East Blue.
A battleship belonging to the 213th Branch of the Marines was currently docked here.
"Here they come."
The commanding officer aboard the battleship, the Colonel of the 213th Branch, Paru, looked a little nervous at this moment.
After all, there were fewer than 300 Marine branches in the entire East Blue, and judging by the number '213,' this branch was clearly located on the far eastern edge of East Blue, practically at the end of the Four Seas.
Naturally, a minor figure stationed in such a remote place would feel nervous when facing a high-ranking official from Marine Headquarters. Especially since the visitor was famous within Headquarters and had most likely come to hold them accountable.
"That person… is that the Vice Admiral 'Black Kirin' Roy Amos?" The first mate, who was holding binoculars, was trembling as he asked.
"Yes."
Paru raised his binoculars as well. "Inform the helmsman. Prepare to move closer. A figure of this stature has come in person; we must receive him properly... hmm?"
Through his binoculars, he saw a battleship from Marine Headquarters sailing in from the distant horizon.
Even from such a distance, they could make out a figure standing at the bow.
His Marine coat fluttered in the wind, and his hands were covered by the gauntlets said to have been inherited from 'Black Arm Zephyr'... [Black Mane].
The not-particularly-bulky figure slowly bent his knees.
This puzzled Paru... why was he crouching?
But the next moment, he understood.
Boom!
Even from such a distance, Paru could hear the explosive sound erupting from the sea in the distance.
He could clearly see the battleship sinking noticeably into the water and massive ripples spreading across the sea centered around it.
Then, he saw that figure streak across the ocean's surface.
Bang!
He couldn't track its movement clearly, and the next instant...
"Where is it?" A voice sounded right beside his ear.
He lowered the binoculars instinctively and saw a figure standing next to him.
"!!!"
Silence fell over the entire battleship. Everyone stared at Roy wide-eyed in disbelief.
"Eh!?!" N
It was only after a moment that the exclamations erupted.
'He just flew over that distance? What kind of speed was that? Was he a self-propelled cannon shell in human form?'
"This... this must be the legendary rising star of the Marines, 'Black Kirin'!"
Paru swallowed hard, then met Roy's cold gaze.
"Where is it?" Roy asked again.
The danger in his tone made Paru shudder this time, causing him to immediately come to his senses.
"Vice Admiral Black Kirin! It... it's in the sea behind us!" He quickly led Roy towards the stern.
There, he saw the damage: A broken mast, a torn sail and several shattered pieces of deck.
The deck was black, like a cola bottle.
The mast looked like a straw.
Written on the sail was:
[Roy Amos].
No further explanation was needed... Roy recognized it at a glance.
That was the sail of the Black Loyalty.
And then...
Buzz!
Every Marine present suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure so intense that they could barely breathe. If it had lasted even a moment longer, they might have fainted.
A moment later, they heard the Vice Admiral speak.
"Where was this found?"
"Hah… over… over there…" Paru answered everything he knew without hesitation, pointing towards a stretch of sea to the east.
Then he continued: "As far as we know, Warrant Officers Hans and Fal had detained criminals on Burosis Island and were returning. They reported to us due to resupplying and stayed on a nearby island for two days..."
At this point, Roy didn't think anything was strange.
Marine detention units often pass through seas where different branches of the Marines are stationed. To obtain passage rights, they must report to the relevant branch when entering a region.
Roy, however, was not bound by such rules; his authority allowed him to travel freely across the Four Seas.
"Supplies?"
The only detail that puzzled Roy was this one. He recalled that the Black Loyalty had ample supplies.
"Yes... after that, we checked. They purchased a large quantity of 'Paisa Cola' from several nearby islands, saying it was to be taken back as a birthday gift for their superior."
At this point, Paru gave Roy a strange look, silently wondering...
'Surely it couldn't be for this Vice Admiral?'
However, out of a sense of professional duty, Paru still proceeded to explain in detail:
"Paisa Cola is a specialty of East Blue. It's made by adding East Blue's unique 'Paisa Mint' and..."
"No need to explain that. I know more about it than you." Roy waved his hand dismissively. "Those two idiots really know how to pick their timing… Continue. Skip the useless details... tell me when they went missing!"
"Yes, sir!"
Paru immediately snapped into a salute. "In short, after they had finished resupplying, they reported to us again before leaving. They were near here at the time, but during that report, they seemed to encounter something."
As he spoke, he took out a Transponder Snail and activated it.
Soon, a voice came from the Den Den Mushi:
"Reporting, reporting! This is Marine Detention Unit Battleship DT-31, under the command of Vice Admiral 'Black Kirin' Roy. I am Hans, the temporary commanding officer of this ship and its strongest combatant! We are currently at coordinates EB (43, 96). Supplies have been replenished... glug, glug... we'll soon return to headquarters."
Hans sounded as unreliable as ever. Roy could even hear Fal muttering beside him:
"Hey, stop drinking! That's for the boss... do you want to get killed by him!?"
Hans replied:
"I'll drink if I want to! I need it!"
But right at that moment...
"Hey? Fal, what's that thing in the sky?"
"It looks like something's falling!"
"That is... All hands, prepare for battle!"
After that, chaos erupted at the other end of the Den Den Mushi, and the transmission cut out.
Silence fell over the battleship.
"Th-that's the situation…"
Paru said hoarsely. "We rushed to the scene immediately afterwards, but we didn't find the Black Loyalty. Only these fragments of wreckage. We've already investigated. There are no high-bounty pirates known to be active in this part of East Blue."
As he spoke, Roy walked over to the broken mast. He ran his fingers along the fracture, examining the three shattered segments below.
If those fragments were pieced back together...
"Claw marks… from a beast?" He said softly.
"Y-Yes!" At this, Paru became even more nervous. "We believe they were left by some kind of powerful creature."
Combined with the conversation we overheard, we suspect it might have been a natural disaster, like a hurricane or a sea tornado lifting a Sea King or some other beast into the air and causing it to crash onto the ship...'
Even as he said it, Paru felt that the explanation didn't hold up. Setting aside the already unlikely scenario of a hurricane lifting a Sea King and dropping it precisely onto the Black Loyalty, there had been no record of hurricanes or sea tornadoes in the area recently.
Not to mention that, even if everything had somehow lined up perfectly, where was the rest of the shipwreck?
Just as he worried Roy might become enraged at such a baseless explanation,
"…I understand." Roy's calm voice interrupted him.
Then Paru saw Roy lift his head and look towards the sky.
The next moment...
Bang!
Roy leapt upwards, shooting straight into the skies.
"He… he's flying!?"
"I..Is this one of the Rokushiki techniques… Geppo!?"
The surrounding Marines stared in shock as Roy soared through the air like a bird.
But Roy had no time to pay attention to their amazement. He continued to ascend, higher and higher, until he broke through the clouds, where fierce winds howled.
Only then did he finally stop.
With no one around to see him, he no longer bothered to pretend he was using Geppo.
He simply stood there in the strong winds.
"...It's him."
At that moment, Roy had already found the answer he was looking for regarding the disappearance of the Marine Detention Unit soldiers and the Black Loyalty.
An attack from the sky. A powerful beast. A vanished ship.
There was only one possible explanation. A pirate who had been missing for nearly twenty years, a legend from a past era.
"The enemy was never in East Blue... East Blue is just his target." Roy slowly closed his eyes.
The sky showed no signs of birds; an enemy that flies is always the hardest to track. Under these conditions, even Roy would have struggled to locate such a foe.
But, a Devil Fruit he had obtained not long ago happened to be perfectly suited to this situation:
[Logia · Gust-Gust Devil Fruit]
[Analysed — Current Level: LV3]
Devil Fruit Ability: Allows the user to incarnate into wind and manipulate air currents.
LV3: All base abilities unlocked. The user can elementalize into wind and control nearby airflow.
[LV4: Development deepened. The range and strength of airflow control increases significantly. Wind can be shaped into slashes or other forms. Powerful gales can be generated within a certain area, and the user can transform into wind to move at high speed. Cost: 500,000,000 Beli.]
[LV5: Devil Fruit Awakening · Hurricane Natural Disaster. The user becomes a true storm of nature, losing a fixed physical form and stirring endless violent winds across the surrounding sea. Can manifest from any nearby "wind," use wind as sensory perception to detect everything nearby, and freely create tornadoes, hurricanes, and gusts. Maintaining this state continuously consumes massive stamina. Unlock cost: 1,200,000,000 Beli]
Yes, Roy had recently obtained the location of Saint Ambokam's personal treasury through Youji's interrogation. As a side note, the Celestial Dragons' treasures are naturally not all stored in the land-scarce Mary Geoise.
In fact, Mary Geoise only houses the World Government's grand treasury, alongside the 'household treasuries' managed by the twenty Celestial Dragon families. The locations of these treasuries are kept extremely secret and are known only to the Gorōsei (Five Elder Stars) and the heads of the twenty families.
Ordinary Celestial Dragons usually store their personal wealth wherever they choose.
For instance, Saint Ambokam hid his treasury on a private island owned by a subordinate branch of the Moshi family. And just as he claimed, that treasury contained a full 70 billion Beli in treasure, along with two Devil Fruits.
One of those fruits was the very one Roy was using now: It was a Logia-type fruit that controlled wind: the Swift-Drift Devil Fruit.
However, as Roy had previously spent nearly 40 billion Beli enhancing Hitsuji's abilities... upgrading the Island-Island Fruit to LV4, the Venom-Venom Fruit to LV5, the Qilin Fruit to LV5 and the Essence-Essence Fruit to LV4, his funds were no longer particularly abundant.
Originally, he hadn't planned to upgrade this fruit.
But now...
[1,500,000,000 Beli consumed]
[Gust-Gust Devil Fruit LV3 → LV5]
Roy didn't hesitate.
In that instant, the raging winds around him intensified dramatically. His entire figure seemed to become the eye of an endless storm. Within the howling gale, the air currents above the sea were dragged into motion, spiraling and converging towards Roy.
The sky leaves no traces.
But the wind always carries clues.
[Devil Fruit Combination · Five Senses Enhancement]
Roy closed his eyes. His heightened senses and keen sense of smell began searching for abnormalities within the wind.
Until, at a certain moment...
"...!"
His nose caught a faint, unusual scent of mint.
And as a cola connoisseur, Roy instantly recognized it… Even though it was extremely faint, it was the scent of Paisa Mint.
"Hans… that guy is occasionally useful after all." Roy muttered, turning his gaze toward the direction from which the scent came.
Bang!
In the next instant, the storm roared as his figure vanished from where he stood.
"'Gold Lion'…"
Only his cold voice echoed within the wind.
(End Of This Chapter)
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