Hearing the system's string of notifications,
Roya was overjoyed!
He had never expected to gain so much from coming to Impel Down.
Not only had he obtained the Venom-Venom Fruit power, but his other training projects had also been spurred into training even harder.
Especially his Conqueror's Haki, which had finally activated tenfold training speed.
Roya's Conqueror's Haki was already at the advanced stage, and now that its training speed had increased tenfold, he believed it would soon break through to the top-level stage.
Once his Conqueror's Haki broke through to the top-level stage, it would mean his strength had risen to another level.
"Magellan, now that Ace's imprisonment has been confirmed, I'll be heading back first." Roya said his goodbyes.
Since his goal had been achieved, he had no desire to remain here any longer.
"Alright." Magellan nodded.
Watching Roya's departing back, Magellan fell into deep thought. In his view, with Roya's strength, the seas would surely be stirred by new waves again in the future.
After leaving Impel Down and returning to the Warship,
Roya arranged for their return to Marine Headquarters. At the very least, he needed to report to Sengoku.
Inside the cabin,
Roya still had a question. "System, you said I already have the Dark-Dark Fruit power, and now I've gained the Venom-Venom Fruit power too. Don't they conflict?"
After all, in the world of One Piece, each person could only eat one Devil Fruit.
[Ding! Host, what you have obtained are merely the corresponding powers. The side effects of the fruits do not exist, and conflicts between fruit powers are also one of those side effects.]
"So that's how it is!" Roya nodded.
Immediately afterward, Roya began to sense the newly acquired Venom-Venom Fruit power. It truly was quite exquisite, and he could feel that after obtaining the Venom-Venom Fruit power, he had also gained immunity to poison.
After all, he could now be considered a master of poison!
At the same time,
The system's voice rang out.
[Ding! Your Dark-Dark Fruit power feels that the Venom-Venom Fruit power has been training far too diligently and has been greatly stimulated.] [The Dark-Dark Fruit power refuses to be outdone and has resolved to train even harder!] [Ding! Congratulations, Host. The Dark-Dark Fruit power's automatic training speed has increased fivefold!]
Well, damn!
He had never expected the Dark-Dark Fruit power to be stimulated as well.
That was good too. The time required for the Dark-Dark Fruit power to advance would be greatly reduced!
Several hours later, Roya successfully returned to Marine Headquarters.
Inside the Fleet Admiral's office at Marine Headquarters,
Roya had arrived and informed Sengoku that Fire Fist Ace had been imprisoned in Extreme Hell.
Besides that,
Roya also told him everything about his previous conflict with Blackbeard and how he had defeated Blackbeard.
Of course, except for the matter of the one billion Beli.
"Good, Roya. You did very well!" Fleet Admiral Sengoku praised Roya.
Sengoku's praise was not merely for Roya successfully completing the mission and imprisoning Fire Fist Ace in Impel Down. More importantly, it was recognition of Roya's strength.
After all, Blackbeard had defeated Fire Fist Ace. Since Roya had been able to defeat Blackbeard, his strength had far exceeded Sengoku's expectations.
"Roya, you performed excellently on this mission. I'm certain you'll be capable of handling the next one as well." Sengoku said with a smile and a nod.
"Originally, this mission should have been carried out by at least a Vice Admiral."
"However, news of Fire Fist Ace's capture has spread, making the situation in the New World extremely tense. At present, the three Admirals and most of the Vice Admirals have been assigned to monitor the movements of the Four Emperors."
"At the same time, you understand that Fire Fist Ace is the second division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates. Whitebeard definitely will not let his capture go so easily. It's even possible that we Marines will clash head-on with the Whitebeard Pirates."
"That is also why we agreed to grant Blackbeard the title of Shichibukai."
"Once he becomes a Shichibukai, he must answer our summons and become part of our fighting force!"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku explained.
In truth, Roya understood all of this, but since Sengoku wanted to explain, he simply listened and nodded along.
"Therefore,"
Fleet Admiral Sengoku continued, "to oppose Whitebeard of the Four Emperors, we still need the strength of the Shichibukai. The Vice Admirals remaining at headquarters have already set out to summon the Shichibukai. Your next mission is to go to Dressrosa Island in the New World and summon one of the Shichibukai, Donquixote Doflamingo!"
"No problem." Roya nodded in agreement.
"Since there's no problem, set out immediately." Sengoku nodded before adding a special warning. "Be careful. Doflamingo is a very troublesome man to deal with, and he's extremely strong!"
Roya answered, then turned and left.
He was actually rather surprised.
During his conversation with Sengoku just now, Sengoku had not mentioned the one billion Beli even once.
Could it be that Sengoku did not know?
Impossible. Blackbeard Teach had been sent back to Marine Headquarters at the time, and so many Marines had accompanied Roya there. How could Sengoku not know about the one billion Beli?
Then why had he not mentioned it at all?
Clearly, Sengoku had tacitly approved of what he had done. Perhaps it was a form of reward.
One billion Beli is an enormous sum for an individual, but it's nothing much to the Marines. Roya thought to himself. I can find opportunities to build up my personal wealth later.
Not long after Roya left, a Rear Admiral in the Fleet Admiral's meeting room voiced his concerns to Sengoku. "Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Doflamingo has recently been getting very close to Kaido of the Four Emperors. Moreover, he has always refused to obey Marine orders. Will there be any problems if Rear Admiral Roya goes alone?"
"Yes, I have heard about Doflamingo as well. It is indeed a troublesome matter. But this time, Roya is delivering a summons from the World Government. He is capable of handling it!" Sengoku once again expressed his confidence in Roya.
Perhaps when Garp had first recommended Roya to him,
Sengoku, as Fleet Admiral, had been somewhat distrustful.
But after Roya's performances these past few times, especially his defeat of Blackbeard, as well as his performance in Impel Down, which Sengoku had also received reports about,
Sengoku was now fully convinced that Roya was the best person for this mission.
A short while later, at the port of Marine Headquarters,
Roya's Warship set sail once more. This time, it would enter the New World and head for Dressrosa Island!
Several days later,
Somewhere in the New World,
"Rear Admiral Roya, we're about to arrive at Dressrosa Island."
"However..."
A Marine soldier rushed in, panting as he reported.
"However what?" Roya asked.
"We... we discovered a pirate ship at Dressrosa Island's port!" the Marine soldier said nervously.
"It's just a pirate ship. What's there to make such a fuss about?" Roya was speechless. As Marines from headquarters, had they never even seen a pirate ship before?
"That pirate ship is rather special. It belongs to Jack the Drought!"
Jack the Drought's ship?
One of Kaido's Three Calamities, Jack the Drought?
"Interesting."
A faint smile curled across Roya's lips.
Before you continue