The Third Slot, Slice Clone!

The Light Screen that appeared before Luo Yi silently revealed one fact.

Yes—the young man easily captured by the G-51 Branch was actually named Alan, and he was even an Ability User.

Moreover,

"This Devil Fruit Ability."

Luo Yi had realized it the moment he saw the Devil Fruit Ability description.

Even among Devil Fruits, Alan's ability was exceptionally special.

"Its upper and lower limits are worlds apart."

"If an ordinary person ate it, its strength would be even inferior to that of an average Zoan Fruit."

"But if this ability were obtained by a powerful Haki user, its effects would be unbelievably strong!"

Just imagine if Marine Hero Garp or Hawk Eyes Mihawk, the world's greatest swordsman, ate this Devil Fruit.

Then every one of their Slice Clones would practically possess their full strength.

"Seven Vice Admiral Garps. How terrifying would that be? The Marines might as well change their name to the Garp Army."

The price of enhancing this Devil Fruit clearly lived up to its strength.

Its enhancement cost was also the highest among all the Devil Fruits Luo Yi had seen so far.

"What would you like to eat?"

Thus, while watching the analysis progress on the Light Screen, Luo Yi smiled at the young man in the cell before him. "My treat!"

"I-I'm not eating your food!"

Alan clearly had no idea of the countless thoughts that had just flashed through Luo Yi's mind. He only felt that this strange Marine before him was rather frightening.

And at that very moment, the sand in the hourglass ran out.

"All right, then."

Luo Yi rose casually. "I'll be leaving now."

He picked up the hourglass, tucked it into his pocket, and turned to leave.

However, when he reached the cabin door, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

"By the way, kid—you should know that even if most of the branch Marines have gone to the banquet, rescuing someone would still be extremely difficult. You could even say it's practically impossible, right?"

He turned his head slightly and asked softly.

".I told you, I don't understand what you're talking about!"

This time, Alan roared.

Yet it was difficult to say whether his roar held more anger or fear.

But one thing was certain.

His words might have contained fear, and they might have contained anger, but there was not the slightest trace of wavering.

Luo Yi smiled.

The brave always earned people's respect.

"Sir?"

After Luo Yi left the cabin where the temporary prison was located, the Marine soldier standing night watch on the deck looked puzzled.

"I'm a little tired. I'll go back and rest for now. Have someone take over my watch—remember to prepare some food and water for the prisoner, along with a blanket."

Luo Yi gave these instructions.

"Yes, sir!"

The Marine soldier hurriedly nodded.

After giving those instructions, Luo Yi silently returned to his room—a private room with a skylight located toward the rear of the deck.

As he entered the room, the system's notifications continued ringing in his ears.

[Paramecia · Slice-Slice Fruit has been added to the Fruit Encyclopedia, current level: LV1]

[Current encyclopedia fruit types: 19→20 (Paramecia—8, Zoan—7, Logia—4, Special Paramecia—0, Mythical Zoan—1)]

[The total number of recorded fruits has reached 20. You have obtained an additional "Fruit Slot."]

[Current number of Fruit Slots: 2→3]

[Current fruits in slots: Ox-Ox Fruit: Rhinoceros Form, Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit: Snow Hare Form, empty]

Listening to the unceasing notifications and watching the prompts flash across the Light Screen, the smile on Luo Yi's face grew wider and wider.

"This trip was worth it!"

He sighed with heartfelt satisfaction.

That was right.

After obtaining the Slice-Slice Fruit, the number of his Devil Fruits had finally reached twenty, successfully unlocking his third Fruit Slot.

To him, this improvement was anything but minor.

Of course, the most important thing was—

"The Slice-Slice Fruit. Its ability is extremely important to me! Extremely important!"

That was what made Luo Yi happiest at that moment.

As he had said before, the thing troubling him most right now was his identity.

He needed the identity and status of a Marine to protect himself, and he also needed the Marines' channels to accumulate Devil Fruit Abilities.

At the same time, however, he needed a huge—practically limitless—amount of money to help enhance his Devil Fruit Abilities.

The two were almost impossible to have together. In particular, nearly every way of earning a large amount of money in a short time was fraught with danger.

But now—

"Slice!"

Luo Yi whispered in his heart.

The next moment, the Slice-Slice Fruit was equipped in the newly appeared Fruit Slot, and then—

"Buzz!"

The muscles and skin on Luo Yi's body began to change continuously. His body seemed to start tearing apart at that moment.

Yet Luo Yi felt no pain.

He only felt that his body and consciousness were undergoing some indescribable changes.

The next second, a naked "Loi Amos" whose appearance was almost identical to his own suddenly appeared before him out of thin air.

At that moment, Luo Yi's strange sensation became even clearer.

He felt as if the body before him had become an extension of his own.

His consciousness seemed to have split into two parts, yet both parts remained under his control.

Even for Luo Yi, who possessed many Devil Fruit Abilities, this sensation was incredibly novel.

However, Luo Yi quickly recovered.

First, he took one of his usual outfits and put it on his clone. Although he was fairly well-endowed, seeing his own naked body still felt strange.

Then he controlled his Slice Clone and carefully sensed the changes in its body.

Then—

The corners of both Luos Yi's mouths began to rise at the same time.

"Just as I thought."

He murmured softly.

Then he controlled the Slice Clone's body and threw a punch.

"Boom!"

The tremendous force drove the air into producing a piercing whistle. One could even see faint white fur seemingly sprouting from the Slice Clone's arm.

That was Snow Hare fur!

That was right.

"The Devil Fruit Abilities cut out by the Slice-Slice Fruit are perfect 'copies.'"

"Even the Devil Fruit Abilities themselves!"

Luo Yi had already guessed this while in the prison.

After all, Alan inside the prison was clearly a Slice Clone, yet his Fruit Encyclopedia could analyze the Devil Fruit Ability from him.

That was enough to show that Slice Clones created by the Slice-Slice Fruit most likely copied the Devil Fruit Ability along with the person. The only issue was that the copied Slice-Slice Fruit Ability could no longer be used again.

For most other people, this trait was meaningless.

After all, so what if they discovered that the Slice-Slice Fruit could copy Devil Fruits?

Aside from Blackbeard, that freak, ordinary people in this world could only eat one Devil Fruit.

But Luo Yi's situation was clearly different.

For example, right now—

"This clone of mine also possesses the abilities of the Snow Rabbit Fruit and the Great Rhinoceros Fruit!"

"The only flaw is that the Slice-Slice Fruit itself occupies one of the clone's slots and cannot be freely replaced. This means the clone has one fewer Devil Fruit Ability than my main body, but that's still more than enough!"

Luo Yi understood how significant this discovery was to him.

It meant that the dilemma he had faced until now had finally found a solution.

From today onward, he could continue staying in the Marines and steadily obtain Devil Fruit Abilities.

His other clones, meanwhile, could go after the astronomical number of Bellies required to enhance the Fruit Encyclopedia, without needing to worry about the means!

For example, he had a very bold idea right now.

"So, the first step is to conceal my identity."

Luo Yi muttered softly as his gaze swept across the room.

Soon, he spotted an object inside.

It was a mask placed beside the storage cabinet in the corner of the room.

The mask looked like a rooster, and it was incredibly lifelike.

Luo Yi naturally remembered what it was.

It was a gift Hans had brought back for him after returning to his hometown in the South Blue two years earlier.

"This is our South Blue's unique Sea Beast Mask, made from iron ore produced in the South Blue—"

According to Hans's confident explanation, this item was one of the South Blue's most famous specialties. It could be found everywhere in the many kingdoms of the South Blue and even in the kingdoms throughout the Grand Line, and was renowned for being sturdy, fitting snugly against the face, and difficult to damage.

Of course, Luo Yi later learned from Fal, who refused to reveal his name, that although the mask was indeed a South Blue specialty, Hans's main reason for buying it as a souvenir was that it was cheap.

Thus, the next day, Hans was ordered to stand night watch for half a month because he had stepped onto the deck with his left foot first. The mask, meanwhile, had been casually tossed into the corner of Luo Yi's room ever since.

But now—

Luo Yi picked up the mask and casually tossed it to his Slice Clone.

After the clone put on the mask and changed into his usual clothes, Luo Yi repeatedly checked him over. Not the slightest facial or physical feature could be made out.

Only then did he nod in satisfaction.

"Then... let's begin!"