"THUD!"
With Captain Aster's corpse crashing heavily to the ground,
Roy slowly withdrew his right leg and adjusted the mask on his face.
"It's been a while since I used that… but not bad. I'm not rusty yet."
Yes—just as mentioned before, the Six Powers weren't exactly a secret within the Marines.
Any officer at the rank of Lieutenant or above who spent a few years at Headquarters would eventually have the chance to learn them—
either from other officers or from the training facilities.
The true obstacle wasn't access, but the extremely high physical strength requirement.
Once someone's body strength reached the threshold, many could even self-learn a technique or two.
And clearly, that requirement wasn't a limitation for Roy at all.
Even though both of his Zoan-type Devil Fruits were only Level 1,
the physical enhancement they granted was already more than enough for him to practice the Six Powers.
As a matter of fact, Roy had long mastered four of the techniques:
Moonwalk
Tempest Kick
Shave
Iron Body
He wasn't a master, but he could use them smoothly.
"Shave is the standard for fighting strong people.
Iron Body is defense.
Moonwalk—rare flight ability.
Tempest Kick—ranged attack.
A set worth savoring."
Muttering to himself, Roy walked over to the corpse of Steward Mantal.
Looking at the man's grotesquely folded body, Roy reached into the man's pockets.
As expected, he pulled out several items.
Some fine gems and bundles of high-value banknotes barely interested him.
"Slurp—cough cough—what's this?"
What he truly cared about were the other two objects:
A ring of keys, each engraved with a number.
A sheet of paper folded meticulously many times.
"The keys are obvious—treasure chest keys.
But why was this paper stored together with them…?"
Curious, Roy unfolded the sheet—
And froze.
His breath quickened.
Because what spread out in front of him was clearly a sea chart,
and on it was a clearly marked route.
In other words, it was a route map.
The route began at Sabaody Archipelago.
No surprise—this had to be the return route Mantal used after selling the slaves at Sabaody.
But the problem lay in the endpoint.
As the steward of a royal merchant ship,
his destination should have been the capital of the Nismael Kingdom.
Yet the route ended not at the capital,
but at another island called Arasite Island.
An island far from the capital—
so far it was close to the Calm Belt.
So, why?
Roy immediately recalled something Mantal mentioned earlier:
This shipment of treasure would be part of this year's Celestial Tribute,
and the tribute deadline was near.
So the answer was obvious.
"Arasite Island…
That island is the port where the Celestial Tribute is stored and shipped!"
But before he could ponder further—
His enhanced hearing picked up movement from above—
the Marines soldiers were beginning to awaken from their drunken stupor.
Without hesitation, he stuffed the sea chart back into Mantal's pocket,
took the ring of keys, and immediately began opening the treasure chests.
One after another—
CLACK
Every chest opened was filled to the brim with glittering treasure or stacks of neatly packed Berries.
Roy did not hesitate and placed his hand on the treasure.
As the system activated, the treasure and Berries began disappearing,
replaced by a constant stream of notifications beside his ears.
[Current Berries: 45.23 million → 75.3 million]
[Current Berries: 75.3 million → 110 million]
[Current…]
"Just as expected—every method of getting rich is written right into the World Government's constitution."
Watching the numbers skyrocket, Roy couldn't help but sigh.
"No wonder everyone wants to become a pirate… Why would anyone want to keep working a regular job!?"
But as Roy was lamenting the fate of hardworking people—
His movements suddenly paused.
Because he had noticed a particular treasure chest.
"Seastone?"
Seeing the dull gray chest that appeared to be made of stone, Roy immediately understood—
it must be made of Seastone.
And among all the treasure here, anything needing a Seastone chest to contain it could only mean one thing:
"That Devil Fruit those two were talking about must be inside!"
Roy instantly realized it.
He had already heard Mantal and Captain Aster mention earlier that the former had obtained a precious Devil Fruit at Sabaody.
So he hurried to the chest, found the corresponding key, and opened it.
Inside, sure enough, lay a dark-blue fruit, its surface marked with the characteristic spiraling patterns of the ocean's secret treasure.
At the same time, the Fruit Encyclopedia's voice echoed in his ears:
[Unclaimed Devil Fruit detected]
[Fruit identified: Zoan-Type Ancient Species – Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Model: Quetzalcoatlus. Parsing and storing in Fruit Encyclopedia…]
[Please touch the fruit to initiate analysis. Current progress: 0%]
As the system spoke, Roy's expression froze.
Not just because this was the first actual Devil Fruit he had obtained—
But because…
"An Ancient Zoan?"
Roy had never expected the fruit he obtained this time to be a rare Zoan Ancient Species Devil Fruit.
It was said that Ancient Zoan fruits granted their users far greater vitality and physical strength than ordinary Zoan fruits.
Across the entire sea, although they weren't as rare as Mythical Zoans or Logias,
they were still among the rarest types.
Getting such a fruit was a delightful surprise.
Naturally, Roy didn't hesitate—he placed his hand on the fruit.
The fruit immediately began dissolving.
At the same time, the "analysis progress" on the display began rapidly climbing.
Within just a few breaths, the fruit vanished into thin air.
In its place—
[Fruit analysis complete. Current ability level: LV.3]
[LV3: All basic fruit abilities unlocked. User may transform into the ancient creature "Quetzalcoatlus." Vitality and recovery greatly increased. Can freely switch between Human / Beast / Hybrid forms. Can flap wings to generate strong winds.]
[LV4: Deep fruit development. Can generate wind blades from gale-force winds. Can use compressed wind for ultra-high-speed movement. Further increased vitality and regeneration. Requires 2.5 billion / 800 million Berry for permanent / temporary unlock.]
[LV5: Fruit Awakening – Primal Reversion. Unique Zoan awakening form. Body wreathed in flame-clouds. Peak vitality and regeneration. Can unleash disaster-level storms. Requires 9 billion / 3 billion Berry for permanent / temporary unlock.]