Chapter 23: Reuniting with Smoker, and the Tri-Force Demonstration!
The next day.
Grand Line, Marineford.
Detention Unit Barracks.
"Yo-hohoho, Yo-hohoho~"
"Gather up all of the crew, it's time to ship out Bink's Brew~"
"Sea-wind blows, to where, who knows? The waves will be our guide~ Hic!"
In a corner, Hans and Fal were whispering, watching the mysteriously happy man who was drinking cola and humming.
"Hey, the Captain seems like he's in a really good mood lately," Fal whispered.
Hans didn't seem to care. He tugged at his collar. "Well, yeah. He got promoted to Major. It'd be weird if he wasn't happy, right?"
"...But if it was just that, it doesn't make sense. I heard Vice Admiral Viroth wanted to throw him a promotion party a few days ago, but he refused. Instead, he's been holed up in his room every day."
Fal frowned, still feeling something was off.
Hans just tugged his collar again. "So what? The Captain's always been like that. Besides, getting promoted isn't something everyone wants to show off..."
THWACK!
He was sent flying by Fal's kick.
"...You bastard! I've been putting up with you for too long!"
Fal angrily retracted his leg. "Just because you joined the Marines a few years before me, so the Captain promoted you to Sergeant Major? Stop flashing it in my face every day!"
Hans, picking himself up, wasn't angry at all.
He just tugged his collar again, making sure the insignia that read [Sergeant Major - Hans Thor] was clearly visible.
"Sigh... Brother Fal. You're angry at me, but I don't blame you... Jealousy is a bitter pill to swallow, isn't it?"
He said it so gently.
Fal ground his teeth so hard they nearly cracked.
He wanted to go on a mission right now and get promoted to Sergeant Major too.
But unfortunately, because Roy's official appointment as Major hadn't come down yet, they had no missions.
"Jealousy, huh? Let me show you the taste of my Angry Fist!"
Luckily... even if reason didn't work, Fal knew a thing or two about punching!
On the other side of the room.
"Phew... Burp. What a nice day."
Ignoring his brawling subordinates completely, Roy took a sip of ice-cold cola and sighed contentedly at the sunny weather.
Yes—he was in a very good mood.
The reason was obvious.
His plan in Alabasta was going incredibly smoothly.
Using his foreknowledge of the plot, he had specifically designed the 'Ryuji' Slice-Clone.
Magma-Magma Fruit and Ice-Ice Fruit. These two fruits, originally belonging to Admirals Akainu and Aokiji, were absolute top-tier Logias.
He had spent a full 4 billion Berries to upgrade both of them to LV3.
Adding in the Slice-Slice Fruit upgrade to LV2, and a few other fruit upgrades, he had completely burned through his massive fortune.
But the payout was absolutely worth it.
"Rain is just condensed water vapor."
"The cold air and frost from the Ice-Ice Fruit, combined with the heat and steam from the Magma-Magma Fruit... together, they can create rain!"
This was the "artificial rainfall" method Roy had thought of before. In the original manga, Nami used a similar principle with her Clima-Tact. He had just scaled it up.
As always—combining Devil Fruits created endless possibilities.
And the success of this experiment made his deal with Alabasta possible.
"Even just raining once across the whole country, plus the bounty from King Cobra... that's at least 5 billion Berries. Now I just need to deal with Crocodile."
"Plus, I've already obtained the fruit abilities of Alabasta's two guardian deities—the 'Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Falcon' and the 'Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Jackal'."
With such a massive harvest, how could Roy not be happy?
Food tasted better, and even his cola seemed sweeter.
Of course, he wasn't completely worry-free.
"The only problem now is... even though I've upgraded a lot of fruits..."
"While I'm at Headquarters, I can only use the Human Form of my Zoan fruits. No Beast or Hybrid forms."
"And I can't use elementalization with my Logia fruits, or my identity as an ability user will be exposed."
Thinking about this, Roy was a little frustrated.
Having all these powerful abilities but being unable to use them fully because of his cover... it was like an itch he couldn't scratch.
"If only there was a fruit ability that could solve this problem..."
But just as Roy was muttering to himself...
"Hey!"
A familiar, gruff voice made Roy spit out his cola. Pfft!
"Hm!?"
He spun around to see Smoker's grumpy face.
"Smoker!?"
Roy was instantly on guard. "Weren't you in the brig... Ahem! What are you doing here? I'm telling you, I'm a Major now. I can't be your adjutant!"
He stopped halfway through, remembering he was slightly responsible for Smoker's time in the brig, and quickly changed the subject.
"..."
Smoker's expression visibly darkened.
He seemed to take a moment to suppress the urge to punch Roy in the face. Finally, he spoke. "You asked Vice Admiral Viroth to arrange special training for you?"
His tone softened slightly.
Clearly, Smoker was pleased that Roy, this talented but unmotivated slacker, was finally 'trying.'
As a friend, he genuinely believed Roy deserved a higher position to enact his Justice.
"...Right... Right!"
Roy, too embarrassed to admit he hadn't asked for it at all, nodded.
"The person training you happens to have some history with me. So I'm here to take you to him."
Smoker looked at Roy. "If you're free, let's go."
Roy paused, then nodded without hesitation. He waved goodbye to Hans and Fal, then followed Smoker out of the Detention Unit barracks.
As they walked, Roy thought to himself, 'I knew it.'
He had already guessed who Viroth's 'old friend' might be.
seeing that this person knew Smoker and was clearly on good terms with him—otherwise, the prickly Smoker wouldn't be playing messenger boy—the identity was practically confirmed.
"You're participating in the 'Tri-Force Demonstration' too, right?"
Just as Roy was thinking, he heard Smoker's question.
"Yeah... Huh? What?"
Roy nodded instinctively, then did a double-take. "What—what is the 'Tri-Force Demonstration'?"
Wasn't it the 'All-Marine Demonstration'?
"You don't know?"
Smoker took the cigar from his mouth and exhaled a cloud of smoke.
Through the haze, his voice sounded excited. "Because of the Celestial Tribute heist, the higher-ups in the World Government are furious. They think the Marines' management is weak and our combat power has dropped."
"So, after discussing it with Commander-in-Chief Kong, Fleet Admiral Sengoku decided to change the rules for this year's demonstration."
"It's not just the Marines. All military forces under the World Government and its direct organizations will send representatives."
"That's why it's called... the Tri-Force Demonstration!"