Chapter 39: Changes in the Encyclopedia, and a Special Fruit Slot?
Marineford, Training Ground 73.
"Black Lance: Giant Iron Spike!"
With a low shout, Hina extended her hands, and massive black iron bars emerged, forming a giant, heavy spike which she hurled forward.
"White Smoke: Jitte Break!"
Opposite her, Smoker didn't choose to elementalize to dodge the attack.
Quite the opposite. The White Hunter, already drenched in sweat, gripped his Jitte tightly. White smoke coiled around his wrist as he swung the weapon, smashing it directly into the iron spike.
CLANG!
With a deafening crash, the giant iron spike was shattered by his blow, the pieces falling heavily to the ground.
"Hah... hah..."
"Phew... phew..."
Both Hina and Smoker were clearly exhausted.
Yet, their actions were synchronized—Hina pulled out a slim cigarette, Smoker grabbed a cigar from his chest strap, and they lit up simultaneously.
"Fwoosh." (x2)
Exhaling smoke, their expressions relaxed slightly.
And then...
"You..."
Hina started to speak, but stopped abruptly.
She saw a News Coo flying over Marineford, dropping two bundles of newspapers—clearly meant for them.
"The World Economic News Paper... isn't it too early for the next issue?"
Hina frowned.
"An extra edition? What happened?"
Smoker had the same reaction.
Hina extended a hand, catching her paper with an iron bar. Smoker used a tendril of smoke to grab his.
They both looked at the front page.
And then...
Their brows furrowed in unison, shock flashing in their eyes.
"This really is... big news," Hina said gravely.
At the very top of the front page, a bold headline screamed:
[WARLORD 'SIR CROCODILE' KILLED IN BATTLE]
That single sentence was enough to shake the seas.
But that wasn't all.
The truly critical information was in the details below.
"The World Government claims Crocodile was killed by the leader of the Grand Line criminal syndicate 'Baroque Works,' codenamed 'Mr. 0'."
"However, after verification by our reporters, an insider source reveals that Mr. 0 calls himself 'Ryuji'."
"He is seemingly connected to the criminal 'Yuji', who recently shook the world with the 'Celestial Tribute Heist'."
"They both belong to a mysterious organization known as 'The Zodiac'. Baroque Works may merely be a subordinate organization to them..."
Reading this, Smoker gripped the newspaper tightly.
"Crocodile is dead... and Ryuji... is in the same organization as Yuji?"
His voice was low and serious.
"Yes. First stealing the Celestial Tribute, and now killing a Warlord... The Zodiac seems like a very troublesome organization," Hina said, taking a drag of her cigarette.
"'Big News' Morgans... He's daring to print this. Isn't he afraid the Government will come for him?"
Hina was sharp.
She knew the Marines had strictly locked down information regarding 'Yuji.' Aside from Roy and the others directly involved in the Master Port incident, almost no one in the Marines knew the details.
Yet, here it was in the WEP.
Combined with the fact that this was a sudden 'Extra Edition,' Hina could guess that Morgans hadn't cleared this with the World Government.
"Morgans... that guy lives for chaos. It's not surprising," Smoker shook his head.
Then, he decisively tossed the newspaper aside. "Back to training. We're still 83 reps short of the target."
"..."
Hina froze.
"So... what is wrong with you?"
"You don't care about an event that's shaking the balance of the seas? All you think about is training... What stimulated you recently? Hina does not understand!"
She couldn't help but complain.
Recently, Smoker had been dragging her into training every single day, and the intensity was terrifying. Even Hina, who didn't mind training, felt like she couldn't take it anymore.
"Shaking the balance... I never thought the Warlords should exist anyway," Smoker said around his cigar.
"Rather than caring about who beat that guy, I have more important things to do."
He was telling the truth.
Normally, he might care about a Warlord's defeat, especially regarding this 'Zodiac' organization—as Morgans intended, the name was shaking the seas.
But right now, he had something more pressing.
The Tri-Force Demonstration!
"Roy..."
Smoker was competitive. As a peer and a friend, he naturally felt a rivalry with Roy.
Before, while he admitted Roy was strong, he always believed himself to be stronger. After all, he was a Logia user, and Roy wasn't.
But after witnessing Roy's clash with Zephyr...
His thoughts had changed.
"That guy has quietly grown to that level..."
Thinking about the upcoming Demonstration, and Roy's threat...
"If I really lose to him, that bastard might actually try to make me his adjutant. I'd never hear the end of it."
He was afraid his brother would suffer, but he was also afraid his brother would drive a Range Rover—that was Smoker right now.
So he trained like a madman.
But even with this insane training, Smoker felt uneasy.
"He became Instructor Zephyr's disciple. And Zephyr said he would teach him the 'true essence' of his martial arts..."
Smoker worried. "It's been half a month. That guy... he must be training bitterly every day, getting stronger by the minute, right?"
Just thinking about it made his cigar taste bad.
He looked at the bewildered Hina. "Come on, back to training. I changed my mind. Fifty extra reps today."
"Huh?"
Hina frowned, tilting her head.
Looking at Smoker's determined 'I absolutely cannot lose' expression, she could only shake her head helplessly. "Hina is speechless."
...
While Smoker was worrying about his 'hardworking' friend and training himself into the ground, he had no idea...
In the dormitory of Zephyr's private 'Z' training ground.
"Burp!"
A loud belch echoed.
Although it was broad daylight, Roy was still sprawled on his bed.
"Phew... Awesome! I drank a whole bottle in one breath. I really have gotten stronger!"
Looking at the empty cola bottle in his hand, Roy's expression was extremely satisfied, as if he had accomplished something great.
Bitter training?
Impossible.
Not because Roy was lazy, but because Zephyr's training was... strange.
Since Zephyr said he would take him as a true disciple and teach him the 'true essence,' Roy had been prepared for hellish training.
But the reality was different. Zephyr brought him to the training camp and only had him do basic strength exercises.
The only special thing was the comprehensiveness. Muscles, bones, strength... Zephyr made him train everything and recorded detailed data.
Aside from that, Roy rarely saw his cheap master.
And Roy was happy with that.
Do some basic strength training, drink cola, soak up the sun, drink more cola... life was good.
Especially these last few days...
"The business from Baroque Works is in hand. And in a while, King Cobra's payment will reach Ryuji..."
Just thinking about it made Roy want to laugh out loud.
His plan in Alabasta had targeted Crocodile from the start.
Baroque Works, a massive criminal organization with over 2,000 members, wasn't just for show.
Bounty hunting, black market trading, mercenaries, sea beast hunting... its business network was extremely developed.
Roy had been eyeing it for a long time.
And his plan had gone smoothly. 'Ryuji' was the perfect counter to Crocodile.
After dealing with Crocodile, Ryuji, with Nico Robin's help, had officially become Mr. 0.
Baroque Works now belonged to him.
"Of course... the nature of the business needs to change a bit."
Roy had a bottom line. He would never touch human trafficking or illegal drugs.
But even so...
"Just from the legitimate businesses of Baroque Works, after deducting operational costs, I can get at least 6 billion Berries in net profit annually."
"It's a pity Crocodile spent most of the liquid funds on 'Operation: Utopia,' or I could have gotten a huge lump sum right now."
After learning the details from Robin, Roy was extremely satisfied.
No wonder Crocodile could establish the Cross Guild in the original story and put bounties on Marines. The man might not have been the strongest fighter, but he knew how to make money.
And that wasn't all. Don't forget his deal with King Cobra.
For the rainfall, Cobra had already paid 1.5 billion Berries.
Plus, the reward for saving the country—another 3 billion Berries—would be sent to Ryuji soon.
With that much money, Roy could upgrade quite a few fruits.
But for Roy—even that wasn't the biggest harvest.
The truly important gain was displayed on the glowing screen before him.
[Fruit Encyclopedia]
[Holder: Roy Amos]
[Total Encyclopedia Fruit Count: 34 (Paramecia: 16, Zoan: 12, Logia: 5, Special Paramecia: 0, Mythical Zoan: 1)]
[Fruit Slots: 3 → 4]
[Current Berries: 1,275,430,000]
[Currently Equipped: Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Rhino LV2, Ryu Ryu no Mi, Model: Quetzalcoatlus LV3, Human-Human Fruit, Model: Daibutsu LV1, [Empty]]
As the screen flickered, Roy clearly saw a new, phantom page opening in the second half of the Fruit Encyclopedia.
And on that page, new text appeared.
[Total recorded fruits has reached 30. 'Special Fruit Slot' unlocked.]
[Upon reaching 60 total recorded Devil Fruits, the fifth Fruit Slot will unlock a special function: 'Fruit Fusion Slot'.]
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