Over the sea, aboard a warship of the Detention Unit.
Inside the room, Luo Yi still wore an expression of pleasant surprise.
"Five hundred million Belly is enough to enhance a top-tier Logia Devil Fruit to LV2."
"And the Dragon-Dragon Fruit: Model Pterodactyl. This is a huge windfall."
He looked at the brand-new fruit displayed within the Light Screen of the Fruit Encyclopedia and muttered inwardly.
Yes, he was extremely satisfied with the results of his first illegal operation.
The income of five hundred million Belly was enough for him to carry out his first fruit enhancement.
As for his target, Luo Yi had chosen a Logia fruit.
He had long coveted the elementalization ability of Logia fruits. Even though an LV2 Logia Devil Fruit only granted partial elementalization, it was still enough to let him roam freely through the first half of the Grand Line.
As for the Wind God Pterosaur Fruit, that was an enormous unexpected gain.
As it happened, he knew of a similar fruit.
It belonged to one of the Four Emperors now ruling the seas, the first-rate lecturer of the Grand Line, Kaido of the 'Hundred Beasts,' and his All-Stars, 'Flame Calamity' King.
This great pirate, whose bounty reached 1.39 billion Belly, had eaten the 'Dragon-Dragon Fruit: Model Pteranodon.'
The fruit Luo Yi had obtained was clearly of the same type.
"Although a large part of King's combat power comes from his identity as a survivor of the Lunarian tribe, there's no doubt that the Dragon Dragon Fruit's unique powerful physique and Life Force, combined with a pterosaur's flight ability and high mobility, make this Wind God Pterosaur Fruit a top-tier Zoan fruit!"
"Especially for me, it has even greater significance."
Luo Yi understood this very clearly.
If he had obtained this fruit before, it would have made him happy, but he would not have been so excited.
But now, the situation was different.
Because Luo Yi had already formed an extremely bold plan.
"Arashit Island."
Luo Yi murmured the name of the port. "With the financial strength of the Kingdom of Nysmal, the Celestial Gold should amount to an utterly outrageous figure, right?"
That was right.
After realizing that Arashit Island was where the Celestial Gold was stored, Luo Yi could not help but develop certain ideas.
The Celestial Gold was, after all, the 'tribute' offered to the Celestial Dragons every year, and its value was an extremely outrageous figure.
A superpower like Alabasta, which lacked neither land nor resources, was said to pay a full ten billion Belly in Celestial Gold every year.
Naturally, with such enormous wealth involved, the World Government had taken sufficient security measures for the Celestial Gold.
First, the transport routes for the Celestial Gold were the absolute secrets of each country. Under normal circumstances, almost no one knew them.
Second, each country's Celestial Gold was guarded by designated government and Marine officers. It was transported through the Calm Belt, and the surrounding sea areas would be placed under martial law, forbidding other ships from entering.
Third, any criminal who attempted to seize the Celestial Gold would be regarded as an enemy of the World Government. Moreover, all the treasures that made up the Celestial Gold bore the special 'Celestial Dragon Hoof Mark.' Anyone who used them would be hunted by the World Government and the Marines.
Thus, over the past few decades, robberies of Celestial Gold had been exceedingly rare.
The only person who had ever succeeded had not actually been after the Celestial Gold.
But Luo Yi could not help being tempted.
He already knew where the Celestial Gold was stored.
He was not afraid of being wanted by the World Government. After all, only his Slice Clone would be wanted.
More importantly, after obtaining the Wind God Pterosaur Fruit, the martial law in the surrounding waters was no longer a problem for him.
"Let's do it!"
Luo Yi had already made up his mind. He was going through with this job!
However, the only problem now was—
"The Slice Clone's ability can only be refreshed through contact with the main body."
"I have to meet the clone again. The abilities it currently possesses aren't enough to seize the Celestial Gold."
Luo Yi came to this conclusion.
But clearly, that would not be easy. After sailing for an entire night, he was now several hundred nautical miles from Master Port. Geppo could not possibly carry him across such a vast distance.
Luo Yi, however, was not impatient. He simply waited quietly.
Because if he had guessed correctly, the opportunity to return to Master Port would come soon.
And sure enough—
"Commander! Commander!"
Hans's voice came from outside the door.
"What is it?"
Luo Yi thought to himself, Just as I expected.
"It's a communication from headquarters. It's Vice Admiral Billoss."
"Oh?"
Luo Yi responded, then opened the door.
Sure enough, Hans was holding a Den Den Mushi that was going "Bloop bloop."
Luo Yi naturally took the Den Den Mushi from him. "Hello? Old man, it's me."
Then he heard Vice Admiral Billoss's deep voice. "Luo Yi, how far are you from G-51 Marine Branch?"
"About seven hundred nautical miles?"
Luo Yi frowned and asked softly, "What happened?"
"Not long after you left, something happened at G-51 Marine Branch."
Vice Admiral Billoss's tone was solemn. "Colonel Aster, the branch administrator, was killed in action. The royal manager of the Kingdom of Nysmal and the guards accompanying him were also all killed."
"What!?"
Luo Yi frowned again and shouted, "Something like that actually happened?"
"According to the Marines' report, a criminal commandeered a merchant ship belonging to the Kingdom of Nysmal, drawing away most of the Marines' forces. Just as the Marines were about to catch him, he deliberately ignited the fuel aboard the ship and sank into the sea with it."
"When the Marines returned to the branch, they found Colonel Aster's corpse."
Vice Admiral Billoss said gravely, "Luo Yi, you understand what this means, don't you?"
What does it mean?
It means that kid Alan did a fine job.
Luo Yi muttered inwardly.
That was right. What Vice Admiral Billoss was talking about was one of the tasks Luo Yi had entrusted to Alan.
To infiltrate the Marine Branch, he needed Alan to commandeer that merchant ship and draw away most of the Marines' attention. At the same time, he needed to provoke Manager Mantar and Colonel Aster into going to the place where the treasure was stored.
As an Ability User of the Slice-Slice Fruit, Alan only needed to discard that clone at the end to complete this perfect feint.
Judging from the current situation, Alan had completed the task Luo Yi had assigned him flawlessly.
But clearly, Vice Admiral Billoss had no idea what Luo Yi was thinking.
Before Luo Yi could answer, he directly gave his conclusion. "This was a premeditated attack. The criminal who commandeered the merchant ship was merely a sacrificial pawn."
He paused after saying this.
Upon hearing that, Luo Yi said without hesitation, "Commander, I request permission to return to Master Port immediately. It has been less than a day since the attack, so the criminal may still be there. Someone needs to direct the search."
"Furthermore, according to your account, I believe the criminal I'm transporting is very likely connected to this attack. Therefore, I'll have Hans and the others continue escorting him back to headquarters, while I take an emergency lifeboat back to Master Port alone!"
He wore a solemn and righteous expression as he said this under the shocked and admiring gazes of Hans and Fal.
And it was not only them. Even Vice Admiral Billoss, on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, fell silent.
In fact, this was also the intention of the senior officers at headquarters.
The attack had been extremely vicious, and the criminal was very likely still near Master Port.
With Colonel Aster killed in action, G-51 Marine Branch desperately needed someone capable of taking charge.
Among the naval officers in the nearby waters, the one closest to Master Port and holding the highest rank was none other than Luo Yi.
But—
"Luo Yi, you should understand that the enemy is definitely no simple opponent."
"If you return now, you'll be in great danger."
His voice was heavy.
The other Marines aboard the warship also revealed worried expressions.
They understood that anyone bold enough to attack a Marine Branch and kill a Marine colonel and the royal manager of a World Government-affiliated kingdom was an utterly vicious criminal.
But—
"For justice, I'm willing to face danger head-on!"
All they heard was Luo Yi's impassioned reply.
The Marines' eyes nearly filled with tears.
After hearing this, Vice Admiral Billoss also said, "Since that's the case, go ahead."
"Once you return to headquarters this time, I'll put in a good word for you."
After saying this, he fell silent for a moment.
Then he spoke softly.
"For justice."
Please help support the follow-through reading count—in other words, I hope all of you esteemed readers won't keep too many chapters in reserve. Follow-through reading is the most important metric during a new book's launch period, so I'm specifically asking for your support.
As for this novel's update schedule, it will update punctually at eight o'clock every day.
Before you continue