Without much effort, Luo Yi soon made his way into the G-51 Headquarters.
When he arrived outside the office marked "Branch Director—Colonel Aster,"
the hearing granted by the Snow Rabbit Fruit let him hear the voices inside.
"Colonel, I really must trouble you this time!"
one of the voices said.
The other voice laughed heartily. "Manager Mantar, what are you saying? Our G-51 branch has always received your country's support. Helping you resolve a little trouble is only right!"
"That's not the same—the support your branch receives is His Majesty's intention. I'm expressing my personal gratitude to you. After all, part of this payment is going toward the World Government's 'Celestial Gold.'"
"I heard that you sold quite a lot of good merchandise at Sabaody this time, and even obtained a precious Devil Fruit?"
"That's right—and that's why you helped us capture that pirate, allowed us to store our treasure temporarily at the branch, and will even escort us in a few days. These are enormous favors, so you absolutely must accept this!"
"Oh, I couldn't possibly—how embarrassing."
Luo Yi: "..."
Could you at least lower your voice while accepting a bribe?
In broad daylight, too. Shameless.
However, the content of the conversation had undeniably caught Luo Yi's attention.
"Part of the Celestial Gold, and... a Devil Fruit?"
Muttering inwardly, Luo Yi pushed open the office door.
Sure enough, he saw a fat man in luxurious clothing stuffing an obviously expensive gemstone ring into the pocket of the Marine in front of him.
The burly Marine before him, with bulging muscles all over his body, was refusing again and again, but it seemed that he would ultimately be unable to resist the other man's strength and would have to accept it.
However, Luo Yi's arrival clearly interrupted the good show.
"Who are you!?"
The manager of the G-51 branch, Colonel Aster, immediately looked at Luo Yi suspiciously.
"Luo Amos, Lieutenant of the Marine Headquarters Detention Unit. I've been ordered by Headquarters to receive the prisoner!"
Luo Yi announced his identity without changing expression.
"Detention Unit?"
Colonel Aster hurriedly straightened up. "I'm Aster, and this is Manager Mantar of the Kingdom of Nysmal, the victim of this attack on a merchant ship!"
As he introduced them, the fat man also smiled and nodded at Luo Yi.
"Lieutenant Luo, I'm sure you've heard—we're hosting a banquet at the branch tonight. Perhaps you'd be willing to honor us with your presence?"
Although he said this, Luo Yi did not even glance at him. He simply ignored him and looked at Colonel Aster. "Colonel, I'm here to complete the prisoner transfer. I'm pressed for time, so please lead the way."
"..."
Luo Yi's obviously cold attitude made both Colonel Aster and Manager Mantar frown, clearly displeased.
Only after a moment did Colonel Aster coldly nod. "Since Lieutenant Luo is in such a hurry... let's go."
He snorted, then led Luo Yi toward the branch prison.
Inside the prison, Luo Yi soon saw the "pirate" who had supposedly threatened to attack the Nysmal Kingdom's merchant ship.
He was a blood-covered young man.
He was probably under twenty years old and extremely thin. Bandages wrapped around all four limbs and his torso, making him look utterly miserable. Clearly, he had endured brutally harsh torture.
Yet when Luo Yi and Colonel Aster entered the cell, his gaze remained sharp. He gritted his teeth and said nothing.
"This is the fellow."
Colonel Aster glanced at him and spoke casually.
"We investigated him, but couldn't find a bounty notice. He's probably a rookie pirate from some unknown little island. His mouth is pretty tough, though. He refuses to give us his name no matter what."
"His strength is weak too. I don't know where he got the nerve to rob a merchant ship belonging to a World Government-affiliated nation."
He spat and said disdainfully.
Naturally, this world had no household registration system or identification cards.
Aside from some major powers and prosperous countries, the lower-class citizens of most ordinary nations and islands were essentially undocumented.
As a result, investigating pirates' identities had always been a major problem. Except for notorious pirates who had already made names for themselves at sea, no one usually bothered investigating the origins of ordinary small-time pirates.
But clearly, Colonel Aster did not care.
"The transfer procedures are complete. You can take him away whenever you like."
After saying this, he shot Luo Yi another glance and turned to leave.
Before leaving, Luo Yi's enhanced hearing let him vaguely hear Colonel Aster muttering complaints such as "ungrateful," "stubborn bastard," "just a lieutenant," and "Detention Unit."
But Luo Yi no longer had any attention to spare for Colonel Aster's complaints.
At that moment, he was staring fixedly at the young criminal in the cell, intense delight flashing through his eyes.
But he forcibly suppressed his excitement, turned to the Marine standing by the cell door, and said, "Complete the transfer immediately."
Not long afterward, Luo Yi brought the young pirate, who refused to reveal his name no matter what, back aboard his own warship.
"Hans, Fal—notify Headquarters that we've received the prisoner and are returning. Same as usual. I'll personally take the first watch over this fellow."
After giving Hans and Fal those instructions, Luo Yi took the prisoner alone into the warship's temporary cell.
After sitting down on the familiar sofa, Luo Yi casually took out an hourglass and placed it on the table.
His gaze remained fixed on the young man in the cell, and he said nothing.
"..."
That stare made the young man's hair stand on end.
"What are you looking at?"
He barked the question, like a wounded beast.
But he had not expected Luo Yi to smile after hearing him, instead of beating him viciously like the Marines before him.
"What's your relationship with the slaves on the merchant ship?"
The first thing Luo Yi said made the young man tremble all over.
"W-what are you talking about? I don't understand!"
Only after a moment did he recover and say this.
Luo Yi clearly did not care about the young man's answer. He simply continued on his own. "Let me sort this out."
"You sent them a warning letter in advance, telling them that you would rob them, so they would panic and voluntarily dock at the G-51 branch?"
"Then you showed up and let them capture you. Naturally, they lowered their guard—and in fact, they really did. Tonight's banquet is proof."
"The merchant ship's treasure has already been transferred to the branch, so no one would suspect that your true target was the remaining slaves on the merchant ship, the ones they couldn't sell and considered worthless."
By the time Luo Yi finished speaking, he saw that the young man was already trembling all over.
"W-what nonsense are you spouting?"
He still tried to deny Luo Yi's words, but his voice had already grown hoarse.
Yet the shock in his heart was unprecedented.
He didn't understand.
He didn't understand how the Marine before him could describe his entire plan. He didn't understand where he had exposed himself.
"I-I'm locked up here by you. How could I possibly go rescue any slaves? Marine, kill me or torture me as you please, but stop saying things I don't understand!"
His voice had nearly become incoherent.
But upon hearing this, the smile on Luo Yi's face grew even broader.
"Yes, you're right—you're here, sent aboard my warship in full view of everyone. No one will suspect you."
"That's the most brilliant and most useful part."
Luo Yi said this.
His gaze remained fixed on the young pirate.
But in his eyes,
the illusory Light Screen silently revealed the entire truth.
[Devil Fruit user 'Alan (Slice Clone)' discovered] [Devil Fruit confirmed as 'Paramecia: Slice-Slice Fruit.' Analyzing and storing it in the 'Fruit Encyclopedia'] [Devil Fruit Ability—Can create 'Slice Clones' that are completely identical to the user's current state, but the clones cannot be sliced again] [Note: Slice Clones share consciousness and memories with the original. Once a clone dies, it cannot be restored, and the original will suffer a certain degree of damage] [The original can recover clones or refresh their states by touching them] [After the original dies, all clones will disappear simultaneously] [Effects by level] [LV1: Gains a weak Fruit Effect and can create one Slice Clone] [LV2: Gains part of the Fruit Effect and can create three Slice Clones. Requires 500 million Belly to unlock] [LV3: Gains the full Fruit Effect and can create seven Slice Clones. Requires 3 billion Belly to unlock] [LV4: Deep Fruit development. Can create twelve Slice Clones. The original can instantly exchange positions with any Slice Clone at any time, recover and resummon Slice Clones regardless of distance. Requires 6 billion Belly to unlock] [LV5: Fruit Awakening—Endless Slicing. In addition to the twelve basic clones, can create unlimited weakened Slice Clones, but each Slice Clone possesses only a small portion of the original's power. Requires 12 billion Belly to unlock] [Analysis progress: 21%]
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