Heavenly Gold? Slicing Fruit!

No effort was needed; Roy quickly and smoothly arrived inside the G-51 Headquarters.

He arrived before the office with the nameplate 'Branch Manager - Captain Aster', and the enhanced hearing granted by the Snow Rabbit Devil Fruit allowed him to hear the voices inside.

"Captain, we're really troubling you this time!"

One voice said.

The other voice laughed heartily: "Steward Mantar, what are you saying? Our G-51 branch has always been taken care of by your Kingdom of Nysmal; helping you solve problems is our duty!"

"It's different—the care from your branch is His Majesty the King's intention; I am expressing my gratitude on my own behalf, after all, this payment is part of the 'Celestial Tribute' to be offered to the World Government."

I heard you sold quite a few good items in Sabaody this time and even obtained a precious Devil Fruit?

"Yes—so you helped us capture that pirate and allowed us to temporarily store the treasure in the branch, and you will also escort us in a few days; these are all great favors, you must accept this!"

"Oh, no, I can't—how could I be so impolite?"

Roy: "."

I'm just saying, could you guys keep it down when accepting bribes?

In broad daylight. So shameless!

But without a doubt, the content of the conversation made Roy somewhat concerned.

"Heavenly Gold's part, and... a Devil Fruit?"

Muttering to himself, Roy pushed open the office door.

Then, as expected, he saw a corpulent, extravagantly dressed fat man stuffing a jewel ring that looked very expensive into the pocket of the Marine in front of him.

The burly Marine strongman in front of him initially refused but eventually relented, seemingly overpowered and taken advantage of.

But at this moment, Roy, who pushed open the door, obviously interrupted this good show.

"Who are you!?"

So, the manager of the G-51 branch, Captain Aster, looked at Roy with surprise and uncertainty.

"Naval Headquarters Detention Unit Lieutenant Roy Amos, here to receive the prisoner by order of Headquarters!"

Roy reported his name with an unchanged expression.

"Detention forces?"

Captain Aster quickly straightened his face: "I am Aster, this is Mantar, the steward of the Kingdom of Nysmal, the victim of this attacked merchant ship!"

As he introduced, the fat man nodded at Roy with a smile.

"Lieutenant Roy, I believe you should also know—tonight, I will be hosting a banquet at the branch; perhaps you would be willing to grace us with your presence."

He said this, but Roy didn't even glance at him; instead, he ignored him and looked at Captain Aster: "Captain, I'm here to transfer the prisoner—my time is tight, please lead the way."

"."

Regarding Roy's obviously cold attitude, Captain Aster and Steward Mantar both frowned, obviously displeased.

After a moment, Captain Aster nodded indifferently: "Since Lieutenant Roy is in such a hurry... let's go then."

He snorted coldly, then led Roy to the branch's prison.

Inside the prison, Roy indeed successfully saw the 'pirate' who claimed to attack the Kingdom of Nysmal's merchant ship.

It was a young man covered in blood.

He was probably less than twenty years old, very thin, with bandages wrapped around his limbs and torso, looking very miserable, and obviously had experienced quite cruel torture.

But when Roy and Captain Aster walked into the prison, his eyes were still sharp, and he gritted his teeth without saying a word.

"This is the guy."

Captain Aster glanced at him and said casually.

"We've already investigated, but we couldn't find this guy's bounty; he's probably a rookie pirate from some small island—but he's very stubborn, refusing to say his name no matter what."

"His strength is also very weak; I don't know where he got the courage to rob a merchant ship of a World Government member country."

He spat and said disdainfully.

In this world, there would naturally be no household registration system or ID cards.

Except for some major powers or prosperous countries, most of the common people in ordinary countries or islands are essentially unregistered.

Therefore, investigating the identities of pirates has always been a difficult problem. Apart from some famous pirates who have already made a name for themselves at sea, ordinary small pirates are often not investigated for their identities and origins.

But obviously, Captain Aster didn't care either.

"The handover procedures have been completed—you can take him away at any time."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at Roy again and left directly.

Before leaving, Roy's hearing also seemed to faintly pick up Captain Aster's complaints such as "doesn't know how to appreciate favors," "stubborn guy," "just a lieutenant," and "Confinement Unit," and so on.

However, Roy no longer had any extra attention to care about Captain Aster's complaints.

At this time, he was just staring at the young criminal in the prison, a strong surprise flashing in his eyes.

But then, he forcibly suppressed the surprise in his heart and turned to the Marine at the prison door, saying, "Let's hand him over immediately."

Soon after, Roy returned to his warship with the young pirate who stubbornly refused to give his name.

"Hans, Fal—notify headquarters that we've received the criminal and are returning, same as always. I'll personally take the first watch."

Roy instructed Hans and Fal, then took the criminal alone into the warship's temporary cage.

After sitting down on the familiar sofa, Roy casually took out an hourglass and placed it on the table.

His eyes remained fixed on the young man in the prison, without saying a word.

That gaze made the young man's skin crawl.

"What are you looking at?"

He growled, like a wounded beast.

But to his surprise, Roy didn't beat him like the previous Marines had, but smiled.

"What's your relationship with the slaves on the merchant ship?"

Roy's first words made the young man tremble.

"What... what are you talking about? I don't understand!"

He finally recovered after a moment, saying this.

Roy clearly didn't care about the young man's answer, and simply continued, "Let me sort this out."

"You sent a warning letter in advance, telling them you were going to rob them, to scare them into docking at the G-51 branch?"

"Then you went ashore and got caught by them, so they would naturally lower their guard—and they certainly did, tonight's banquet is proof of that."

"The merchant ship's treasure has already been transferred to the branch, so no one would think your real target is those worthless slaves left to be sold on the merchant ship."

As Roy said this, he saw the young man trembling all over.

"You... you're talking nonsense."

He tried to deny Roy's words, but his voice was already hoarse.

At this moment, the shock in his heart was unprecedented.

He didn't understand.

Why could this Marine speak his entire plan? He didn't understand where he had been exposed.

"I... I'm locked up here, how could I possibly go save any slaves—Marine, kill me or do whatever you want, but don't say things I don't understand!"

His voice was almost stuttering.

But upon hearing this, the smile on Roy's face grew even wider.

"Yes, you're right—you're here, being sent onto my warship in broad daylight. No one would suspect you."

"That's the most brilliant and useful part."

Roy said.

His gaze remained fixed on the young pirate.

But in his eyes.

The illusory light screen silently revealed the whole truth.

[Devil Fruit User 'Alan (Slice Clone)' Discovered]

[Devil Fruit Confirmed as 'Paramecia·Slice-Slice Fruit', Analyzing and Storing to 'Fruit Encyclopedia']

[Fruit Ability - Can create 'Slice Clones' that are completely identical to the current state of the user, but the clones cannot be sliced again]

[Note: Slice Clones share consciousness and memory with the main body. Clones cannot be restored after death, and the main body will suffer some damage]

[The main body can recover clones or refresh their status by touching them]

[All clones will disappear simultaneously upon the main body's death]

[Effects at Each Level]

[LV1: Gains Weak Fruit Effect, Can Create One Slice Clone]

[LV2: Gains Partial Fruit Effect, Can Create Three Slice Clones, Requires 500 Million Belly to Unlock]

[LV3: Gains Full Fruit Effect, Can Create Seven Slice Clones, Requires 3 Billion Belly to Unlock]

[LV4: Fruit Deeply Developed, Can Create Twelve Slice Clones, Main Body Can Swap Positions with Any Slice Clone at Any Time, Can Recover and Resummon Slice Clones Regardless of Distance, Requires 6 Billion Belly to Unlock]

[LV5: Fruit Awakening - Endless Slices, In Addition to the Twelve Basic Clones, Can Create an Unlimited Number of Weakened Slice Clones, But Each Slice Clone Only Possesses a Small Portion of the Main Body's Power, Requires 12 Billion Belly to Unlock]

[Analysis Progress: 21%]