up on negotiation. He knew his own limits. Many pirates stronger than him had fallen beneath the sword of the man before him, and he did not think himself lucky enough to be spared.

"Why would a man like you work for the Marines? Being the sea's hound isn't where a real man belongs. Why not form a Pirate Crew together? With your strength and mine, we could surely rule the North Blue." Hoxius tried to tempt him.

"A pirate, huh? Unfortunately, now isn't the time yet." Roy sighed softly, acting nothing like the man rumored to utterly despise pirates. After all, ordinary Bounty Hunters only targeted small pirate crews. Roy, however, went exclusively after infamous major pirates. As a result, quite a few idle people guessed that he must hold an extreme hatred for pirates.

"You damned brat! Since you insist on taking things this far, taste my axe! I'll show you how I earned my name!" Seeing Roy refuse to budge, Hoxius prepared to make a desperate stand. He lifted his enormous axe and hacked it toward Roy.

Hoxius truly deserved his 12 million Beli bounty. The massive axe, which weighed nearly a thousand pounds, whistled through the air in his hands, moving with none of the clumsiness his huge build suggested.

Boom! The deck where Roy had stood was split open by the axe, leaving a huge hole. The ship rocked violently, as though it could no longer bear the strain.

"Looks like I can't let you keep doing whatever you want. After all, I've commandeered this ship. If you dare damage my property, you'll have to pay the price." Before Hoxius could rejoice, that grim reaper-like voice sounded behind him.

Roy had appeared behind him in an instant. As a seasoned pirate, Hoxius naturally knew what it meant to expose his back to a terrifying swordsman. His face turned deathly pale as he roared and prepared to swing his huge axe around behind him.

Drawing Sword Strike. A serene voice rang out, and Hoxius's enormous body crashed to the ground.

Roy showed no joy at slaying his opponent. An enemy of this caliber could no longer stir his interest.

The most valuable things on a pirate ship were surely kept in the captain's cabin, so Roy did not bother looking elsewhere and headed straight for the room Hoxius had emerged from earlier.

"So there really isn't one. Damn it." Roy punched the wall hard enough to collapse it, yet he barely noticed. Although he had expected this outcome, he could not suppress his anger.

It had been nearly ten years since he came to this world. From his initial confusion and helplessness to his current decisiveness in killing, the things he had experienced could fill a thick volume of legends if he returned to that world.

He had no cheat, no famous master to guide him, not even a complete cultivation method. Even his familiarity with the plot offered Roy no help at present. Not only were there still five years until Luffy set sail, but even the location of the beginner village was different, rendering his foreknowledge useless before entering the Grand Line.

The only thing Roy could rely on was the tempering he had undergone through countless brushes with death. Even so, his current strength was, at best, around Zoro's level when he had first left the East Blue. He already struggled against pirates with bounties above 20 million Beli.

But this was not the East Blue, the weakest sea. This was the North Blue, where powerful figures were everywhere. With Roy's current strength, he could at most deal with some so-called "great pirates." The truly powerful were simply beyond his ability to fight.

Roy refused to accept that. Having come to this dreamlike world, if he could not stand among the ranks of the strong, he might as well perish in the sea. So he fought constantly and sought breakthroughs without pause, but this was as far as he could go.

After all, his swordsmanship was entirely self-taught. The road ahead was covered in thorns, and he had to try every possible direction before finding the right one. Even Zoro, with his willpower and hard work, could still have become strong without Koushirou's guidance—but no one knew how long that would have taken.

Roy also firmly believed that he would become one of the strongest men on the sea, but time was uncertain. If he had to wait until the day he died of old age to conquer the Grand Line and become the Pirate King, then Roy would rather choose the most brilliant moment instead.

Therefore, Roy believed that all he needed was a push—an opportunity that would propel him toward a broader world. And that opportunity was undoubtedly the sea's secret treasure: a Devil Fruit.

Devil Fruits were undoubtedly the most extraordinary treasures in the Pirate World. Though they came with weaknesses such as being unable to swim and fearing Sea Stone, those flaws were simply not worth mentioning compared to the powers they granted.

Even an ordinary person could instantly become a feared powerhouse among the Four Seas after obtaining a Devil Fruit, let alone a Logia-type ability that could practically be called invincible. It could be said that anyone who obtained a Logia Devil Fruit—even an idiot—could dominate the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line without opposition.

People said there were only powerful people, not powerful fruits. Whitebeard made the Tremor-Tremor Fruit great, Big Mom made the Soul-Soul Fruit great, and Tyrant Kuma made the Paw-Paw Fruit great. Thus, Roy firmly believed that as long as he obtained a Devil Fruit, he too would be able to roam the seas freely. This was not some baseless confidence, but the bearing a person with a strong heart ought to possess. If he could not even believe in himself, what right did he have to dominate the seas?

In truth, Roy had found several Devil Fruits during his years of searching, but they had all been ordinary Zoans. Their ceiling was simply too low. Even if awakened, they would only turn him into something like a Warden Beast. While that would still make him a powerhouse, it was worlds apart from the awakenings of other fruits.

This was also Roy's original reason for becoming a Bounty Hunter. What could be faster than robbing pirates? Becoming a pirate himself seemed like it might be even faster, but Roy was not yet strong enough to contend with the Marines. Constantly fleeing would instead reduce his chances of obtaining a Devil Fruit.

Though Devil Fruits were called treasures of the sea and could sell for over a hundred million Beli at any auction, few pirates chose to keep them for auction. Weak pirates simply could not hold on to that hundred million Beli. It was far more satisfying to turn it into strength directly. With sufficient power, where on the sea could they not go?

Roy was gambling as well—gambling that he would encounter some lucky fellow who had already eaten a Devil Fruit and found a second one.

Not everyone was a freak like Blackbeard. That a person could eat at most one Devil Fruit was practically an ironclad law of the sea.

"I'll wait one more year. Just one last year. If I still can't obtain the Devil Fruit I want, I'll just eat one of the Devil Fruits I found before. Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll turn out to be an Ancient Zoan or Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit." Roy quickly adjusted his mindset and muttered to himself.

Bang! It was the sound of ships coming alongside each other. Having roamed the sea for nearly ten years, Roy naturally recognized it at once.

"Seeing the carnage aboard this ship and still charging in so recklessly... they're either an arrogant rookie or a powerhouse supremely confident in their own strength. Which one will you be?" Roy composed himself, narrowed his eyes, and pondered.