What surprised Luo Yi was.
After carrying his precious Source of Life back to the dormitory, he actually received word, just as Hina had said, that Lieutenant General Billoss wanted to see him.
When Luo Yi curiously arrived at Lieutenant General Billoss's office, he saw the usually undisciplined lieutenant general staring at something on his desk with an unusually serious expression.
"Luo Yi, you're back?"
"Mm. I haven't had time to report to you yet."
Luo Yi nodded. "Sorry, I couldn't find any trace of the attacker in Master Port."
He said it as though it were only natural—he had led the search for Rooster's whereabouts in Master Port, so finding anything would have been a miracle.
"It's fine. Not finding anything might be a good thing."
Lieutenant General Billoss waved his hand. "This matter is far more complicated than we initially estimated."
"Oh?"
Luo Yi feigned curiosity. "What happened?"
"Take a seat first. That's one of the things I called you here to discuss."
Lieutenant General Billoss said seriously, "You and your subordinates were also involved in this incident, so I have to tell you about some of what we've discovered."
"Oh?"
Luo Yi became even more "curious." "Tell me everything."
"First, there's the attacker who raided the Celestial Gold."
As he spoke in a low voice, Lieutenant General Billoss picked up the object on his desk and showed it to Luo Yi.
Then Luo Yi saw it.
"A wanted poster?"
It was a wanted poster.
The center of the poster unusually contained no photograph. Instead, it showed a sketch of a tall figure with Dragon Scales around his neck and a Rooster Mask on his face.
The wanted poster clearly stated:
[WANTED] [DEAD OR ALIVE] [Rooster] [Belly-170,000,000]
"One hundred and seventy million Belly?"
The figure left Luo Yi extremely surprised.
After all, this was the first bounty.
Among first bounties, even two of the Four Emperors today—BIG MOM and Kaido—had only received bounties of 50 million and 70 million Belly respectively.
One hundred and seventy million was truly astonishing.
"It's unavoidable."
Lieutenant General Billoss shook his head. "That fellow took an enormous amount of Celestial Gold, and the pressure from the World Government and the Kingdom of Nysmal is immense."
He sighed. "Besides, according to Lan Li, who has regained consciousness, the opponent possesses overwhelming strength and the characteristics of a Zoan fruit. He can transform into an enormous Ancient Pterosaur."
"Furthermore, he believes the opponent is very likely a Mythical Zoan Ability User—because the opponent used an ability resembling Elementalization during the battle."
"Fortunately, the opponent seems to have underestimated him. Although he pierced Lan Li's abdomen with a powerful attack, he failed to kill him. That's how we learned so much, including the opponent's name: 'Rooster.'"
He pronounced the two awkward-sounding characters.
"The headquarters is investigating, but so far it hasn't found any similar Devil Fruit."
"But if things really are as Lan Li said, and the opponent is a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit Ability User, then this bounty is justified by that fruit's ability alone."
After hearing this, Luo Yi seemed to find it considerably more reasonable.
But then he asked hesitantly, "A Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit? Isn't that the rarest and most powerful type of fruit? And Rooster doesn't sound like a real name."
"It isn't his real name!"
Lieutenant General Billoss's expression grew even more solemn. "That's the second thing I wanted to tell you."
"That prisoner you brought back from Master Port confessed to many shocking things after being interrogated by headquarters."
"One of them involved an organization."
At that, suspicion flashed through Luo Yi's eyes.
"An organization?"
"Yes. According to him, he came from an organization and was an peripheral member of it."
"So he doesn't know the details. He only knows that the organization is called—[the Twelve Zodiacs]."
Lieutenant General Billoss pronounced the four words one by one.
"According to him, the organization has twelve high-ranking officers and one supreme leader."
"And 'Rooster' is the codename of one of those twelve high-ranking officers."
Luo Yi shot to his feet and shouted, "What!? Something like that actually exists!"
Yet while displaying acting worthy of an Oscar, Luo Yi thought to himself:
Alan, you really came through.
That was right.
At that moment, Luo Yi wasn't surprised in the slightest by what Lieutenant General Billoss had said.
The reason was simple.
Because everything had been arranged by Luo Yi himself.
The two things he had previously told Alan to do were—first, to leave the port of G-51 Branch while piloting the Kingdom of Nysmal's royal merchant ship with a clone.
Second, to tell the Navy the "intelligence" that Lieutenant General Billoss was now describing.
The reason was also simple.
Luo Yi knew very well that, to obtain enough Belly, he would inevitably use the power of the Slice-Slice Fruit to continuously create Slice Clones and earn Belly through various methods.
This raid on the Celestial Gold was only the first time. It definitely would not be the last.
And anything that existed would inevitably leave traces.
Therefore, to ensure that his true identity was not discovered.
What Luo Yi needed to do was muddy the waters.
The murkier the water, the easier it would be for him to fish.
So he had made plans long ago.
He would fabricate an organization—one that did not exist, yet was destined to become famous in the future as a "powerful organization."
He would divert the Navy's and even the World Government's attention entirely toward that organization, thereby concealing his own existence.
Compared with one powerful, nameless Ability User appearing after another,
a "mysterious organization" that had existed in secret for a long time and was plotting some kind of conspiracy would obviously make the World Government even more unable to spare any attention for anything else.
The Celestial Gold Heist Incident was his first attempt.
He had allowed the Colonel to escape on Arashit Island and refrained from killing Commodore Lan Li precisely to pass this information to the Navy.
Judging from the bounty and Lieutenant General Billoss's current attitude, his plan had clearly been a great success.
At that moment, Lieutenant General Billoss continued speaking.
"The Criminal Investigation Department is gathering intelligence related to that organization, but so far it hasn't found anything."
He spoke in a low voice.
"So they want you to provide a detailed report on your search in Master Port. They also want me to remind you that—"
He looked at Luo Yi solemnly. "The one named Alan will be imprisoned on the fifth level of Impel Down. From now on, you must not mention any information about him."
"Until the existence of the organization called the Twelve Zodiacs is proven, all information concerning this matter will remain classified."
"Yes, sir!"
Luo Yi naturally had no objection.
He wasn't surprised by the Navy's judgment.
A single Rooster clearly wasn't enough to make the Navy truly believe that the Twelve Zodiacs existed.
As for that, he had already prepared his next move.
But what Luo Yi hadn't expected was this.
Just when he thought everything had settled down, Lieutenant General Billoss suddenly changed the subject.
"Besides that, there are two more things I want to tell you."
"The first concerns your mission this time. I've already reported your achievements to Sengoku."
As he spoke, he took something from inside his robe.
Luo Yi recognized it at a glance. It was the shoulder insignia exclusive to officers of colonel rank or above.
"The higher-ups believe that your willingness to serve as acting commander of Master Port was extremely courageous. The intelligence provided by the prisoner you escorted back is also very important—so, starting today."
"You are—Major Luo Yi!"
Before you continue