The screen of light that now appeared before Roy silently explained a fact.
Yes—the young man in front of him, so easily captured by the G-51 Branch, was named 'Alan', and he was actually a Devil Fruit user.
And...
"This Devil Fruit's ability..."
Roy realized it the moment he saw the fruit's ability description.
Even among Devil Fruits, Alan's ability was extremely special.
"The gap between its upper and lower limits is massive."
"If eaten by an ordinary person, its power would be even weaker than a common Zoan fruit."
"But if this ability were obtained by a powerful Haki user, the effects would be unbelievably strong!"
Just imagine if Marine Hero Garp or the World's Strongest Swordsman, 'Hawkeye' Mihawk, had eaten this fruit.
Then each of their Slice Clones would be nearly equivalent to their full strength.
"Seven Vice Admiral Garps... How terrifying would that be? The Marines might as well be renamed the Garp-Marines."
And the enhancement cost for this fruit clearly matched its strength.
Its enhancement cost was the highest of all the Devil Fruits Roy had seen so far.
"Want something to eat?"
At this moment, Roy was watching the analysis progress on the screen of light while smiling at the young man in the prison before him. "My treat!"
"I... I'm not eating your food!"
Alan clearly didn't understand the myriad thoughts that had just raced through Roy's mind—he only felt that this cryptic Marine was a bit terrifying.
And just at that moment, the sand in the hourglass ran out.
"Alright then."
So, Roy stood up casually. "I'll be leaving then."
He picked up the hourglass, pocketed it, and turned to leave.
But as he reached the cabin door, his steps suddenly halted.
"By the way, kid—you should know that even with most of the branch marines at the banquet, rescuing people would still be very difficult, practically impossible, right?"
He tilted his head slightly and asked in a low voice.
"...I said, I don't know what you're talking about!"
This time, Alan's voice was a roar.
But it was hard to say whether his roar contained more anger or fear.
But one thing was certain.
While there might have been fear or anger in his words, there was no wavering.
So, Roy smiled.
The brave are always worthy of respect.
"Sir?"
After Roy walked out of the cabin containing the temporary prison, the marine on night watch on the deck showed a puzzled expression.
"I'm a bit tired, I'm going back to rest. Have someone take over my shift. Remember to prepare some food and water for the prisoner, and give him a blanket."
Roy said.
"Yes, sir!"
The marine quickly nodded in agreement.
After giving his instructions, Roy quietly returned to his own room—an independent room with a skylight located at the rear of the deck.
And as he entered the room, the system prompts in his ear continued to sound.
[Paramecia-type: 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)]
[Total recorded fruits has reached 20, additional 'Fruit Slot' obtained]
[Current number of Fruit Slots: 2→3]
[Fruits in current slots: Ox-Ox Fruit, Model: Rhinoceros, Rabbit-Rabbit Fruit, Model: Snow Rabbit, Empty]
Listening to the continuous sounds and watching the flashing prompts on the screen of light.
The smile on Roy's face grew wider.
"This trip was worth it!"
He exclaimed with sincerity.
That's right.
After obtaining the 'Slice-Slice Fruit', the number of fruits he had collected finally reached 20, successfully unlocking the third fruit slot for him.
For him, this was a significant improvement.
Of course, more importantly...
"The Slice-Slice Fruit, this fruit's ability is... important to me! Very important!"
This was what made Roy happiest at this moment.
As mentioned before, his biggest headache right now was the issue of his identity.
He needed his Marine identity and status for self-preservation, and he also needed the Marines' channels to accumulate Devil Fruit abilities.
But at the same time, he needed a massive, almost limitless amount of money to help him upgrade his fruit abilities.
These two things were almost mutually exclusive—especially the latter, as methods to earn large amounts of money in a short time were almost always fraught with danger.
But now...
"Slice!"
Roy said softly in his mind.
The next moment, the Slice-Slice Fruit was equipped into the newly appeared fruit slot, and then...
"Hum!"
The muscles and skin on Roy's body began to change—his body seemed to be tearing apart at this moment.
But Roy felt no pain.
He only felt that his body and consciousness seemed to undergo some indescribable change at this moment.
The next second, a 'Roy Amos' that looked almost identical to him appeared naked out of thin air in front of him.
And at this moment, that special feeling for Roy became even clearer.
He felt as if the body in front of him had become an extension of his own.
His consciousness also seemed to have split into two parts, yet both parts remained under his control.
This feeling was very novel, even for Roy, who had mastered many Devil Fruit abilities.
However, Roy quickly came to his senses.
He first took one of his casual outfits and had the clone put it on—although he was well-built, seeing his own naked body still felt strange.
Then, he controlled his Slice Clone, carefully feeling the changes in its body.
And then...
The corners of both Roys' mouths began to curve upwards at the same time.
"As expected, just as I guessed..."
He whispered under his breath.
Then, he controlled the Slice Clone's body to throw a punch.
"Boom!"
The immense force caused the air to let out a piercing whoosh, and faint white fur could even be seen sprouting on the clone's arm.
It was the fur of a Snow Rabbit!
That's right.
"The ability sliced out by the Slice-Slice Fruit is a perfect 'copy'."
"Including the 'Devil Fruit ability' itself!"
Roy had already guessed this point back in the prison.
Because in the prison, Alan was clearly a Slice Clone, yet his Fruit Encyclopedia could still analyze the fruit's ability from him.
This was enough to show that the Slice Clone most likely copied the fruit's ability along with it—it was just that the copied Slice-Slice Fruit ability couldn't be used again.
This characteristic was meaningless for most other people.
After all, even if they discovered that the Slice-Slice Fruit could copy Devil Fruits, so what?
In this world, apart from that freak Blackbeard, a normal person can only eat one Devil Fruit.
But for Roy, the situation was obviously different.
For example, at this moment...
"This clone of mine also possesses the abilities of the 'Snow Rabbit Fruit' and the 'Rhinoceros Fruit'!"
"The only drawback is that the Slice-Slice Fruit itself needs to occupy a slot in the clone and cannot be freely changed. This will leave the clone with one less fruit ability than my main body, but... that's more than enough!"
Roy understood just how significant this discovery was for him.
It meant that the dilemma he had been facing until now finally had a solution.
From this day forward, he could continue to stay in the Marines, safely and steadily acquiring Devil Fruit abilities.
And his other clones could go out and seize the astronomical amount of Belly needed for the Fruit Encyclopedia's enhancements, and... without any regard for the means!
For example, right now, he had a very bold idea.
"Well then, first I need to hide my identity..."
Roy muttered to himself, his gaze scanning the room.
Soon, he saw an object in the room.
It was a mask placed next to a storage cabinet in the corner of the room.
The mask resembled a rooster and looked remarkably lifelike.
And of course, Roy remembered what that thing was.
It was a gift that Hans had brought back for him after returning to his hometown in the South Blue two years ago.
"This is our South Blue's special 'Sea Beast Head Mask,' made from the special iron ore of the South Blue..."
According to Hans's confident explanation, this thing was one of the most famous specialties of the South Blue, found everywhere in the various kingdoms of the South Blue and even in the kingdoms of the Grand Line, known for being sturdy, fitting snugly to the face, and not easily damaged.
Of course, Roy later learned from a certain Sir Fal who wished to remain anonymous that—while the mask was indeed a specialty of the South Blue, the main reason Hans had bought it as a souvenir was because... it was cheap.
So, the next day, Sir Hans was ordered to take the night shift for half a month for the crime of stepping onto the deck with his left foot first, and this mask had been casually tossed into a corner of the room by Roy ever since.
But now...
Roy picked up the mask and casually tossed it to his Slice Clone.
After the clone put on the mask and the casual clothes, he checked it repeatedly—no facial features or body shape characteristics could be discerned at all.
So, he nodded in satisfaction.
"Well then... let's begin!"