Promoted to Major?

"Promoted to Major?"

Of course, Loi Amos was pleasantly surprised by Vice Admiral Billoss's words.

Within the Navy, the rank of Major was actually a dividing line.

An officer of lieutenant rank—in other words, even a captain like him—was essentially still a low-ranking officer.

He could only lead the action squad under his command, namely Detention Unit 35th Squad, when carrying out missions. In essence, he had the authority to execute orders, but not to command.

Colonel-rank officers, however, were different.

Starting at the rank of Major, he could have his name engraved on a warship and possess one exclusively assigned to him.

He would also have a certain degree of command and decision-making authority, the power to appoint and dismiss his subordinates, the ability to issue some combat orders himself, access to certain high-level documents, participation in command discussions for classified operations, and even the authority to mobilize local naval forces to assist him.

This could also be seen from the salary. A captain earned around 300,000 Belly a month, while a Major's salary would soar to 500,000 Belly a month.

That was why it took Loi quite some time to come back to his senses.

"So that's how it is!?"

Then he suddenly understood why Smoker had abruptly given up on taking him as his adjutant.

He had been promoted to Major, and according to regulations, he could no longer serve as the adjutant of Smoker's future branch.

"Old man, you've really... done me a huge favor!"

Thus, Loi spoke sincerely.

"Hahahaha, it was nothing, nothing!"

Vice Admiral Billoss laughed heartily. "I promised I'd put in a good word for you, boy. If I couldn't even fulfill a promise to my subordinate, I'd have retired long ago!"

"But, boy, you're a Major now, so I've already signed you up for the All-Army Martial Arts Tournament. You don't object, do you?"

"Of course not."

Loi was stunned at first, but then nodded.

Now that he knew Vice Admiral Billoss would retire after the All-Army Martial Arts Tournament, he would certainly participate.

He was determined to obtain the position of Detention Unit commander.

"Good. That's the spirit. It's rare to see you take something so seriously."

Seeing this, Vice Admiral Billoss nodded in satisfaction. "Now that looks more like it. You were so listless before, without any vigor at all!"

But then his tone suddenly changed. "However, I have to remind you. As I said earlier, because of this incident, the World Government thinks our Navy has been extremely incompetent."

"So, to restore military discipline, this year's All-Army Martial Arts Tournament may be different from before. The difficulty could be much higher."

He looked solemnly at Loi. "Your strength isn't bad, but you still have shortcomings. So I contacted an old friend and asked him to give you special training during these final few months."

"An old friend? Special training?"

Loi frowned slightly at that.

He did not think he needed any special training.

"Exactly!"

Vice Admiral Billoss said seriously, "He's an incredible fellow, and he hasn't taught anyone for quite some time. He should contact you soon. Learn from him properly, boy."

He patted Loi on the shoulder.

Seeing that the Vice Admiral already looked as though he was saying, "The future belongs to you," Loi could only nod helplessly. "All right, then."

"Good! Go back and prepare properly."

With that, Vice Admiral Billoss waved his hand and casually took his beloved skewer of dumplings from the drawer.

Loi naturally had no intention of disturbing his superior's afternoon tea. He obediently turned and left.

However.

"Vice Admiral Billoss's old friend, an extremely powerful person. Hmm, there are only a few likely candidates, and it isn't hard to guess what he wants me to train in at the last minute."

As he walked out of Tenshukaku, Loi already had a rough idea.

But clearly, this matter was not particularly important to him.

What truly mattered was—

"I need to create the next Slice Clone as soon as possible, continue acquiring Belly, and establish the existence of the Twelve Zodiacs."

"Otherwise, I stood out quite a bit during this incident, and I might attract attention."

Loi pondered inwardly.

"The only problem now is..."

His gaze fell forward.

The contents displayed on the illusory Light Screen were exceptionally clear.

[Fruit Encyclopedia]

[Holder: Loi Amos]

[Current types of Encyclopedia Fruits: 21 (Paramecia—8, Zoan—8, Logia—4, Special Paramecia—0, Mythical Zoan—1)]

[Number of Fruit Slots: 3]

[Fruits currently in slots: Glimmer-Glimmer Fruit LV2, Dragon Dragon Fruit: Pterodactyl Form LV3, Strong-Strong Fruit]

[Current Belly: 5.1376 billion]

"Which fruits should I strengthen?"

Loi sank into the blissful agony of choice.

Yes.

During his previous operation to seize the Celestial Gold, he had ultimately chosen to spend 400 million Belly strengthening one of the Logia fruits he possessed: the Glimmer-Glimmer Fruit.

The LV2 Glimmer-Glimmer Fruit allowed him to partially elementalize his body, while granting him incredible speed and the devastating power of lasers. In his opinion, it was an exceptionally suitable Logia ability to pair with the Pterodactyl Fruit.

And the facts had proven that this enhancement was necessary.

When facing Commodore Lan Li's strongest sword strike ever, it was precisely this ability that allowed Rooster to survive.

"Logia fruits are naturally countered by Haki, but that only means they can be attacked. During elementalization, methods like decapitation or piercing the heart can't instantly kill the user."

"Combined with the powerful Life Force of an Ancient Zoan, it's practically a perfect combination."

Loi sighed inwardly at how suitable his fruit combination was.

But the current problem was simple enough.

"First, I'll spend 500 million Belly to strengthen the Slice-Slice Fruit to LV2. That will let me split off two additional clones. This expense is unavoidable."

"The question is what to strengthen next."

Loi understood perfectly.

The 5 billion Belly he currently possessed sounded like a tremendous amount.

But before the enormous money-eating beast that was the Fruit Encyclopedia, it was still insufficient.

He could strengthen several fruits to LV2, or strengthen the Dragon Dragon Fruit to LV4. He could also strengthen several Logia fruits to LV3.

The differences in price and ability between the various fruits created countless possible choices.

"Coo, coo!"

Just as Loi was thinking, he heard a sound above his head.

He instinctively looked up and saw a seagull wearing a postal hat throwing down a stack of newspapers.

"Oh? A newspaper from the World Economic News Agency?"

Loi caught the newspapers and opened them.

Sure enough, the wanted poster for Rooster, which he had just seen, fell out from among the papers, while the incident on Arashit Island naturally occupied the headlines.

But Loi was not concerned about that. The Navy had put a bounty on the criminal Rooster. What did that have to do with Major Loi?

At that moment, his gaze immediately went to a relatively inconspicuous section of the newspaper.

[Alabasta has gone without rain for seven consecutive months; abnormal climate draws attention]

"...Oh?"

Loi raised an eyebrow.

"I think I know which fruit I should strengthen."

Muttering to himself, Loi quickened his pace and soon returned to the Detention Unit dormitory.

After closing the door, Loi continued considering his plans.

"But did I forget something?"

As the bright moon rose high and the night deepened, Loi scratched his head and muttered under his breath.

However, he soon cast aside this small doubt.

He continued to busy himself.

And Loi had naturally forgotten all about it.

At that moment, on the Detention Unit Training Ground—

"Why isn't the boss here yet?"

In the night, Hans stood alone, shivering from the cold.

"Wasn't he going to beat me up? Did he forget?"

"Maybe I should go back first. No, if the boss finds out I went back, I'm finished—Achoo! It's so cold."

One week after Hans caught a cold from training through the night—

Alabasta, Elma.

This city, located on the southwestern coast of Alabasta beside the Sandora River, had once been called the City of Oasis because of its prosperity.

Recently, however, an uneasy atmosphere had spread throughout the city.

Seven months—an entire seven months—and not a single drop of rain had fallen in Elma.

The Sandora River, which had once flowed tirelessly and nourished both banks, had now fallen to its lowest water level in history. Even obtaining water for Elma had become a huge problem.

"The price of water keeps rising. I hear even the groundwater is beginning to dry up."

In the southern part of Elma, Aha wiped the sweat from his brow and looked at the large vat before him, which was nearly empty.

"What exactly is going on?"

He was extremely anxious.

As a country whose territory was mostly desert, the people of Alabasta had certainly witnessed droughts before.

But this drought, which seemed capable of sucking the land dry, was something he had never encountered.

"Don't worry. King Aha Cobra will definitely think of a solution."

Beside him, his wife, who was holding their daughter, comforted her husband.

"King Cobra? I heard it's still raining normally in Alubarna."

Aha barely managed to scoop up a mouthful of water from the vat and handed it to his wife and daughter as he spoke.

"The situation in Yuba Oasis to the north is even worse. People have already begun fleeing. If the king had a solution, he would have thought of it already."

He felt deeply uneasy.

Although there was no definite proof, rumors had recently begun circulating in Elma.

They said that the king had used certain forbidden means to ensure that rain fell in the capital, causing every other part of the kingdom to receive not a single drop.

Aha did not really believe it. After all, King Cobra had always been renowned for his wisdom and benevolence. But—

"This can't go on."

Looking at the dazzling blue sky, Aha murmured.

But at that exact moment—

"Hm?"

The corner of Aha's eye caught sight of something in the distance.

At the far end of the desert outside the city, a solitary figure was slowly approaching.

The distance was still great, making the figure appear somewhat blurred.

But Aha could clearly see the scene around that figure.

"..."

Almost instinctively, Aha rubbed his eyes. He could not believe what he was seeing.

Only when the figure drew closer did he confirm that it was not an illusion.

At that moment, directly above the figure's head—

Dark-gray rain clouds were continuously forming and gathering.

The clouds were not high, as though they had appeared out of thin air.

Within those clouds, a clearly visible curtain of water shrouded the figure like a heavenly pillar falling from the sky!

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

As the figure drew closer, Aha could almost hear the sound.

It was the sound all the people of Elma had longed for.

It was rain—torrential rain.

"That person... that person... is he a god?"

At that moment, this thought almost instinctively rose in Aha's heart.

But in the next instant, he came back to his senses.

"Quick! Zina, get the basins and vats! Bring out everything in the house, all of it!"

Seeing the approaching downpour, he hurriedly called out to his wife.

"Okay!"

After his wife hurried off to fetch containers for the water—

Aha took a deep breath and turned back toward the figure.

The figure was now very close.

Thus, Aha could see the other person's appearance.

He wore a dark robe that concealed his figure.

But Aha could see that he was wearing a mask on his head.

Aha recognized that kind of mask—the Sea Beast Mask, a specialty of the South Blue. They were said to be available everywhere, and could even be custom-made.

In a great country like Alabasta, and a major city like Elma, they were not considered rare.

But in that torrential downpour, the mask gave Aha a sense of boundless majesty and mystery.

It was a... Dragon Head Mask!