Chapter 7: The Third Slot, and the Slice-Clone!
The glowing screen that appeared in front of Roy silently explained one fact.
Yes—the young man who had been so easily captured by the G-51 Branch, whose real name was 'Alan,' was a Devil Fruit user.
And...
"This fruit ability..."
The moment Roy saw the ability's description, he realized it.
Even among Devil Fruits, Alan's ability was exceptionally special.
"The gap between its floor and its ceiling is massive."
"If a normal person ate it, it would be even weaker than a standard Zoan fruit."
"But if this ability was obtained by a powerful Haki user, the effect would be unbelievably broken!"
Just imagine, what if Marine Hero Garp or the World's Strongest Swordsman, 'Hawkeye' Mihawk, ate this fruit?
Every single one of their Slice-Clones would be equivalent to their full strength.
"Seven Vice Admiral Garps... That's terrifying. They might as well just rename the Marines the 'Garp Army'."
And the fruit's upgrade price clearly reflected that strength.
It was, by far, the most expensive Devil Fruit upgrade cost Roy had seen.
"Want something to eat?"
At this moment, Roy, still watching the analysis progress on the screen, smiled at the young man in the cell. "My treat!"
"I... I'm not eating your food!"
Alan, obviously, had no idea about the thoughts that had just been racing through Roy's mind. He just felt that this bizarre, muttering Marine was... kind of terrifying.
And right at that moment, the last grain of sand in the hourglass ran out.
"Alright."
Roy stood up casually. "Well, I'll be going then."
He picked up the hourglass, slipped it into his pocket, and turned to leave.
But just as he reached the door of the hold, his footsteps suddenly stopped.
"By the way, kid," he said, turning his head slightly, "you should know... even with most of the branch Marines at that banquet, the difficulty of you rescuing those people is... well, it's pretty much impossible, right?"
"...I told you, I don't know what you're talking about!"
This time, Alan's voice was a roar.
But it was hard to tell if that roar was made of more anger, or more fear.
One thing, however, was certain.
While his voice might hold fear and anger, it held absolutely no hesitation.
Roy smiled.
The brave are always worthy of respect.
"Captain?"
When Roy stepped out of the temporary brig, the Marine standing watch on the night shift looked at him with a confused expression.
"I'm a bit tired, going to rest. Have someone relieve me," Roy said. "And remember to get the prisoner some food and water. And a blanket."
"Yes, sir!"
The Marine quickly nodded in acknowledgment.
After giving the instructions, Roy walked back to his own quarters—a private room with a skylight, located at the stern of the ship.
The moment he entered the room, the system's notifications were still ringing in his ear.
[Paramecia-type · Slice-Slice Fruit has been added to the Fruit Encyclopedia. Current Level: LV1]
[Current Encyclopedia Fruit Count: 19 → 20 (Paramecia: 8, Zoan: 7, Logia: 4, Special Paramecia: 0, Mythical Zoan: 1)]
[Total recorded fruits has reached 20. An additional 'Fruit Slot' has been unlocked.]
[Current Fruit Slot Count: 2 → 3]
[Currently Equipped: Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Rhino LV1, Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit, Model: Snow Hare LV1, [Empty]]
Listening to the continuous pings and watching the flashing notifications on the screen, the smile on Roy's face grew even wider.
"This trip was so worth it!"
He sighed with genuine satisfaction.
That's right.
After obtaining the 'Slice-Slice Fruit,' his total fruit count had finally reached 20, successfully unlocking his third Fruit Slot.
For him, this was a massive upgrade.
Of course, the more critical part was...
"The Slice-Slice Fruit... this ability is... important to me. Very important!"
This was the real reason for Roy's joy.
As he'd thought before, his biggest headache was his identity.
He needed his Marine status for self-preservation and for access to new fruit abilities.
But at the same time, he needed a massive, practically unlimited, amount of money to upgrade those abilities.
Those two goals were almost impossible to pursue at the same time—especially the latter, since any method of making that much money fast was full of danger.
But now...
"Slice!"
Roy said the word in his mind.
The next moment, the Slice-Slice Fruit was equipped into the newly opened third slot, and then...
Vmmm!
The muscles and skin on Roy's body began to shift—his very form seemed to be "tearing."
But Roy felt no pain.
He only felt as if his body and his consciousness were undergoing some kind of indescribable change.
In the next second, another 'Roy Amos,' completely identical to him, appeared naked in the room.
At this moment, that strange, special feeling became even clearer.
He felt as if this new body was an extension of his own.
His consciousness seemed to have split into two parts, but both parts were still under his complete control.
This feeling, even for Roy who had mastered many Devil Fruit abilities, was incredibly novel.
But he adapted quickly.
First, he grabbed a set of his own casual clothes for the clone to wear. (Even if he was, well... gifted, watching his own naked body still felt weird.)
Then, he controlled his Slice-Clone, carefully feeling the changes in its body.
And then...
The corners of both Roys' mouths began to lift into a grin.
"Just as I thought..." he whispered.
He then controlled the Slice-Clone's body to throw a punch.
BOOM!
The immense force sent a piercing shockwave through the air. One could even see a faint, white fur sprout on the clone's arm.
The fur of the Snow Hare!
That's right.
"The Slice-Slice Fruit... it creates a perfect 'copy'!"
"It even copies... the Devil Fruit abilities themselves!"
Roy had already guessed this back in the prison.
The "Alan" in the cell was clearly a Slice-Clone, yet his Fruit Encyclopedia was still able to analyze the fruit ability from it.
That was enough to prove that the Slice-Clone, in all likelihood, copied the Devil Fruit abilities along with the body—with the only exception being that the copied ability couldn't be used to make more clones.
This trait would be meaningless to almost anyone else.
So what if it copied a Devil Fruit? In this world, with the exception of that freak Blackbeard, a normal person could only ever eat one.
But for Roy, the situation was completely different.
For example...
"This clone of mine also possesses the 'Snow Hare Fruit' and the 'Rhino Fruit' abilities!"
"The only downside is that the Slice-Slice Fruit itself has to take up one of the clone's slots, and it can't be changed. That means the clone will always have one less ability than my main body... but that's more than enough!"
Roy understood just how significant this discovery was.
It meant that the two-sided dilemma he'd been facing finally had a solution.
From this day on, his main body could stay in the Marines, safely and stably acquiring new Devil Fruit abilities.
And his clone... his clone could go out and acquire the massive, astronomical amounts of Berries he needed for his upgrades. And it wouldn't have to... worry about the means.
In fact, he had a very bold idea forming right now.
"Okay, first... I need a disguise."
Roy muttered, scanning his room.
Soon, his eyes landed on an object.
In the corner of the room, by a storage locker, sat a mask.
It was a mask of a rooster, and it looked surprisingly lifelike.
Roy remembered exactly what it was.
It was a gift Hans had brought back for him two years ago after visiting his hometown in the South Blue.
"This is our South Blue 'Sea Beast Head Mask,' made from special South Blue iron..."
According to Hans's enthusiastic sales pitch, it was one of the South Blue's most famous specialties, common in many kingdoms there and even on the Grand Line, renowned for being "durable, form-fitting, and hard to break."
Of course, Roy later learned from "a source who wished to remain anonymous" (Fal) that while it was a South Blue specialty, the main reason Hans bought it as a souvenir was because... it was cheap.
The next day, Sergeant Hans was ordered to stand night watch for half a month for the offense of "stepping onto the deck with his left foot first." The mask had been tossed in this corner ever since.
But now...
Roy picked up the mask and tossed it to his Slice-Clone.
When the clone put on the mask and the clothes, Roy looked it over. He confirmed it. You couldn't make out any facial features or body shape.
He nodded, satisfied.
"Well then... let's begin!"