"Thud!"
Colonel Aster's body crashed heavily to the ground.
Roy slowly withdrew his right leg and adjusted the mask on his face. "I haven't used it for quite a while, but fortunately, I haven't gotten rusty."
As mentioned before, Rokushiki isn't really a secret among the Marines.
As long as one is a Marine officer at the rank of Lieutenant or above and has spent a few years at the Marine Headquarters, whether through other Marine Officers or the training grounds, there's always a chance to learn it.
The only thing that truly limits learning Rokushiki is the extremely high physical requirements demanded by the techniques themselves.
Once one's physical strength meets the standard, many people can learn one of the Rokushiki styles on their own.
And clearly, this "physical strength" restriction was no restriction at all for Roy.
Although both of his Zoan Devil Fruits were only LV1, the physical enhancement they provided was enough for him to practice Rokushiki.
So in truth, Roy had long since learned four of the Rokushiki techniques: Geppo, Rankyaku (Tempest Kick), Soru, and Tekkai.
While he couldn't be said to have mastered them, he could use them proficiently.
"Soru is basically standard equipment for battles between strong fighters. Tekkai is a defensive method. Geppo is a rare means of flight. And Rankyaku (Tempest Kick) provides long-range attacks, something you simply can't do without."
Muttering to himself, Roy slowly walked over to Chief Steward Mantall's corpse.
Looking at the body folded unnaturally into three sections, he raised his hand and reached into Mantall's pocket.
As expected, he pulled out several items.
A few excellent-quality gems and several stacks of ten-thousand-denomination banknotes were not enough to intoxicate Roy, of course.
"Slurp... Cough, cough. What's this?"
What truly caught his attention were the two remaining items besides the treasure.
The first item was a ring of keys, each marked with a number.
The second item was a carefully folded sheet of paper.
"The keys are obvious; they must be the keys to these treasures. But this piece of paper was actually stored together with the keys…"
Curious, Roy unfolded the paper, and then...
"This is..."
His expression froze abruptly.
Immediately afterward, his breathing became rapid.
Because once the paper was unfolded, what lay before him was clearly a sea map, with a distinct route drawn across it.
To be precise, it was a navigation chart.
The starting point of the route was the Sabaody Archipelago.
So it wasn't hard to guess that this must be the return route Chief Steward Mantall used after selling those slaves at Sabaody Archipelago.
But the problem lay precisely here.
As the chief steward of a Royal Merchant Ship, Mantall should have returned to the capital of the Nismail Kingdom.
However, the endpoint of the chart was not the capital but another island called Alashit Island.
This island was quite far from the capital and very close to the Calm Belt.
So why was that?
Almost instinctively, Roy recalled a piece of information he had previously overheard from Chief Steward Mantall, that this batch of financial reports would be part of the Nismail Kingdom's "Heavenly Tribute" for this year, and that the time to offer the Heavenly Tribute was already drawing near.
Thus, the answer was self-evident:
"Alashit Island… this island is the port where the 'Heavenly Tribute' is stored and transported!"
But just as shock surged through Roy's mind,
His keen hearing also picked up movement coming from the Marine branch above. Clearly, the drunken Marines were beginning to wake up.
So he stuffed the paper back into Chief Steward Mantall's pocket, took the ring of keys, and decisively turned around to start opening the chests.
As the treasure chests piled up in the storage room were opened one after another, every single chest, just as expected, they were filled with glittering treasure or heaps of stacked Beli.
Without the slightest hesitation, Roy placed his hand on them.
As the system activated, the treasure and Beli began to vanish, replaced by an unending series of sounds ringing in Roy's ears.
[Current Beli Held: 45.23 million → 75.30 million.
[Current Beli Held: 75.30 million → 110 million.
[Current…]
"Sure enough, all the ways to make money are written straight into the World Government's constitution."
Watching those numbers skyrocket wildly, Roy couldn't help but sigh.
"No wonder everyone's willing to go out to sea and become a pirate, what's the point of clocking in for work!?"
And just as Roy was lamenting the plight of expRoyted workers, his movements suddenly came to a halt.
Because at this moment, he had noticed a particular treasure chest in front of him.
"Seastone?"
Staring at the dull gray chest that looked as though it were carved from stone, Roy immediately made a judgment: it was made of seastone.
And among all the treasure stored here, anything that required such an elaborate seastone chest to contain it...
"The Devil Fruit those two mentioned earlier must be inside!"
Roy immediately realized this... he had previously overheard Mantel and Colonel Aster talking about it. The former had acquired a precious Devil Fruit at the Sabaody Archipelago.
Thus, Roy quickly stepped in front of the chest, took out the key corresponding to its number, and opened it.
Sure enough, a dark blue fruit appeared before his eyes.
Distinct spiral patterns, unique to the Sea Secret Treasure, wrapped around its surface.
At the same time, the voice of the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia sounded in his ears.
[Unowned Devil Fruit Discovered]
[Devil Fruit confirmed as 'Ancient Zoan · Dragon-Dragon Fruit · Wind God Winged Dragon Form']
[Currently parsing and storing into 'Fruit Encyclopedia']
[Please touch the fruit to begin analysis]
[Current Analysis Progress: 0%]
As the system's voice echoed, Roy stood there in a daze. Not only because this was the first time he had ever obtained a real Devil Fruit.
More importantly…
"Ancient?"
Roy had never expected that the fruit he obtained this time would be such a precious Ancient Zoan–type Devil Fruit. It was said that Ancient Zoan Devil Fruits grant their users vitality and physical strength far beyond that of ordinary Zoan fruits.
Across the entire sea, while they might not compare to Mythical Zoans or Logia Devil Fruits, they were still unquestionably among the rarest types.
Being able to obtain such a Devil Fruit was naturally an unexpected windfall for Roy. And so, without the slightest hesitation, Roy placed his hand on the fruit.
The next moment, he saw the fruit begin to dissolve continuously and at the same time, the "Analysis Progress" on the light screen before him began jumping rapidly.
In just a few breaths, the fruit vanished into thin air.
In its place…
[Fruit Analysis Complete]
[Current Ability Level: LV.3]
[LV.3: All fruit abilities unlocked. User can transform into the ancient creature 'Wind God Winged Dragon'. Regeneration and vitality are greatly enhanced. Freely switch between 'Humanoid', 'Beast Form', and 'Hybrid Form'. Can flap wings to generate powerful winds.]
[LV.4: Advanced fruit development. Winds can be compressed into cutting attacks. User can utilize surging gales for ultra–high-speed movement. Regeneration and vitality further enhanced. Requires 2.5 billion / 800 million Beli for Eternal / Temporary unlock]
[LV.5: Fruit Awakening · Ancient Reversion. Triggers the exclusive Zoan Devil Fruit Awakening form change. The body becomes enveloped in flame clouds infused with Haoshoku Haki. Vitality and regeneration reach their peak. It can unleash disaster-level hurricanes. Requires 9 billion / 3 billion Beli for Eternal / Temporary unlock.]
(End of Chapter)
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