After being sprayed in the face with spit, the newly appointed Marine Fleet Admiral, Sengoku the Buddha, and Borsalino, who was still a Vice Admiral, were the ones who suffered.
Yes, Borsalino was still a Vice Admiral at this point. Because he had failed to capture Roy, the higher-ups were very dissatisfied with his efficiency, so his promotion was delayed by several years.
Kuzan and Sakazuki, on the other hand, successfully rose to the rank of Admiral, officially taking on the codenames "Aokiji" and "Akainu" as they began carrying out their duties as Admirals.
As for Garp, he picked his nose and once again refused promotion to Admiral. In his words, a Vice Admiral could still uphold justice just fine.
According to rumors, Vice Admiral Garp had once privately said to his adjutant, "If I become an Admiral, I'll have to go protect those Celestial Dragons."
But rumors were only rumors, and in the end, the matter went nowhere.
Aside from the changes within the Marines, the Alabasta Kingdom, located in the first half of the Grand Line, also had a joyous occasion. On February 2, His Majesty the King welcomed the birth of his beloved daughter.
Although the World Government had failed to capture Roy, over the past year, the number of people becoming pirates had decreased quite a bit compared with the previous year. Because of that, they finally felt a little relieved.
Other than approving Fleet Admiral Sengoku's Seven Warlords plan while also spending another two years observing its feasibility and suitable pirate candidates, they also felt that collecting Devil Fruits was becoming more and more difficult.
Whether in the Grand Line or the Four Seas, the World Government always felt that the number of Devil Fruits had suddenly dropped by quite a lot.
However, according to the CP organization's reconnaissance and investigations across various regions, they had not discovered an excessive number of ability users becoming active on the seas either.
As for whether someone possessed the ability to detect the locations of Devil Fruits, the World Government did not believe it.
They had stood for more than eight hundred years. Their foundation was incredibly deep, yet even they had only established unique channels for obtaining fruits.
Even the World Government did not have a concrete method for searching for Devil Fruits, let alone anyone else or any other organization.
Moreover, according to intelligence from every side, the number of Devil Fruits had decreased in both the Four Seas and the Grand Line. The World Government simply did not believe that any person or power could stretch their hand so far that it covered the entire world.
Unfortunately, they did not know that something called a Devil Fruit Radar had appeared in this world.
Nor did they know that someone in this world had mastered the ability called Instant Transmission.
And at this moment, Roy, who possessed both of those abilities, also stopped searching for Devil Fruits at the right time.
There was no other reason. The space rings Milluki had given him were no longer enough.
Although Milluki had given him quite a few, aside from Devil Fruits, Roy had also stored many rare and precious things he encountered along the way inside the rings.
Among those things was Pure Gold.
Pure Gold was a substance invented about two hundred years ago by Myskina Acier, the father of a girl named Myskina Olga who was about to die of a serious illness. In order to prevent his daughter from dying, he created a substance called "Pure Gold." After using it, one could obtain an extremely long lifespan. Because of it, both father and daughter lived for nearly two hundred years.
Moreover, aside from granting people longevity, Pure Gold could also greatly slow a person's aging and reduce physical illnesses.
Olga had worn Pure Gold for a full two hundred years, yet she still looked like a little girl of seven or eight.
Her father spent his days in the company of dinosaurs and ate large chunks of meat every day without the slightest nutritional balance, yet aside from growing fat, he had no illnesses at all. One could only marvel at the power of Pure Gold.
Roy had spent tremendous effort before finally finding that giant island-eating lanternfish in the New World, the one that had swallowed Pure Gold into its belly.
Then he entered its stomach and took away all the Pure Gold.
Pure Gold alone took up quite a bit of Roy's storage space.
Aside from searching for items, Roy also made a special trip to the Sabaody Archipelago to meet someone.
After seeing that gray-haired Dark King in a casino, drinking wine while stealing other people's purses, Roy returned to East Blue.
The Six Powers, Haki, and swordsmanship manuals he had brought out from the core warehouse were all top-tier.
After all, they were the highest-level cultivation manuals of an entire world, so naturally, they had their merits.
And so, Roy found an island in East Blue and began cultivating in seclusion.
As for the others—
At the celebration for his son Usopp's first month after birth, Yasopp received from Roy the complete version of the Six Powers and a rare-edition sniping manual. From then on, he trained diligently day and night.
Of course, during this period, he also refused many invitations from a red-haired pirate wearing a straw hat who came to invite him out to sea, eventually leaving the latter no choice but to depart in resignation.
Tiger was currently braving the wind and waves on his way to East Blue, encountering many battles along the way.
The Fish-Men from Fish-Man District who admired Tiger had also rushed over. Led by Jinbe, people including Arlong, Hatchan, and the others had already arrived on Tiger's ship.
Aside from Arlong and a few others having many complaints about Tiger following a human like Roy, there were basically no major issues. They continued heading toward East Blue at an unhurried pace.
Tom had already used the money Roy left him to purchase Treasure Tree Adam and officially started building the ship. It was expected to be completed before 1505.
As for Burgess, after agonizing over it for a while, he finally steeled himself and ate the Boil-Boil Fruit. Then, with the help of the Boil-Boil Fruit's ability, he began making a name for himself in the arena.
There was no place better than an arena for tempering combat technique and experience.
Of course, while Burgess drew attention, he also gradually began to be watched by the World Government's CP organization because of the Boil-Boil Fruit's power.
After Gin ate the Fear-Fear Fruit and grew familiar with his body, he began training in the Six Powers that Roy had given him.
Aside from daily training, Gin also knew how to use real combat to temper himself.
At first, he fought against wild beasts in the mountains and forests. Later, he took a small boat out to sea, specifically looking for pirates to hunt in order to hone himself.
The pirates he hunted were also exchanged for money, which he used to purchase food and equipment for training.
And so, the Demon Man Gin, who bore the reputation of a ruthless bounty hunter, began rising to fame in East Blue.
In West Blue, the somewhat famous bounty hunter Daz Bonez first vanished for a period of time. When he appeared again, he had already become stronger and more terrifying than before.
With fierce swordsmanship he had learned from who-knew-where, combined with the steel body and natural weapons granted by his Dice-Dice Fruit, his vicious name quickly resounded throughout West Blue's pirate circles.
(End of Chapter)
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